Category Archives: Explanations

Fasting for 12 hours before anesthesia

We always tell folks to take away the pet's food the night before any procedure that will require anesthetic:  surgery, dental cleanings or extractions, whatever.  If the patient will be unconscious in the hospital, we want an empty stomach.  If you take away any food twelve hours before the procedure, that usually gets us an […]

What to name the cat?

 In a way this is more about the subject of names in general, but I’ll get to cat names eventually.  If you can’t wait, just scroll down to the last paragraph with the picture of the yellow cat. In some primitive societies (and some ancient societies, and some societies in literature of the fantastic), it […]

“Letter to the Editor”? Did not see that coming.

I was a little surprised to find my last post about our animal control situation printed in the Daily Dunklin Democrat newspaper as a letter to the editor.  I'm not upset, just surprised, as they didn't talk to me about it, and I didn't send it to them.  Of course, anything on the internet is […]

Balancing finding homes for needy pets, and providing good animal control service.

You may be aware that there are some upsets and disagreements over the handling of our city’s animal control department.  This is a complex issue, and I fear that it is being oversimplified in a polarizing way.  When people of good will seem to be at odds, there is usually some failure to communicate.  It […]

The case of the dog who ate the non-food item.

Eating non-food items is a big problem in pets.  It happens so often that I am amazed at how seldom I have to do surgery to remedy the situation.  Frequently the animal vomits up the item.  Sometimes it passes all the way through. In September, we were all set to do surgery for an intestinal […]

Systemic Fungus Infections

What is wrong with this kitten? How did she get this classic "Roman Nose" profile?  She wasn't born with it.  She has an infection called Histoplasmosis, a systemic fungus. Most folks have heard of "toe-nail fungus" or "athlete's foot" or ringworm. These are fungus infections  of the skin, and they don't go deep into the […]