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Hey all; here's a very interesting update! (and a frank and sometimes uncomfortable discussion discussion about charging money for health care)

The introduction of the 2013 AAHA Dental Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, approved and endorsed by the American Veterinary Dental College, prompted AAHA to update the Dentistry Section of the standards. The Guidelines state that cleaning a companion animal's teeth without general anesthesia is considered unacceptable and below the standard of care.

  The dental specialists have been saying this for years and we've listened. Other hospitals preyed on fears of anesthesia and the lure of offering a service  for about a hundred bucks that had no overhead. Pure profit.... But what was the catch? It wasn't good for your pets! So how do you calculate the savings when you buy a useless or even harmful procedure.

The Animal Hospital Association has decided to catch up with the standards that South Beach Animal Hospital has followed for the past 17 years. They now require that pet's getting teeth cleanings must be anesthetized !

We could have raked in huge profits over the past years by performing cheap non-anesthesia dental cleanings to folks who were glad to pay but it would go against what we knew(what every vet should have known) to be substandard care.

We will never offer something that isn't best for our patients.

This begs the question, why  have other hospitals not been following this standard all along? If a hospital has been practicing substandard care all these years you have to think twice!

This is the same story as when the vaccine protocols went from yearly to every three years. As soon as the evidence was clear that this was better medicine, we at south beach animal hospital immediately responded by reducing vaccines in 1997. It meant we had to charge more and we know that turns people off but iI wasn't going to give my patients extra vaccines to keep the profit margin sustainable. It took another 10 years for the other hospital to start doing the same. WHY ????

Please support the only hospital willing to forgo higher profits to ensure the best care for your pets. Here's the catch; By adopting stricter health standards, the cost of the initial care rises, unfortunately. But what is the cost of providing bad care?

I have always contended that the better, more expensive care actually comes out cheaper in the long run. Our pets have less problems in old age and are certainly healthier during their lifetimes. Our competitors may trick you by offering a vaccine at half the price of ours and then sell it to every year instead of the healthier every three years. Again, what did you save? At south beach animal hospital you can always be sure that we are on the cutting edge of health care and are always looking for a healthier way to do things. See the new health care standards below.

    AAHA-accredited members may have noticed an important change to the dentistry standards that were sent via email Aug. 1. 

AAHA's new mandatory dental standard will impact practices scheduled for their evaluation on or after Nov. 1, 2013. Below, we share some facts about the new standard.What is the new mandatory dental standard?

 All dental procedures are performed under general anesthesia with patients intubated.

What has changed?

This standard changed from a points-based standard (DE01, worth 100 points) to a mandatory standard requiring that all dental procedures be performed under general anesthesia with patients intubated.

Why did the AAHA Board of Directors decide to make this change?

The introduction of the 2013 AAHA Dental Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, approved and endorsed by the American Veterinary Dental College, prompted AAHA to update the Dentistry Section of the standards. The Guidelines state that cleaning a companion animal's teeth without general anesthesia is considered unacceptable and below the standard of care. General anesthesia with intubation is necessary to properly assess and treat the companion animal dental patient. The use of general anesthesia allows for the necessary immobilization without discomfort, periodontal probing, intraoral radiology, and the removal of plaque and tartar above and below the gum line including polishing to ensure patient health and safety. Because AAHA-accredited hospitals are expected to practice the highest level of veterinary medicine, AAHA's leadership felt it necessary to update the standards to reflect best practices outlined in the Guidelines.

x

Mazel

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   Mazel getting treated for diabetes!   

Dear Cat lovers

I'm writing this post as an important health alert concerning our pet cats. Dr. Walter and I have been seeing more and more cases of critical illnesses like diabetes and kidney disease in our cat population. The problem is that cats often won't show any outward symptoms of these diseases until they are in the end stages and much more difficult to treat. We're not seeing kitties for their routine yearly visits (or twice a year as they get older) because the cats "SEEM" fine and healthy.....this is not always the case. Clients are bringing cats after not having had an exam for 2-3 years and the blood tests reveal terrible problems. However, if they had been detected earlier, they would be much easier to treat.

I recently saw 2 cats from the same household that I haven't seen for at least several years. According to their owner, the cats were fine and just getting caught up on their vaccines. Whilst examining them prior to giving the vaccines, we found that the ears (which looked fine from the outside) were completely blocked with solid wax...they probably had about 80% hearing loss for six months to a year, but showed no signs. The owners felt terrible!

