I just know Currier and Ives were envisioning Granite Hills Animal Care

 on Christmas Day. All those years ago.   Just like a picture postcard. 

Love this Holly Tree. It is covered with berries 70-80% of the year.

Here are some photos and video of Christmas Snow 2010 in Elberton.  It started snowing about 8:30 Christmas night and into Sunday.  It was mostly grey all day, but the sun finally did peek out about 5:30 in the afternoon. 

Sunlit Tree Tops

Merry Christmas to All

Well, it looks like we are winding down towards the Holiday.  Some boarders came in yesterday, a few more arrive on Friday.  I have  few more things to buy.  A few more things to make.  A cluttered house to clean by Saturday night.  Ugghh.   My Mother announces this past weekend that she and Dad are staying at my house on Saturday night.  I'm sure she does it just to aggravate me.  So I have to suck up the Taj Mahal of spider webs out of the spare room with the vacuum cleaner.  If I don't make it out alive, tell the coroner and Channel 11 film crew to look for my body in that room.


I poured up homemade vanilla extract last night for little gifts.  It has to sit for 6-8 weeks to cure, so people can use it by March. Maybe.

 It's vodka and/or Bourbon with vanilla beans in it, poured up in little Jelly Jars. 

Then Ms. Ellie came in for a bath today.  Y'all have seen her several times since she was a puppy.  Don't tell anyone, but some say she's the prettiest and sweetest dog around.  That's what they say.

Her hair has grown out from when it got cut off by the groomer back in the summer.  That was a tough day all around.  Ellie was overjoyed. And cooler.  The rest of us cried like little school girls.

(Okay, I cried like a little school girl.  No fibbing right here at Christmas. )

 You know how you do when you pick up a sweater or scarf made out of cashmere?  You say the word "cashmere"  in sort of a sigh, as if it something rare, treasured, and precious, and immediately want to rub it on your cheek.

Ellie's the same way.  She's all fluffy and fuzzy, and smells like shampoo.  She's like the ultimate pillow pet and you just want to nap on her.

I'm sure this happens to her all the time. 

(You should visit more often, Ms. Ellie. Preferably about 2 in the afternoon, okay?)


And then the surveillance video captured this mischievousness by Little Miss Sunshine.

There is a folding chair in the exam room.  It usually has a slip cover on it.  Leon, the old hospital cat, claims it as his own.  If a client sits their purse in it, Leon wanders in, sits and stares at it until someone moves the purse.  So he can get up in the chair for a better view, a petting, a treat, or all the above.  If a client sits in the chair, the same thing happens.

So the slip cover was getting fairly grungy with cat hair and all, so we changed it to a clean one.  And 5 minutes doesn't by before crabby Miss Sunshine is in there christening the clean slip cover. . . . take a look.

Lastly, I doubt I'll be posting again before the holiday, (that spider web is huge)  so I just want to take the time to wish you a Merry Christmas and  Happy Holidays.  If you are traveling, be careful.  Be safe. Stay warm. Stay dry.  Spend time with family and friends and make memories if there are little ones around.    2010 has been a tough year for some people and their families, so here's wishing 2011 will be better, whatever the case may be.  

Thanks as usual for reading my gibberish and spending time here. 

Merry Christmas everyone,  

From Me , Daisy, Leon, Maybelline, Sunshine, and Priscilla 

Ginger - Pomeranian Puppy- 12/15/10

This is Ginger. You saw her first back in mid October.   She was in today for her last puppy vaccinations.   Not quite 5 lbs. yet.

 

 

If you want to see her earlier photos, click here. 

Slade- Australian Blue Heeler Puppy

I had the perfect photo of this guy and somehow my camera ate it.  Gave me an error message and left me with only this one photo.  Boooooooooo . . .

 

He's 9 weeks old and was in for his first puppy vaccination today.  He got his collar yesterday and has been scratching or trying to back out of it.  Today he met a leash for the first time.  Can you tell?  He doesn't seem too thrilled about it. 

If Daisy Were Singing Beyonce If I Were a Boy

You might remember Daisy.

She's the Corgi looking dog that was abandoned here at the hospital about 4 years ago.  You can find her first photos on this blog, way way way back in 2006. 

This other little dog was rescued from the pound 2 weeks ago.  His name is Dee. And the resemblance is uncanny.  So I had to get it on tape and put together a video.

