Find a kitty, pick it up.

Hi All,

Libby here.

Let me paint a picture for you. You're walking along, minding your own business, when all of a sudden, an adorable cat makes its way into your path. Perhaps you're a bit cautious at first but, when the kitty wends its way in and out of your legs enough times, you realize you're not shaking him off so easily. In fact, the little guy is kind of growing on you. So you take off your coat, scoop the little fella up and take him home with you.

Happy little family, right?

Not so fast!

Let's be honest. You exercise a lot of caution when picking other items up off the street-shoes, clothing, ya know. So why wouldn't you do the same when it comes to a stray animal?

Now, I'm 100% in support of saving stray cats from a life on the streets but, you need to be careful and make sure you're doing everything you need to, in order to insure the safety of both yourself and your pet.

When you take home your new family member, you would be smart to bypass your home and go straight to your vet to check for the following:

1. Ringworm-humans can contract this disease so you want to make sure to treat your new pet before bringing them home.
2. Fleas- This itchy pest can infest both you and your home.
3. Feline leukemia and feline AIDS- both of these diseases can lower your pet's immune response and leave them in harm of contracting other illnesses.
4. Earmites-these bugs are super itchy to your pet so beware!
5. Upper respiratory disease- this can cause your cat to have runny eyes, nose and, in a worst case scenario, can cause the eyeball to rupture.
6. Intestinal parasites- worms and other one cell organisms that can cause severe diarrhea!

Obviously, these various maladies are pretty heavy duty and shouldn't be handled lightly. Once your vet treats any existing conditions and offers preventative care for others, your new pet will be ready to join you at home.

Safety first!

Til' next time,

Libby

'Eating Like A Stoner' Or: How To Look Out For Diabetes

Hi All,

Libby here.

I hope you are one week closer to making all of your New Year's resolutions come true.

If you are, that makes one of us. I haven't been doing so well on the 'nice front' as per my blog post last week. So, I figure I'll work extra hard on my other resolutions-ie imparting my extensive medical knowledge to you fine folks.

To that end, in light of the recent holiday season (granted it's coming to an end but I'm still riding on my holiday high), this week's post relates to excessiveness. Excessive drinking and eating are two symptoms of the condition du jour, amongst others.

Drinking and eating  are good in moderation, of course. Most things are. But, when you notice your cat or dog eating, drinking or urinating excessively, and losing weight in spite of this, your pet may have diabetes. Another tell-tale sign of diabetes is if your animal is walking low in the saddle. This means that the lower joints on your pet's hind leg (their ankle joints) are down low to the ground

Recently, a two year old cat came into the PPAC displaying these symptoms. When Dr. S. asked about the cat's recent eating habits, the owner remarked 'Man, my cat is eating like a stoner'. HAHAH. Come on, that's pretty funny! 

Well, when Dr. S. heard about the cat's excessive eating, he pressed the client further and found out that the cat had also been drinking and peeing more than usual. Blood and urine tests were then taken, and it was discovered that the cat not only had diabetes, it also had a urinary tract infection; the excess sugars in the blood stream (results of the diabetes), can sometimes cause UTI's.

Dr. S. gave the cat antibiotics to treat the UTI and twice-daily insulin injections to treat the diabetes. Now here's where it gets a bit tricky. The proper amount of insulin is not always easy to determine immediately. So, if your pet does in fact have diabetes, and you are committed to treating them, it might take a bit of finagling to figure out the appropriate amount. Once that has been sorted out however, your pet can continue to live a healthy life!

Stoner jokes aside, diabetes is serious but it can be treated. So if you notice your pet chowing down stoner style, bring them in for a checkup.

Til' next time,

Libby

A New Year. A New Cat.

Hi All,

Libby here.

So, I went back and forth about an appropriate topic for this week’s blog.

I don’t know if you noticed but I try to alternate between medically relevant topics and ones that are purely fun, (basically, for my own edification). Oh and I suppose there are some topics that are timely- the Hurricane Sandy posts for instance. Holiday ones too.

Now, going back to the very first sentence of this post, the time seemed right for another medically oriented blog, but, since tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, I  decided to just go for it and write a timely one instead—namely, my New Year’s Resolutions.

This list is going to be pretty difficult considering that I am the pinnacle of feline perfection. I don’t really have much I should be resolving to improve about myself. Stop rolling your eyes. It’s true.

But moving on, here are four areas that I suppose I could stand to improve upon.