This goes out to all you cat lovers who haven't seen the vet in about a year or more. Let's get in to South Beach Animal Hospital and make sure everything is as good as it SEEMS!!!!! 

You can visit our website at www.southbeachanimal.com or call 305-534-8404 to make an appointment today!

Thanks,

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Dental X-Rays of a 3 Year Old Cat with "Apparently" Perfect Teeth!

Note the root destruction of the large tooth on the left compared to the right. Without x-rays this cat would be sent home with improper treatment. A consultation with a dental specialist was performed and the tooth removed based on his recommendation. This cat would have had to suffer with a painful root abscess if no x-ray was taken. Unfortunately, many pets don’t receive crucial care when corners are cut. South Beach Animal Hospital is the only hospital on Miami Beach currently using routine intra-oral x-rays.

No Anesthesia teeth cleaning myth

I'm up way too late but I'm starting a new one. Every day I see pets in terrible agony and suffering with dental/oral problems more so than any other single injury or disease. THATS HUGE!!!!!The idea that some misguided individuals are promoting non-anesthetic cleanings and calling it friendly to pets is driving me nuts. This is the worst of the worst . It's so pet unfriendly it's not even funny! These folks are really hurting the pets they're trusted to help. It's a real crime in my book and there are vets in my neighborhood selling this snake oil. I'll take you directly to the expert here. A board certified veterinary dentist. He's Fraser Hale from ontario where he's run a dental specialty hospital for many years. He was kind enough to allow me to link to his site and quote from his wealth of knowledge and experience.
Here's the site; http://toothvet.ca/
When I told Dr. Hale about my blog he referred me to a newsletter from the governing body of veterinarians for the entire province of Ontario, Canada. page 18 of the attached newsletter from the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (our provincial licensing/disciplinary body). The fact that the CVO has now stated emphatically that offering unanesthetized veterinary dental care falls below the standard of practice for the entire province of Ontario .By the way, It is substandard right here in the US of A! From the site he talks about "Standing Dentals" i.e. without anesthesia and how it's absolutely impossible to serve our pets needs this way. I'll also follow this with a blog about anesthesia and how incredibly safe and important it is. Enjoy an exerpt from Dr. Hales website:
This myth likely grew from client concerns about the risks involved in general anesthesia. In order to offer some level of dental care at reduced risk, some veterinarians have offered the “Standing Dental”. Groomers and breeders have also been known to offer this service. When finished, the visible portions of the teeth look clean to the naked eye and the animal’s breath is often less offensive. This, coupled with a much lower fee and no anesthetic risk tends to satisfy the client. “Standing Dentals” leave plaque and calculus in places where the owners can not see it, so the owner is given a false sense of security that the mouth is healthy. “Standing Dentals” scratch the enamel surface but do not allow polishing so the tooth is left even more plaque retentive than before. “Standing Dentals” are unpleasant for the animals and so can make them head-shy which makes instituting an effective home-care program much more difficult. “Standing Dentals” often lead to damage to the gingiva as the animal wiggles about while there is a sharp instrument in the mouth. “Standing Dentals” do not allow for a thorough oral examination and so subtle problems are left undetected and untreated until they become serious and obvious problems which are usually much more difficult to treat. I recently saw a very sweet, 14 year old sheltie owned by a very dedicated and capable owner. This owner will do anything for her dog if she feels it will improve his health and well-being. Unfortunately, the advice she received over the years was that her dog needed only coronal scaling with sedation. This had been done many times throughout the dog’s life. By the time I saw the dog, he had such severe periodontal disease that I had to extract 24 teeth (2 canines and all his remaining posterior teeth). The good news is that, within two weeks, the owner reported that the dog was chasing squirrels like he had not done in years. If this dog had received appropriate dental treatment from an early age and had the owner been given proper instruction regarding home-care, the extractions and the years of suffering from dental infection would have been prevented. Since “Standing Dentals” do more harm than good, refuse to offer this service. A “Standing Dental” is bad for the patient (there are risks with no benefit), bad for the owner (who pays for worthless, potentially harmful treatment) and bad for the profession (as it under cuts those offering proper dental care and undermines our recommendations).

Heads up on TRUE MYTH(is that an oxymoron?)

Grapes and raisins can be highly toxic to dogs and cats!!!!!!!!! So is chocolate. Aspirin, tylenol, ibuprofen etc. can be deadly as well. It's late but I wanted to get this info up on the blog to get the info out there. I'll post the details soon. Remember, call your vet before giving any home remedies to your pet's!!!!!!