If you are on a really slow connection, and can't watch the video, here are some photos of Daisy and Dee. (But watch the video if you can)

Carly, Bailey, and Your Opinion is Requested.

First the fun stuff.

This is Carly.  She was in the other day for a haircut and a puppy shot.  She was surprising good for her first haircut as most puppies jump around, acting the fool, until the realize that the buzzing clippers aren't all that scary.

The next Beast is Bailey.  She's a 4 month old Lab who came in the other day.




The camera batteries died rather quickly, so I only got this short video of her.  She got a puppy vaccine but she originally came in because she got bug bit on her face by something, (bee, bug, spider, etc.).  You can't see it very well but her left eye is swollen, almost closed, along with the left side of her face.  We got her some Benadryl and she was fine.   We did get a puppy shot in her too.  Getting bug bit might have saved her life.  She was already way behind on her puppy vaccinations, and we've already seen our first parvo puppy this winter.   A 7 month old Bulldog mix died last week with it. 

He had received one vaccination from the feedstore.  It's very disheartening to know parvo puppies have to suffer unnecessarily like they do, or die, when it's easy to prevent, not to mention a hell of a lot cheaper, than to try and treat it.    But such is the reality when people rely on the feedstore, a yearly rabies clinic, and the spay- neuter clinic for  their veterinary care.  


And now for my question-
What do people think of crowd sourcing fundraising sites?  Sites like KickStarter.com, ChipIn.com,  IndieGoGo.com, Profounder, or CrowdRise?   Any experiences with them?

The reason I ask, I have been secretly wishing for a class 4 therapy laser.  Familiar with those?  They have been used longer in human medicine than veterinary medicine.  Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, Sports Medicine specialist use them for rehabilitation.   They are a little different than a surgical laser that is used for tissue cutting.  Surgical lasers are great for surgery- no bleeding, less pain and swelling, etc.  Therapy lasers use a different wavelength of light than surgical lasers.   They are good for degenerative joint diseases, pain management, wounds that won't heal, fractures that are slow to heal-  really anything where it is desirable to reduce swelling, pain, inflammation, and stimulate collagen-   hot spots, lick granulomas, stomatitis, herniated disks and spinal injuries, etc.  I am probably going to get an appointment for Maybelline with a hospital that is about 40 miles away in Anderson, SC. To see if the treatments help her mobility.

If you want to read more about laser therapy, search for k-laser usa,  companion therapy lasers, or litecure.com.  You can also find videos online on Youtube.

I first learned about therapy lasers 3-4 years ago.  And I think it is one of those things, that one would use, if they had it.  The case studies are impressive.  Jethro has his neck lasered twice when it seemed to be bothering him from his cancer.   The two treatments might have helped some, but he had worse problems to deal with so he only got 2 treatments.

The problem is that lasers aren't cheap.  And since they are rather new and everybody loves the one they have, you can't find them used or refurbished.   The surgical lasers run about 30 thousand dollars new.  You can find them used and refurbished since they have been around a bit longer.   Therapy lasers cost a little less but they are still expensive-  16-17 thousand.

And with the economy what it is at this time, I don't want to deal with an equipment payment or lease without knowing if that equipment can pay for itself in such a small community.  Large metropolitan area wouldn't have such an issue.    Arthritic patients would require a series of 6 treatments and then maybe only a monthly treatment after that.

The reason this comes up again now, is that  I have an older cat patient who is a little gimpy in his rear legs.  He had a couple of treatments when he got sick while the couple was on vacation in Florida.  And his owners  could really tell a difference in how he was moving afterwards.

 So, I am back to looking at laser therapy.  Using a program like kickstarter would fund the equipment ahead of time, without going down the traditional route of a lease or a bank loan.   (Kickstarter is actually for creative projects, so this might not qualify for them, although in my case, it's sort of a hybrid between business and art in how it would be stuctured.)

I guess what I like about Kickstart is that it's an "all or none" approach.  I think the limit is 90 days, so if the goal isn't met, no money is exchanged.  The fees and credit card fees would be similar to what a bank loan would charge for an interest rate.  I can get creative with incentive packages.  For local pet clients, it might be a series of treatment or other veterinary services.  For art patrons it could be packages of gift items, original paintings, reproductions, etc.

So, after all my ramblings,  my question is, What do people think of crowdsource fundraising rather than traditional financing?  Would you consider it?  Specifically for a site like KickStarter, what tiers of packages would you choose to do-     $20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 1500, 2500, 3600? 

