This is really great news! Cats have very few options for pain relief and this one will be a game changer. Four days of analgesia that doesn’t involve pills or the owner doing anything at all.
Really interesting study on the venom of P. muticus. The image is not P. muticus but looks like a P. murinus. Both are colloquially called baboon spiders. This is why scientific names are so important. This could help with better treating chronic pain in people and animals. This is also a good example of why we need to protect entire habitats and not just the cute animals we want to hug. I do like that the actual paper says the tarantula has an “appealing coloration”.
“Warmed wet food can help to promote food consumption in aging cats, especially those that have lost interest in eating or do not consume enough product to maintain a healthy body weight.”
I’ve always advised owners try this so it’s nice to see proof that it works. This is not a substitute for proper veterinary care and diagnostics, this is a tool to use after a diagnosis. Don’t ever wait to see the vet if your cat isn’t eating because they can develop fatty liver disease very quickly and this can be fatal.
I firmly believe that people who can’t afford pets shouldn’t have them. You often hear about how everyone deserves a pet but no one ever seems to discuss whether or not pets deserve to be owned by people that can’t provide good care. There is also a big difference between those who simply don’t have $5,000 to spend on emergency treatment for their pet and those who can’t even provide routine wellness care.
There is also a difference between those who just don’t think veterinary bills are “worth it” and those who truly don’t have the money. Often when people ask about low cost veterinary care it is because they do not see inherent value in veterinary care and have assigned a certain dollar amount to what they feel things should cost. They could pay $250 for a spay but they don’t feel that the service is worth that much. People don’t understand that they aren’t just paying for the things being used in a procedure but the knowledge and expertise that goes with it. This is in stark contrast to those who truly don’t have the money.
For the latter group there are low cost vet clinics. Often these advertise themselves as such and are easy to find via Google. These facilities will often have owners fill out some kind of paperwork showing that they are in financial need. But why can’t all vets just provide low cost care I hear you ask. If they can do it for some people why not everyone?
The fact of the matter is that low cost clinics rely heavily on donations of money, equipment, and volunteers. They also try to save costs in other ways like not giving each patient an IV catheter and using very few drugs. Many of the staff members at these clinics either volunteer their time or are taking huge pay cuts. Quite a few people work other jobs in addition to those at the low cost clinics because they themselves couldn’t make ends meet if they didn’t. If they provided care even for owners that could pay but just don’t want to, they wouldn’t be able to provide services to as many owners that actually do need the help.
So why not just cut costs at every clinic and pass the savings on? Well, for one procedures are much safer when we have IV access, proper monitoring equipment, and time to spend with each patient. The other is that veterinary staff deserve to be paid for their time and expertise.
It’s tough out there, especially right now. Your veterinary staff understand because they also have bills to pay and need gas for their cars. Everything from vaccines to scalpel blades are increasing in costs as are electric bills and clinic space rental fees. We are doing our best not to pass on those extra costs but it will have to happen. If you truly need a low cost vet clinic, they exist and they will help you but it’s important to understand why they are low cost. If you just don’t feel like you should pay what a clinic asks think about how lucky you are to be able to have a choice.
On Why Veterinarians Can’t Give Estimates Without Exams
Most veterinary hospitals get phone calls daily asking the price of procedures and medications. Most of the time these owners are told they need to make an appointment and have the doctor take a look at the pet before an estimate can be made. Often the owners get upset and decline making an appointment. Why can’t they just be told how much something is?
I used to work at a practice that would just tell people the cost of whatever they asked for and book the procedure. I saw patients that the owners thought were coming for a spay but it was a cryptorchid male animal. I’ve had “small mass removals” show up with inoperable tumors. Several times I’ve found metastatic cancer in patients that were supposed to just have routine procedures. This isn’t the fault of the owner, they aren’t medical professionals. But that is why exams are needed before hand. Each of these cases ended up with angry or upset owners because the procedure and price were very different from what they were told it would be.
