When I was in my senior year of vet school, a beagle presented to the orthopedics service for a surgery consultation. The complaint: My dog can't walk. The door opened, and in walked a person, dragging a little red wagon behind her. Splayed out inside was the most obese pet I have seen in my life: a 68 pound beagle. His eyes, nearly buried in layers of fat, peeked out sadly as he huffed and puffed, pleading: help. The surgeons rolled that dog right on out of the room and down the hall to ... Read more »
Health
Vets get jealous too
This one's for my fellow toilers in this profession. One of the great things about not owning a practice is that I don't have to worry about a lot of the things an owner would. Payroll, for example. Sick technicians. FMLA. Leases. That sort of thing. One of the bummers about not owning a practice makes itself apparent whenever I find myself at a continuing education conference, walking through booths of shiny bright tools and pieces of equipment I can't buy. The sales rep turns to me with ... Read more »
Let’s play a game
I like this game. It's harder than it looks. You'll get a series of hints. Slam the buzzer when you know the answer. An owner calls and says his dog is itchy. BUZZ! FLEA ALLERGIES! Ah yes, very good guess, but you haven't even seen the dog yet. The dog is not on flea control. BUZZ! IT'S TOTALLY FLEA ALLERGIES! Look, I get that is a reasonable assumption, but we need a little more information to make an accurate diagnosis. ... Read more »
The honest truth from The Honest Kitchen
As you all know, I'm always exploring and learning more about pet nutrition. It's one of my favorite topics. I've mentioned on several occasions that I rotate the dogs' food, and one of my regular brands to rotate in is the Honest Kitchen. After reading Made out of Love, their recipe book, I asked founder Lucy Postins if she would be available for a e-mail interview, and she very kindly agreed. Above all, I was really fascinated that in a business dominated by a handful of large pet food ... Read more »
Thunderphobia!
I live in Southern California. We don't have thunder. We have earthquakes. In fact, we just had one 5 minutes ago. It was a 5.9. I'm still shaking. My point is, while I can tell you all about how to handle earthquakes (freeze and pray), thunderstorm phobia is really not my area of expertise. Fortunately for all of you, as we stand on the cusp of thunder season (so I hear), I have the pleasure of having guest blogger and trainer extraordinaire Eric Goebelbecker from Dog Spelled Forward, one ... Read more »
I’ll get you, my pretty! And your little warts too!
Today, I decided little Kekoa might enjoy a day at doggie daycare. Why not? I had a reservation I wasn't going to be able to use for Brody anyway. Why is that, do you ask? Poor Brody is persona non grata at doggie daycare. You see, he has warts. Canine viral papillomas, to be more specific- a common affliction in dogs, seen most often in young pups who go to dog parks, or, erm, doggie daycares. So no matter that this very place is the most likely reason he got it in the first place, until ... Read more »
The truth? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Man, that was an intense movie. *wipes forehead* As I was perusing Facebook yesterday, I saw a link from my friend Annette over at Biscuits By Lambchop that took me to a column about pet nutrition in the New York Times. "The truth about cat and dog food," it is titled. You should read it. Then let me know what you think. As far as I can tell, the gist of the article is this: Super premium pet food is rife with gimmicks. Most pet foods in the same quality range have similar ... Read more »
The Fantastic Mr. Foxtail
I have a love-hate relationship with foxtails. On the one hand, they are nasty. Little sharp spiky pieces of grass material with tiny microscopic retrograde barbs that cause them to migrate on a one-way trip into yucksville, they like nothing better than to jump onto a dog's fur and burrow into just about any orifice they can find. I've pulled them from eyes, ears, noses, tonsils, toes, vulvas, prepuces, teeth- you name a surface, I've seen a foxtail in it. On the other hand, they sure do ... Read more »
Careful where you put that thing
Some people read Rolling Stone. Others read National Geographic. On the rare occasion we have a quiet moment in the clinic, my staff likes to read Veterinary Dermatology. Now, I know lots of veterinarians are less than excited about this particular aspect of practice. Ear infections aren't sexy, they say, not like, say, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Bo-ring, they ho-hum over a flea allergy dermatitis while hoping a nice cranial cruciate ligament tear limps ... Read more »
