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Fall 2010 Battery charged Dogs and batteries do not mix. But Mocha, a one-year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, found this out the hard way. Chewing on a C-battery did not cause immediate discomfort, but within a day, chemical burns appeared throughout her mouth.
Summer 2010 Dental Care Is A Yearlong Project Many pet owners know about the specials veterinarians run during National Pet Dental Health Month in February. But in order to keep your pets’ teeth in good condition, it is important to continue home dental care throughout the year.
Spring 2010 Lily toxicity in cats: A Silent Killer With spring and Easter just around the corner, it is very important to consider the potential problems that can occur when cats ingest plants, especially lilies. Members of the Lilium (true lilies) and Hemerocallis (day lilies) genera can cause kidney damage and organ failure leading to death. Ingestion of even a small amount of the leaf, petal, or pollen should be considered potentially deadly in cats. Not all lilies are toxic or deadly, so it is important to know what type and part of the lily was ingested.
Winter 2009/2010 Paw Problems - A Winter Nightmare! Winter in Colorado is typically mild with little snowfall in the Front Range foothills. This winter has proven different, however. Early snowfall and sustained cold temperatures have left us with lingering snow and ice on the ground. Both of these create hazards to both people and pets alike!
Fall 2009 How Dangerous Is It To Walk Your Dog? Most people walk their dogs for exercise and enjoyment. Even though your dog may be well behaved, you cannot rely on all dogs you may encounter to be just as friendly. If you remain proactive and aware of your surroundings, however, you may be able to head off a potential disaster.
Spring 2009 Pyometra “Daisy Dukes”, a 1 year old female Chihuahua, originally presented to POTRAH because she had not been eating well for the 3-4 days before her appointment. She had become lethargic and had vomited. These symptoms can be descriptive of many diseases, but there was one other key piece of information: “Daisy Dukes” was not spayed.
Winter 2008 Could Allergies Have Caused This Big Ear? Annie Poeppleman, a 10 & 1/2 yr old black lab mix, greeted her owner with a swollen ear. When the owner brought her in to Paws of the Rockies, the doctor explained that Annie had an aural hematoma; aural, meaning, “ear” and hematoma, meaning, “swelling filled with blood.”
Fall 2008 Unexpected Dangers of Grass Wild grasses are everywhere in Colorado. They grow tall in the spring and begin to seed in mid-summer through the fall. It is during this time of year you need to be cautious of the dangers grass seeds can pose to your dog. Because the grass awn has a barb on the end, it works like a fishhook.
Summer 2008 Nosey Neighbors Dogs are naturally inquisitive but also protective of their territory. It seems natural that when in their yard and another dog is staring at them through the fence they may want to protect their yard. If you know your dog is protective or dog-aggressive, tell your neighbors. If your neighbors also have dogs, it would be a good idea to not allow the dogs out in the yards at the same time, even if a fence is dividing them. The potential for fence fighting is great and the damage can happen quicker than you can prevent.
Spring 2008 Chocolate Peterson - Why we require exams with vaccines Kathy Petersen was thrilled when we required an exam for her 6-year-old Maltese to get his yearly vaccine boosters, even though he had been examined two other times within the 8 months prior to this appointment. Kathy scheduled the appointment for Chocolate, knowing that a full exam would be completed by a doctor prior to him receiving his vaccines. It was a good thing an exam was required; if we had given vaccines that day, Chocolate could have died.
Winter 2007 Nia Herrell - Feline Heartworm Disease Nia is an 11 year old, domestic, indoor-only female cat that has been a patient at Paws of the Rockies for about 2 years. Nia has a history of stomatitis, an immune mediated condition, which causes swelling, sores, redness, halitosis and pain of the oral tissues.