1. I resolve to be a nicer cat. Life sometimes gets me down, what with the whole inability to go to the bathroom by myself, thing. So I get down. And then I get mean. But I realize, in all my kitty wisdom, that that’s not so fair. So I’m going to try to be nicer.
2. Try even harder to help PPAC clients. That may sound lofty for a mere office cat. But, I recognize that the more I know, the more wisdom I can impart. To empower my massive blog following, I’m going to keep learning and sharing so I can help all the pet owners/ blog followers out there.
3. I will practice what I preach. And lose half a pound. Lord knows I’ve spoken (and written) more than enough about animal obesity. I also know that pretty much everyone everywhere resolves to lose weight come New Years. So, I’ll hop on the weight loss bandwagon and promise to lose some of my cat flub. And if you think a half a pound sounds like a weak resolution, know this: when a five pound cat loses half a pound, that's about the same as a 100 lb person losing ten pounds. So back off! (Sorry…forgive the outburst, as per resolution #1).
4. I’m going to be more of a mentor to the younger cats and dogs who pass through the PPAC or who are in it for the long haul. I know this place better than I know my own paws. So I want to pass on what I’ve learned and spread the love to all visitors and tenants of the office's hallowed halls.

Well folks, I think that’s more than enough commitments for me to undertake this year. I've had enough with my promises of self betterment. So, I bid you adieu and wish you all wonderful and fulfilling New Years.

Til' next time,

Libby

Back In the U.S.A.

Hi All,

Libby here!

First of all, Merry Christmas to all those celebrating out there! I hope you and your families spend an amazing day together!

And now, without further delay, a little holiday treat from moi!

You may (or may not be aware) of the fact that Dr. S's youngest child, Nick, has spent the last 28 months in St. Kitts at veterinary school. He's learning the profession, toiling away and soaking up some sun at the same time. That's right! He's going to be a vet, just like his dear ole' dad. 

Before he went to St. Kitts, Nick adopted an adorable Canaan dog named Annie (she's the one wearing the antlers). While in the Caribbean, it's also pretty common for aspiring vets to adopt an island dog. Which Nick did. And he named her Lucy (she's the little pup in the background). So now he has two dogs (which sounds like one dog too many in my opinion but who's asking!)

Well, they're back. And as a my little holiday present to you all, I'm giving you a break from my ornery musings and I'm going to let Lucy and Annie have a go at blog writing. While they lived in the Caribbean, they had full, packed days what with spending time chasing monkeys on the beach, doggy paddling in the pool and sunning themselves in the morning heat. Well, now they're back and looking for something to do. So here goes.

Annie: Hi! I'm Annie. 

Lucy: And I'm Lucy! 

Together: It's COLD here! 

Annie: I'm not sure how we feel about this weather but it's a nice change I suppose! I'm going to take over the keyboard now since Lucy isn't as smart as I am. 

Lucy: HEY!

Annie: Simmer there, little one. So...Libby didn't really tell us that we needed to talk about anything in particular so I'm going to just tell you my top three favorite things about being back in NYC so far.
1. SQUIRRELS!!! I missed these pesky creatures. They don't have them in the Caribbean and I gotta say, monkeys just don't compare. I love spending the afternoon chasing after them.
2. Bernie! The Silverman's dog is so fun! Lucy hasn't been getting along so well with him but we just love spending time together.
3. Hanging with my friends at the PPAC!

Lucy: Now me! Here's the three things I don't like about NYC!
1. Bernie! That pesky guy's gotta go.
2. Leashes- they're just cruel. I hate them. 
3. Annie's good mood since we've arrived here.

Annie: Sorry for Lucy's bad mood. She's been kind of cranky lately but she'll adjust in no time. And Libby, thanks for letting us give this blog writing thing a shot! It's been a ton of fun.

Libby: Sure thing, ladies. Til' next time,

Annie, Lucy and Libby!

A Happy Chrismukah to All

Hi all,

Libby here. 

I've decided to take this opportunity in the no-man zone between Christmas and Chanukah (apologies to those of you for whom neither of these apply, but I'm going with generic for the sake of ease), to wish everyone happy holidays. 

Merry Chrismukah. Chag Sameah. And so on and so forth. 

I've been hitting the catnip pretty hard this week what with all the holiday parties, and my brains a wee bit fuzzy so to be honest, I don't think I can handle a post that's much more intense than this.

