In the last edition of “At The Laboratory With My Pet’s Doctor”, we studied the details of the Complete Blood Count. Today, and tomorrow, we will look at a battery of tests called the “Chemistry Profile“. In the Complete Blood Count, we were examining physical bodies, tiny little cells that circulate in the bloodstream. With the [...]
Your pet’s doctor finds many reasons to perform laboratory tests for your pet. Sometimes tests are run as a “baseline”, a set of tests by which to measure future performance of the body. That way, if your pet ever becomes ill, he can say, “When he was “x” years of age, “normal” for him was [...]
May God’s many blessings be upon you and your loved ones on Thanksgiving Day. He blesses us so greatly, and we have so much to be thankful for. Please travel safely, wear your seat belts, don’t drink and drive, and exercise your pets on a leash at rest stops. See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.
Smokey came from a humane shelter a little over a year ago and never got the medical care he needed. His family was under the mistaken impression that he was “finished.” As a participant in a humane society program, he could have come to us to find out exactly what he needed. For free. We [...]
Microchips must be registered. Otherwise they are worthless bits of glass and metal. We faced the sad situation today of good Samaritans who brought in a dog slightly injured by an automobile, but with no resources (or willingness?) to pay for his care. We scanned him for a microchip and, voila!, he had one! We [...]
After Tristan Rohde found Brindle so very far from home, a saga unfolded that eventually culminated in a trip to Virginia to return Brindle to his original owner, thanks to a microchip. After it was all over Amy Rohde, Tristan’s mother, sat down and gave us this collection of her thoughts on the journey from [...]
We had the saddest office visit. Catherine’s owner came into the clinic for the first time since Catherine had passed away. The poor thing cried all the way through the examination. We were evaluating Sara for overall health and updating her vaccinations. Sara had never known life without Catherine in her entire six years. She [...]
Urinary incontinence is a common problem in dogs and a less common problem in cats. Workup for urinary incontinence begins with a thorough physical examination followed by routine screening laboratory tests: Complete Blood Count (CBC), Chemistry Profile and chemical and microscopic urinalysis. In the CBC we will be looking for anemia which might be driven [...]
Yesterday MyPetsDoctor.com reported the illness of multiple ferrets in the state of Oregon, confirmed to be caused by 2009 H1N1 (swine) influenza virus. Today we hear from the same state that a cat has come down with swine flu, and succumbed. The confirmation test is still pending. Initial Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests were positive [...]
We knew from the beginning that ferrets would be susceptible to swine flu. H1N1, as it’s known officially, is a very flexible influenza strain that has adapted itself to quite a number of species. MyPetsDoctor.com reported recently the case of an swine-flu-infected cat in Iowa. In October a ferret in Oregon was diagnosed with swine flu, [...]
Obstipation, or chronic constipation in pets, is a condition mostly affecting cats, that causes stool to stay in the colon for an excessively long time, resulting in removal of too much moisture from the stool and a hard cake that will not pass. Several predisposing factors may be in play for patients to suffer from [...]
Heartworm University (HU) is a function of the American Heartworm Society, based in Wilmington, Delaware. It is a new feature of the Society and its program was presented six times in calendar 2009. As a member and director of the Louisiana Academy of Veterinary Practice I was fortunate to be able to attend HU this [...]
Some interesting trivia on what pet owners spend: Ø In 2009 they will spend $45.4 Billion on pets Ø Will spend $22 Billion on veterinary pet care and medicines Ø Will spend $17.4 Billion on pet food Ø More families have a pet at home than a dad See you Monday, Dr. Randolph.
Anterior and posterior lens luxation are conditions that can range from non-event to major surgery. DEFINITION OF TERMS What is it? Let’s break it down. Anterior means front or forward, from the Latin root meaning before, and in this case refers to the frontmost chamber of the eye. It’s no surprise that it’s called the [...]
Anne writes from McDonald, PA: “I recently adopted a kitten, Benjamin, who is now seven months old. Ben is a wonderful cat. He is very playful, very loving and very curious. The funny thing is, Ben will eat anything I put in front of him or anything we happen to leave out on the counter. [...]
I was passing the time away between classes at the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) meeting in Jackson a few years ago when I heard a common declaration from a patron in the lounge: “Ohhhhh! I just hate cats!” I wasn’t shocked because I’ve heard it so many times. I wasn’t always a cat lover [...]
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