Dog Parks – A Playground of Fun, Frolic and A Little Risk
As the weather warms, it’s common for dog owners to take their pooches to the dog park. It’s a time to run, play and burn off energy. It can also be a place of flights and spreading infectious diseases. But that doesn’t means the pros don’t outweigh the cons if you use a little precaution. […]
Feline Pancreatitis Treatment in The Houston Heights
What Causes Pancreatitis in Cats? Unfortunately, 90% of the time we never find out. We have some idea of possible risk factors, though. Trauma (getting hit by a car or falling from a great height). An active feline distemper infection. Toxoplasma (a parasite) infection can involve the pancreas, although it almost always involves other tissues as well. […]
Canine Pancreatitis in The Houston Heights
Pancreatitis is Inflammation of the Pancreas In pancreatitis, inflammation disrupts the normal integrity of the pancreas. Digestive enzymes are normally stored safely as inactive forms within pancreatic granules so that they are harmless. In pancreatitis they are prematurely activated and released internally, digesting the body itself. The result can be a metabolic catastrophe. The living […]
Tis the Flea-son
The holidays are behind us but the season for fleas (the” fleason”) is just getting started. With warmth, humidity and more mammals active outside, these ectoparasites are getting their bite back. Fleas are not very selective when it come to who they’ll feed on. While dogs and cats may be the meal of choice, other […]
Vaccine Reactions – don’t ignore them
Vaccinations, given appropriately, are needed for our dog and cat companions. It helps protect them from life-threatening diseases such as parvovirus and distemper and well as feline leukemia and panleukopenia. However, while necessary, vaccinations can cause reactions in a very small subset of the animals receiving them. When a reaction does occur, it’s important that […]
Hyperthyroidism in Cats Houston Heights
What Causes Hyperthyroidism? Hyperthyroidism is caused by a benign growth in the thyroid gland that is over-producing T4. It is important to realize that these tumors are almost always benign and represent a form of goiter rather than a form of cancer. Less than three to five percent of hyperthyroid cats have a cancerous thyroid growth. Many […]
Canine Arthritis Heights Houston Animal Clinic
Age is just a number but for our canine companions it’s also the number of stairs they’ve climbed, the number of balls they’ve chased after, the number of times they’ve jumped off the couch and so on. Over time numbers add up and this takes a toll on the joints. Many older dogs suffer from […]
Houston Heights: Heartworm Treatment
The treatment of heartworm infection is something of an art. There are several strategies that can be used depending on the dog’s medical condition, including the gold standard of a 3-injection protocol versus 2-injections versus not killing the adults but preventing reinfection (not recommended). The important concept to realize is that arsenic based drugs are […]
Houston Heights: The Vomiting Cat
Vomiting with any type of regularity, isn’t normal although many people have been led to believe that it’s normal for our feline companions to vomit. Vomiting is a symptom of an underlying problem. The most common causes of vomiting in a cat include: 1) Parasitism 2) Pancreatitis 3) Foreign body ingestion 4) Food allergy 5) […]
Heights Houston Vet: Looking deeper and seeing more…
Pets like people, are living longer and longer. Advances in medicine and how we care for our animal companions are the biggest contribiting factors. Routine screening at different life stages alert us to states of health, temporary illness and chronic disease. Baseline bloodwork often done before your cat or dog is spayed or neutered help […]