Treatment of a corneal ulcer can oftentimes be difficult, primarily depending on the behavior of the patient, but also because of the frequency the eye needs to be treated, both of which will determine the success or failure of the treatment plan.
A corneal ucler is, by definition, an abrasion to the cornea. The picture to the left shows a large corneal ulcer which is noticable without any further diagnostics. However, a corneal ulcer can be so small that it is only able to be diagnosed by a fluorescein stain. A yellow dye is washed over the cornea; if an ulcer is present on the cornea, the dye will be taken up by the ulcer and will fluoresce, showing the location and severity, when a black light is placed over the eye. Signs an animal may have an ulcer are squinting or blinking of the eye, excessive tearing of the eye, or constant rubbing of the eye either with a paw or scratching the face on the floor. Treatment of a corneal ulcer can oftentimes be difficult, primarily depending on the behavior of the patient, but also because of the frequency the eye needs to be treated, both of which will determine the success or failure of the treatment plan. The first picture was of a patient on initial presentaion. This second picture is the same patient after 3 weeks of treatment with multiple drops 4-6 times a day. If your pet is exhibiting signs of ocular irritation, it is possible he may be suffering from a corneal ulcer. A corneal ulcer is a condition that can rapidly progress in severity. Do not play the wait and see game when it comes to the eye. A quick 15 minute exam, costing roughly $46 can save your pet's eye.
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I am pretty stoked about this new tick collar! In the three weeks we have had this product on our shelf, the response has been good. This is a tick collar that not only kills ticks but also, according to the maufacturer, repels them. Knowing that ticks transmit organisms which may cause disease when they attach, repellency is key. Two other nifty features are that the collar is water resistant and lasts for eight months! Eight months is a long time, and to help you remember when the collar needs to be replaced, you can set up an automatic reminder. How cool is that? I love technology!! The cost of the collar is $64 and has a $20 mail in rebate, which will bring the tick prevention cost down to $5.50/month. With the success and popularity of Comfortis and Trifexis flea preventions, which do not contain a tick prevention, we have seen an increase in ticks on our patients. This collar will work well with both Comfortis and Trifexis. For more detailed information visit serestopet.com or call our office at 759-8384. This post has nothing to do with veterinary medicine. I am feeling very blessed today and want to take a few minutes to share it, so indulge on this one post. I promise to be short! This exact weekend one year ago, I completed the Snickers Half Marathon. I was 18 weeks pregnant and in great shape. Fast forward one year later...I now have a 6 month old, am 15 pounds heavier and can only find the time to exercise, at best, 1-2 times per week. Last August before Wallace Anne was born, I set myself a goal, thanks to the urging of my sister, to participate in this run. Little did I know at that time how drastically my life would change and how difficult it would be to prepare for this run. I will admit there were times I was pushing that jogging stroller and cussing my sister for her bright idea, but I persevered. I am proud to say that yesterday I completed the Seaside Half Marathon and today, although very sore and tired, I am feeling so blessed. I am blessed to have two legs to carry me 13.1 miles, a husband who suports me in these activities, and a healthy baby girl to meet me at the finish line. God is good, isn't he! Above, from left to right are my friend Marie, myself, and my sister, Holly.
It was a solemn day at Leesburg Animal Hospital today. We said goodbye to a very dear friend, Dixie, who is in the picture to the left. Dixie was the beloved family pet of my in laws. I guess you might call her my "dog-in-law." As you can see from the picture, she was gray in the face and with that gray face came a very old, sweet soul. In Dixie's lifetime, she had delivered 2 sets of puppies, survived cancer treatment, lived through abdominal surgery to repair a rotated stomach, won and lost a few dog fights, and for the past two years had lived with marked arthritis of the hips. None of these things slowed this old girl down. Her one constant behavior was always meeting an incoming car at the edge of her electric fence boundary...tail wagging; eyes squinting. It was when she did not get up for this greeting last Thursday, we knew Dixie had made a turn for the worse. Today, the family decided the best thing for Dixie was to say goodbye. She had served her time here on Earth, been a faithful friend and devoted companion. She may be gone, but she is not forgotten. My mother in law, kindly referred to as "MIL," said to me "no more; I just can't have any more dogs; this is too hard." And it is so true; the decision to euthanise an animal is so very, very hard. I frequently hear "never agian" and "no more" comments. Because in the moment we say goodbye to our old friends, our emotions take over and we seem to forget about all the joy our pets brought us. We focus only on the difficult moment we are in. But we must try and think not only what our pet did for us, but what we did for our pet. Where would Dixie be if the Clarks had not adopted her as a puppy? There is no way to know, but I am thinking she probably would not have lived to be 13 years old, nor would she have had a warm bed and bowl full of food every night. And in her last years would someone have given her the much needed arthritis medication and joint supplements that MIL faithfully gave her every evening? So my message today is think about the good times. Let the memories take over the sadness and fill the void. Never say never. Be open to new relatioships and when the time is right, don't let that pound puppy or stray kitten pass you by. Maybe you will be her saving grace and she will be your next Dixie! We love you Dixie! Rest in peace faithful friend. This is a picture of my Aunt's dog; his name is Oscar (how appropriate for a weiner dog). He takes the term "overweight" to a different level. Fortunately, Oscar is not a patient of mine. I met Oscar for the first time when I took Wallace Anne by for a visit a few weekends ago. She could not tell me how much Oscar weighed, but I can tell you it is way too much! At a glance it is funny to see a dachshund this fat. It might even be a bit comical to laugh at those little legs carrying around that belly that is millimeters from dragging on the ground. But the truth is, it is sad. This little guy does not know he is too fat. He is not responsible for his well being; his owner is. He does not look in the mirror and think his gut looks big; he does not worry about his cholesterol and triglyceride levels, nor does he realize the joint pain he is experiencing is a result of the extra weight he is carrying around. Here is a picture of Oscar's food bowl. I snapped this picture after my Aunt told me Oscar was "eating a diet food but he hasn't lost any weight." I could quickly see the problem here. First off, Oscar's bowl has entirely too much food in it and secondly, out of all that food, very little of it is "diet food." The light brown, square pieces are the actual diet food. I can see about four kibbles at 9 o'clock and about eight or nine kibbles around 6 o'clock. Needless to say, Oscar ain't gonna lose no weight!! Obesity is a big problem in American adults and children, and it is carries over into our dogs and cats as well. Oscar is just one example of the many animals I see that are morbidly obese. The list of health problems associated with obesity are endless and will take years off the life of your pet. If you are aware your animal has a weight problem and need advice on how to help him lose weight, please give us a call at Leesburg Animal Hospital. We are here to help and will guide you to help your pet be more comfortable and live a healthier, longer life. Most often the term "potty mouth" is referred to as someone who uses too much profanity. Well this here mouth puts a new meaning to the term "potty mouth." If you could smell through the computer screen, you would say "it smells like someone took a potty in that mouth!"
