Vet Pets Magazine

www.petsmag.co.uk

August 2015

MY PET by Author Janetta Harvey

Sensing human disease: the amazing Medical Detection Dogs

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OUR COVER stars this month are the author Janetta Harvey and her miniature schnauzer Susie-Belle. Janetta shares her life with husband Michel, and their three dogs. They divide their time between the south of England and south-west France. Janetta is author of two books on puppy farming, Saving Susie-Belle and Saving One More and is currently working on one for children. She is an active campaigner and networks with others around the world who are fighting to end puppy farming. More on her work can be f o u n d o n h e r w e b s i t e a t : www.janettaharvey.com.

What breed is Susie-Belle and why did you choose her?Susie-Belle is a miniature schnauzer. My first dog, Jasmine was a miniature schnauzer and she taught me all about the sassiness and sparky character they have. I totally fell in love with her, and her ‘schnauzeriness’ and when she died, my husband and I knew we had to have another

schnauzer in our lives. We bought Susie-Belle’s sister Renae as a puppy, but we also wanted to rescue, and delving into the world of rescue and breeding, led me to the nasty world of puppy farming. I found a rescue that

takes in some of the few discarded, worn out dogs from puppy farms and that’s how I found Susie-Belle. She had lived as a breeding dog in the worst kind of puppy farm.

How long have you had Susie-Belle?Susie-Belle’s been with us for four years.

Does Susie-Belle come with you to work?I am fortunate that I work for myself, from home, so yes, when I’m writing, Susie-Belle is beside me on her bed.

What difference does she make to your life?Susie-Belle has changed my life. Once I grasped the full horrors of puppy farming, I knew that I had to do all I can to make a difference to other dogs that are caught up in it. I knew that giving a home to one survivor isn’t enough, nowhere near enough, so now I spend my days writing, blogging and campaigning to end the vile industry that condemns dogs to lives of utter misery. She’s also taught me the supreme importance of being patient. A quality I lacked

MY PET

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before she came into my life.

Do you take take doggie-friendly holidays with Susie-Belle?Susie-Belle along with her sisters Renae and Twinkle – also a puppy farm survivor – go everywhere with us. We are fortunate to have a home in south west France where we spend chunks of the year and wherever we are, they will be too.

What are the best holidays you’ve taken with her?We took up camping during Susie-Belle’s first summer with

us. I’d never camped in my life and I have to admit, it’s a lot of fun with the dogs.

Our best camping adventure was in the remote Cevennes region of France. The mountain campsite was beautifully located and we spent our days discovering waterfalls, isolated fresh water pools and cool, quiet, spring fed rivers.

Do you take Susie-Belle with you to restaurants and pubs? We rarely eat out as Michel, my husband is a professional chef, so for us to venture far from his kitchen, it needs to be a really

special event. We’ll do it in France more than in the UK as taking three dogs out in England is never as easy as in France. We find in France they’re welcomed in the local places around us.

What are Susie-Belle’s favourite things in the world?Food. She loves her food; she will eat almost everything she’s given and has become quite the canine gourmet. And me. She’s very attached to me, and I to her, we have a special bond that’s often found in dogs rescued from puppy farming backgrounds.

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She knows with me she’s safe, secure and can really do whatever she wants to. I made a promise to her that her life was now hers to live, and I mean it.

The only time I restrict or impose anything with her is when it involves safety and health. I take a

lot of pleasure from knowing we’re able to organise our world around her so she has her freedom and lives as a dog should. She’s more than earned this in her life.

Does Susie-Belle have any tricks or special character traits?Her character is best described as sassy. She’s a real sweetheart, very gentle, but beneath her tenderness, there’s a sassy spark that gets her what she wants these days. I love this, as it shows that whatever the puppy farming industry

did to her, however they wrecked and damaged her body, they did not break her spirit.

Is there anything you feel strongly about regarding pet welfare?Puppy farming is an aberration that I will not stop campaigning against until the day it ends.

Millions of dogs around the world are caught up in what is a global industry of suffering. While strong corporate interests lie behind much of it, and people are making a lot of money in the puppy trade, the buyers must also take responsibility for what they’re complicit in and keeping going.

It’s the biggest betrayal of our canine friends to keep them trapped in lives spent breeding and not being loved and living as our companions.

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At its headquarters in Buckinghamshire, UK charity MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS is harnessing a time-old technology to pioneer a brand new method of early cancer detection. Remarkably, the charity trains dogs to recognise the smell of human disease before even the symptoms are felt.