It is also difficult to explain the value of a procedure when someone is just price shopping. Yes, you can get your dog spayed for $75 at a high volume low cost clinic. They are less expensive because most of the time these animals don’t have pre-surgery lab work, don’t have IV catheters, don’t get local anesthetics, and may not be monitored as closely because there are too many other patients waiting. Do these patients do well? Sure. They often do just fine. Would I be comfortable with my own pet having a procedure done that way? No. But it’s hard to talk about all that in a five minute conversation on the phone and I don’t believe owners can make an informed decision without knowing everything that is involved.
I had a patient come in for what was supposed to be a routine dental cleaning. The owner had been going to a different clinic and having the teeth cleaned but that clinic had closed. Mr. Owner was very upset that our prices were more than what he had previously paid and said it was a rip off. I explained all about what was included in a dental procedure at my clinic and the owner finally agreed. I found an oronasal fistula during the procedure that had been missed at the other clinic because they didn’t take radiographs. The patient had been coughing and having nasal discharge for years and nothing fixed it. I fixed the fistula and the symptoms were gone. Had this just been based on a phone price quote that dog probably wouldn’t have gotten better.
For those that just want an inexpensive spay or neuter you can easily look online and find community programs or hospitals that can do that for you. But it is important to remember that these aren’t the same as what you would get elsewhere. You are comparing apples to oranges.
Unfortunately my Easter Monday has already had a few lily toxicity cases. I really wish lilies came with a warning label that they cause fatal toxicity in cats. Every part of the lily including the pollen causes renal failure in cats. There is no safe amount- any exposure at all requires an immediate vet visit.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to get your cat to the vet as soon as you know they’ve been exposed. If we can start treating your cat immediately sometimes we can reduce the severity of kidney disease. One of my cases today chewed a leaf on Saturday and the owners knew it was toxic, but thought since the cat vomited it could wait. Today the cat already has signs of kidney failure and it’s too late to help much.
Oddly, lilies only cause GI upset in dogs and not kidney disease. I still don’t advise anyone with pets ever have lilies in their home.
“I can’t get into my vet!” I hear it from new clients. I see it on the news. I read about it pretty much everywhere. At the height of the pandemic vet clinics were slammed. Every single appointment slot and then some were taken and we were seeing walk ins. I was seeing twenty or thirty plus appointments per day. But now something is changing.
The schedule looks full. We are still turning clients away because there is nowhere to put them but now we are seeing (or rather, not seeing) appointments that never show up. The clients confirm their appointments by phone the day before, they get text messages the day of and most of the time will confirm. Their appointment time comes… and they never show. They don’t answer the phone. They don’t email. They don’t respond to texts. And it is so frustrating because we could have offered those spots to other people. And it isn’t just me, this is happening to vet clinics all over.
What can be done? Well, my clinic is now charging a fee for anyone that doesn’t cancel within 24 hours. There has been some push back from owners which is silly because this is how every human medical office, nail salons, barbers, stylists, and every other service based business has operated for years. And all the owner has to do is show up, or cancel within 24 hours to avoid the fee. Some people have said they can’t afford the fee, which again, just show up and you won’t be charged, but also this fee is less than the cost of a visit. How were they going to pay if they did come in? Many clinics are now asking new clients to pay for their first appointment before they will let them book it and we may end up doing this too.
Tl;dr
Show up for your veterinary appointments. If you can’t make it, call us.
“The overwork and short staffing of the pandemic has affected veterinarians as much as it has other doctors and nurses, and dealing with the constant moral dilemmas and emotional output is driving many to burn out. At the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ veterinary hospital in San Francisco, so many vets and technicians have left that the clinic has had to cut back its hours, says veterinarian Kathy Gervais.”
Ughhhh. HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) has made it to Michigan backyard flocks. It’s still across the state from me but that won’t last, and it’s been found in backyard flocks in several other states now as well. AI is a flock eradicator; if any of your birds get it, the whole flock must be culled and there’s a wait period before you can start over.
