Cat Nap

Our Chief Feline Officer (CFO) Bob loves taking cat naps.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Stone loves water

And he's also very proud of his clean teeth. Dr. Clary was cleaning another patient in the dental suite at Rowlett, and decided to give Stone a spray of water and air!! He's in heaven...

He later took a nap in the middle of the treatment room. Despite looking sedated, he's just sleeping.

House Soiling Case Study

"Tux", a beautiful five year old, "tuxedo" (black and white)  cat has suddenly decided to stop using his litter box. Tux's parents have no other cats and one ten year old lab.  There is also one adult child that lives at the home.

These cases always represent challenging detective work for veterinarians. Is this a medical problem? or is it psychological? Is the patient trying to balance an outside competing neighborhood cat that is marking the home's windows, doors or bricks? Is he/she ill?

Often a two prong approach is the best for these cases. Dependent upon the patient's age, diagnostics are selected to ensure there is not a medical reason for the change in elimination habits. We ruled out a medical issue in Tux by ruling out infection, bladder/kidney stones and inflammation. Tux's parents had also taken our  prior advice and created a wonderful "catio" for him to bask in and watch the birds and squirrels, so we didn't feel environmental enrichment was lacking. The lab was super sweet and never bothered Tux nor affected his access to the litter box.

We also confirmed that Tux's litterbox was located in the same place (the utility room) and that the litter brand had not been changed BUT after further discussion we did learn the clothes washer had been replaced about the same time Tux decided to stop using the litterbox.

Another cat questioning this big white box....

Turns out Tux did not like seeing his reflection in the "front loader" that replaced the "top loader " the family had had previously.  The clients obviously didn't want to get another washer so soon and were able to coax Tux back into using his litterbox by covering the front of the washer (and thus the reflection) with cardboard.  It looks silly, but did the trick.

Its' hard to always know what our pets are thinking and to see things from their point of view. It can take long conversations with your veterinarian to find the right solution for each case and remedy what initiated the offensive behavior.  Sometimes the change that resulted in the litterbox issue can't be remedied so easily - the only son can't go to college locally, grandma has to move into the home, or sorry kitty but the new baby is here to stay.

We are skilled in helping clients solve these frustrating cases - give us a try if you have a problem!!

Never let your cat do this!!

P.S. While we don't want our cats to be so fearful of an appliance they avoid using their litterbox --- a healthy dose of skepticism can prevent a fatality if your cat likes to sleep on warm clothes. A horrible consequence of a cat just doing what seems natural is to have a dryer turned on with a cat inside. 

Benji Survives Bobcat Attack in Rockwall

Those of us that love animals of all kinds (wild and domesticated) love to see nature up close and personal in our own backyards. While Bobcats rarely attack pets (they prefer rabbits, squirrels and rats - Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife) they are not rare in our urban neighborhoods anymore.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife have a Facebook page dedicated to the DFW area that can be found here. https://www.facebook.com/DFWUrbanWildlife/photos_stream

We even caught these photos in our own backyard in Garland, Texas the year a Bobcat was feeding kittens further up the creek. We watched our "squirrel count drastically decrease from our back window" that year.

Little Benji (a rescue from a local shelter) met up with a bobcat in his own yard in Rockwall. His pet parents searched frantically after having him snatched from his yard about 20 feet from Mr Kirk. Dad said, I heard a hiss and saw a flash and then he was gone.

After they returned home trying to resign themselves that he would not be seen again, they found Benji wandering in the front yard. The only obvious injury at the time being a cut on the top of his head. They returned Benji to the Animal Hospital of Rowlett a few days later when Benji just wasn't breathing right. Sedation revealed further injuries to the inside of Benji's mouth and soft palate. Apparently the bobcat tried to carry Benji away by his skull! The cut on the top of the head was the tip of the iceberg.

GRAPHIC CONTENT!!! *********warning**********     In the next image you can see the breathing tube to the left of the photo with the blue stripe and the tongue in the bottom of the picture. There is a swelling in the soft palate (red oval and arrow) and bruising below it. Benji was a very lucky dog indeed to not have more extensive injuries. He has continued to recover in his dedicated owner's home in Rockwall and is expected to make a full recover.