In fact, i'm writing this from my favorite seat on the garbage can lid here at the PPAC while their staff party takes place in the front waiting room. I needed a little break from the festivities. So anyway, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank Doc S and the PPAC staff for giving me a loving home and people to call family during the holidays. 

So remember everyone, keep it merry. Keep it bright. And be good to each other. 

Til' next time.

Libby

My! What Big Teeth You Have

Hi All,

Libby here.

Now, how do I say this lightly...we animals aren't exactly known for our breath. More specifically, about how our breath smells. In fact, I'd go so far as to say we have pretty stank breath when it comes down to it. However, in our defense, we don't really tend to live by the oral hygiene standards humans make for themselves. It's fairly common for us to have our teeth cleaned professionally once or twice a year, as opposed to you fine folks who brush what, twice? three times a day? You do the math.

Speaking of oral hygiene, we don't brush as often as you do. So we're even more prone to some of the same diseases as you are. Just last week, Dr. S. had an interesting mouth-related case.

This dog came in (named Major for the record) with his face completely swollen on one side. When Dr. S. opened his mouth (in that semi-frightening way that makes you wonder if the dog is going to chomp on the person in question's hand), he saw blood and pus at the gum line involving three teeth.

Aside from being kind of gross (sorry for my lack of sympathy but you know you all agree with me,) mouth issues can be incredibly painful. So, in the hopes of putting the poor guy out of his misery, Dr. S. put Major on antibiotics to reduce the swelling. The swelling resolved. Yay! Dr. S. then removed the three offending teeth on the upper jaw and Major is back to normal and (virtually) as good as new.

So, you are all probably wondering what you can do to help keep your pet's mouths healthy and avoid situations like Major's. If you are a truly committed pet parent, you can take a gauze sponge and clean the plaque that accumulates on their teeth after meals. And, if you have an animal who is willing to sit still (good luck with that) for long enough to brush their teeth, there are special pet toothbrushes for you to invest in. Another good option is antibacterial mouth wash—it's like ACT for pets.

Well folks, what it all boils down to is, if you are willing to do it, you can take care of your pet's teeth to ward off future mouth issues. But, it does take effort.

Otherwise, bring your pets in for annual teeth cleaning and checkups to make sure all is OK in your animal's mouth!

Til next time,

Libby

My Tummy Hurts

Hi All,

Libby here.

It's holiday time! And you know what that means? That's right...stomach aches!!! Ok. I can understand if you are not equally enthused about the prospect of an aching belly as I am but, ever the opportunist, I am excited to use this gastrointestinal issue as a topic of my blog post this week!

I've been hearing a lot about people and their aching bellies recently. Now, although I assume this is more related to eating too much turkey and apple pie, I know that you human folks are not unfamiliar with stomach issues and sensitivities to food. Sometimes, stomach issues are caused by eating too much. Other times, there is something much bigger at play. 

Similarly, gastrointestinal issues are not uncommon in pets. And so, in honor of holiday pains, today, we are going to talk about gastrointestinal diseases, just one of the many stomach and intestinal ailments that can afflict your pet.

I have a soft spot for this condition because I can relate on a personal level; I suffer from loose bowels and a raging appetite. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. But as we know, in spite of the fact that this blog is basically the world through MY perspective, this case is not about me but rather about a kitty named Ordonez.

Ordonez, named after Rey Ordonez, a Mets player from the 90's, came in about a year and a half ago presenting with vomiting and weight loss. Ordy, as he was fondly referred to, had thickened intestines and swollen intestinal lymph nodes. 

Dr. S. performed a needle biopsy of the lymph node which gave a diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He was treated with cortisone to make the inflammation subside. Ordy responded to this treatment for a period of time but his symptoms returned. An exam revealed that the lymph nodes were bigger but now, a distinct mass was also found in the intestines. A second needle biopsy revealed that a cancer was present. It was lymphoma.

Chemotherapy was prescribed. It was administered, and worked, for a year and change. Unfortunately, after this time, Ordy stopped responding to treatment. About a month later, his mommy decided to humanely put him to sleep.

Although the tale is sad, Ordy was a lucky kitty; with treatment, his lifespan was extended.  So ladies and gents, GI issues are a serious matter. If you see your cat suffering from diarrhea, increased appetite, weight loss, or a loss of appetite (I know, these symptoms seem a bit at odds with eachother but sometimes, the body does crazy things!) bring them in to the vet. It may be a treatable GI issue.

Til' next time,

Libby