PLEASE bring in your bird feeders for the next few months to discourage birds from gathering together.
Even if you don’t have outdoor birds like me, you can help protect flock birds in your area by removing feeders and bird baths etc from your yard. This will help to slow the spread to flocks like mine.
If you are in the USA and have flock birds
Bring them in if you can. If you only have a couple, set them up indoors if you can. If you’re like me and you can’t, do your best to move food and water sources into the coops where wild birds won’t see them. You can buy bird prevention netting to wrap your run in, and tarp the top of it to prevent falling excrement from reaching your birds as wild birds pass overhead.
It should go without saying, but I’m gonna say it. You should also avoid going to places where others have birds (like auctions, swap meets, visiting farms or friends that have them), or allowing anyone that’s been where there are birds to visit your property. If you must have visitors, a 10% bleach solution in a tub for them to step in is the bare minimum of biosecurity so they don’t track it in on their shoes.
There are tests for Avian Influenza, which can be done without killing the birds. If you are concerned your birds may be showing symptoms of AI (sudden deaths, decrease in egg production, decrease in water intake, or other illness symptoms), you should contact your state agricultural department (in Michigan, MSU ag department and MDARD handles this kind of stuff, not sure for other states) and inquire about what steps to take to have testing done. They will be able to advise you on what to do.
Good luck to those in states where this is moving around widely now. I hope everyone’s flocks stay safe. Please feel free to add resources for your state if you know them. Many states offer free AI testing!
For people wondering YES if you have exotic birds like parrots this is still something to be worried about. And i would follow Kedreeva’s advice
Oh yes, waterfowl and poultry are the most sensitive to this, but it’s avianinfluenza. It’s been found in plenty of songbirds/passerines, as well as the birds of prey that eat them, and there’s zero reason why psittacines are excluded except that most of them live inside houses.
If you do have completely indoor birds already (like parrots or pigeons or finches) then you need to be leaving your shoes at the door (preferably stepping into a bleach footbath with those shoes before removing them), not allowing your birds down onto the floor (and cleaning floors regularly with something to disinfect), and not allowing your birds outside until this passes, which could be months. You also should not be mixing equipment between enclosures, and doing your best to keep equipment clean and sanitized.
This has been steadily progressing across the US as birds migrate. A small farm in upstate NY just had to cull their entire flock of 400. Hundreds of thousands of meat birds at facilities around the US have had to be culled. Turkey farms have had to cull tens of thousands. McMurray Hatchery just lost half their heritage breed flocks to a positive test at one of their larger breeding facilities. There are a half dozen cases in Michigan, getting closer to me. Iowa has begun a blanket cull radius where any flock within 2 miles of an infected flock must be culled, positive or not, to prevent it jumping.
New cases and the major culls that follow in their wake, are being reported daily, and this is still just starting. Migratory season doesn’t end until the middle-end of May. April has barely started. The total death toll so far is upwards of 15 million birds, and that’s going to continue to go up.
Please, please, please. Protect your birds, protect the birds around you. I am begging you to bring your birds in if you can; they will not like it but at least they will be alive to not like it. I posted this originally when I thought we wouldn’t be able to coop everyone, but I have made sacrifices in order to do so since, because this is getting very bad.
Stay safe. My thoughts are with everyone’s feathered kids.
(Current as of April 6th, 2022)
Reblogging to add that there is a current and often-updated map of HPAI case locations in the USA on the USGS site. States that do not currently have cases still need to be wary, particularly the closer you are to states that HAVE had cases.
This is the map as of today, 6 April 2022:
I also want to tack this information on to this main post:
HPAI is transmissible to cats and dogs!
Studies done in 2015/16 and since have found that cats and dogs can pick up this virus from infected meat (as in when they eat wild birds they have caught) as well as through respiratory transmission. Cats and dogs are not generally susceptible to LPAI, the normal strain in north america, but both were found to be susceptible to HPAI.