The Dogs Trained To Detect Cancer

Jobi © Emma Jeffery

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DR CLAIRE GUEST, animal behaviourist and director of the charity Medical Detection Dogs, has dedicated the last ten years to exploring the possibility that dogs could be the solution to the ever more pressing problem of early cancer detection.

She set the charity up in 2008 in partnership with Dr John Church, a former orthopaedic surgeon. Four years previously, both had worked on the first significant study to investigate the possibility that dogs could detect human cancer.

Dr Guest explains: “For hundreds of years humans have worked with dogs in every aspect of our lives. Dogs have helped us catch our food, protected us, found us when we’re lost and consistently provided loyalty and affection.

“They are tuned into our moods and our behaviour. If you take into account this intimate relationship and combine it with their extraordinary sense of smell, which is powerful enough to detect one drop of blood in three Olympic-sized swimming pools of water, the idea they can pick up the odours related to human disease is really not so hard to believe.”

As life expectancy has risen and healthcare improved, the threat of cancer has grown. One in two nowadays will be diagnosed with cancer. In spite of this, little progress has been made in the sphere of early detection.

Prostate cancer is a salient example. The traditional prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests have a 75 per cent false positive rate. This leads to three in four men with a positive result

unnecessarily undergoing a second round of painful, invasive tests.

In contrast, secondary screening provided by the dogs would involve a painless, non-invasive and cheap process of sending a urine sample to the bio-detection unit in Buckinghamshire. Working one at a time with a trainer, the cancer detection dogs are

presented with eight urine samples on a carousel, one of which contains cancer. The dog sniffs each sample until it finds the one that contains the cancer volatiles. The dog then sits and stares fixedly until the trainer confirms a

“We know dogs’ sense of smell is extraordinary –

why shouldn’t they be able to save our lives?”

Dr Claire Guest ©Janine Warwick

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correct identification and rewards the dog with a treat.

The detection dogs never come into contact with the patients who volunteer to donate their samples.

In these types of training trials, the cancer detection dogs have recorded 93 per cent reliability.

The charity is currently completing two training trials, one into the detection of breast cancer using breath samples and another into prostate, bladder and kidney samples using urine samples. The research will be double-blind tested and peer reviewed.

Is Dr Guest frustrated by the slow process of turning her research into a functioning secondary screening service available on the NHS?

“Yes and no. Of course it’s frustrating that right now there are people all over the country – and indeed across the world – who cannot be screened by the dogs instantly and receive the quick, accurate answer to this most important question of all.

“However, you would expect – and demand – the level of scrutiny we have faced to be applied to any new technology in healthcare. It is people’s lives

that are at stake and so it is vital we can prove conclusively that our dogs achieve a high level of reliability.”

While the cancer work makes steady progress, the second arm of the charity is already saving the lives of sixty individuals across Britain with long-term conditions on a daily basis. Of these, the majority suffer from brittle type 1 diabetes, a severe form of the condition which means sufferers get no warning signs that their blood sugar is nearing crisis levels.

Claire Moon, a diabetes nurse from Cambridge has brittle

Daisy © Emma Jeffery

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type 1 diabetes herself and was one of the first to receive a dog from the charity.

"I used to stay awake, or wake up every hour overnight, testing my blood sugars 20 times a day," she says. “I feared not waking up in the morning because my body has stopped giving me warning signs, such as dizziness or blurred vision, when my blood sugar dips dangerously low.”

Now Claire has Magic, a bounding golden Labrador who remains at her side wherever she goes. “Magic has alerted me hundreds of times and saved the NHS thousands of pounds by preventing emergency call-outs. I used to be rushed to hospital in a critical condition about once every month.

“Before Magic, I had to give up my job; now he’s a firm favourite on my ward. I call him the blond bombshell!”

Gemma Faulkner at only 13 years old has had to deal with more than most people her age. Diagnosed with brittle type 1 diabetes a month before her third birthday, her condition has meant frequent stays in

hospital and the fear of lapsing into a coma at night.

Thanks to the charity, she now has Polo, an energetic black Labrador. Polo is firmly one of the Faulkner family.

Gemma’s mother recalls the first time Polo alerted during the night to Gemma having a hypo. “He came into our bedroom and came up to me. I knew he was telling me there was a problem. We tested Gemma’s blood and her blood sugar levels had fallen dangerously low.”

For Gemma, Polo is more than just a life-saver: “He is my new best friend. I love him so much. We have great fun running through puddles and playing ball. He makes me feel safe and confident – I can’t imagine life without him!”

Dr Guest is ever pragmatic, but nevertheless remains resolutely optimistic about the future. “We know we have revealed a remarkable ability dogs have to detect dangerous chemical changes in our bodies. These highly sensitive bio-detectors should not be underestimated just because they possess waggy tails!”