Leave me your thoughts or comments below.  Also if you have any experience or comments about laser therapy in pets, leave those too.  Thanks.

Where Dat Bus Be?

 Well, today is the day.  In about an hour and a half,  Princess will be headed on her way to the hippest and hottest (kewlest) place on the East Coast. Miami Beach.  Where the young and beautiful people live.  She might even meet a Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, or Diddy. 

She's got her luggage packed and ready to go. 

 All right, Mr. Chauffeur Man. Now, where you be?

 

 Unfortunately though, there was no Limousine service to Miami.  Or First Class Airline Service. Or no service that anyone offered to pay for, put it that way.  So Princess will be styling and profiling, hitching along, in a semi-truck hauling granite.   It's a glamorous life, let me tell ya.  Like Fergie sings, G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS.  Glamorous.

 

So, if you happen to see a big rig driver, somewhere between here and South Florida, walking a fluffy, prissy little dog, in a pink halter top (the dog, not the driver) , don't be so judgmental.   

That's just Princess. Safe travels to you, Girlfriend.

PS- If you recall,  the owner of Princess  got moved to an assisted care facility, a few weeks ago, in Miami.  This will be the first time she has seen her in about a month.  She did call last week to check on her. She sounded good on the phone.  Her daughter called today,  and said that every time the doorbell rings at the facility, her owner hopes it's Princess.  Since I told her last week, she would be arriving this week.

So I am sure she'll be tickled to see her.  They might have to give her oxygen or something. . .  dart her with a tranquilizer gun, etc.  (not princess, her owner)

It's November- We don't need no flea stuff.

Right? Now that the chill is in the air (exluding those reading from the Southern Hemisphere), that's what you are thinking, right?

It's Winter, fleas go away in the winter. . . . . . I can put away the flea stuff till May.


Let's ask Sasha.  and see what she says about no flea stuff. Or flea medication from the Wal-Mart. (Which is what she was using.)

Sasha is a 3 year old Pekingese who came in a few minutes ago.  She was itchy and ADR (ain't doing right).   Okay.   A little closer look,  and one can see why she ain't doing right.

 

She was well on her way to the same fate as Belle, the little cat, you saw 2 weeks ago.  She's a little anemic, but not to the degree that Belle was. It helps that she is a little larger (more blood volume). 

Her owner was just mortified when she saw the amounts of fleas that fell off.  I was a little surprised as well.  She mentioned something about photos, and I chuckled a little and told her, I don't take photos to turn people in to the SPCA or anything.  I take photos and share them so hopefully they might help another pet and keep them from suffering the same problem.  No one believes me when I tell them fleas can be a problem.  People have to see photos.         No worries. No one is going to jail. 

So what does Sasha say about her flea medication?   It looks like that Walmart stuff is working well. . . .it looks very effective. . .  you probably could skip a month or two. 

Sasha says , "No, not working too great at all."  (that's a big ass negatory, in case you are wondering)

Tonight is going to be the first night she's been able to sleep without creatures biting her. . . and if you have ever been bitten by fleas, you know they are not painless. Not to mention just annoying. 

(PS-  Turkey/Bobby left onTuesday with his new owner, in case you were wondering.  I haven't heard back from him, so he must be getting along splendidly with the other dogs.)

Mornin' all. 

Turkey, as you recall, is back up for adoption on Petfinder. His Foster Mom has had to move to an assisted care facility in Miami.   Princess, her Pomeranian, can move down there if I can find transportation for her.

I shot a new video of Turkey last week.

Yoda, Bentley, and Jake

Mornin' All. Or it was morning when I started this post. Welcome to Monday. It's Halloween week.

How many of y'all have already eaten all the candy and have to go out and buy more? I know y'all are out there. . . .

Here's who came in last week.

Jake came in on Friday, and went home on Saturday. He's about 10 weeks old, a Chihuahua puppy.





Then there was Bentley. . . .

Middle of last week, Bentley had managed to get himself stepped on, but he was fine for the most part. He's a mix between Jack Russell Terriorist and a Pomeranian, I think, his owner said.
Cute, cute, cute.



Then Miss Yoda came back in on Friday for a follow up vaccination. She's growing and only wanted to do her own thing and get off the table. We were having enough trouble herding one cat, much less how it would have been to try herd a bunch of cats.

She was wearing a new blinged out, too big for her, Pink collar. She wasn't too amused, and it must have been new I assume, from the way she kept scratching and chewing at it.