So, in addition to removing bird feeders and keeping any pet birds on lockdown as much as possible, folks with cats and dogs need to be aware of the dangers to their animals as well. Cat owners should keep their cats indoors or allow them out in covered catios only (you’ll have to read up and decide if leash time is safe, I haven’t looked into it) until migratory season ends. Folks with dogs should not allow dogs off-leash outdoors where they might be able to catch birds or touch bird carcasses. While HPAI mainly causes death in waterfowl and land fowl, songbirds are a reservoir species and can transmit it to mammals interacting with them or their carcasses or feces.
Please be careful out there. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
Can confirm. There are new cases in wild birds reported every day, and even if you don’t live in a state with dots in it on the map, assume it’s already there. Because it will be soon; it’s spring and birds are migrating.
Removing feeders and anything that will encourage birds to congregate is a good idea. Especially if you are in a state that isn’t already reporting cases and you find dead birds, you can report that to your state wildlife agency.
(regardless, if you ever find a LOT of dead birds by all means report that to your state wildlife agency)
“Doc, before we go further I need to make sure you know about ducks. What breed is he?”
“He looks like a Pekin to me.”
“No. He’s a Cayuga. Your receptionist said you know about ducks.”
“I see lots of ducks and am knowledgeable about them. Cayugas are black with an iridescent green sheen. Quackery is white and-“
“Wrong. Cayuga’s can be white. I’ll give you another chance. What’s wrong with him?”
“Cayugas can turn grayish as they age but Quackery is only 1. His breed doesn’t matter too much right now. Let’s do an exam and see what we find. So, based on him being kept on concrete and the way this swelling looks he probably has pododermatitis or bumble foot. First thing we need to do is change his environment or this won’t ever get better.”
“I’ve kept ducks all my life and I’ve never had this problem. As long as they have some water they don’t get bumble foot. I think this is cancer. I’ll just go back to Tractor Supply where they know ducks. I’ve got a guy there that used to be a vet tech.”
Meowmeow is a very well behaved cat, most cats aren’t this easy but the information is helpful. If you can’t pill your pet tell your veterinarian! We can often get medicine made into easier to give forms like liquids, gel, transdermal, or tiny pills that melt in the tongue. Not all medication can be made into different forms but we can always find out. Also keep in mind that getting meds compounded does increase the cost a bit but often it’s worth it.
A two year old intact female Boston terrier came in to see me for inappetence, lethargy, and some yellow nasal discharge. Everything was completely normal on exam except for some crusting on the nostrils and a temperature of 103 F. That temperature is on the high end of normal and in a happy, bouncy dog that is doing well at home I wouldn’t be concerned. Since she was not feeling well I decided to run some lab work. While waiting for lab results the patient was given SC fluids and a Cerenia injection.
The WBC is elevated slightly but nothing exciting. Nucleated RBC’s are a little concerning. There is no indication of anemia on this lab work but there could have been previously and the body started pushing out NRBC’s to compensate. What is concerning are the “unclassified” cells.
Mildly elevated glucose is likely due to stress. Glucose levels can be elevated in cases of sepsis or other severe illnesses but the level would be higher. The level isn’t high enough for diabetes but if it was high, we would still need to look at the urine before making that determination. SDMA can mean there is renal disease. The rest of the renal values are normal so we would need to repeat labs every few months to monitor the kidneys. AST doesn’t mean much in this case.
Urine is concentrated meaning the kidneys are working normally and there is no glucose in it which rules out diabetes. The blood in the urine is most likely because it was collected via cystocentesis (inserting a needle into the bladder). The bilirubin is also likely not a concern and is there because the urine is so concentrated.
The blood film was looked at by a pathologist to try to identify the unclassified cells and a large number of lymphocytes were found. The cells could be reactive or cancerous.
