Chupacabra Revealed

Here's a story that's perfect for Halloween.For those who aren't into cryptozoology, the chupacabra is a creature seen in parts of the Americas that has a legendary status similar to Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. The name literally means "goat sucker" based on its behavior of drinking the blood of goats and other farm animals. The Wikipedia entry on chupacabras lists the following description:  The most common description of chupacabras is a reptile-like being, appearing to have leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back.This form stands approximately 3 to 4 feet (1 to 1.2 m) high, and stands...

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A Little Stardust

A new adventure has begun in the life of the Bern family.  Today we brought home our new puppy.After losing our dog, Guinevere, to lymphoma in the brain back in August, my wife had been wanting to get a new puppy that she could bond with and have as a snuggle-buddy.  Last month we found a Labrador retriever breeder that had a litter of puppies born September 15th.  My wife picked one out, we waited until she was old enough, and today we brought her home.Little Yvaine (pronounced "ee-vane"; "Evie" for short) is named for the female lead in the movie Stardust.  Played by Claire Danes, Yvaine is a living star that falls from...

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Yodeling Veterinarian?

For those who aren't familiar with VeggieTales, let me give you a little peek.  Created as a children Christian video series, the appeal of the CGI cartoons has reached the mainstream.  Besides the Biblical lessons and values they are also just fun and entertaining.  One of the key features in all of the videos is "Silly Songs With Larry", one of the main characters, who happens to be a cucumber.  These silly songs are just for fun and can make even adults laugh.A few years ago they produced one Silly Songs entry about a veterinarian.  Of course this caught my attention, and since then it has become one of my favorites.  Enj...

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Questionable Anal Mass

Gayle sent this in...Bandit has always been a healthy Dog!!but recently he has developed a problem there is a round marble size blood red thing that keeps coming out of his anas he 's not able to have a bowel movement my husband keeps pushing it back in and Bandit seems very happy for the help lol but I'm worried and normally would have him at the vet but we have been out of work for 6 months we have to wait for some money to come in please tell me what this could be and where i can do some research on it thank you so much  Gayle, I know these are financial hard times for many people, but this is something you really need to see a vet about as soon as possible.  If he is having problems defecating it can be a very serious problem. Several things could be the cause,...

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Yes, Males Have Them

One of my favorite humorous web sites is Not Always Right. Today I came across this post under the title "Nip-Picking".  Though I've not dealt specifically with this situation, the idea of males having nipples seems to be a strange concept for many people to understand and I've certainly had to try to convince clients of this biological fact..  Enjoy this real-life encounter.Nip-PickingVet | Ontario, Canada(A customer brings her dog to the front desk in a panic.)Customer: “My dog has fleas, so I need you to help me. I have been using the flea medication you gave me, but I can still see flea eggs.”Me: “Ma’am, you can see flea eggs?”Customer: “I have been trying to pick them off, but they seem to be stuck.”Me: “Ok, can you show me the eggs you have been trying to pick off?”(Customer...

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Both Ends And The Middle

Doesn't it sometimes seem like your life is crazy and nobody else can compare?  Sure seems that way to me.  We go around in our lives with a "to-do" list as long as our arm and try to survive what it takes to get through it.  That can mean that when we're interacting with others we may be a bit short-tempered, never realizing that they are going through the same things.I'll see this often with my clients.  They are hoping to rush in and rush back out since they have to pick up the kids, plan for a party, clean house, and so on.  When we don't usher them from the front desk to the room and back out again in 10 minutes, they get a bit miffed.  After all, they have so many other things to do, they can't take the time to wait like a normal visit, and expect us to...

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Inaction On Seizures?

Jessica sent this in yesterday....A night or two ago, my mom called me at school hysterical, saying that something was wrong with the dog. She described to me that the dog, a Boxer/Beagle mix named Cooper, had fallen to the ground, couldn't stand up, and was foaming at the mouth. He peed himself and I guess it looked pretty bad. Then in less than three minutes apparently he was up and wagging his tail. I'd never seen him do that, but before I went to university my sister woke me up one morning, freaked out, saying that something was wrong with the dog and he was growling at her. I got up and checked on him and he was laying on the couch. He seemed fine and wasn't acting out of the ordinary but when felt him his chest was soaked and I noticed there was some remnants of foamy saliva...

