When the phone call starts that way, I am often skeptical. People often blame poisoning for everything from cancer to parvovirus diarrhea. How do you know it's been poisoned? Did you leave poison out where your dog could get it? Did you see him eat it? Before I could ask any of my questions, the […]
Monthly Archives: April 2009
The dermatologists harp on this, and for good reason. When a dog has a skin problem, you frequently see a very non-specific outward appearance. If he's been scratching it, it just looks like it's been scratched a lot. You will probably see hair loss, flaking skin, redness, crusts, scabs, maybe some pimples. This will be […]
Here's Mollie. [Sorry the photo is a little out of focus; our timeline got way out of hand and I didn't take time to check the picture before she left.] She's a complicated case and she got me to violate one of my basic rules, to wit: I'm a doctor for the whole patient, not […]
It was a little too windy. It was a little too cool. My riding buddy was out of town. It was a little too late to start (I had spent half of my "afternoon off" at Children's Division, studying the file of my new CASA volunteer assignment). Lots of reasons not to ride. I rode […]
Any time that a young puppy comes in vomiting, I recommend an X-ray. Puppies are famous for eating non-food items. Many of the things that they eat are not dense enough to show up on an X-ray: plastic, cloth, string, paper, etc. Even then, you may see things that make you suspicious of an intestinal […]
Here’s today’s tough question [edited]: I have a cat, Zoe, who is 15. She is diabetic. Even when her diabetes is stabilized, she’s so skinny! She has gone from a big 12 pound Maine Coon to a weeny 5 pound Maine Coon. She looks and feel bony. We know she has some arthritis (she […]
After my last post, one reader asked me if I would post the questions and answers. I replied (pretty much without thinking) that they are posted as comments on the original post. So how would you know where to look, gentle reader? I'm going to start posting the ones that have more general interest. I'm […]