Archive: January 10, 2023

Pets
Bywayde

The evolution of ultrasound in veterinary medicine

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When I was doing my externship at the animal medical center in new York City back in 1987, between college and veterinary school, I can recall how the diagnostic use of ultrasound was just starting to be employed in helping sort out tough diagnostic dilemmas. Twenty three years later, the use of ultrasound is now often considered a routine diagnostic procedure in working up a lot of chronically ill family pets in general veterinary practice. along with baseline blood work, including CBC/differential blood counts, blood chemistry profiles and urine analyses, both x-rays and ultrasound are now considered to be standard components of thorough workups.

Not only can ultrasound detect sensitive organ changes than are often evident from blood work or x-rays, but ultrasound and ultrasound-guided biopsies now offer much less invasive ways of making a definitive diagnosis; whereas in the past surgery was often needed. The greatest area I have seen ultrasound often circumvent unnecessary surgery is the questionable conclusion of an intestinal foreign body causing vomiting, as well as in differentiating and/or diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease from cancer. even with ultrasound-guided biopsies, there are occasions where either endoscopy or surgical biopsies are needed to differentiate various chronic digestive disorders in dogs and cats.

Ultrasound or echocardiograms of the heart have revolutionized our early detection of heart disease, as well as proper and effective medical management of the certain cardiac disease. An even newer technological development in small animal medicine includes the use of a laparoscope, which is even less invasive than ultrasound in diagnosing early abdominal and chest disorders. With the boosting specialization of both human and veterinary medicine, the use of diagnostic ultrasound, echocardiograms and laparoscopes must only be done by qualified veterinary specialists who do these tests regularly, rather than general veterinary practitioners, for definitive diagnoses in my opinion.

Veterinary Care

Uncategorized
Bywayde

Olympic Torch lighting Relay features two extraordinary service Dogs

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Photo taken by Michael Smith

As I’ve pointed out before, my dogs and I sit in awe of the extraordinary work of service dogs. While researching for my book, The Power of Wagging Tails, I had an opportunity to connect with some fantastic people who have service dogs. hearing about the extraordinary work of these dogs inspired my terriers to form the Doggie donation Corps – a motley group of dogs who use their cuteness to help beg for donations to help fund the training of service dogs for disabled veterans in the us through the Pawz For wounded veterans program. I also met an fantastic women who fights for rights for people with disabilities in the UK, Wendy Morrell, and her service pet dog Udo.

Wendy has seen the independence that can be achieved through partnering with a service pet dog in her own life and in the life of her friend Karen Ruddlesden, whose service pet dog Coco informs Karen to impending symptoms of a severe condition called Addison’s disease. Wendy’s pet dog Udo helps Wendy do those seemingly basic everyday tasks that would be a struggle, like pulling off socks or taking laundry out of the dryer, turning lights on and off, and retrieving dropped objects, the phone, or the mail. Coco is a medical detection or alerting pet dog who lets Karen know when Karen’s hormone called cortisol begins to drop, so Karen can treat herself to keep her cortisol level on balance. Without this early detection, Karen could develop very severe and potentially life-threatening symptoms.

Wendy has become an advocate and role model for people with disabilities. Wendy and her service dog  Caesar carried the Olympic torch across London Bridge for the 2008 Beijing games. and this year, both Wendy and Karen were selected to participate in the torch carrying ceremony. On Saturday, July 14th, I proudly enjoyed on the BBC’s live torch relay broadcast as these extraordinary women and their service dogs carried the Olympic torch toward London. You can hear about their journey to this moment and see some footage of the ceremony in this video.

Kudos to service dogs anywhere for the extraordinary work they do, bringing independence, hope, and happiness to people in so lots of walks of life. and a special thanks to Udo and Coco for supporting the Olympic spirit of peace and harmony for people and pups across the world.

health benefits of PetsService Dogs

Uncategorized
Bywayde

PetMeds® remedy for cat with Dandruff

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This week we highlight questions asked by our PetMeds Facebook fans and answered by Dr. Dym.

PetMeds customer Question:  My tuxedo always has what looks like bad dandruff, which is many visibly on the black areas of her coat. could you please make a idea for excessive dry skin in felines?

One of the much more common skin complaints of feline guardians concerning their cat’s coat is the appearance of dry flakes or dander obvious on the darker areas of the coat. There are numerous possible causes of this dandruff-like appearance. certainly changes in humidity or temperature in the house at different times of year can contribute to dandruff in our pets.  Additionally, other possible causes for dandruff in cats can be:

–         Digestive tract issues including poor diet

–         Intestinal parasites

–         Food allergy/hypersensitivity

–         poor absorption or digestion of nutrients

If a cat is also itchy with a dry coat, various allergies to inhalant/contact allergies, food allergies, and flea bite allergies can also be involved.  certainly any disease in the body can affect coat quality and radiance and result in dandruff or dry skin.  If your cat is otherwise acting normally, conditioners such as 1-800-PetMeds Oatmeal & Aloe Conditioner can help, as well as adding fatty acids to meals such as missing link or Be Well for Cats may help in numerous cases.

If your cat is showing signs of disease or weight loss, than a full medical workup is recommended to sort out potential causes and the best treatment plan. .

Skin and Coat