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Hours
M, T, Th, F
7:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday
7:30am - 12:30pm
Saturday
8:00am - 12:00pm
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What's
Hiding Below
Your Gums?? |
For more
information on pet dental health care visit the links below:
VOHC
Veterinary Partner
American Veterinary Dental College |
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Kaya came in for a
Grade 2 dental cleaning and looking at her teeth on exam, no extractions
were expected. Grade 2 dental disease means that there is brown tartar
on the teeth, red gums with no gum recession and some mouth odor.
Once we had Kaya
under anesthesia we saw an oral resorptive lesion on her premolar. In
people these are similar to cavities. It is common for cats to develop
resorptive lesions, but they are seen less often in dogs.
In the top picture,
the red arrow points to the tooth. On the radiograph the red arrow
points to the dark area where the enamel is missing. Frequently you will
not see these lesions by just looking at the tooth because the gum is
hiding them. Unfortunately, a filling will not repair these types of
lesions and this tooth was extracted.
The bottom picture
shows 2 premolars that look completely normal on exam. In the radiograph
we can see that the root of the first tooth is resorbing (dissolving).
We removed the residual crown of the tooth and sutured the gums to
prevent any further issues with this tooth and socket.
Dogs and cats do
not show dental discomfort the same way people do because of their
instinct to eat in order to survive. We know that these dental problems
do cause them pain, just as it does in people, and that is why it is so
important to do a thorough dental cleaning and evaluation under
anesthesia.
Kaya recovered and
healed from her procedure like a champ! |
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Removing a
Pit
from a "Pit" |
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Pinky, the sweetest little Pit Bull, was adopted in May
of 2010. Pinky is always making her owner laugh; “she's a goofy dog and
always up to no good”. Once Pinky discovered the orange sharpie marker
in her owner's car (before she started kenneling her) and decided to
"nibble" on it while the owner shopped. Think very permanently orange
dog AND car; orange paws, orange face, cheeks, stomach, and orange
seats. So it was no surprise to when Pinky
In August of 2011 Pinky came in for her annual exam.
Pinky already had a history of intestinal upset with certain foods but
for the last 2-3 weeks she was waking up in the middle of the night and
vomiting. Because of her past dietary sensitivities she was started on a
prescription hypoallergenic diet. At first the vomiting resolved but in
mid-September her vomiting started again. When Pinky came in for a
follow-up exam her owner mentioned that Pinky had eaten a mango pit
several months ago. Radiographs of her abdomen showed a mango pit still
present in the stomach! We took Pinky to surgery that day and
successfully removed the pit.
We are happy to report that since her surgery, Pinky has
not vomited and her food allergy symptoms have been well controlled with
her special diet.
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When Worms
Crawl
Through the Lungs
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In July
Sophie was taken to an emergency hospital with bleeding and swelling of
the face. It was assumed that some unknown trauma occurred. Radiographs
were taken to see if there was internal bleeding or broken bones.
Unfortunately, although she otherwise looked great and recovered
normally, the radiographs showed a mass in her lungs. The lung mass was
thought to be unrelated to the trauma.
Sophie came
back to Hawthorne Hills about six weeks later to have her lungs
rechecked. She was doing great and not coughing or sneezing at home but
the radiographs showed that her lungs were much worse since the time of
the emergency visit. Although Sophie appeared very healthy at home, her
lungs were hiding severe inflammation; a change which is frequently seen
associated with lungworms or bacterial infections. In Sophie’s case, the
changes we saw were most likely caused by lungworms. It can be difficult
to find the lungworms in laboratory samples (feces) so we treat
prophylactically with deworming medications if we are suspicious of
lungworms. Sophie was prescribed a course of antibiotics and deworming
medication. Three weeks later her chest x-rays looked great! The
inflammation had completely resolved.
Cats become
infected with lungworms by consuming snails or mice that carry the
lungworm larvae. Once in the body, the Lungworms migrate through the
lung tissues leaving damaged cells and inflammation behind.
Surprisingly, infected pets may not show any symptoms until extensive
damage to the lung tissue has occurred. By being proactive about
following up on Sophie’s lung changes, her owner has spared Sophie from
developing pneumonia or chronic bronchitis.
For more
information about parasites and pets
click here.
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Does Your
Pet Have
a Chip to Get Home?
Julius "Juju"
snuck out of the house last winter and was gone for 4 months! Juju’s
owner, friends and family spent tireless hours passing out fliers,
checking the Humane Society’s hotline and hoping he would return.
THANKFULLY Juju has a AVID microchip and this last July he was found,
scanned for a microchip and returned home!
This is just
another reminder to everybody it is extremely important to not only
microchip your pet but also to register the chip with your name, address
and contact information.
Microchips
are inserted under the skin at the nape of the neck (just in front of
the shoulders) in dogs and cats. There are a number of companies that
make the microchips; the most important thing for every pet owner to do
is to ensure that your pet's microchip is registered with the microchip
company that produced the chip. Without this registration, it will be
very difficult for someone else to find you if your pet is lost.
To see if
your pet's microchip is registered go to:
Microchip Lookup |
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