Topical Insecticides and Reproductive Health in Dogs

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Be cautious about using topical insecticides on breeding dogs, lest they get “Homer Simpson Sperm” syndrome!

I spent Sunday at a very interesting Canine Reproduction seminar. The session, which lasted roughly two hours, was presented by MiniTube Canada, and was a bargain at $15. Unlike a lot of corporate seminars, this one was not geared solely towards selling you equipment, although there was discussion about the equipment the company makes (primarily semen extenders and shipping containers). Our presenter was Dr. John P. Verstegen DVM, MSc, PhD , DECAR, Minitube’s director of small animal reproduction. Since I’ve recently had my first transcervial insemination done on a bitch (Delilah), it was impressive to hear Dr. Verstegen say that he estimates he has performed more than 19,000 of them over the course of his career.

Dr. Verstegen had a lot of interesting information to share, but something interesting jumped out at me during the portion of the seminar devoted to the topic of managing sperm count in the male dog. Dr. Verstegen mentioned a study he had taken part in examining the effects of topical insecticides (ie; flea and tick treatments) on the reproductive health of the male dog.

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Roscoe is Rolling Again!

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Roscoe test drives his new wheelchair.

As I mentioned the other day, a disabled Pug named Roscoe had his wheelchair stolen from outside his McCowan Avenue home in central Toronto. Without Roscoe’s wheelchair, his owner, Christine Borsuk, was unable to give Roscoe the daily walks he so looked forward to.

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This Wheely Sucks – Toronto Pug’s Wheelchair Stolen

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A Toronto area pug and his owner have learned the hard lesson that sometimes people really suck.

From the Toronto Star:

 

Christine Borsuk, who owns Roscoe, forgot to bring his tiny, custom-made wheelchair in from the porch of her McCowan Ave. home on a Saturday night two weeks ago. It was gone the next morning.

Roscoe, whose hind legs are paralyzed, has been housebound ever since, where he drags his immobile rear end around by his front paws instead of enjoying a daily stroll.

“He loved his walks,” said Borsuk. “He lives for his walks, and his treats and his hugs. He’s missing them.”

The only exercise Roscoe gets now is when she hooks him up to a sling that allows her to hold up his rear end and trot along behind while he wobbles around on his front legs.

“It’s hard on him and it’s hard on me,” she said, adding it looks “somewhat like a marionette. He gets out of breath really fast. It’s good for about five minutes.”

 

Poor Roscoe.  I think that if a donation was made via Pugalug Rescue, specifically earmarked to get Roscoe a new wheelchair, we could likely get him wheeling around again pretty quickly.

An update I received this morning from PugaLug:

 I just got an email from a pug owner is willing to donate her cart which is also an Eddie’s Wheels cart as her pug has passed away.  So Roscoe may be rolling again soon…..

Increased Security

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Due to a recent hacking attempt on the blog, I’ve had to increase security. To post a comment, you’ll have to register for a comment account on the blog, and be logged in.

Sorry about that, but there’s not really any other way to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

In Breading Hurts Puppies

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Sorry about the lack of blog posts – work schedules and other real life adventures have been keeping me from the keyboard. But, tomorrow you can expect an update on our favorite (hopefully not frequent!) flyer.

In the meantime, remember – in breading hurts puppies, especially if they have to ketchup with their littermates. Yeah, I’m not even sorry about that one.