Airs Wed February 29, 2012, 9PM EST. Listen to this podcast directly from my show page by CLICKING HERE.
Dear Listeners, Viewers, and Readers:
Tonight I will be tackling the ever so controversial raw diet movement. I will present you with the history of who started this movement, what the theory behind it was, whether or not it is as effective as its proponents say it is, whether or not it is as dangerous as its opponents say it is.
This is one of the most polarizing topics in the animal care industry, so I am looking foreward to listener feedback. As always, I invite you to post comments right here at the blog or submit e-mail comments/questions to be addressed by me on the air, by sending them to comments@web-dvm.net.
Thank you as always for caring about what I have to say!
Sincerely,
Roger Welton, DVM
Dr. Roger Welton is the President and chief veterinarian at Maybeck Animal Hospital in West Melbourne Florida, as well as CEO of the veterinary advice and health management website Web-DVM.net.
Dr. Welton!
I’m an enthusiastic listener to your podcast and routinely bring up your topics at my veterinary clinic. Thank you for your contribution to veterinary education and wellness. My question for you has been haunting me lately, as everytime I search for veterinary topics I ALWAYS run into Dr. Karen Becker from Mercola Pets. Most of her blogs seem to make evidence-free claims and frown on Western medicine (vaccines, prescription diets, parasite control, etc.), normally I take her blogs with a grain of salt, but I was hoping to get your opinion. She posted a video discussing anal sac expression, and warned that bringing your pet in for expression can lead to incontinence and the inability of pets to express them on their own in the future. None of the vets at my clinic agree, and seeing as I express several sacs a day I could really use some “peace of mind”. Thank you again for putting out content I can trust, as a student and technician I hope to follow in similar footsteps one day.
Karl,
Anal sacs should only be expressed if the pet is presenting with clinical signs of chronically full or impacted anal sacs: scooting behavior, excessive licking of region, or unusual swelling/foul smell emanating from the region. While I completely disagree with Dr. Becker’s assessment that regular expression will lead to problems, I do not advocate for routine expression unless the pet is showing a need to have them expressed manually, as it is documented that this could artificially create a need to have them regularly manually expressed.
Thanks for your contribution and for the kind words.
Best,
Dr. Roger