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 […]
Category Archives: Diagnostic Testing
We’ve talked about what to bring, and where to find it. I didn’t mention what we do with it after it gets here, though. There are so many fecal specimens run through our laboratory every day that I just take it for granted. I shouldn’t be doing that, though. Here’s what happens: about a teaspoonful […]
Some people tell me that they just can’t find where their dog goes to the bathroom. If they live on a huge farm, then I’m not surprised. Sure, I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised. When they tell me that "Yes, the yard is fenced", but they still can’t find it, I’ve got to wonder just […]
Warning: Bodily Functions are Disgusting So, the client brings in a ziploc bag with a few leaves just as bright green as these. "I think that my dog has diarrhea from eating these plants." "Have you seen him eating some like these?" "Not like these, these plants right here. See how wet they are? They […]
The "wellness exam": what is it? It’s a good physical examination, plus or minus some diagnostic tests, when you think you’re in good shape and don’t need it. In terms of my own health, my insurance company pays for bloodwork each year, sends me a survey to fill out, and then advises me of what […]
In a previous post I discussed the presentation of dogs and cats who have blood in their urine. I mentioned various causes and diagnostic tests available, but I left out the current scenario. Some years ago, a client called saying "Fuzzy has another one of those bladder infections." (She had previously had two episodes of […]
I spent the summer of 1973 working at the Central Missouri Humane Society, back in my pre-veterinary days. People would call asking, "Do you have any purebred dogs with papers?" Occasionally, we actually did. Most of the time we had the canine "wretched refuse of your teeming shore" (to borrow from Emma Lazarus). While there […]
Sometimes that seems obvious. If a patient is having blood in the urine, you ought to examine a urine specimen. So the folks bring their baby in, and she takes a little walk outside with our top urine-catching technician, and back they come with a dandy sample. She’s emptied her bladder and you’ve got a […]
This is Roxxi. She looks a little woozy because she got spayed today (a complete ovario-hysterectomy, i.e. the removal of the entire puppy works). People tend to think of this surgery as routine because it is performed so commonly. Of course, it’s never routine for the dog — for her it’s a once-in-a-lifetime major […]
Three times in the last week I have been presented with a pet who was gravely and terminally ill, and the people felt the illness had come on suddenly. I looked at the pet and saw things like being twenty percent underweight, bones "sticking out", dehydration, sunken eyes, swollen abdomen. These are things that didn’t […]