The charity receives no government funding and relies entirely on charitable donations. For more information please visit: http://medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk.

The average dog's nose is 10,000 times more sensitive to odours than the human nose.

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'Don't ever judge a pet show,' my receptionist had warned me. 'It can a minefield for a vet.' But I had ignored her advice. And lived to regret it.So here I was, one August afternoon, crossing the vicarage lawn, to a line of people standing with their dogs.I first turned to a white

Poodle who lifted her lip as I bent down to examine her

– an action which had her immediately struck off my list of possible finalists.

I approached a Boxer. ‘Well, boy, you seem pleased to see me,’ I exclaimed, ruffling his ears. I suddenly felt my left trouser leg go warm and soggy.

I wheeled round to find the Boxer’s leg cocked against mine, a jet of urine still squirting out. He was promptly eliminated.

‘Fine example of her breed, don’t you think?’ boomed the gorilla- owner of a Red Setter. I recognised him as my dentist, Mr Lucas. I lifted the Setter's muzzle and drew back the lips on one side to inspect her teeth. The back molars were encrusted with tartar.

MALCOM D WELSHMAN is a retired vet and author of three pet novels. The first, Pets in a Pickle, with a foreword by James Herriot's son, reached number two on Kindle's bestseller list. The third, Pets Aplenty, has just been published. The Sun says: 'It’s perfect for animal lovers the world over.' Malcolm shares with Pets Magazine readers his story about being invited to judge a local dog show...

It Just Goes To Show!

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Another pet to be struck off. Mr Lucas suddenly thrust his face in mine. ‘You’re due to come in for root canal treatment next week aren’t you? They can be quite painful you know.'

I quickly reinstated the dog. Well, she was very obedient.

Next a gravelly voice grated in my ear. ‘’ere, you haven’t

examined Chico yet.' The voice belonged to Jane Bradshaw, the Sister at the local Health Centre. She glared at me from over the top of a chihuahua’s head. I went to pat him and got bitten for my trouble. ‘Chico needled you did he?’ said Mrs Bradshaw.

‘Couldn’t do better myself,’ she added. ‘In fact, I could do far worse. Just remember that when you next need to come in for a tetanus jab.’ The chihuahua stayed on my list.

‘Coo ... ee ...’ shrilled a voice slicing through the air. I turned, first catching sight of the large wicker basket containing a Yorkshire terrier, and then the white head of one of my clients, Miss McEwan, bobbing behind. ‘As you know I spend an awful lot

on Minnie here,’ she twittered as she drew level with me. ‘All those costly vet’s bills. But I don’t mind if it warrants it. But you’ll be the best judge of that, won’t you?’ she added, her voice dropping several decibels to sound distinctly threatening.

Oh no I groaned inwardly. Not more intimidation. This was

turning into the village Mafia. I only needed the local baker to threaten to slice my up wholemeal, the grocer to give me a cauliflower ear and the butcher to make mincemeat of me.

My attention was suddenly caught by a small boy in grey flannels, a slim black Labrador, quietly sitting by his side. ‘Thomas,’ said the boy shyly when I asked what his name was.

‘Well, Thomas, you’ve a nice quiet dog here.’

The boy’s face creased in a frown. ‘Actually, Cindy’s my dad’s but I help to look after her.’ He kissed the Labrador on the head and she turned to lick his face.

I liked the rapport evident between them. Yes, I decided, Cindy would be the overall winner.

The prizes were to be presented on the patio. The vicar strode forward, a large benevolent smile curled across his face. ‘So sorry not to have introduced myself earlier,’ he whispered, shaking my hand vigorously. ‘But I trust you've found a worthy winner.’

Miss McEwan waved her purse to and fro, Mr Lucas bared his

gleaming white tombstones while Jane Bradshaw’s right forefinger repeatedly jabbed the beefy biceps of her left arm.I ignored them and made my announcement. ‘The winner is Thomas Venables and his Labrador, Cindy.’ An audible murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd. I looked at the vicar whose mouth had dropped open, his face

rapidly turning puce.The lad emerged from the

crowd, Cindy trotting beside him. ‘Here Dad, could you hold onto Cindy while I collect my prize,’ he said, handing the Labrador’s lead to the vicar.

The applause was muted and I even thought I heard someone shout, ‘Fixed’. Certainly Miss McEwan, Mr Lucas and Jane Bradshaw never clapped.

And I was never invited back.Which just goes to show.

Malcolm D. Welshman is the author of the bestseller, Pets Aplenty, available from Amazon on www.tinyurl.com/mxg85wnHis website is www.malcolmwelshman.co.uk

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Sophie’s Choices

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