Val Vista Animal Hospital

2010-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Just getting this blog going again. We have been busy learning about and loving our pet patients. Recently, we have been seeing a lot of puppies and young adult dogs with parvoenteritis. "Parvo" is preventable. Unfortunately, it is also a very serious, life-threatening disease. Left untreated, puppies with parvo only have a 50% chance of survival. Treatment increases that statistic tremendously. We are urging all our clients to come in and have their puppies vaccinated and have their records reviewed for any deficiencies in their protection. This is so vital and important to preventing illness, nothing should be left to chance.

2010-01-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

More rambunctious puppy trouble: We saw a cute scraggly puppy that got herself in big trouble by trying to redecorate the living room. When mom was out of the house last night she chewed the end off of an electrical cord to a lamp while it was still plugged in! She did have a history of chewing the ends off electrical cords, but up till now, she always chose cords that were not plugged in. Poor girl was very painful and didn't feel like eating. We looked in her mouth and saw why. One side of her lip and gums was extremely swollen with badly burned tissue inside. There was a lot of tissue damage inside her mouth on her upper lip and surrounding her upper teeth. Even one side of her tongue had severe burns. OUCH! Poor girl needed lots of pain medicine and antibiotics. We hope she can heal most of the damage OK. She may need surgeries to remove damaged lip and gum tissue. She may even need to have teeth extracted if there is too much damage to her teeth and upper jaw. If she won't eat, she may need a stomach tube until she can eat on her own. Mom is now getting her a playpen so she can stay safe when mom is not home. Moral of the story- don't allow your puppy to redecorate.

2010-01-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! The holiday season always seems to be a busy and crazy time around here. It seems like there have been a lot of sad pet stories recently. Lots of unexpected cancers, injuries, and euthanasias. Or maybe we just notice it more when things are supposed to be happy for the holidays and celebrating a new year. Well, we take the bad with the good, we will probably be seeing lots of cute puppies and kittens this summer.

2010-01-06T13:24:00.001-08:00

Hello again,
For many of our pet families the holidays were a time of celebration and welcoming a new friend. It is always a great time to receive a new 4 legged friend into the household and begin their pathway to a healthy life. We have recognized many of our pet families taking great steps to ensure their new pet, whether it is an kitten/puppy or an adopted adult, is safe if the house. Chocolate, decorations and such are hard to avoid over the holidays. Now those things are put up it is time to focus on the internal health.

We see Parvoenteritis (Parvo) any time of the year especially in puppies, but the spring is particularly a bad time to year to contract this disease. That is why it is so important to have your pets health exam and vaccination evaluation now. Vaccinations are not as routine as they would seem. Vaccinations take time to protect and must be given at very specific timing. We feel strongly that the best vaccination brand and type must be chosen to ensure the safety of the biologic itself. The best vaccinations are made and cared for under very strict standards. We (the medial staff) have studied the very latest research and development concerning vaccinations for cats and dogs (and yes, there is difference). Your pets vaccinations should be determined based upon an evaluation of his/her specific risks and needs. All pets are not the same and regions of the country are do not carry the same risks of disease.

2009-11-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

Wow- small world. We just had a lady bring in a young german shepherd that she found running loose on the street. She wanted us to scan him for a microchip to help locate his owner. We scanned him and he did not have a microchip, so we thought he might never find his way home. One of our technicians looked him over and noticed that his ears were shaved. Something clicked in her mind- "wait- that looks like max, he was here earlier this week for ear flushing" We called the owner to see if he was missing and sure enough, the gate was open and her beloved pup was gone. A few minutes later, there was a joyous reunion in the lobby. The owner was so grateful for the thoughtful lady that took time out of her day to rescue a poor lost puppy.

2009-11-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

Happy day after turkey day. Sad news today. It started out happy, because one of my favorite clients was on the books for today with a really tall german shepard that I have been seeing for over 11 years. I knew as soon as I saw her and her owner that it wasn't going to end well. She was extremely lethargic and didn't want to stand up, she had been trying to vomit for the past few hours, but nothing would come up. We took some x-rays and found that she had GDV- Gastric dilitation and volvulus. This is an extremely life threatening condition that comes on very suddenly. It usually happens in large and giant breeds that are very deep chested. Sometimes it comes on if they are active after a large meal, but sometimes it comes on without any obvious reason. Sometimes it can cause complications like a twisted spleen and abnormal heart rhythms. The only hope is emergency surgery right away. Because of her advanced age and other underlying medical problems, her owners made the agonizing decision to let her go. At least she had a great thanksgiving yesterday with all her family.

2009-10-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Kitty vs recliner: Last night a sweet calico kitty was relaxing with her owner in the recliner. Something spooked her and they all got tangled up-the owner, the kitty, and the recliner. The kitty yowled, ran away limping, and hasn't been able to walk right since. We sedated her and found that she had completely dislocated her elbow. That must have been quite a tangle of kitty legs and recliner parts. Luckily for her, we were able to pop the joint right back into place and get her some good pain medicine. Hopefully ,things will go well and the elbow will stay in place so she can avoid surgery. Be on the lookout for one persnickety recliner- armed and dangerous.

