Basic pe Dear Editor: Open letter Humphreys: Pve just read your mom Shannon Humphreys’ June 30 column (Pets and vets can be costly). Here’s my advice. Pack your bags. Or, if you feel you must stay, show her this letter. You see, Shannon thinks that it’s silly to have your teeth cleaned and that it’s OK to have bad breath. “... Since when are animals supposed to have nice breath?” she asks. Well, for most large dogs like you, periodontal discase is not much of a problem. I don’t know why, but it’s true. But, to Sophie for smaller breeds, halitosis is often a sign of severe peri- odontal disease. What is periodontal dis- case? It’s really a series of changes in your mouth that begins with the accumulation of tartar on teeth. In the early stages, you will suffer from red and swollen, itchy gums. Untreated, infection will begin to invade the attach- ments of the teeth to the jaw causing them to loosen. Later still, the infection will spread to the surrounding bone and bone will begin to disappear. Your teeth will be sitting in micro-pools of pus. But thae’s not all. The north shore news MAIL Box t care’s comp! infection can spread via the blood stream to our heart valves or other organs. Tf we were to take a blood test at some point we would find that you are anemic because of the chronic intection and ther your serum globulins are high because your immune system is working overtime to contain the infection. You will feel sluggish and have less energy but since you're a Lab, you probably won't want to whine and whinge about it and if she does notice anything, she'll probably just think you're just getting clder and you’renot as spry as you used to be. Besides, she says that, “... by the time the dog is 12 or 13 he'll probably have lost or chipped most of his teeth anyway.” Please explain to her that she is right bur that the teeth are not “lose” because they have been “misplaced” but because the gums and bone were so rotten that the teeth had nothing left to hold them in place. This does not have to happen. With proper care, you can keep all your teeth and bite anyone who tries to tell you otherwise. And for heaven’s sake don’t ever hang our with the wrong crowd down at Ambleside. You might get fleas. Here’s what she said small space and cash. Big on sound. 3 ph. ut a: ‘The all new compact discreceiver 'S from NAD with rich sounding speakers from PSB. PSB is one of the great Canadian ‘ {AD is the company famous for simple, intuitive _operation and high perform- ‘ance at a reasonable price. The all-new L40 combines a superb CD player, high The audio success stories. Designed and built in Ontario but enjoyed and acclaimed world-wide. 300i provides the spacious, natural, full range sound you would expect from a much larger ‘ and more expensive loudspeaker. pérformance amplifier, and FM tuner . in one compact enclosure, saving space and simplifying installation. Unlike many of today’s mini- component systems NAD has not compromised on performance, even when compared to their own renowned separate components. NAD L40 CD receiver with PSB 300i loudspeakers. Can sit on a bookshelf while sounding like a concert hail. all for only $99 8 exities abour thar, “if To am te inoculate my kitties and put my dogs on the program, have cny house fumigated and the interior of my car sprayed, it’s going to cast me big time.” Please tell her that it will cost her a lot more if you do get fleas and begin ro scratch and tear at your skin like many of your friends who develop allergies to flea bites. Whar with visits to the vet, medication to stop the infection, the incessant itch- ing and the greater difficulty of controlling fleas when there are too many of them, it will cost her more in the long run. By the way, I've found that the quickest way to get action on flea control is when you have se many Neas thar they begin to bite the humans in the house. While we're at it you should) mention the rape- worms you could get from the flea’s bite. frearing that costs Money foo. Buc I'm sure she loves you and maybe she just didn’t think of all the ramifications of what she wrote. After all, she does finish with, “If you aren’t prepared to pay for basic care for a pet, don’t have one.” It's just a ques- tion of defining “basic pet care.” Dr. Moe Milstein Blucridge-Cove Hospital Animal S Friday, July 9, 1999 — North Shore News - 9 Editorial demeaned American neighbours Dear Editor: While I can find much to agree with in your Viewpoint entitled Canada Day hopes (une 30), [ take issue with your paragraph attempting to contrast. Canada with the United States. Personally, 1 think it dis- plays both arrogance and ignorance to draw a distinc- tion between the two coun- tries: ascribing the virtues of tolerance, good = manners, common decency, and neigh- bourliness as core Canadian values while demcaning the U.S. as a brash juggernaut. Like many Canadians, | have friends, relatives, and col- leagues in the U.S. and do not think for a second that they are anv Jess civilized than we aspire to be. I travel frequent- ly in both countries and sim- ply do not find the distine- tions that articles such as re yours so often cite as if they were indisputable facts. Certainly the U.S. is not per- fect, but neither, by a long shoz, are we. As an observation (by no Miwans unique) we have trou- ble defining ourselves for what we are and, lacking this abilicy, can only define ourselves by what we are not. More often than not this turns out to be the well-worn cliche that we are not American. Surely, responsible journalism would serve us better in a search for Canadian identity than con- tinually taking the same cheap shots against Americans. Such comparisons serve merely to demean ourselves, while they insult a neighbour which respects our indepen- dence, despite our lack of any ability to assert it. Juiian Davis jdavisalt@hotmail.com Look What's In Store For You Featuring Jenny Arntzen “Traditional & contemporary acoustic mugic.” Playing Friday, July 9 ¢ 8pm Galleria Ambleside 1545 Marine Drive West Vancouver 922 4694 ¢ 913-3449