[My Beloved Scooterman]

I am so sorry. What a beautiful and fitting picture though. Scooterman was a very special dog and he will be missed by all.

[Hogan]

 

I'm so sorry.

[Can I Vet Wrap A Swollen Paw?]

Baby/toddler socks - tape 'loosely' above the swelling.

[Monty Is At U Penn Vet Hospital Right Now]

feel better soon Monty!

[Copious Earwax]

If it's not a yeast infection, it could be diet related. Both Beans and Stoney had a LOT of wax when we got them. They were on Nutro Lamb & Rice. When we switched them to Raw (or grain free kibble) we noticed a DISTINCT decrease in wax production. In fact, I have not had to 'deep' clean ears in over a year. Every so often I use a cotton ball to clean their ears - but there is never much wax and their ears don't smell.

[Economical Flea Prevention?]

I live in Northern IL - our vet highly recommends giving heartworm meds year round - but I think it has more to do with the fact that most people remember to give them better when they do it every single month.

 

As for flea control, the Frontline Plus covers you for approximately 3 months on the flea front. I usually don't treat the boys until September (when we go to the annual picnic which is at a big farm), this cuts costs significantly. But we don't have a big flea problem here either. (My parents house is another story - we were there this weekend and with all the time the boys spent laying in the grass they picked up a few hitchhikers - so they were frontlined early!).

 

Frontline is the only flea medication that our group recommends. Maybe others will have better suggestions for cheaper meds (because it IS expensive).

[Zadie Is At The Bridge]

I'm so sorry.

[Scooter Has A Suspicious Bump On The Rim Of His Eye]

Scooter's eye looks great! That was really great of your vet to get pictures.

 

I hope everything is clear for the loverly Scooter boy.

[Fiona Has An Awkward Wound - Any Treatment Advice?]

I wash with antiseptic (Band Aid wash is good b/c it is a squirt bottle so you don't have to worry about spilling it if they kick the bottle over), put a little Neosporin on it, then a no stick gauze pad, wrap with stretchy cotton roll gauze, tape lightly to the fur (paper tape is easier to remove FYI) and cover w/ a toddler/baby sock (they fit closer to the foot so there's less room for messing with it).

 

This is the same thing that my vet said she'd do. Hope the foots better soon!

[What Is This?]

The big flat red patch looks like a bruise/abrasion. My boys get them when they are acting like fools in the house (you know, basic greyhound stuff like jumping over the back of the couch or body slamming eachother in an attempt to get to mom/dad the fastest/first or falling off the couch cause they roached the wrong way :rolleyes).

 

The other three bumps look a little more serious. Probably they are just cystic pimples, but they can hurt and can get badly infected. My Stoney boy had those types of bumps on his butt when he came home to us. He had oral and topical antibiotics to get rid of them.

[Oscar]

I am so sorry this happened to Oscar. He will be greatly missed.

 

Godspeed Oscar.

[Blood Blisters]

These happen to my boys all the time. The vet has never seemed concerned yet.

[Looks Like A Polyp? On The Skin?]

Sounds like a skin tag to me. Beans had one on his shoulder. They shaved the area and nipped it off - no stiches needed also just a local anesthetic to numb it slightly. It's probably red b/c she's been licking it. Beans' even appeared to have 'fingers' just like the kind people sometimes get.

[Anesthetic Free Cleanings]

Hi Dr Bill. Just a question (because I don't know, not because I want to stir up anything) - are dog teeth/gums/mouths that much different than peoples? I wonder because I have never really heard about people having super deep cleanings, just scaling and polishing. What is it about dog tooth structure that makes the super deep cleaning necessary - or is it more closely related to the fact that many owners aren't correctly caring for their dogs teeth?

[Big Scabs From Nowhere]

Sebaceous cysts? Turbo used to get one right near the base of his tail. I'd never see the cyst, just the scab afterwards. Eventually it stopped coming back.

 

Probably not if they are bleeding. When a scab on a sebaceous cyst comes off it usually leaks white pus like stuff (thicker though).

 

Original poster: The scabs, are they really smooth and when you pick them off (or if they come off) does the spot underneath the old scab bleed like crazy? Do they look so dark that they almost look like ticks (except you know they aren't b/c they have no legs)? Both my dogs get those from time to time - always in the same spot and they do eventually go away. We've never found out what causes them.

[Godspeed, Sweet Skittle]

Devon, I'm so sorry.

 

Godspeed little one.

 

[Pretty Has Crossed The Bridge]

Jay, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know how special she was to you.

[Bathing Your Grey(s)]

only once or twice a year. the last time was right before we went to my mother in laws funeral, i figured they should smell nice since they were meeting a lot of people family for the first time.

[Secret Santa 2006]

Do you get a PM when you're matched? Or do I have an excuse to keep coming back ?

[Are You A Blackhead Picker?]

Oh man am I a picker! It's kind of theraputic in a way - disgusting, but therapudic!

 

Stoney came to me with HORRID blackheads on his belly, they were gone in 2 months, he also had bad butt zits (which were actually a bad staph infection - cleared up with oral and topical antibiotics - but there were also black heads which were picked...)

[Torn Alc?]

One of our group dogs came to us with a torn ALC. It was repaired and, last I heard, is healing nicely with no problems. As I'm not close with the adoptive family, I don't know the specifics of the surgery or recovery period.

[Childhood Kitty Pts]

I can't say I didn't expect it sooner or later. She's 20 years old and cats do wear out. It's just sad since she was my first kitty. We got her when I was in third grade. My brother and I begged my mom for a cat, but she said we had to ask our dad. So we waited until he was just about to wake up (he worked the evening shift) to ask him. In his groggy semi sleepy state he agreed.

 

She has always been a goofy cat, climbing in the cupboards and knocking out cans, getting on the table and eating the tops off the muffins or rolls, getting in the bushel baskets of tomatoes and taking a single bite of each one. Those are just some of the crazy things this cat has done. Her two favorite places were the top of the freezer and the bathroom radiator. I always thought we'd come home to find a cooked kitty.

 

She was always the healthiest little beast. Never had shots (not even rabies) very rarely had hairballs. The past few years she's been going deaf. And the other day my mom took her to the vet because she had been acting 'different'. They found a LARGE mass in her abdomen, it's pushing on everything, bowel, stomach, lungs. Poor thing. Of course my mom wanted my opinion on what to do. I told her that it was more humane to let her go now than to wait until nature ran it's course.

 

By Miss Hanna, thanks for 20 great years.

[I Cant Get Over It]

 

I got teary eyed reading your post. It almost feels that the saying 'I feel your pain' is true.

 

In May we lost our dear Shamrock. He was sick for a week and a half and then died of a 'lung anneurisim' (he had a blood filled cyst on his lung and it popped). It still hurts to think of him and I still cry when I see his pic.

 

You may never 'get over it', but in time you'll be able to look back and remember the best times and what was so special about your precious girl.