Her eyes have changed color a little. They are now more green. The last time I saw them, they had turned more of a grey color. Her adult haircoat is growing in as well. Looks like she's going to have longer hair.

Fleas Can Be Fatal

This is probably going to be a long post. (Apologies, in advance, but it needs to be discussed)

I do like sharing photos and stories with you.  Some topics are happy, and some a little less happy, put it that way.  I don't post anything that I wouldn't tell a client in person. I don't post to embarrass anyone. I don't mention clients names, although some of my readers do recognize the patients, and know who they belong too.  And when I discuss things like parvo virus, as a reader, it's easy to point a finger and say, "that dog should have been vaccinated".  And I agree.  It sort of indirectly, unintentionally,  reflects poorly on the owner. If I had my way, every dog would get vaccinated, but I am up against a feed store, a rabies clinic,  the pound, and a low-cost spay neuter clinic, that rolls into town every 2 weeks, that says otherwise.

The only reason that I post these stories in the first place is that if I can keep another pet from suffering the same mistake, then it's worth it.  As a reader, what you don't realize is that these posts about things like parvo show up really high in google, and on youtube. A little client pet educational information never hurt anyone.  So that is my intent. Not to pass judgment on any one person or embarrass anyone.   Does that make sense?  Okay then.

This is the story of  Belle. A 4 year old Himalayan cat that came in on Thursday.

Literally knocking on death's door.  Weighed about 4.5 lbs.  Probably should have weighed 7 pounds or more. Totally inside cat.  I vaccinated her as a kitten and then hadn't seen her again until Thursday.  Someone else spayed her. Not sure when her last checkup was.   Her body temperature was 92.5 degrees.  Normal body temp for a cat is up to 103.  Mucous membranes the color of notebook paper.

She's in a rather precarious situation.  You are not going to be able to get a catheter in her, without stressing her out.  Which means she crashes then and there.  Sedating her is not an option either.

So I got a capstar down her, sprayed her with flea spray,  gave her a shot of b vitamins, and packed her in hot water bottles, and papoosed her in a towel.  To fumigate and get her temp back up. Or try and get her temperature back up. 

The fleas had literally sucked her dry.  You can see the dead ones on the inside of the towel and on the table.  The white things on the table that look like grains of salt are flea eggs.  You wouldn't believe how many of those fell off her just in the few minutes she sat on the table. Just loaded. 

Flea Eggs

 Her only hope is that she can hang on for 2-3 days to let her blood levels build back up.  She made it through Thursday night.  Her temperature was still low on Friday morning, but I did get it back up to 101 by lunchtime.  I was hopeful.  I got a little nutrical in her, gave her a little bit of fluids under her skin. Not too much to dilute out her blood volume further.

She was sleeping with hot water bottles, wrapped up in a towel, and under a heat lamp. When I went to check on her about 3:30 pm,  she had passed away.  It was all just too much for her to try and hang on.

There is a small possibility that Belle has some underlying medical condition that made her weak or anemic in the first place, and the fleas didn't help any.  Without a blood sample to test, or possibly an autopsy, we'll never know.  But that was a lot of fleas, flea eggs, and flea dirt on her.  And  "flea dirt" as it is called is just flea poop made up of digested blood from her.


The owner has another cat and 2 dogs in the house. She said she has been using Frontline on all of them.  I have no way to verify what she was exactly using. Or what she had sprayed the house with. I did send her home with Siphotrol to spray the floors and upholstery with.  It has much more active ingredients than most store brand of flea sprays.  If she has been treating the other pets, and spraying the house in the past few months, I bet she has spent way more than she would have if she had purchased the "good stuff" in the beginning.   I also bet if she had called me a week, maybe 2 weeks ago, she would still have her cat, and not be having to get her cremated.  But that is hindsight, isn't it.


No dog or cat should have to live with fleas. Certainly not die from them.

Often people will say, "Oh, my cats stay inside, they don't need flea stuff."  And this is true, up to a point, they are less exposed compared to an outdoor cat. In the beginning anyway.  But if a flea problem ever develops, and it can happen very fast without one realizing it,  the indoor cat is at a disadvantage.  The outdoor cat can move. If there are fleas in the barn, the outdoor cat can go elsewhere.  The inside cat can't get away from them.

Just a few notes about flea products. Read the label and know what you are buying. Or better yet, ask your vet.  I know from experience that when people complain about a flea problem, and I ask what they are using, the answer is usually a flea collar.  Or flea shampoo.   Well, there you go. Problem solved. That'll be $85 for the consult.

