Sit and Stay

As I recently watched the news coverage of the wild fires in California, as well as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunami warnings it gave me a mental reminder to revisit my own home disaster/emergency evacuation plan.  I must admit I am a little lax on a couple items from where I was last year—especially as [...]

Harry, a 14-month-old cat presented for lameness after being hit by a car. Radiographs (x-rays) showed he had a fractured distal epiphyseal tibia and fibula of the left hind limb (long bones of the rear limb), near the tarsal joint (known as the ankle in people). The fractures were complicated and not ones we could [...]

This morning I walked out of my house anticipating the cool Oregon morning breeze—which I love—and took a deep breath in. Instead of fresh air, I wound up with a mouthful of spider web. It is that time of year—when spiders are everywhere both inside and out. And while I don’t have a particular aversion to [...]

Growing up I had some friends that were in 4-H, and they had bunnies (or rabbits, which, to me, doesn’t sound as cute). The bunnies lived outside in rabbit hutches; at least that was where I always saw them.  The hutches were in the back yard under a big oak tree next to the neighbor’s [...]

Yesterday was our dog, Niko’s, birthday-he’s officially 12. This year, we fulfilled two birthday promises–first, we ran a Wisdom Panel, which is a mixed breed dog DNA test and the results are in. It turns out you guys know your dogs–he’s equal parts Doberman pinscher, Siberian husky and Flat-coated Retriever. That third one was a [...]

A Poodle puppy, was brought in to us after a local rescue did the first vaccines and found a heart murmur. Heart murmurs are encountered with some regularity in puppies and often will resolve by 12 weeks of age.  In this case, the family history and the sound of the murmur indicated the need for [...]

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, Bend, OR
This case was long and drawn out but had rewarding results. A six-year-old spayed Dachsund was originally brought in to us for licking the carpet and eating dirt. Upon examination, the Pet was noted to be very anemic. Following three blood transfusions and many consultations with specialists, it was deemed [...]

I am not one of our regular bloggers. Nor am I a Pet healthcare expert. I have, however, worked at Banfield for over nine years and, like all of my colleagues here, am a Pet lover. I decided to write this week because something’s been on my mind for a while— my dog, Niko. He’s [...]

Heartworm Disease: It Hurts. It kills. It is costly and traumatic to treat.
Banfield, The Pet Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska
Many vets, as well as the American Heartworm Society (www.heartwormsociety.org), are recommending heartworm prevention year-round for all dogs, no matter what part of the country they live in, because it does exist everywhere; many people travel with their [...]

You may have heard it rains here in Portland. And when it does our Pets can become a muddy mess. Pets in other parts of the country who also live with the rain, snow and sleet during this time of year may be in desperate need of a good bath. Though they may not go [...]