Leesburg Animal Hospital's Blog

The girls up front hear it on the phone everyday... A client calls to schedule an appointment and the caller says, "now I don't want to be charged an office visit." This statement, oftentimes a demand, leaves me a little perplexed.  What exactly is an "office visit?"  I don't have a charge for anything called "office visit" in my computer, so I am not quite certain what that is.  I guess an office visit is a charge for sitting  on the benches in the front office.  Or maybe it is a charge for using the restrooms.  Drinking a cup of our coffee? For watching the t.v.? I'm just not sure; the truth is I am happy to provide those services for free.  

What I do charge for, however, is a "physical exam and professional consultation."  A physical exam is a service the veterinarian provides using her time, expertise, her thought process, ideas, creativity, and her skill.  During a physical exam your pet will be examined from stem to stern.  The veterinarian will listen to the heart, look at the eyes and in the ears, examine the teeth, evaluate the skin, palpate the body for swollen lymph nodes or other lumps and bumps, palpate the abdomen for foreign bodies and masses, evaluate his gait, and overall health.  She will ask you questions she finds pertinent and that may give her clues as to what kind of disease process, if any, is going on in your pet.   During this time you have the undivided attention of the veterinarian and you should mention any details, no matter how small you might think they are.  From here other diagnostic procedures may become necessary such as blood work and/or x-rays.  The goal is to reach a diagnosis and form a treatment plan.

Because animals are masters of disguise and it is their nature to hide their pain, the veterinarian may uncover issues during the physical exam the owner never even knew existed.  Oftentimes, issues have come on so slowly , such as with arthritis, the owner has failed to notice them.   It is the job of your veterinarian to help you find these issues and the start of that investigation is with the physical exam, or what others might inappropriately term "the office visit."

So the next time you think you might want to skip the physical exam, think again! In my humble opinion, the physical exam and professional consultation is the biggest bang for your buck.  After all, we all like to get what we payed for, don't we?

We preach it every day..."do not give your dog table scraps," and we will continue to preach it until everyone gets it...which will be never.  A seemingly harmless food that you eat on a regular basis may seem safe to feed your dog, but can cause serious problems and even death.  For this reason, we will continue to preach it.

I would like to list a few of the most common foods to not feed your pet and list some of their clinical symptoms of toxicity in an attempt to help others understand the seriousness of our instructions. 

Coffee/tea:  Caffeine is the ingredient in coffee causing the toxicity.  While a few quick laps of coffee or tea snuck from a cup by a coy dog will not cause a problem, consuming them in larger quantities can cause major problems.  High amounts of caffeine are found most commonly in coffee grounds, used tea bags, soda, energy drinks and diet pills.

​Chocolate:  Theobromine, the toxic ingredient in chocolate, is a close cousin to caffeine and will cause similar clinical symptoms.

Within 1-2 hours of exposure of either coffee, tea or chocolate your dog may show mild to severe hyperactivity, restlessness, vomiting, tachycardia (elevated heart rate), hypertension (elevated blood pressure), abnormal heart rhythms, tremors, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature) seizures, and collapse.  

Fatty foods:  Fried, fatty foods are particularly dangerous to dogs as they can cause the clinical symptoms of what is commonly called "garbage gut."  The medical term for garbage gut is pancreatitis.  Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas and is a painful condition.  Dogs may present with vomiting and diarrhea, severe pain on palpation of the abdomen, lethargy, elevated temperature and if left untreated pancreatitis may cause death.

Salt: The occasional potato chip does not contain enough salt to cause problems in dogs.  However, dogs are known to like the taste of salt and may find the salt shaker worth sniffing out.  Another common place salt is found that most people are not aware of is in home made play doughs.  Salt poisoning in dogs will result in clinical symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, inappetance, lethargy, ataxia (walking drunk), excessive thirst or urination, potential injury to the kidneys, tremors, seizures, coma, and even death when untreated.

Onions and Garlic: While most dogs will not likely ingest a whole onion or garlic bulb, they may enjoy the taste of these ingredients cooked in other foods.  Onions, and to a much lesser degree garlic cause a condition known as hemolytic anemia.  Hemolytic anemia is the destruction of red blood cells. Red blood cells are needed to carry oxygen to the tissues of the body.  Inadequate red blood cells will cause lethargy and eventually death in dogs. 

​Xylitol: Xylitol is an artificial sweetener found in "sugar free" foods.  The most common place xylitol is found is in sugar free gum and suckers, cough syrups, children's chewable vitamins, toothpastes, and mouthwashes.  The problem occurs soon after ingestion.  Xylitol is quickly absorbed and results in a release of insulin from the pancreas which results in a profound decrease of blood sugar causing a severe hypoglycemia.   

Raw foods:  A common misconception exists that since dogs eat raw meat in the wild, they should be fed raw meat from the grocery store.  The difference in the two meats is that the  raw meat in wild is from a fresh kill.  Feeding your pet raw meat from the grocery store is not the same.  This meat has gone through a fabrication process and is very likely contaminated with harmful bacteria such as Salmonlella and E. coli. Clinical symptoms are similar to those in humans and are severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.  

Grapes and Raisins: Veterinarians are not sure what exactly is the toxic agent in grapes and raisins but many animals have suffered acute renal failure after ingestion.  

The above listed foods are only a few of the foods we know will cause toxicity in dogs, but are the most common.  Many of these toxic agents may be added to a food very discretely and a simple gesture of kindness to your pet can turn into a serious illness or even death.  For these reasons the veterinarians at Leesburg Animal Hospital strongly advise to feed only a high quality commercial diet with the occasional commercial treat.  We also recommend having on hand the number of the Pet Poison Help Line (855-764-7661) and our after hours emergency number (229-869-43020).