As the name suggests, fish tank chillers are designed to keep the water in your fish tank cool in warmer climates. They are mainly used in marine aquariums where fish tend to be highly sensitive to temperature although fancy goldfish in tropical climes also benefit from the use of a fish tank chiller. An additional benefit is that cooler water has a greater capacity to hold dissolved oxygen thus avoiding issues with low levels of oxygen in your aquarium.

When do you need the fish tank chiller?

A fish tank chiller will be required when you run an aquarium with fish that prefer to live in cold water only. Aquarium chillers will maintain the water temperature you desire. Changing the temperature is something you need to do yourself, manually.

An alternative to a chiller is to run an air conditioning unit in the room that contains the aquarium, however running the air conditioner just to keep the fish tank water at the desired temperature can be a very expensive option. And even though a fish tank chiller may seem like an expensive item it will soon pay for itself if you are not running the air conditioner day – especially if you are not home during the day or you are on vacation.

Another chiller alternative is to add ice to the tank but this is highly impractical unless it is a very short term method to deal with heat wave conditions. If you do need to add ice to your tank it can be added by freezing water in a bottle. The frozen water bottle can be lowered into the tank or hung on the side of the tank.

For very warm climates and for fish that naturally require cold water there is no real alternative other than a chiller unit. It is also possible to purchase an aquarium heater and chiller in one unit which can be used year round to maintain the water temperature in both summer and winter.

When choosing your chiller you will have a choice of thermoelectric, in-line or drop-in fish tank chiller.

Thermoelectric chillers are commonly used in small tanks of less than 60 gallon capacity. They are energy efficient and silent running and can be used in both salt and freshwater aquariums.

Drop-in chillers are commonly used in saltwater aquariums or reef set ups. They require no additional plumbing and are fitted in line with the tank filter. They are simple to install and have low maintenance requirements.

In-line aquarium chillers are manufactured for tanks with a capacity of 60 gallons or more. They have a motor, a compressor and cooling fans and will require a well-ventilated area for installation. They may require professional installation and they are quite large.

An aquarium thermometer is an inexpensive necessity to use in conjunction with your tank chiller. If your chiller fails or mismanages the temperature of your aquarium you need to know immediately. A thermometer is a reliable way of monitory the temperature.

The main disadvantages of fish tank chillers are the cost of the units themselves – which can vary from a few hundred up to several thousand dollars – and the energy that they consume, which can be 80-100 watts per hour.

Alison Stevens is an online author and maintains The Goldfish Site and The Goldfish Blog to assist anyone who wants to get started with setting up an aquarium fish tank and keeping freshwater fish.

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cataract is an opacity in the lens of the eye. The entire lens may be involved or just a part of it.  The patient will not be able to see through the opacity. And then why dog can get catarac?The lens of the eye is round, hard, and normally as clear as glass. Looking at the lens it is hard to believe it is a piece of living tissue.  The lens is suspended by fibers which can adjust its position so that one can focus.  The lens is encased in a capsule and depends on the fluids of the eye for nutrients. The lens does not receive a direct blood supply.

Normally, the lens absorbs glucose from the eye fluids, using most of this for its own energy needs. Some of the excess is converted to another sugar called sorbitol.  When there is excess sugar in the eye fluids, there is excess sorbitol produced. Sorbitol pulls water into the lens which in turn disrupts lens clarity and causes the cataract. Fructose is also produced from the excess glucose and also contributes to this water imbibition.

Is it Cruel to Keep a Blind Dog?

Not at all. Dogs do not depend on vision the way humans do. A blind dog can get a long very well as long as the furniture isn’t moved and the dog is properly supervised.

For tips on helping the blind dog adapt:

http://www.ehow.com/how_17612_live-with-blind.html

For a listserv for owners of blind dogs:

www.eGroups.com/list/blinddogs

There are many medical conditions that render a dog blind and as long as the condition is not painful, the dog can live a normal life as a successful and happy pet.

What Kind of After Care is Needed?

The patient will need to wear an Elizabethan collar after surgery to protect the eye. Cortisone eye drops are needed for probably several weeks. Oral anti-inflammatories will be needed for weeks to months after. Drops to keep the pupil dilated will also be used.

What Kind of Complications are Possible?

Complications to consider are:

* Long term uveitis (probably of most concern for diabetic patients)
* Opacification of the lens capsule (usually correctable with laser)
* Corneal clouding (can be managed with 5% saline eye drops 4 to 6 times daily)
* Bleeding into the eye
* Glaucoma
* Retinal detachment (particularly if the cataract is hypermature)

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The pancreas is a pale pink glandular organ that nestles cozily just under the stomach and along the duodenum. As a glandular organ, the pancreas is all about secretion, and it has two main jobs: the first job is the secretion of digestive enzymes to help us break down the food we eat, the second job being secretion of insulin and glucagon (to regulate sugar metabolism). The digestive enzymes are the part of the story that concerns us in pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis Is Inflammation of the Pancreas

In pancreatitis, inflammation disrupts the normal integrity of the pancreas. Digestive enzymes that are normally safely stored in granules are released prematurely where they digest the body itself. The result can be a metabolic catastrophe. The living tissue becomes further inflamed and the tissue damage quickly involves the adjacent liver.

Toxins released from this orgy of tissue destruction are released into the circulation and can cause a body-wide inflammatory response. If the pancreas is affected so as to disrupt its ability to produce insulin, diabetes mellitus can result; this diabetes can be either temporary or permanent.