We would encourage all pet owners to walk within 3 feet of your pets at all times (especially the small ones) !!  Letting our pets out to eliminate without supervision is just asking for trouble - even if for just a few seconds. It is a tragedy of opportunity that we can't really blame on the wildlife for seizing despite the obvious heart-wrenching result if their target is our beloved pet.

Meanwhile Benji is glad to be snug at home in his forever home.

Benji

Grass Awns Making an Early Presence in North Texas Lawns - Protect Your Pet

Another victim of "grass awns" today.... It seems that some of these guys have already started to dry and are attacking pets again. While in the Western United States, pets and veterinarians deal with these on a daily basis, we only see them occasionally.  Most commonly, they affect pets' interdigital spaces.

But they can literally show up ANYWHERE as seen in this patient today in which they were in her armpits.... OUCH!!

Sometimes we are able to pull them out easily in the exam room and sometimes a short surgical procedure is indicated to locate them.

These photos are from my iPhone of the awns after they were removed.

I honestly don't know what these awns look like in the "field" even though I have a strong interest in gardening and plants in general. I did find the below website that details those found in the West and given the common characteristics of grass, I bet ours look similar.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/dogs/foxtails.html

http://www.meanseeds.com/the-bad-grass-list/

If you have time to research the topic, try a web search for "MRI, grass awns, dog" for an entertaining few minutes....

Animal Hospital of Rowlett

Bonnie Benefits from Acupuncture After Just One Treatment

So, my dog Bonnie is what some may call....a landshark.  She bites and doesn't really like to be handled much.  I used to think she was just old and crotchety, but the more I have seen her curve her back and lay with her legs funny, I have realized this behavior is attributed to pain.

I brought her in and we started her on tramadol, gabapentin, and pred to try to control inflammation and pain.  It helped, but not fully.  Then, Dr. Carter started offering acupuncture services at AHR/AHH.  I thought, why not see if this helps her to be less painful?

So, I brought Bonnie in for her first treatment.  She was painful and didn't relax in the beginning.  She tried to bite Dr. Carter so we had to muzzle her.  After Dr. Carter got 5 needles in, she relaxed and actually fell asleep in Dr. Carter's arms.  We let her sleep about 30 minutes and then I took her home.  She ran inside, ran up the stairs, tried to play with our big dog Bo (who stepped on her one day and started these back issues) and scarfed down 2 big bowls of food (she is usually a nibbler and picky).  She fell asleep in her bed and slept for about 10 hours.

Wow! I thought, how could she be feeling so great after just 1 treatment? Dr. Carter recommended bringing her back in 5 days for a second treatment.  I did.  She didn't have to be muzzled this time.  She laid down in the room and ate some baby food from a jar while Dr. Carter placed the first couple of needles.

Bonnie let Dr. Carter put in a few more needles this time and had the same reaction as the first...she fell asleep for about 30 minutes and you could see her visibly relax.  I brought her home and she acted like a young, crazy woman again...bouncing all over and playing with the Bo.  My husband even commented that "she acts so awesome for the first couple of days after those acupuncture treatments".  I can't wait to see how she is after she has had a few more treatments.  Maybe she can be this way all the time?

We are loving this new service and so are the doggies who are helped by it! Call now to Book your veterinary acupuncture consultation today 972-412-0101 if you think your dog could benefit!  Also, pain isn't the only indicator for acupuncture.  Many different illnesses can benefit from veterinary acupuncture treatments.

Boba gets acupuncture treatment number 3

This is one of our nurse's dogs (Boba) getting acupuncture.  She has had lots of success already and its only been 3 treatments!  We are loving this new service and so are the doggies!  Book your veterinary acupuncture consultation today if you think your dog could benefit!  Also, pain isn't the only indicator for acupuncture.  Many different illnesses and conditions can benefit from acupuncture treatments.