2009-10-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

How did the tiny kitten get up in the tree? Someone heard a terrible noise coming from their front yard, called for help, and finally decided that there was a cat up in their tree. After much time and effort, the culprit was finally apprehended, a tiny helpless orphan. The neighbors decided on a surrogate mom, who took her home and started bottle feeding her. After a day, she still had not had any stool so foster mom brought her in for us to check. She is the cutest, tiniest, little black fluff ball. She only weighs about half a pound, but is full of play and very curious. Turns out, she already has her kitten teeth, so didn't really need to be bottle fed anymore. She dove headfirst into a dish of kitten food and never looked back. Needless to say, foster mom has already turned into permanent mom. Hopefully, they will all live happily ever after. The question remains; how did that little tiny kitten get up the tree?

2009-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hey- we're back. Had a mild case of computer illiteracy that kept us out of the game for a short while. When all else fails, try it on the other computer- who knew? Anyway, Today's theme is check and make sure your pet's rabies vaccination is current. Even though we don't see much of it in the metro area here in pets, not having your pet vaccinated can still lead to a political nightmare. If your pet accidentally bites you, the state laws don't care if he never goes outside, or if he didn't do it on purpose. This also applies to cats, even indoor cats. Have to run, two cute Pomeranians await.

AZ Healthy Pet Surgery

2009-10-14T15:43:00.001-07:00

Hello,
We have been busy taking care of our patients (and we had email/Internet changes that are cleared now). Today, Dr. Moody, a surgical specialist was at our Chandler location, Chandler Gilbert Animal Hospital, to perform a special knee surgery for repairing the cruciate ligament on one of our large patients. These athletic dogs combined with certain conformations sometimes end up with these "football" injuries. They can return to activity and delay serious arthritis with appropriate surgery (there are a few types of surgeries, from those that the orthopedic specialist does to some that we do in general practice). These injuries do much better as far as pain and delayed development of arthritis if they are diagnosed early in the disease and corrected. All types of breeds can get these knee injuries, but the larger breeds such as Labs and Rotties are more prone. People sometimes ask how to tell if a dog is in pain; if they are limping or won't jump or run like they used to, they are in pain.

2009-09-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, we had a really funky neuter the other day. The dog had an unusually hard testicle, and we were worried that it might have a tumor inside. He was an older dog, and they can sometimes get testicular tumors if they are not neutered. We started surgery, and it was very difficult to get to the testicle because all of the surrounding tissue was abnormal and thickened. We located the testicle and started to remove it, and suddenly pus started oozing out if it. We had to flush all the pus out of the surgery site. After we removed the testicle The remaining tissues were also very abnormal and thickened . We removed as much as we could and sent it all off to the lab for analysis. Because of all the pus, the dog will have to have a drain in place for a few days and take antibiotics. So here's the deal: Worst case, the dog has a malignant tumor that has spread throughout all the neighboring tissues and possibly internally. Best case, the tumor was confined to the testicle and all of the other abnormal tissue is due to secondary infection and inflammation. Even if this is the case, he still has a lot of healing to do. Moral of the story: Get you dog neutered so that this doesn't happen to him.

2009-09-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sad update about our orphaned kitten. She did not make it through the weekend. Her foster mom had gotten very attached after feeding and caring for her around the clock for three days. I suspect there was something just not built right internally. Anyway, some of our staff gets to represent the hospital at a local fall festival this weekend. They will get to meet lots of new people and probably some happy pets. We are all more than ready for some cooler weather to come our way. That makes the dog park more fun!

2009-09-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here is our heart-catching story for the day. Today a really sweet elderly gentleman came in with a newborn kitten. He found the kitten in the middle of the sidewalk in sweltering phoenix. Even though it was a physical challenge for him to bring the kitten here, he was so concerned for the poor little orphan that he found a way. The tiny kitten is less than 2 days old and was very cold and dehydrated. Our technical staff leaped into action to try to get the kitten hydrated and warmed up. So far he seems stable and is taking kitten milk replacement. I hope he doesn't have some horrible internal birth defects or contagious disease because he has captured the hearts of everyone here. We will never know what happened to his kitty mom, or why he was left for dead on the sidewalk. We will keep you posted on his progress.

2009-09-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Happy new beginning today: Last week we had a very sad euthanasia of an old kitty that had been sick for a very long time. The Kitty's owners were, of course devastated and heartbroken. Today they brought in two new kittens that will fill their home with happiness. Now they just have to think of two great new names, I'm thinking "Mischief" and "Trouble".

2009-08-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Staff meeting day today. We listened to recorded phone calls form potential clients to help improve our communication skills. Happily, all of our staff members did really well helping the clients get what they needed. Way to go team!

2009-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Having a great sunny day here. Just a reminder for all that we are actively seeing cases of heartworm disease, yes- even in the desert! You may not be seeing the mosquitos that transmit this disease, but they may be seeing your dogs. We have diagnosed two cases here in the past few weeks. Without routine prevention for this, dogs can suffer heart and lung damage, and you as owners may be faced with costly treatments. Discuss testing and prevention with your Vet. I must run, a cute Beagle awaits.

A beginning

2009-08-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome. Yes, we have entered this part of the information highway. We want to share with you why we do what we do and to give insight into caring for your pets health. Every day we get the opportunity to work with kittens, puppies, cats and dogs who are cute and make us smile. Who wouldn't want to do that. We want to share with you some of our daily joys and sometimes saddness. We hope you will gain from our insights and thoughts.