Special disasters include the disruption of “surfactants� in the lung tissue that normally keep the tiny air-filled alveoli from collapsing after each exhaled breath. Without surfactants, the alveoli close up and respiratory failure results.

Also, there is a syndrome called Weber-Christian syndrome in which fats throughout the body are destroyed.

Pancreatitis is one of the chief risk factors for the development of what is called disseminated intravascular coagulation, or DIC, which is basically a massive uncoupling of normal blood clotting and clot dissolving mechanisms. This leads to abnormal simultaneous bleeding and clotting of blood throughout the body.

Pancreatic encephalopathy (brain damage) can occur if the fats protecting the central nervous system become digested.

The good news is that most commonly the inflammation is confined to the area of the liver and pancreas but even with this limitation, pancreatitis can be painful and life-threatening.

Pancreatitis can be acute or chronic, mild or severe.

What Causes Pancreatitis

In most cases we never find out but we do know some events that can cause pancreatitis:

• Reflux of duodenal contents into the pancreatic duct. The pancreas has numerous safety mechanisms to prevent self-digestion. One of these mechanisms is the fact that the enzymes it creates are stored in an inactive form. They are harmless until they are mixed with activating enzymes. The strongest activating enzymes are made by duodenal cells, which means that the digestive enzymes do not actually activate until they are out of the pancreas and mixing with food in the duodenum. If duodenal fluids backwash up the pancreatic duct and into the pancreas, enzymes are prematurely activated and pancreatitis results. This is apparently the most common pancreatitis mechanism in humans, though it is not very common in veterinary patients.
• Concurrent hormonal imbalance predisposes a dog to pancreatitis. Such conditions include: diabetes, hypothyroidism, and hypercalcemia. The first two conditions are associated with altered fat metabolism that predisposes to pancreatitis, and the latter condition involves elevated blood calcium that activates stored digestive enzymes.
• Use of certain drugs can predispose to pancreatitis (sulfa-containing antibiotics such as trimethoprim sulfa or chemotherapy agents such as azathioprine).
• Trauma to the pancreas as from a car accident or even surgical manipulation can cause inflammation and thus pancreatitis.

Miniature Schnauzers are predisposed to pancreatitis as they commonly have altered fat metabolism.

Signs of Pancreatitis

The classical signs in dogs are appetite loss, vomiting, diarrhea, painful abdomen, and fever.

Making the Diagnosis

A reliable blood test has been lacking for this disease. Traditionally, blood levels of amylase and lipase (two pancreatic enzymes) have been used. When their levels are especially high, this is felt to be a reasonable sign of pancreatitis, but still these tests are not as sensitive or specific as we would prefer. They can elevate dramatically with corticosteroid use, with intestinal perforation, kidney disease, or even dehydration. Some experts advocate measuring lipase and amylase on fluid from the belly rather than on blood but this has not been fully investigated and is somewhat invasive.

A newer test called the PLI or pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test has come to be important. Lipase is one of the pancreatic digestive enzymes and small traces are normally present in the circulation. These levels jump dramatically in pancreatitis and the diagnosis can be confirmed with a less expensive and non-invasive test. A regular lipase level measures all forms of lipase, not just those of a pancreatic source; this is test is specific for pancreatic lipase. The problem is that technology needed to run this test is unique and the test can only been run in certain facilities on certain days. Results are not necessarily available rapidly enough to help a very sick patient.

More recently a new test called the SPEC cPL (specific canine pancreatic lipase) test has come to be the test of choice. This test is a newer generation immunological test for canine pancreatic lipase and can be run overnight by a reference lab. This test is able to detect 83% of pancreatitis cases (the test is 83% sensitive) and excludes other possible diseases in 98% of cases (i.e., the test is 98% specific for pancreatitis). There is no comparable test for cats at this time.

Radiographs can show a widening of the angle of the duodenum against the stomach, which indicates a swelling of the pancreas. Most veterinary hospitals have the ability to take radiographs but this type of imaging is not very sensitive in detecting pancreatitis and only is able to find 24% of cases.

Ultrasound, on the other hand, detected 68% of cases and provides the opportunity to image other organs and even collect fluid from the belly easily. When one balances rapid results and accuracy, this test may be the best.

In some cases, surgical exploration is the only way to make the correct diagnosis.

Treatment

The passage of food through the duodenum is a strong stimulus to the pancreas. In the treatment of canine pancreatitis we do not want any stimulation of the pancreas; we want the pancreas to rest. This means no food and no water for 2 to 3 days (IV fluid support prevents dehydration).

Fluid support will generally require potassium supplementation as potassium depletes in pancreatitis. Blood pH must be tracked as well. A critical patient with pancreatitis will need 24 hour care and blood test monitoring several times a day. A plasma transfusion represents a special type of fluid therapy and helps provide special proteins that inhibit pancreatic enzymes. Whether or not the protection afforded by plasma is real or theoretical is still being worked out but since it is difficult to go wrong with a plasma transfusion, do not be surprised if your veterinarian uses this approach.

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Cushing’s disease causes increased drinking, increased urination, increased appetite, panting, high blood pressure, hair loss – usually evenly distributed on both sides of the body, pendulous abdomen, thinning of the skin, calcified lumps in the skin, susceptibility to skin infections and diabetes, weakening of the heart
and skeletal muscles, nervous system disease and other symptoms. Most owners reach a point where the water consumption and urination become bothersome to them.

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