Author: virtuavet

7-Year Old Maltese Dry Eye Discovered

“We stopped giving it,” said Benny’s parents.

“Why?” asked the Doc. (It can be expensive, maybe money was tight?)

“We figured he’s blind anyway, what does it matter?”

Dogs Get “Dry Eye,” Too!

Harry was a seven-yer-old male intact Maltese (little white fluffy dog) with an excellent groomer and conscientious, detail-oriented parents.  If they said his eyes had too much goop, then the eyes were too gooey.

“Doc, we clean Harry’s eyes every morning, sometimes in the evening, too.  And they still have this discharge!” said Harry’s mom.

“Is the goo yellow, green, or grey?” asked Doc Truli.

“What?”

“What color is the goo?” repeated Doc. Continue reading “7-Year Old Maltese Dry Eye Discovered”

Cat Loses His Voice

A two-year-old cat looses his meow: “We never heard him purr until this morning. Usually we could feel the purr, but never hear it.”

2-Year-Old Cat Breathing With Difficulty

“Doc, I don’t understand it.  Pluto was fine yesterday.  This morning, he looked a little tired, didn’t want to eat much of his breakfast and he can’t meow,” said the concerned dad of a big black and white short-haired Tuxedo Cat. “In fact,” he went on,”we never heard him purr until this morning.  Usually we could feel the purr, but never hear it.”

Continue reading “Cat Loses His Voice”

Help! My Dog's Mouth Smells Bad!

The minute a baby tooth and a permanent tooth share the same space, when the permanent tooth just starts budding through the gingiva, the baby tooth is retained, by definition.

Why Does my Puppy’s Breath Smell so Bad?

Romeo was a 10-month-old Brindle Chihuahua with halitosis (hal -i -toe- sis). That’s doctor-speak for bad breath.

“Doctor, why does my 10-month-old Chihuahua have such bad breath?” said Romeo’s dad.

One look under his lip revealed the answer.

A double upper canine tooth crowds the permanent tooth and fur and food stick in the crevice between the two teeth
The arrow points to a retained deciduous canine tooth with golden, shaggy muck stuck to it.

“Romeo’s maxillary deciduous canine tooth is retained,” thought Doc Truli.

“Romeo’s left upper baby canine tooth didn’t fall out on time,” said Doc Truli.

Romeo had two other retained canine teeth and a retained upper incisor front tooth as well.

“Romeo needs surgery right away to remove the abnormal tooth before it causes further damage and infection in the mouth,” said Doc Truli. Continue reading “Help! My Dog's Mouth Smells Bad!”

Quirky Lump Problem

Sometimes a lump on a dog is just a lump. The lumps have fancy names, but it really doesn’t matter to the dog’s health or lifespan. Sometimes quirky problems can arise as a result of a lump…

Sometimes a lump on a dog is just a lump. The lumps have fancy names, but it really doesn’t matter to the dog’s health or lifespan. Sometimes quirky problems can arise as a result of a lump…

Sammy grew lumps and bumps more than most Labrador-Beagle mixes. His black fur had faded grey over the years, but he still had his wag and loved to go for walks every morning.

Four years ago, Sammy suddenly grew a lump on the end of the left side of his nose, just above where the black leather cobblestone part of the nose began. Doc Truli diagnosed a mast cell tumor on the end of Sammy’s nose. As you know from reading VirtuaVet, mast cell tumors can be very, very nasty. Usually, the longer they stay on or in the body, the more they grow and metastasize, often killing the dog. Continue reading “Quirky Lump Problem”

Top Five Ways Dogs Fracture Their Teeth

Maybe You Didn’t Know: Ice Cubes Fracture Dogs’ Teeth! Plus other Tips…

8-Year-Old German Shepherd Fractures Critical Tooth

Mia is an 8-year-old female spayed German Shepherd Dog. Mia is gentle and sweet and kind. She leaves her food for the other dogs, and backs away to share her toys with friends’ dogs who come over to play. She has soft, wavy chestnut-brown and honey tan fur and soft brown eyes, with long curved black eyelashes.

Mia also chews like a demon dog from you-know-where!

“Doc, how do Mia’s teeth look?” asked her mom.

“They would be perfect, except for the broken carnassial (pronounced car-na-see-ul) tooth,” said Doc Truli.