A flea problem isn't about the fleas that you can see. It's about the flea eggs and larval stages that you can't see. For every flea one sees, there are 10 more waiting to hatch. The flea you see on Thursday probably isn't the same one you saw on Tuesday.   Flea medications don't repel fleas as if your dog or cat lives in a bubble.  Fleas hatch and have to get on the dog or cat long enough to absorb the stuff. Treating the carpets, upholstery, bedding helps too.

Many of the over the counter flea products for dogs contain permethrin. You can't put permethrin on a cat.  Or you shouldn't as it is toxic to cats- make them seizure or have uncontrolable twitches. I see that more than I would like to.

One ingredient in some flea medications is methoprene.  Methoprene is a insect growth regulator. It is supposed to help keep flea eggs from hatching.  I have seen some OTC cat flea medications that only contains methoprene.  It doesn't actutally kill anything.  (And they wonder why they have a flea problem . . . ) Sometimes it's combined with something to kill fleas.  Like Frontline plus.  And that combination is fine.  Personal opinion though, is that Frontline Plus doesn't kill fleas any faster than Frontline, (that ingredient is the same in both).  So I don't think the "plus" is worth the extra money that it costs. If you really want something to keep flea eggs from hatching, look for an ingredient called Lufenuron.  It's in a product called Program for Dogs and Cats. (I actually have it compounded into dog's heartworm medication saving a client money).


Thanks for reading to the end of the ridiculously long post. I hope you learned something and that it helps to improve your pet's quality of life.  I hope I never see a cat, or dog, in Belle's situation again.

Ginger the Pomeranian Puppy

Meet Ginger.  She's about 9 1/2 weeks old. Weighs 2.2 lbs.  Mostly fluff. :)

Blur, blur, blur

None Too Happy about that Leash

Here's a short video.

Rowan and Gypsy

This is Rowan and Gypsy.  They look like pit bulls mixed with something else.  Pointy ears but rather long noses.  They also don't weigh very much, about 10 lbs.  so probably not a lab mix.

 

The owners found(caught) one when they spotted them on a dirt road.  It took a few more days of coaxing to get their hands on the 2nd one.

Here's a short video. One had the hiccups.

Best Friends Animal Society September Blessings

This video stumbled across my email and I thought it was worth sharing. (spoiler alert- you'll probably need a tissue).   There is also an art auction at the best friends site that starts today. Paintings done by the animal residents. Literally. 

 
I didn't realize, or had maybe forgotten, that Best Friends videos are on Youtube.  You might want to check those out as well-  Go to this Link. 

To find out more about the online art auction, here's a link to the Best Friends website.


Have a nice weekend.  I am off to a family reunion at my Grandparents old farmplace. I'll be sure to eat cake for everybody . . . .

BW

He's like a newspaper.  Black and White and Read (Red) All Over.   *smirk*

Y'all are probably too young to remember that joke.

This is BW.  Short for Black and White. He was in today for his second round of booster shots.  He was a stray that showed up at his owner's house. He's about 5-6 months old.  And I do believe, he is redder than he was 3 weeks ago.

Perhaps he's been spending just a little too much time sunning himself and lounging in the neighbor's hot tub. Chlorine can be so damaging to one's hair . . . .

I should win a Nobel Prize or something. . . Demodex

Yes, that's right. A Nobel Prize for Medical Health Technology or something. Based on my Discovery.

I was surprised my little point and shoot digital camera would take photos of radiographs, in a darkened room, when I discovered that a few years ago.  But when Sparky was in today, I discovered it would shoot pics from the eyepiece of the microscope.   Kewl.

Above is a bad photo of Sparky.  She's 14 and chewing at her skin really bad so it's getting infected.
So we did a skin scraping and found Demodex mites there.  That's what I was able to photograph under the microscope.  The red arrows point to the Demodectic mites.  They are the clear, sort of cigar shaped things with little legs that looks like rings around part of their body.

Aint that just the Koolest?  Totally made my day. Have a good weekend everyone.

English Shepherd Puppies- I Haz Em

These guys came in for their 2nd puppy vaccinations today.  All 8 of them.  

A few are sold, but some are still available if anyone is interested. I'll pass the word along to their owner.  They are 4 or 5th generation of a very desireable bloodline of English Shepherds.  I can't remember the details at the moment.