My Anaconda Don’t Want None
One of the prices we pay for living in paradise (aside from traffic, cost of living, and all of that manmade stuff) is sharing the land with the lovely rattlesnake. Generally speaking, they aren't too difficult to deal with if you are your average suburbanite- just leave them be. It's not like they're Boomslangs that drop randomly out of trees onto your head (I had nightmares after learning that little factoid); they sun themselves on rocks and other exposed places trying to be left alone. ... Read more »
chompchompchomp
People ask me on a regular basis what kind of toy they should give their dog to chew on. We go through the usual: Bully sticks, rawhides, Greenies, Kongs (each with distinct advantages and disadvantages.) We eliminate the problem items I never recommend: pigs ears, cow hooves, dried femur bones. For the most part, we can find something that most dogs can use. Sticks, by the way? I don't recommend them. (My husband took this picture when I wasn't around.) About once a week, an owner ... Read more »
Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective
We got a visit today from one of my favorite families. They brought in their sweet kitty Boca because she had a cough. The family had recently been sick, and based on what they saw on the news with H1N1 they were concerned that Boca might have the flu. The owners wrung their hands nervously as I opened Boca's carrier. I was immediately assaulted with...something strong, sort of like Febreze. I sniffed the carrier. I sniffed the cat. They both smelled equally strong. Boca did indeed have an ... Read more »
New frontiers
Do you know Batman the cancer dog? I didn't either, until today, when I read that he died. This is sad news, but also one that represents a great victory. Batman was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in 2008; according to the news article, the same type as that which took Senator Ted Kennedy- a glioblastoma. Average survival time for a human: about one year. The senator survived 15 months. Batman survived 19 months. Needless to say, most pets with a diagnosis of cancer live ... Read more »
Fleas and novel control ideas not to try
Fleas stink. No doubt about it. They make your pet miserable, you miserable, they carry parasites, and they're gross. Worse still, once they take up residence in your home, they can be very difficult to get rid of. Why is that? ... Read more »
Bad for me, good for you
My childhood dog was a Lhasa Apso named Taffy. For the first 8 months of life on the East Coast, she was an adorable ragamuffin of flopsy adorableness. Then- we moved to California. In the warm Southern California climate, flea season is year round. And over the next few months, Taffy became Scrappy. Her long lustrous fur fell out, to be replaced with that hyperlichenified elephant skin indicative of massive irritation. Her skin was one raw welt. The only way to keep her comfortable was to ... Read more »
Flip the lip Part 2: Dental care at home
I will tell you, and I will stand by it until the day I die, that dental cleanings are an extremely important and helpful measure in keeping your pet healthy. My teeth are white. My gums aren't red. My teeth aren't falling out of my head. And I still get cleanings twice a year. Visible disease is not the only sign your mouth needs care. Every once in a while, someone will come in a few months after a cleaning and point out the fact that there is, again, some visible plaque. "How come?" they ... Read more »
Flip the lip!
As many of you already know, February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Do your pet a favor and take a few seconds to take a peek at his or her teeth- a GOOD peek. You might be surprised at what you find. According to many veterinarians (including this one), periodontal disease is the most commonly diagnosed disease in dogs and cats. According to Dr. Brook Niemiec, "By the age of just two, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some form of periodontal disease." As a board certified veterinary ... Read more »
Vet magic tricks
We're all a little on edge these days, with all the mayhem, destruction and parvo we've been seeing lately. So much so that when any puppy with a peep of diarrhea comes in, my techs have taken to whisking it into the back, shouting "POSSIBLE PARVO! OUTTA MY WAY!!" as they rush by with a little furry ball into the isolation ward. I don't blame them. It's been a long couple of weeks. So when I saw a little furball go whizzing by this morning, I sighed inwardly. I asked the tech to get a parvo ... Read more »