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Lucy girl š
A long, but worthy read of our Lucy girl -
Lucy is a 5 year old Malamute that was given a second chance at life.
For the past couple of years, Lucy has been dealing with horrible skin issues making her hair fall out, skin breakout into scabs and had a very foul smell to her. She was ultimately a frequent flyer for our grooming and dayspa services to try to help relieve any symptoms she was having, while being treated with multiple rounds of antibiotics, anti fungals and bloodwork that showed no significant findings at the time.
Unfortunately, things were progressing and due to financial reasons, Lucy was set to be euthanized.
Thereās not many chances you get in vet med or at-least at our facility where a not healthy but healthy pet has a chance of being saved in hopes that thereās a turn around and they get better. Fortunately, in less than 2 days, our staff came up with a plan to save this sweet girl!
Lucy was relinquished to one of our technicians, Sam who immediately began further medications and diagnostics to get to the root of whatās been going on with Lucy. Sam has known Lucy over the years of seeing her come into the facility, so she already knew sheād fit right in to her home - whether it was just temporary or permanently!
In the mean time, Lisa, our office manager, reached out to a friend that was currently looking for another Malamute! Within a few hours of speaking about Lucy and a meet and greet a couple of days later, our Lucy girl had a permanent home set up! Talk about it all playing out perfectly - like it was meant to be!
About a week into Lucy living with Sam, she was diagnosed and confirmed with hypothyroidism. This girl showed every single symptom - hair loss/wiry fur, rat tail, uncontrolled skin infections, drunken gait & dragging of her feet, lethargy, weight gain, intolerance to cold (that we were told), etc. Lucy was immediately started on thyroid medication, antibiotics, anti fungals, allergy meds, ear meds for an ear infe
We need your help finding this little guys owner. He had been hiding under a shed in our parking lot until this last weekend. He was so hungry he came right up to one of our staff. He is a sweet male that is neutered and has been front declawed. We have updated him on his vaccines. Please share his picture. If we can not find his owner we will put him up for adoption. Any leads please call 219-663-8387
Sucking Lice
Fun Fact Thursday - Sucking Lice
Lice are insects that can be seen with the naked eye. They are flattened and possess no wings. They are very host-specific and do not tend to leave their preferred animal. Lice spend their entire life cycle on the pet. Lice (singular: louse) are insects belonging to either the Mallophaga for chewing lice and Anoplura for sucking lice. There are about 460 species of sucking lice and 3,000 species of chewing lice.
Transmission of lice is by direct contact with an infested pet. Unlike fleas and ticks, lice do not persist or travel in the environment. Grooming instruments may, however, serve as a source of transmission. Lice lay eggs (termed nits) on the hair shafts. The life cycle takes about 21 days to complete.
The most noted sign of a louse infestation is a scruffy, dry hair coat. Hair loss may occur and the animal may itch, at times severely. In very heavy infestations of blood-sucking lice (biting), one may detect anemia, especially in puppies and kittens. A diagnosis can usually be accomplished with the naked eye. Nits tend to be more visible than the actual louse, but both can be seen.
Lice are highly host-specific. Lice do not survive long if they are removed from their host, so they live on the host all the time.
This is actual footage taken from under our microscope from a sample taken from a rat.
Thanks to the Slager family for sending us this great video of her kitty Ashes playing with her favorite toy! What's your kitty's favorite thing to play with?