Notice all the dark tartar on the teeth (it's kind of hard not to). Inside this tartar is a lot of bacteria that contributes to periodontal disease, gum recession and eventual loss of teeth. Routine dental cleaning can help reduce these problems and therby keeping the mouth healthy. In response to February being National Pet Dental Awareness month, Leesburg Animal Hospital is offering $10 off all canine and feline dentals. Check your Leesburg Ledger for a coupon!! So we found out yesterday that Dr. Shannon is having a boy...well, the truth is we had actually known for a few days. We just wanted everyone to have time to come in and cast their vote. Dr. Shannon drew from the blue box yesterday and the winner is......Mr. Kenny Kimbrel! Congratulations Mr. Kimbrel! You win three nights worth of boarding and a bath! Who will we get to see soon? Baylee? Chelsea Grace? or Zeus?
We are excited to announce a new diagnostic test offered at Leesburg Animal Hospital. Recently, Spectrum Labs developed an easy way to test canine antibody titers for Distemper, Infectious Canine Hepatits, and Parvovirus. This test is called VacciCheck. VacciCheck is a great tool for several reasons. First, we can use this test to avoid over vaccinating of adult animals. Secondly, we can use this to monitor vaccine failure in puppy vaccines. And third, we can greatly reduce the chance of vaccine reactions in patients known to have sensitivities to certain vaccines.
To undestand how this test works, we must first look at how a vaccine works. When a vaccine is administered to an animal, an inactive or attenuated form of a pathogen is injected. This pathogen then stimulates the immune system to recognize it and form antibodies to fight it. These antibodies hang around in the blood stream for extended lengths of time so that when the animal comes into contact with the actual pathogen in the environment, those antibodies are readily available to help fight it off. The amount of antiboides made and the length of time the antiboides hang around is different for each animal, which is where the VacciCheck comes into play; VacciCheck will tell us whether or not we need to vaccinate the patient. When performing the VacciCheck test, we take a blood sample and run it through a series of washes to come up with an actual level of antiboides. If these antibodies are in a high enough amount, the animal will not need to be vaccinated. If the antiboides are low, a vaccine will need to be administered. The cost of this test is $42 and can be performed in the clinic while you wait. Average time for the test to run is 30 minutes. It must be stated this titer test will not test for Rabies or Bordetella Bronchiseptica titers. It is still the recommendation of Leesburg Animal Hospital to vaccinate yearly for both of these infectious diseases along with a yearly heartworm test and an intestinal parasite check. Please call to speak with either myself or Dr. Shannon about this test or to make an appointment. The above picture is a snapshot of a puppy's mouth. It is taken from the side of the puppy with him facing to the right. What I would like for you to notice is the reatined baby tooth in the center of the mouth. The retained tooth is the longer, skinny tooth sitting behind the thicker, more white permanent tooth. Retained baby teeth are very common in puppies and less frequently in kittens. Normally these teeth should be shed before the eruption of the permanent tooth, but for many different reasons they are retained causing crowding and the entrapment of food and hair leading to oral infections and bad breath. these teeth eventually will need to be removed.
To see if your puppy has reatined baby teeth, just lift the lip and see if you can see teeth, on the top or bottom arcade, that look similar to the picture. If so, these teeth will need to be removed and often times are taken out at the time of spaying or neutering while already under general anesthesia. If you are not sure if your pet has retained teeth, simply give us a call for a short appointment and we can quickly answer your question! Can you see the plate of food in the picture? Notice the bottom of the television behind the dog; you can't see it, but the superbowl is on. Last night for the Super Bowl the dentist cooked wings and fries. While I sat in my chair with my plate on the ottoman watching the ball game, my hungry dog looked on with great anticipation. He was anticipating I would "throw this dog a bone", but the likelihood of that happening is about as likely as me being half time entertainment at Super Bowl XLVIII. Ok, maybe that is a stretch. I will admint he has had a table scrap before, but I was not sharing my Terriyaki wings...no way; no how! Now look at the closer picture. Look at the right side of Ransom's mouth. Do you see the drool? This poor dog wanted a wing so badly he was salivating! I laughed and laughed at him. He is so obedient, though, he just sat right there looking and drooling; never attempting to steal a wing. I only hope my children mind me as well as my dog does!
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Dr. Haley Hydrick Clark
Dr. Haley Hydrick Clark graduated from the University of Georgia in 1998 with a degree in Animal Science and from Tuskegee University in 2002 with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. Archives
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