“I don’t know what you just said, but I don’t like the sound of that,” said Mia’s mom. Continue reading “Top Five Ways Dogs Fracture Their Teeth”

2-Year Old Cat Survives Massive Infection

Feline Leukemia Virus can take a cat’s life away, but not today!

Little Black Short Haired Feline Leukemia Infected Cat
Tiggy Eating After Near Death!

Feline Leukemia Virus Complicates an Already Devastating Illness

105.6F Fever & Swollen Lymph Nodes & More in a Young Cat!

Tiggy looked up at Doc Truli from the discomfort of a plastic laundry basket. He gave a sad little meow.

“We noticed he wasn’t eating, then we saw his one testicle is swollen,” said Tiggy’s mom.

The little short-haired black cat had one testicle swollen four times bigger than normal. Chains of lymph nodes under the right and left sides of his jaw line bulged under Doc’s sensitive fingers.

Tiggy have a fever of 105.6! Continue reading “2-Year Old Cat Survives Massive Infection”

Wheaton Terrier Lump Surgery Cures Behavior Problem

If your dog is edgy, bitey, hyper and not trustworthy, and has a cyst, think twice about whether or not that lump or cyst bothers your dog. Maybe it bothers him or her more than you know….

Hazel, the blue Wheaton Terrier Dog leans on her mom's lap for emotional support
Hazel leans in for some much-needed emotional support

Hazel, a 6-year-old female spayed blue Wheaton Terrier fidgeted around her mom’s chair in the examination room. She waged her stumpy little tail nervously and tried to stuff herself under the chair.

“I can see you, Hazel,” said Doc Truli.

Different year, same routine.

“She’s different, Doc, watch this,” said her mom,”Come here, Hazel honey.” Hazel slunk out from under the chair and sat in front of her mom’s legs. “Stay, Hazel.”

Then Hazel’s mom looked up at Doc Truli and said, “Go ahead and pet her, I swear she’s a changed dog.”

Continue reading “Wheaton Terrier Lump Surgery Cures Behavior Problem”

10-Year-Old Cat Can't Urinate

George kept going into the cat litter pan and nothing was coming out!

Brown Tabby Cat with White Paws Flicks his Ears Back in Annoyance
George Looks Annoyed

If Your Cat Can’t Urinate, It’s an Emergency!

George was a 10-year-old brown tabby Domestic Short Hair cat with four white paws and a litter box problem. He kept going into the pan and nothing was coming out!

“He hasn’t been able to urinate since last night,” said George’s mom.

Doc Truli felt George’s abdomen. Just in front of his hips, a hard, round bladder felt like a hard grapefruit. George stretched our his back legs and meowed in pain.

“He’s blocked,” said the Doc.

“George needs to be unblocked, he needs IV fluids to flush the toxins put of his body, and he needs painkillers.”

“Why won’t he heal if we just unblock him? Why does he have to stay in the hospital,” asked mom.

Continue reading “10-Year-Old Cat Can't Urinate”

Beagle Bump Blues

If a lump goes from zero to this…..in one night???! What on Earth is it?

beagle with lump
beagle with lump

7-Year-Old Beagle Sports Leg Lump

Bailey might be the cutest beagle ever. Short, roly-poly, friendly, and well-loved, Bailey fears nothing and eats everything! But the other day in the vet’s office, she was a little apprehensive.

“When did you notice this lump?” asked Doc Truli.

“Just last night,” said Bailey’s mom. Uh, oh…

If a lump goes from zero to this…..in one night???! What on Earth is it?

Continue reading “Beagle Bump Blues”

2-Year-Old Chihuahua Mix Delivers Puppies!

The Most Important Tip When Your Dog is Giving Birth

tan, brown and white Chihuahua mix dog watches nervously as we take her puppy
Where are you taking my puppy?

The Story of Virginia, the Pregnant Chihuahua

Virginia looked at Doc Truli with those big, watery, teary Chihuahua eyes.  A squirmy black puppy with a brown mask nuzzled under her mom’s warm thigh.

“Doc, this one was there when we got up this morning.  Then, I went to take a shower, and when I came out, there were two more, but they weren’t moving,” said Virginia’s dad.

“Let’s take x-rays and see how many more are in there,” said the Doc.

(See if you can count the puppy skulls by enlarging the x-ray image below.  Can you see where there are three more puppies?)

Continue reading “2-Year-Old Chihuahua Mix Delivers Puppies!”