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Buddy the reluctant patient

Buddy is a rather grouchy 3-year-old male neutered cat. Although a sweetheart at home, he simply hates being at the doctor’s office making it very difficult to examine him. His problem first started in early April when his owner noticed that had been wheezing and occasionally hacking for the 3 weeks. After a brief examination, Dr. Best determined that Buddy’s symptoms were most consistent with feline asthma and treated Buddy with a steroid injection. Buddy responded well to the injection and was back to his normal self in a few days.

In late May, Buddy came back to the clinic with difficulty breathing, coughing, weight loss and lethargy. In order to conduct a thorough examination and to obtain chest x-rays, Dr. Stricker had to anesthetized Buddy. Buddy’s heart and lung sounds were muffled, but both organs sounded relatively normal. His body temperature was normal and he seemed well hydrated. Overall, the examination didn’t give any answers. A sample of Buddy’s blood revealed that his white blood cell count was high, meaning infection was likely present. Suspecting bronchitis as the cause of Buddy’s symptoms, Dr. Stricker took an x-ray of Buddy’s chest. Surprisingly, his lungs were clear! Instead, Dr. Stricker noticed that there was a considerable amount of fluid in Buddy’s chest that was making it very difficult for Buddy to fully inflate his lungs. Using a needle, Dr. Stricker aspirated as much fluid as possible from the chest cavity to aid Buddy’s breathing. A sample of the fluid was sent for bacterial culture. Buddy, was then awakened and sent home on a twice daily dose of the antibiotic, Clindamycin, to start treatment while waiting for the culture results.

The culture results came back the first week of June. Buddy had an infection with two different types of anaerobic bacteria, Fusobacterium sp. and Bacteroideds sp. Luckily, both types of bacteria can be killed with Clindamycin. Buddy was last reported as improving day by day. He still has a little trouble breathing, but is getting along well as he continues the antibiotic therapy. He will need to be monitored closely over the next couple of months before he is considered cured!

Buddy’s story reminds us that the usual isn’t always the case. If your cat appears to have difficulty breathing, you should immediately take notice. While many pets have difficulty with seasonal allergies or other respiratory problems, some cats who labor to breathe are suffering from pyothorax, an infection of the chest cavity. The infection causes fluid to build up in the chest cavity, between the lungs and the body wall. The route by which the chest cavity becomes infected is often not apparent and there are numerous ways that infection can occur. Immediate intervention is required!

 PET EDICATE

Common Manners in the Veterinary waiting room

1. Please remember that you are taking your beloved pet to a veterinary hospital, which most likely sees several different species of animals. This means that any of those species could be in the waiting room at any time!
2. Please give both your pet and others the space they need. Animals go to the pet hospital for different reasons. They can be in pain or in for a healthy routine check-up. A painful cat does not want a hyper dog lunging at them under any circumstances.
3. Please restrain your pets before getting out of your vehicle and coming in to the waiting room. Your pet is most likely anxious, so try to help them by having them safely restrained with a leash, not a flexi-leash, or by having cats in a carrier. A flexi-leash allows too much freedom for the pet, and often times gets tangled around clients who are patiently waiting with their pets. Cats should be restrained in a carrier. While normally very relaxed being held, no one wants to be scratched!
4. Pets that come to see us may be sick and undiagnosed with a problem. Please assume that all pets could be contagious, so there should be no interaction.
5. A veterinary hospital is often an uneasy place for pets, so they may often react differently than under normal circumstances.
6. Always ask permission before approaching a pet.
7. Allow your pet to relieve itself before entering the hospital. If your pet has an accident, please alert the front desk, so they can get it cleaned up. Also remember that male dogs may mark, especially where another male has done so before. Please keep a close eye on them, so they do not ruin anything in the hospital.
8. If your pet is anxious, feel free to have them wait in the car until we are ready for you. Just alert the front desk you have arrived.
9. Please remember that everyone has different pets and a cat owner may not want a dog trying to kiss them and jump in their lap!
10. Always feel free to alert the front desk if there is something about your pet that needs to be shared, whether it’s aggression or a possibly infectious disease, or even a zoonotic one.
11. And finally, remember you are ultimately responsible for your pet’s safety, so please make the best decisions for them to keep them safe and comfortable.

Common Manners when in public with your dog

1. Please be aware of your surroundings any time you take your pet away for your house. Any time they leave their safe place, they may have a small amount of anxiety. And remember your anxiety will go right down the leash to your pet.
2. Always leash your dog when leaving your house. While many dogs are obedience trained, or have had some sort of training, it is not always guaranteed they will not run after the rabbit that shoots out from a tree or a bush. Another dog could be walking by with their owner or even loose in the street.
3. Nothing is more frustrating for a pet owner than having a loose dog come abruptly head-on to your dog. That is not an appropriate way to greet and every dog will react differently. Even if someone tells you that their pet is friendly, they don’t know that yours is! Even the gentlest dog can react badly if an overbearing dog comes in to their face. People do not greet this way and neither should dogs.
4. When someone takes the time to leash their dog, please show them respect by at least grabbing your dog by the collar as you walk them by.
5. Please read all signs that are posted in any area you are walking your dog. Pick up after your dog always.
6. Please realize that not everyone is out to walk a pet, but maybe just enjoying a beautiful walk. Don’t let your pet run up to strangers.
7. Please do not allow your dog to walk in yards that are not yours. Neighbors do not enjoy your pet urinating or defecating on their well-maintained lawns!
8. Please be sure that both you and your pet have fun!