Scout_the_bloggin_dog's blog

Q.  We had a home burglary not long ago, and the cop who took a report suggested getting a dog.  I'd like to know a vet's feelings on that topic.

A.  I think a dog is a great deterrent for unwanted guests. Some of my clients have large growling/barking dogs and have never experienced a burglary. Even a barking Chihuahua may work; the bark can be as bad as a bite.

But be aware there are some potential liability issues if your "guard dog" bites someone who is not breaking into your house.  But in my opinion, having a dog that is protective of its environment is worth having around the home.

                                                                               -- Rob Santos, DVM 

An older bulldog came into the clinic the other day with a “moth-eaten” coat. There were patches of hair loss throughout his coat. The owner said it started about two months ago and got progressively worse. It was mildly itchy. The owner had not switched foods, and the dog does not leave the yard.

I did a skin scraping looking for mange but did not find either demodectic or sarcoptes mange. I next sent in a sample of the skin to a lab to look for either fungal or bacterial causes. The results will not show up for about a week.

In the meantime I started the dog on an antibiotic and an antifungal. In addition, I will try to make the skin healthier with antibacterial/antifungal shampoo and some oral omega-3 fatty acids. I am not going to put the dog on any special foods for the skin until I see how everything else goes.

Many times skin problems are multifactorial. They can begin with allergies and progress into a skin infection caused by a combination of bacteria and yeast (fungal). Some of these skin cases must be treated for two to three months before they clear up completely.

A middle-aged cat came in to the clinic with a history of losing weight.  According to his owner, a few months back when the cat did eat, he made some noise. Now he stared at the food bowl but would not eat. Sometimes the owner noticed the cat salivate.  The cat was up-to-date on all of its shots and spent most of the time indoors.

On examination, the cat seemed bright and alert. I could feel his bones but did not notice any lumps or bumps. Heart rate and breathing were all normal. On examination of his mouth I noticed excessive calculi build up. This is normal in cats this age.  But what was abnormal was that when I put pressure on the back molars, the cat cried and pulled away from him.

His teeth were hurting him. He probably had a few tooth root abscesses. Tooth root abscesses can arise when bacteria get under the gums near the root and start to multiply, eroding gum and enamel. When it exposes the root, the tooth becomes painful.

Q.  My girlfriend got her cat from the SPCA, and they admitted they weren't exactly sure how old the cat was. Are there any things pet owners can do to determine their pet's age if they otherwise don't know it?

A.   A kitten is about one pound for each month they are old. So a three-pound kitten is approximately three-months-old. This is generally true until the kitten reaches about six months of age.

A young cat between the ages of one and four-years-old usually has pearly white teeth with little tartar. As the cat grows older, the tartar and calculi start to build up and the teeth become discolored.

At about eight to nine years of age, a cat’s eyes will start to become cataract and will gradually increase in density as the cat gets older.

Remember these are all generalizations and may not hold true for each cat.

A bulldog puppy came in today that has been coughing for about three days. The owner said that the cough started about two days after another veterinarian gave an intra-nasal bordetella vaccination. Bordetella are bacteria that cause infectious trachea-bronchitis or what many people know as "kennel cough."

There are two forms of the vaccine: one is injected under the skin and the other is dripped into the nose.   The intra-nasal vaccination works better than the subcutaneous form but one of its complications is that it can make the dog cough afterwards. The vaccination manufacturer states that this doesn't happen often and if it does it shouldn't last that long. They stated it is self-limiting.

Unfortunately the cough didn't go away on this little bulldog puppy so we are going to try an antibiotic. The puppy is eating well, is active, and is not acting like it is sick.  If the cough does not get better with the antibiotics, we will take some x-rays of the chest to look for other things that could be causing the cough.

Dear Scout, 

There are lots of things going on in our yard—the snails are coming out, the mosquitoes are starting to show up, the fountain is turning green, and the crab grass and Johnson grass are starting to spread like crazy. 

The problem is, we like to drink out of the fountain, and sometimes we chew on the grass. What are the safest ways Pop can deal with this without harming dogs like us? How can he tell which products are safe? 

Thank you!

Buster and BeBe Vasche

A six-week-old kitten came in today very weak and very thin. The owner said it was doing fine a few days ago, but now it didn’t want to do anything but just lay around as if in a permanent state of sleep.

On examination, we found the kitten was pale and its pupils were constricted.  There was also diarrhea on its fur.

We immediately took the kitten to the treatment room and started giving it nourishment orally. We wanted to increase its blood sugar level and keep the kitty alive until we can find out what was wrong.

We ran a fecal test, which revealed that the kitten had roundworms and coccidia. Roundworms are the "spaghetti" worms that can cause a severe diarrhea and weight loss. Some kittens and puppies can die from a large load of roundworms. Coccidia are microscopic parasites that causes severe bloody diarrhea.