Summer is finally here and so are the mosquitos. But the scourge of our backyard cookouts and camping trips are more than just an annoyance. For pet owners and their canine companions, they can lead to a potentially deadly and certainly painful condition called heartworm disease. Brittny Taylor, a Client Care Assistant at Cascade Hospital for Animals, recently learned first-hand how difficult it can be to watch a beloved pet suffer from this terrible condition.
As she took her newly adopted dog Yodi to see Dr. Veneman at Cascade Hospital for Animals, Nicole was resigned to the idea that the 5-lb. Chihuahua would probably have to be put to sleep. After all, his problems seemed insurmountable: He could barely walk, he was badly dehydrated, his entire body was swollen, and his hair was falling off in large patches. “His whole body seemed to be shutting down,” Nicole said. “It’s just that his quality of life was so poor.” She had recently taken Yodi into her home on behalf of his previous owner, who was not able to care for him anymore.
Dr. Veneman was alarmed by Yodi’s condition. “He was anemic,” she said. “His red blood cell count was low. The symptoms he presented could have been from so many potential problems, including cancer.”
Looking back on more than 40 years as a veterinarian, Dr. Richard Siegle has seen a lot of change. Since he joined the practice in 1978, Cascade Hospital for Animals has grown from a small family veterinary practice to two clinics with 92 full- and part-time employees, and boarding, daycare, grooming, and training services. And now, with the Breton Village Animal Clinic relocating to a bigger facility soon and his son in his last year of veterinary school, Dr. Siegle has much to look forward to as well.
At first, it wasn’t clear what was wrong with Annie. According to her owner, Danielle, the trouble started when the normally healthy six-month-old puppy was suddenly unable to keep food down.
Worried, Danielle brought Annie to the hospital, where staff suspected the she had eaten something she shouldn’t have. An X-ray revealed a mysterious obstruction in Annie’s intestines. No one who examined the X-ray could figure out what Annie had swallowed. Then Dr. Becky Schafer took one look and said, “That’s a pacifier!”
Ask Dr. Becky Schaffer about her favorite animal story, and the conversation quickly turns to cats – BIG cats.
Dr. Schaffer, the newest veterinarian at Cascade Hospital for Animals, once had the opportunity to care for a circus lion that had fallen ill while the troupe was touring West Michigan.
“I had to remind myself that despite his size, he was a lot like any other cat” said Dr. Schaffer, 34, a graduate of South Christian High School who received her bachelor’s degree from Calvin College and her doctorate in veterinary medicine from Michigan State University.
Christmas time can be a very exciting time for people and cats alike. After all, we put actual trees in the
house, cover them with things that move and roll if knocked down, put a new fancy blanket that is devoid
of cat hair under it and then circle it with stringy, shiny stuff. Christmas is a fantastically fun time if you are a cat.
Unfortunately, many of the things that people love about Christmas can be potentially dangerous to cats.
When Dr. Kyle Fuller joined the staff of Cascade Hospital for Animals recently as an Associate Veterinarian, it was a homecoming for her in more ways than one.
Kyle has returned to her hometown after stints as a graduate of Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, an intern at an animal hospital in Washington state and associate veterinarian in Mississippi.
It is often difficult and stressful to bring your cat into the clinic for an annual exam, but dental disease is one of the primary issues that we can find on those exams. It is a common misnomer that cats with a painful tooth or bad dental disease will stop eating. In fact, eating is an instinctual part of survival and that instinct overrides the pain and keeps them eating. Therefore, this is a not a good way to know if your cat’s mouth is painful.
We as people, are very used to getting our blood pressure taken. It is done at any and all doctor visits and is considered vital information. Should cats have their blood pressure measured too?
Young cats generally do not have problems with high blood pressure, much like young people. As they age however, high blood pressure can and does occur in cats. It can cause kidney damage, heart damage and blindness in cats.
Are all feline vaccines created equally?
Years ago, veterinarians started to see, infrequently but consistently, cats with cancerous tumors in the area that vaccinations were being administered. These tumors, called fibrosarcomas, are very invasive tumors that are nearly impossible to completely remove surgically.
