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 […]
Category Archives: Explanations
My daughter sends me a nice email from Zambia today: Is there anything we can do to control Spud's shedding. He seems to shed year round and an awful lot. My husband thinks it's more than any other dog he's ever known. I've asked him to describe it: "Extravagant quantities, insane quantities, how is he […]
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 […]
Dogs love to play, and they need to exercise. The bigger they are, the more room they need to run and play. People know this, but they don’t always have a nice fenced yard. Sometimes they let them off the leash. Of course, I’ve seen so many pets who have been injured or killed by […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Well, I wish I had known this a long time ago. I tried to reply to someone's question yesterday and could NOT get it to show up. Comments are moderated, which means that I get an email to approve them before they are published. If they have any general interest, I publish them, and reply […]
I don't usually put these things in the form of a post, but the comments don't seem to be working as they should on the Aural Hematoma post, so I am re-posting this lady's question, along with my answer. Hello Doc– I'm contacting you regarding my 7 year old golden retriever mix with very floppy […]