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Incorrect Heartworm Prevention

Here in the US heartworm preventative medications are sold as prescription drugs.  Depending on where you get it and the size of your pet, a six-month supply normally costs from around $30-60.  Honestly, this is a good price considering that treating heartworm disease can easily run $800-1000.  Suddenly $5-10 per month doesn't sound so bad.  But even with that minimal cost many people try to find ways to do it even cheaper and avoid having to do the annual heartworm testing required by most veterinarians.Most horse antiparasitic medication is easily available over-the-counter at farm supply centers, and people will try to use this instead.  On first glance, it seems like a good idea.  The main ingredient in the most common heartworm preventions is ivermectin. ...

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Being The Boss

Sometimes I really don't like being "the boss".  I'd love to be able to expect everyone to do exactly what they should every time, but unfortunately that's not always the case.  I've been dealing with some issues with my staff for some time now and today had to get hard with them.I have a good staff overall, and everyone has very good technical skills.  However, several of them have been having some bad attitudes.  We've admittedly had a lot of changes in our procedures and patterns over the last few months, including a new head technician.  And things haven't always gone smoothly.  But this has turned into a lot of complaining, bad-mouthing other staff, and leaving work for others to finish.  People are complaining about each other, and I've seen situations...

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Rescuing From Abuse

Don sent in this poignant and powerful story, which I've edited a bit for the sake of brevity...I was wondering if you have had any experience in helping abused animals and law enforcement? The reason I ask is I am trying to help an abused dog. Last month our next door neighbors had a woman move in with them. She brought a dog. They put the dog in a cage ( 4 by 4 feet) with a tarp over the top. The cage has a wood floor. There is nothing else in the cage. No toys, chews, hay, dog house..nothing. They give the dog food and water in the morning and that is it. They never speak to the dog, pet it or pay any attention to it.The cage floor was kept clean.  I did nothing at first because i was not sure if this was a temporary situation and perhaps the woman was down on...

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A vet's job

While a vet's job is dedicated to treating disease, it not always possible to do so. We have taken oaths to alleviate the suffering of animals. This is why it is incumbent upon veterinarians to help owners make a decision to euthanize their pet. Nay, to recommend that a pet be put to sleep.If a dog has cancer, for example, it would be my recommendation to find out what that tumor is, where it is, the possibility of surgical resection, the repercussions of surgery, the chances of recurrence, and the presence of metastasis (spread).If I find out that a tumor has littered the poor pet's body with metastases, it would not be my recommendation to...

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Important Differences

One of the challenges of being a vet is that there are differences between the kinds of patients that we see.  There are some pretty big differences between dogs and cats, including their physiologies, tendencies for diseases, normal laboratory values and so on.  There can also be significant differences between breeds within a species.  Some examples...*Cavalier King Charles spaniels have giant platelets.  These platelets are larger than in other dogs, but function normally.  The problem is that the automatic blood analyzers we use in our hospitals measure cells based on size.  Because these platelets are larger than the machine is expecting, it will give a lower platelet value than actually exists.*Greyhounds have a higher percentage of red blood cells in their...

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Priorities, Please

Because I'm the Chief of Staff at my hospital I sometimes get calls on my days off.  That's usually not a good thing, as most of the time it means that there's a problem of some sort.  Yesterday I received one of those calls.Wednesday I received a call from a client with a bearded dragon.  Apparently it had a swollen, white eye and she was wanting to know what to do.  I was concerned that there was an infection or injury and asked if she could bring it in.  She had some things to do, but said that she would be there in 30 minutes.  Two hours later we closed and I hadn't seen or heard from her.Then yesterday she brought him in to be seen by one of my associates since it was my day off.  The doctor determined that it was a shedding problem and began to moisturize...

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Back To Life, Back To Reality

First, let me say that Disney World was great. The kids were completely surprised, and it was wonderful to see their excitement at being where they had dreamed about.  In fact, the first day we were there the kids kept talking about how they felt like it wasn't real and were worried that they would wake up. We wore ourselves out, though.  Since we were only there for four days, we wanted to maximize what we saw and did.  Each day we got there as the park opened at 8 or 9 o'clock.  We then stayed until the last park for the day closed, and didn't get to sleep until 11-12:00 each night.  This meant that we got around six...

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Fat pets

We are aware of the negative health consequences in humans, so why is it ok for our pets to be overweight? That's correct: it's not. We don't see overweight animals in the wild, only in captivity (our captivity). A fat cat or dog would be lunch to predators in the wild. I impart a huge amount of importance to weight loss in obese pets. Pets that are overweight have a much higher incidence of diabetes mellitus, cardio-pulmonary disease, arthritis (at least clinically affected with arthritis), and even skin issues (fat pets can't groom themselves properly). Based on ideal weight, vets can calculate (or simpler: find a table in a book) a pet's daily...

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