Mrs. Jones has been a faithful MyPetsDoctor.com reader for quite some time. Our first encounter was when she sent in a comment with a question about her elderly dog, Maggie Mae. Maggie Mae eventually succumbed to the effects of
13 years as a Great Dane and the Jones family was without a pet for the better part of a year.
Fate has a way of resolving those kinds of hurts, though, and recently a rescued Great Dane named “Zeus” became available at their nearby humane shelter.
After having Zeus a short time he began to make an odd sound. As it was after hours, Mrs. Jones sent me another comment to see if I could give her any advice until she could get Zeus in to see his new doctor. As it turned out, I wasn’t able to get back to her until after Zeus’ appointment.
Of course, you take your sick child to the doctor and his throat no longer hurts and his ears aren’t pounding. Likewise, Zeus wouldn’t make the sound while he was in the clinic. Now, don’t misunderstand, any veterinarian and any pet owner will take normal any time we can get it, and rejoice! Still, it’s hard to make a diagnosis on a child or pet functioning normally.
There is a good tip to learn from Zeus’ story: A video can be worth thousands of words! Video is available at every turn these days. It’s on your phone. Your point-and-shoot digital camera will take video. And you can buy three high-definition video camcorders for what we paid for a single very good VHS video camera fifteen years ago.
If your pet is doing something, failing to do something, making noises, having seizures or stumbling, and it’s after hours or on a weekend when your pet’s doctor is closed, take some video and take the device with you to the pet’s appointment. Video is especially valuable for intermittent problems. If he is no longer having the same problem when you arrive, you still have the necessary evidence recorded.
That picture can be the difference between a diagnosis and “it could be anything or nothing.”
See you next week, Dr. Randolph.
MMVIDEO
