Absolute Animal Care

12/18/2024

12/14/2024

Some photos from yesterday of Annabelle 🐱

12/13/2024

Annabelle’s an independent woman 💁‍♀️💅

12/12/2024

This! 👏👏👏 This has been a very frustrating aspect of grooming for me. If your pet seems reluctant, “uncooperative,” or “combative,” we MUST rule out any pain or discomfort causes. Even dogs who have been reluctant to get in and out of cars and the issue was thought to be a behavioral issue had their issue resolved by introducing a step stool or ramp that took away the jolt on their body of having to leap in or out unassisted.

Always put yourself in the pet’s shoes and think like the species you’re addressing. Be careful you’re not assigning, often inaccurate, human reasoning behind why a behavior may be showing up.

Shared from A Cat's Purrspective, LLC

At this point in time, most folks understand the link between pain and behavior. It’s logical: you don’t feel well, you have less patience and tolerance, you lash out or shut down or otherwise are not the best version of yourself. It makes sense that the same would be true for dogs.

But how do we know there is pain with animals who cannot verbalize that pain?

The short answer: we can’t know.

The longer answer: we also can’t know there ISN’T pain.

Meet Malus.

From puppyhood, he’s been a little spicy. But he’s a terrier, so that’s normal, right? He didn’t like having his feet handled. No biggie. And as he got older, he got a little reactive to other dogs - again, see “terrier” in the dictionary. And after he got neutered at 2.5 years old, his behavior spiraled - going after his housemates, aggression directed at his owners, even less tolerance for handling, increased fence fighting. But there’s some evidence of increased aggression after neutering, so maybe he just got unlucky.

For many folks, that explanation would’ve been enough. They would’ve worked on behavior modification, or just accepted a crate and rotate household, or managed the heck out of all of his triggers… or, honestly, would’ve ended up euthanizing him for his dangerous behavior.

Luckily, Malus’s mom is Katrina, who is essentially a terrier in a human body. She dug in.

Training, a veterinary behaviorist, consulting with other behavior experts, expensive testing - and then we got our first physical explanation: low zinc.

But even with a zinc supplement, his aggressive episodes remained unpredictable. Katrina had noticed some very, very intermittent lameness, foot chewing, butt/tail biting, so off they went to the first orthopedic specialist - one who cleared him orthopedically for all activities.

So they did physical therapy, and pain meds, and kept working on training.

But the weird, mild lameness continued, and so did visits to specialists. A neurologist who recommended an MRI, then more physical therapy for a possible psoas strain, different meds, another orthopedic/rehab specialist consultation, adjustments to physical therapy, a PEMF bed for home use, adjustments to behavior meds, consults with nationally respected trainers and behavior specialists, and finally - FINALLY - a recommendation to see a pain management specialist.

“I think he may have Tethered Cord Syndrome. I’m going to try different pain meds, but there’s a specialist in Massachusetts you should get in touch with.”

With the new meds on board, his behavior improved. He was brighter, happier, had fewer episodes of lameness, self mutilation, and aggression.

Yesterday, Malus had a dynamic MRI at Tufts, where Tethered Cord Syndrome was confirmed.

Today, he had surgery to relieve the adhesions to his spinal cord that have been causing him pain.

He was never “just being a terrier.” He was not acting out for no good reason. He didn’t need harsher training methods. He wasn’t aggressing for no reason.

He was in pain.

There are no words to adequately describe how thrilled I am for Katrina and Malus to have this diagnosis and surgery in their rear view mirror - it has been a long time coming. The strain on Katrina and Kevin’s emotions, time, resources, finances, and household over the last 5 years cannot be overstated. Most folks wouldn’t - and couldn’t - go to the lengths they did.

We can’t rule out pain. We can only rule out specific issues and diagnoses. For Malus, it took finding the right vet who had heard about this rarely diagnosed issue to connect them with the vet who could help.