Fall 2007 Gino Mull - From boarding to losing a leg: How quickly it could happen. Gino is a 2 year old neutered, male Bichon Frise that came to Paws of the Rockies on emergency this past March. He had been boarding at a kennel and was brought in by the kennel owner for trauma to the leg. While boarding, Gino had a history of being stressed. But this time he took out his anxiety on the blankets that were in his kennel. After tearing each blanket into stringy shreds, Gino began to circle and pace, causing the shredded blankets to tangle around his legs. Eventually, a piece of blanket wrapped so tightly around his leg that it cut off circulation to his leg.
Summer 2007 Io Shuba - Degenerative Myelopathy in a German Shepherd Io, a 12 year old German Shepherd, has been a patient at Paws of the Rockies Animal Hospital for nearly three years. Io first came to our hospital when he was 9 years old and has been seen regularly for his annual examinations and preventative vaccination and heartworm care. In the years that we have been caring for Io, we have seen him for gradual worsening arthritis in the hind legs. Io has been on joint supplements for quite some time which have helped to keep his arthritis under control and reduce his stiffness. Once his arthritis significantly worsened, he was placed on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication to reduce his pain and improve his comfort and mobility.
Spring 2007 Hershey Watanabe - A Bladder Full of Stones Hershey, a seven year old spayed, female dog has been a patient of Paws of the Rockies Animal Hospital for about 4 years. Hershey loves to do work as a therapy dog. Hershey has been a very healthy dog in the time we have seen her as our patient. She comes in regularly for her annual examinations and vaccines and her owner has always maintained her overall preventative health care very well. Hershey frequently comes in for nail trimmings and anal sac expressions and fortunately has not had any chronic medical conditions.
Winter 2006 Cicero Lemmon - Hyperthyroidism in a Cat Cicero, a 13 year old male cat, presented to our hospital for his yearly exam and vaccines. On examination, Cicero appeared very healthy. He did have some mild tartar on his teeth and according to his owner, had lost some weight. She had switched all her cats over to timed feedings, rather than free feeding them, and felt his weight loss was because of that. We performed a feline leukemia and FIV test as this had never been done. His vaccines were administered and we drew some blood for a senior wellness blood panel. This included a chemistry panel, a urinalysis, a CBC (complete blood count) and a thyroid level.
Fall 2006 Pepper Smid - A Case of Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis Pepper, a 6 year old female Dachshund presented to our hospital with a sudden onset of lethargy, vomiting and bloody diarrhea. The owners had recently picked her up from the boarding kennel when she started to act ill. All of these symptoms started suddenly within the preceding 12-16 hours and had progressively worsened. When we first saw Pepper, she was very lethargic and not her usual “peppy” self. She appeared to be dehydrated and her body temperature was slightly low and her pulses were weak. She did have copious amounts of watery, bloody and mucousy diarrhea coming from her rectum. She was gagging and dry heaving during her exam and was clearly nauseous. We hospitalized Pepper immediately and performed some tests on her blood and fecal material to try to determine the cause of her symptoms.
Summer 2006 Sophie Mink - Mammary Tumor in a Dog Sophie Mink is a 12 year old female, spayed labrador retriever who presented to our hospital 3 months ago for evaluation of a tumor in her mammary region. The tumor had been recently found by her owner. In addition to the tumor, Sophie’s owner has also noticed other changes in her health. Her owner was concerned about some weakness and stiffness that Sophie was exhibiting in her hind legs. Sophie’s owner was also concerned about her harsh and heavy breathing. One important piece of information regarding her medical history was that Sophie was spayed as an adult dog. Sophie was bred and did have a litter of puppies.
Spring 2006 Athena Thayer - A Surprising Case of Diarrhea Athena, a 2 year old female Doberman, presented to our hospital 3 days after she had been adopted by her new owner from a rescue situation. In the short time with her new owner, Athena was doing very well. She received updated vaccines at her first visit. One day after her vaccinations, Athena broke with diarrhea. There were no parasites found on her fecal examinations. However, she did have severe colitis (inflammation of the colon). She was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and a high fiber diet and within 2 days, she was back to normal. . . Or so we thought. |