Our Blog

It needs immediate veterinary attention and ruling out the cause can be lifesaving.

What Is The Cause?

• Food Bloat
• Water Bloat
• Gastric Torsion (GDV)

Male cats can easily develop obstruction of the urethra which is the tube draining urine from the bladder out of the penis. Obstructions are often the result of plugs of inflammatory material, mucus, crystals, small stones (called calculi) that have formed in the kidneys and have passed down into the bladder (see urinary stones). The cause of the inflammatory materials and stone formation is not well understood, though viral infections and diet may play a role. Other causes are reported such as cancer, previous injury causing scarring, and trauma are also reported. Early neutering of cats does not cause reduction of urethral size as in some other species.

A Single Breakthrough Seizure

It is a lucky pet that never has another seizure after beginning medications; but an occasional breakthrough seizure (as disturbing as it may be to watch) is rarely of serious concern. In most cases, one can simply give an extra dose of the oral anti-seizure medication that has been in use and consider the episode over with. The veterinarian should be appraised of the situation and the medication regimen evaluated to see if adjustments should be made to prevent further breakthrough seizures in the future.

Helping animals become healthy enough to smell the spring flowers is what brings us joy. The last couple weeks have been heartfelt and wonderful. Please stay in touch with your pet’s recovery, we love hearing about it. Life is full of hardship and complications. Sometimes the worst comes up and we are all too quick to remember what was taken for granted.

We know dogs have done amazing things, from sniffing out bombs, warning owners about upcoming seizures, to early cancer detection. Once again they may become a wonderful helping hand. A medical charity, called Medical Detection Dogs, in England that has successfully trained dogs to detect malaria is now attempting to train man’s best friend to identify the smell of COVID-19.

They are partnering with the Tropical Medicine and Hygiene School in London along with Durham University to begin trialing dogs for the job.

We want to give thanks to our supporting veterinarians for finding ways to help the patients we have seen with their follow up care. Each morning we have gotten to watch patients walk out feeling better than when they arrived but not every patient is lucky enough to heal in a single night. Frequently it takes the community working together to make it happen and we have been witness to that many times over already. Pruyn, Missoula Vet Clinic, and Grant Creek (among many others) deserve a special recognition this week for their outstanding jobs and their cooperation in getting pets the help they need. Some of the patients we saw will soon be in the Mountains again, exploring the world with their owners tagging along.