To my clients I encourage to work with their veterinarian to try to find any physical explanations: Katrina and Malus are the reason why I will push you more if your primary care vet shrugs you off. It’s why I will push and push and push, especially if your commitment to training and management is excellent but we still are struggling to make progress. Malus is on my shoulder (sometimes literally), poking me with his nose, screeching in my ear to look harder.

If you’ve ever heard him, you know how hard that ✨ delightful ✨ noise is to ignore.

(PS - Here’s your sign to sign up for pet insurance.)

To learn more about Tethered Cord Syndrome:
https://vet.tufts.edu/news-events/news/breakthrough-surgical-procedure-relieves-dogs-chronic-pain

12/12/2024

🩷🩷

12/09/2024

Hey! This goes with Vinn’s post today! 😆 The algorithm is on top of things today!

The Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn) is a giant cat in Icelandic folklore, that roams around the countryside at Yuletide. The Yule Cat looks for people who are not nicely dressed in new clothes for the festivities and swallows them whole.
🐈‍⬛
🎨Natasha Tereshkina

12/08/2024

Vinn was here for her holiday glow up!! I forgot an after photo 😭

She said “Ég gleðst yfir því að þessi deiggi bændur sé étinn af Jólaköttinum þessa jóla." 🥲 Which I THINK translates to “May good health and warm tidings be on all of you this season!” 💕💕☺️🤗💕💕

12/07/2024

Beau is clean and coiffed for the holidays!

12/06/2024

🥺

Mary needs a patient home 🩷

Mary came to us a few weeks ago and is absolutely petrified of the shelter. She is very easy to handle and is a very sweet girl, but she is completely shut down here. She is estimated to be 4 years old and is a Siamese mix, she’s a chunky girl. She ADORES other cats and does not seem to mind cat friendly dogs. We would love nothing more than to see her find a forever home soon. She will need a family that understands how fearful she is and will work with her to build confidence and trust. She deserves a home that will love her forever 🩷

Apply: www.bcfanimalrefuge.org

11/30/2024

Cubby the other day, wearing his babushka so the dryer didn’t bother his ears 😆

11/27/2024

Hercules! 🤗

11/23/2024

It’s cheaper for the breeder to send them out earlier, but it isn’t best for the litter.

11/21/2024

Ever since Peanut, the squirrel possessed by a person in New York, made national news, we have been receiving calls by the public wanting to turn in wildlife they had been keeping at their homes. We even received an opossum that came to us from the wild that admittedly was released by its caretaker because they now were afraid that they would be caught. This opossum was found, sick and wandering, and was suffering a terrible fate.
Its not that we don’t want people to call us, we DO. And we want to help. But the point here is that despite the available services of professional licensed wildlife rehabilitators, individuals are taking in wildlife. It isn’t just illegal, its just not good for the animal or the people who are housing the creature. There are many diseases that wildlife can carry. Viruses, parasites, bacteria and other pathogens may be transmitted to pets and family members. Then there’s the animal itself. First, wild species need special nutrition. The opossum we are treating received a diet lacking calcium, which opossums need in high amounts. Bone structure and nervous system disorders happen. Wildlife species need appropriate housing and socialization to their own species and special medications when ill or to prevent illness. And they deserve to be free and to interact with others of their kind.
Because its illegal to possess wildlife, vetting to prevent and treat illness does not happen. So, is the animal being kept by a member of the public getting the best thing for the animal or for the person who decided to keep him? It really comes down to that.
We know that this opossum " Precious "
is in terrible condition and may never get to receive its birthright- freedom.

This is just ONE example

11/20/2024

Support local. And adopting and fostering save lives.

11/17/2024

Photo bonus!!! This is Penny. She was in a while ago but I forgot to post her picture.

11/17/2024

Rosie was in today for her bath and hairdo!

11/11/2024

Dr. Max Ferlauto, the Maryland state entomologist, has proof that removing fallen leaves from your yard results in fewer moths and butterflies and other insects. He came to this conclusion at the end of an experiment with the fallen leaves of 20 pesticide-free suburban Maryland yards. You can read about what he found in this article: https://tinyurl.com/nhk8usww