Gibson
Canine Pet of the Month - November 2024
Gibson is a sweet, “senior” Labrador Retriever that has a history of “atopy”. Atopy is an allergic skin
disease which causes itchiness and can lead to secondary infection. When allergens contact the dog’s
skin, the immune system creates an inflammatory response. The pet will scratch or lick and this results
in thickened, red, inflamed skin and can cause hair loss. Yeast and bacteria are then allowed to overgrow
on the skin, causing a secondary infection. At this time, we not only have to treat the itchiness but
also the infection of the skin. Oral medications can help a lot during this time as they allow the whole
body to be treated. Some pets may not tolerate oral medication or the medications can be difficult to give. The skin also responds greatly to topical medication such as medicated baths. During a medicated bath, the antibacterial or antifungal ingredient is allowed to contact the skin for 5 minutes before rinsing. This helps with infection as well as the desire to lick or scratch the skin. Bathing some pets can be labor-intensive for certain clients. Gibson came to our Pet Quarters for his medicated baths. He came twice a week for 3 weeks and his skin improved dramatically. His fur is growing back and he looks healthier than ever! Gibson seemed to enjoy all the extra attention he received on his spa days and this is why we chose him to be our canine Pet of the Month!
Celine
Feline Pet of the Month - November 2024
Celine is a curious, normally indoor only, kitty that sometimes likes to escape out in the fenced yard to explore under the porch area. A day or so before she presented, she had snuck outside. She then started to do a mixture of a sneeze/ cough/almost like a reverse sneeze, especially triggered when eating/drinking. Also she started to do stronger forced swallowing movements.
On a routine exam, there was nothing overly significant noted. No nasal discharge. No bleeding. Nothing in the back of her throat, but typical cat fashion, it was near impossible to get a great look at the back of the throat awake. When palpating deep under her chin/neck area, she would do a little harder swallow, but it would not trigger a reverse sneeze.
After the weekend passed and she was still having some of these same symptoms, Celine presented again for a sedated evaluation. With sedation, we were able to get a much better look at the back of her throat. There was the glimmer of green seen. Classic for a grass blade!! We were able to use hemostats to grab the blade and pull it free. Shockingly enough, the blade kept coming and coming from the back of her throat and up toward the back of her nasal area: a whopping 3 inch blade of grass was removed!
Lucky for Celine, her owner was well aware what her symptoms could mean and suspected she may have done something like that, so her problem was detected early. Many cats chew on grass and get one stuck in the nasopharyngeal area, but an owner may not detect it as a problem for a while. Those cats may start to have symptoms like nasal discharge or bleeding, excessive sneezing, and foul smell from the mouth or nose.
We are just so tickled that it was such an easy fix for this sweet kitty and feel it is a pretty common problem for people to be aware of, that we just had to make Celine the Animal Hospital of Statesville, Cat Pet of the Month!