Because of this lab work I advised the owner we should take radiographs
These radiographs are fairly normal except for a couple things.
Red circle- Heart
Black outlines-Stomach
Yellow circle-Urinary bladder
Blue arrows- Nipples
Orange arrow- Spleen
Pink Rectangles- Hemivertebrae
Green arrows- Sublumbar lymph nodes
The hemivertebrae are really common in brachycephalic breeds and also German Shepherds. They are a congenital abnormality and can cause problems but often are benign. Nipples can sometimes look like masses on x-ray so it’s important to do a good exam before so you’ll know to expect them. Sometimes if I can’t tell if something is a nipple or a mass I’ll put a little barium on the nipple which will make it bright white on the x-ray. What’s concerning here is the sublumbar lymph nodes. You really shouldn’t be able to see them. The enlarged lymph node and increased lymphocytes on the lab work are very concerning for lymphoma.
This patient was sent to internal medicine for an ultrasound. By the time the appointment came around a week later all of the peripheral lymph nodes were enlarged. A FNA was done on the nodes and the diagnosis of lyphoma was confirmed. She was sent to oncology and is now getting chemotherapy.
“Hello. This is Dr. ____ calling from ____ Animal Hospital. I’m calling to discuss Sysko’s lab work results.”
“Yes doctor.”
“So his renal values are higher than last time and his urine protein level is elevated. He is also anemic now. Previously he was at stage 2 out of 4 of chronic kidney disease. We would classify him as stage 3 now. Does that make sense?”
“Yes doctor.”
“Ok. So in addition to you doing SQ fluids at home, the amlodipine, the prescription diet, and the phosphate binder we need to discuss treating the anemia.”
And all these dogs are super fear-aggressive towards strangers as well. The vast, *vast*, majority of dogs a year old or less that we have come in for my shelter’s spay/neuter services are either borderline-traumatized fearful and shut down or they are trying to bite me for the crime of existing within 10 feet of them.
It is not ‘normal’ for a 4 month old shih-tzu puppy to be growling at me from 5 feet away.
It is not ‘normal’ for a 7 month old aussie to lunge for my face when I offered him some food.
It is not ‘normal’ for the 9 month old lab mix to be completely uncontrollable by the owners, up to and including grabbing their arms with his mouth when they tried to put him on the scale and literally knocking them over and dragging them away.
It is not ‘normal’ for the 6 month old golden to be cowering and urinating in fear.
This is a major issue that every level of veterinary and animal care professional is going to be dealing with for the next 15+ years. I sincerely believe that in a few more years, the rate of behavioural euthanasias is going to skyrocket and we’ll be seeing massive increases in incidences of dog bites.
@ all the people in the notes shrieking that because of the pandemic you couldn’t take your dog out: unless you were in one of the few places that had a truly extended lock down, most of this year you have been totally able to take your dog out and let it see the world. Socialization isn’t all about meeting and greeting- exposure is a big part of the program (and too often neglected, but I digress). But meeting “strangers” was not impossible. You probably have people and dogs in your life already you trust enough to meet your puppy at the end of a leash while you stand back. This is honestly who I want a new dog’s first experiences with “strangers” to be with anyway-no surprises because they’re not strangers to me.
It’s also not impossible to avoid separation anxiety when you work from home most of the time. People who work from home or stay home already schedule alone time so their dogs are OK when they do go out for a day.
There were always options. People were ignorant, and wound up with dogs that know them and only them, and the consequences are here. Ignorance isn’t a crime, but you need to own up to all your mistakes as an owner, even the ones you weren’t aware you were making. It’s how you grow as an owner and trainer.
Also it’s never too late to train! Yes some of you may have older dogs, but they just need a little more time, attention, and patience. There’s still hope to socialize them again and help them become the happy pups they were always meant to be. Just make sure to get good info from experienced people and trainers. In general don’t be afraid to ask for help, it’s been a rough year. But usually people are willing to provide help if they can tell you want better for your animal <3
