Jethro is a 2-year-old Beagle. Chance is a 3-year-old Boxer. Buttercup is a full-grown yellow Labrador retriever. Kim Holden of Fox8Live, WVUE-TV in New Orleans tells us that the so-called “trickle-down effect” of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill is affecting man’s best friend in ways we might never have predicted. Cats, too. No, our [...]
Sometimes it’s necessary that we use more sense than our pets. I pulled into a gas station to fill a can for my lawnmower. Our oldest son wants us to have a self-contained, battery-powered electric mower like his, but the terrain at our house is just too rugged for anything less than a brute of [...]
“I’ve been giving Fluffy such-and-such for the last few months and she’s been doing great on it!” I usually feel apprehension when I hear that sort of comment because of the answer to my response, “What’s in it?” “Well, I don’t know,” is usually the answer from the now-sheepish pet owner. Our pets are family, [...]
Winston came to see me for what was supposed to be a routine physical examination and vaccination visit. As it turned out, Winston had a “leftover” problem from his last visit, 14 months ago. At that time we had recommended a dental scaling and polishing because of substantial calculus buildup and gum disease, also known [...]
Litterbox accuracy can be a problem for cats as they get older, bigger, or both. Some cats experience difficulty “hitting” the box with stool, while the majority of those with aiming failure have difficulty during urination. To use a politically-incorrect term, fat cats of any age can defecate and/or urinate over the edge of the [...]
One might reasonably think that, after 30 years of practice, I had seen just about everything there is to see. Not so. We have a program at our hospital we call “SBI,” which stands for Sample Brought In, and refers to stool samples clients bring in for their pets. Why would someone do that? Mainly [...]
The mainland Gulf Coast of Mississippi is almost completely free of Gulf of Mexico oil spill material, tarballs and all the rest. While there has been some minimal contamination on Mississippi’s barrier islands (Horn, Petit Bois, Cat, Deer and Ship Islands, only Petit Bois and Horn have seen oil), only tiny amounts of oil have hit [...]
This notice just came in to MyPetsDoctor.com from the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association. If you have purchased “New Heart” heartworm preventive ask your pet’s doctor whether you should dispose of it, and how. Click here for instructions on disposing of unwanted medications. MVMA Members, One of your fellow members wanted to share an experience regarding [...]
I’m not a fan of retractable leashes. The mechanism seems to be too difficult to handle in an emergency. Many, many times I have seen clients in our clinic’s lobby struggle to control their pets when one wants to rush over and “visit” with another. People fumble with the button, forget how to lock it, [...]
I love it when great stories like this come to me from clients and readers. Those of you who have visited the Pet Names Page are familiar with FreauxFreaux, and this story is from her dad: Sharing a personal story that you will appreciate: A friend, I’ll call her DJ, called me early yesterday morning [...]
Urinary bladder stones in dogs and cats can present substantial challenges to a veterinarian. The most common problem occurs when we see a patient with recurrent urinary tract infections that seem to clear up, then relapse. Further investigation often uncovers bladder stones, also known as calculi (the singular is calculus), we can’t palpate (feel). Then [...]
Decompensation is a term that describes the syndrome that occurs when pets (and sometimes people) seem to go downhill very suddenly. Take Hunter (at left), for example. Hunter came to see us today feeling and looking really bad. The obvious question was, “How did she get to feeling this bad this fast? All day Sunday [...]
Ok, Ok, so I’m taking a little time off to spend with grandbabies. Could you possibly blame me? Thursday we went to New Orleans, LA, with our main goal of visiting the Audubon Institute’s Insectarium. First stop: Biegnets at the Original Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter! We placed our beignet order and in [...]
Our son, Jeremy, his wife, Regina, and two of our grandchildren are here to visit for the week. Here we are Wednesday at Pirate’s Cove in Pass Christian, MS, enjoying po-boy sandwiches and Barq’s.
Chemosis is a term that describes swelling of the conjunctiva. Conjunctiva is the clear tissue that surrounds and protects the globe (eyeball). Conjunctivitis, then, is inflammation of the conjunctiva. While “conjunctivitis” is often misused to be synonymous with “pinkeye,” the terms are not interchangeable. “Pinkeye” is a nonspecific term used by laymen and physicians alike [...]
I ran into Tracie at the Subway. Upon recognizing me she said, “Oh! Dr. Randolph! I’m glad I ran into you. I took in a new stray recently and I did the stupidest thing…I put him in with my other cats before I had him Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus tested. “I knew [...]
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