Re: [PyrNet-L] Re: Pyrenees en guarde

["Tracy Bassett" <espinay@dynamite.com.au>]

<<Wild dogs also have a lot of other "crap" to deal with -- one thing is
urban development that introduces vehicles and modern "diseases" that the
wild dog hadn't encountered before. >> Robyn

Here are some interesting sites which detail wolf mortality in Yellowstone
and Idaho.

http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/deadwolf.htm

http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/deadwolf-id.htm

You are right Robyn, a lot of them died as a result of being shot, or hit by
a car etc.  Quite a few also seem to have died from injuries they sustained.
Some of the causes are listed as died of 'natural causes' and are therefore
unclear as to the exact reason.  Several of the 'natural causes' deaths
however, appear to be injuries sustained trying to *catch* the raw meat
rather than from eating it!

The basic info on the Toklat wolves also seems to indicate that the biggest
killers were man-related: http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/wolf_denali.html
Parvovirus is also listed as a major killer.

Brandy, regarding your query about vets thoughts on the practice of dogs
eating raw meat/carrion.  I have two vets that support this and can name
quite a lot more.  I guess coming from a rural area, I am very relaxed about
this practice, and vets from rural areas tend to be the same.  It is viewed
as very natural and not something to be at all concerned about.  Rural dogs
here, including my own farm dogs when I was growing up, have always been fed
raw meat and bones and regularly feasted on cow and horse dung and other
glorious stuff.

Remember that most of the internal parasites we generally think of are
mostly transmitted through a dogs faeces and through contaminated soil (in
your backyard or the park), not through raw meat.  Others are transmitted by
mosquito's or fleas :
http://www.info.novartis.com/textsite/agri/animalhealth/t_worms.html

Hydatid tapeworm is transmitted through raw offal, but I do not believe you
have this parasite in the US.  Regular worming prevents this being a
problem.  All vets recommend is that dogs with access to livestock/offal be
wormed regularly.

Tracy Bassett
Canberra, Australia
espinay@dynamite.com.au
visit my webpage at http://members.dynamite.com.au/espinay/index.htm