Good Luck

Today I found a cat whisker while I was sitting on the couch reading a story to my son.  I love when this happens because there is an old wives tale that says finding a cat whisker is good luck.  I have always chosen to believe this, and so far, it seems to me that every time I find one something good happens soon afterward. 

I don't find them often, and you really shouldn't.  Cat whiskers, or vibrissae, do shed occasionally, but generally shouldn't break and shouldn't all fall out at once.  If they do, there is usually a problem of some type worthy of a trip to see me.

I save my cat whiskers in my jewelry box, but I could even buy a piece of jewelry designed for just such a purpose.  How surprising!    Cat Whisker Charm Bottle

My cat's BFF is a dog

I adopted Teddy in 1999.  She was a pretty sad little kitten, rescued from a parking lot in Brooklyn known for it's population of feral cats.  She was only 4 weeks old, and not completely feral.  She tolerated being held and medicated for 2 weeks in the animal hospital that I worked at part time on weekends.  When I left her the first weekend, I felt sorry for her and thought that she was pretty cute.  By the second weekend, she was definitely a little less friendly, tired of being medicated for her upper respiratory infection.  By the third weekend, she was actually disgusting.  The cornea of her left eye had ruptured and what used to be an eyeball looked like nothing I could describe without turning the average person's stomach.  The busy staff did little more than medicate her and feed her as there were many other needy patients that were far more appreciative of their efforts.  So, as any young veterinarian would, I decided that I'd have to take her home.  I surgically removed the horribly infected eye, and a few hours later boarded the Amtrak from NYC where I was weekend moonlighting  to Philly where I lived. 

At only 6 weeks old, she made fast friends with my yellow lab.  She really could not have cared less about me.  For the first 12 years, she hung out with the dog, ate the cat food that I provided and politely used the litter box, but really didn't care for human attention.  In December 2003, her friend died.  I think that she was really sad, because that was the first time that she decided to try and make friends with me.  About 6 months later we adopted a dog, and I think that I heard her breathe a sigh of relief.  She just loves dogs!  She doesn't need me anymore.  Oh well.

Watch Teddy give Ozzie a massage, she does this several times daily.

Age is not a disease

I always say that.  Age is not a disease.  Often I see geriatric pets who are presented for a regular check up.  Frequently, I find a problem that can be addressed but their owner may think that there is nothing wrong, because they think that certain things are normal for old animals.  Or, they know that there is a problem, but because their pet is old, they think that there is nothing that can or should be done. 

I can think of a lot of examples, and I am sure that other veterinarians would have similar stories.  One situation that I see all of the time is older dogs slowing down.  People think that it is normal.  Age doesn't make it hard for a dog to stand up, age related diseases do.  One of the most common age related diseases in a dog is arthritis.  Dogs who slow down probably have advanced arthritis, and deserve some treatment for that.  I always think of it this way, I would have to be in pretty severe pain before I would choose not to go up or down the stairs at my house, and I am pretty sure that I would have taken some pain medicine long before it got to that point.  It is reported that people with arthritis seek medical help long before they become immobile.  I am lucky, many of my clients are very attached to their pets, and ask for help early enough to get good results.  Sometimes, though, people just don't know there is a problem.  They think that their dog is just old.  The earlier I can diagnose and try to manage arthritis for a dog, the better the outcome is likely to be.   Check out this link to see if your dog might have arthritis. 

 www.deramaxx.com

I just saw a cat yesterday who is 17 years old.  His owner loves him dearly.  I met them 2 years ago.  His owner was terrified to bring him in, because she thought that he was too old to survive the kind of stress a veterinary appointment might cause.  I guess she had some bad experiences in the past.  We figured a lot of things out for that old guy, and he had been happily ticking along with a few medicines and a couple of check ups until a few weeks ago.  He stopped eating well and was getting pretty skinny.  He would go to the food, take a bite, then quickly walk away.  His problem was a horrible tooth root that had the pulp exposed.  His owner was so afraid to do anything about it, because he "is so old".  Luckily, I was able to convince her that age was not Cougar's disease, a tooth with the pulp exposed was.  Luckily, he did great and was happy to savor a meal without tooth pain this morning.
 

Thank God you pulled that tooth, now can I eat in peace?

Old animals are pretty cool, they don't usually complain about their age related disease.  Owners have to let me look for it, and fix the things that we can and don't let them suffer when we can't.  Sometimes I even have to remind myself that age is not a disease, when I do that my advice is always better.