Pet Home Health Care

16/12/2024

Great photography 😍🥰

15/12/2024

Many orphans can be left a few hours to see if mom comes back...NOT OPOSSUMS! If you see a baby like this one in a yard or anywhere, get it quickly in a little box or pet carrier with a blanket and keep warm and call a wild life rescue. Momma opossum can have up to 13 babies. As they grow, they don't all fit in the pouch so they ride on her back. If something startles her and she runs, one can fall off. Momma doesn't know she lost one so please never ever leave one thinking mom will come back...

14/12/2024

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1018288883677604&id=100064895042052&mibextid=cr9u03

13/12/2024

13/12/2024

13/12/2024

💖🐾🥹
Ten Unknown Facts About
1. Founding and History: BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, was founded in 1916 in Munich, Germany, initially producing aircraft engines. The company transitioned to motorcycle production in the 1920s and eventually to automobiles in the 1930s.
2. Iconic Logo: The BMW logo, often referred to as the "roundel," consists of a black ring intersecting with four quadrants of blue and white. It represents the company's origins in aviation, with the blue and white symbolizing a spinning propeller against a clear blue sky.
3. Innovation in Technology: BMW is renowned for its innovations in automotive technology. It introduced the world's first electric car, the BMW i3, in 2013, and has been a leader in developing advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) and hybrid powertrains.
4. Performance and Motorsport Heritage: BMW has a strong heritage in motorsport, particularly in touring car and Formula 1 racing. The brand's M division produces high-performance variants of their regular models, known for their precision engineering and exhilarating driving dynamics.
5. Global Presence: BMW is a global automotive Company
6. Luxury and Design: BMW is synonymous with luxury and distinctive design, crafting vehicles that blend elegance with cutting-edge technology and comfort.
7. Sustainable Practices: BMW has committed to sustainability, incorporating eco-friendly materials and manufacturing processes into its vehicles, as well as advancing electric vehicle technology with models like the BMW i4 and iX.
8. Global Manufacturing: BMW operates numerous production facilities worldwide, including in Germany, the United States, China, and other countries, ensuring a global reach and localized production.
9. Brand Portfolio: In addition to its renowned BMW brand, the company also owns MINI and Rolls-Royce, catering to a diverse range of automotive tastes and luxury segments.
10. Cultural Impact: BMW's vehicles often become cult

12/12/2024

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=576676498274385&id=100077961200725&mibextid=cr9u03

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

11/12/2024

In a shock announcement Greyhound Racing will be banned! A massive early Christmas gift for the SPCA.

10/12/2024

🫨Why medical rule outs are the first, and absolutely necessary, point of action.

This post is based on one of my recent cases. One of MANY.

1️⃣ A few months ago I started working with adorable little rescue ex-racing greyhound. Help was needed mainly to help her settle at home and some basic training. But some of the dog’s behaviour (excessive licking / nibbling of legs) made me concerned that there may be something going on health wise, so recommended a specific vet check. This was done by the vet but nothing was found. This licking/ chewing continued. After a few months I met with the family again, and now they’ve reported that the dog has started ‘reacting’ to other dogs (which she did not have an issue with before) and showed some slowness when getting out of bed.

I suggested a further vet check. Due to unrelated reasons, the family also decided to change vets going forward. So a check was booked with the new vet promptly.

This, very thorough I must say, check has found a limited range of movements in one leg, and a pain response in one of the hips. This could have easily explained the recent reactivity to dogs and struggling to get out of bed. So a pain trial has now been implemented.

ℹ️Now here is why this is important. The recent (and new) reactivity to dogs was obviously a concern. Behaviour modification could have started, but as I suspected the underlying cause was health related, it was imperative that this was addressed first, because unless you can deal with the cause of the behaviour you could be treating the symptoms for months, even years, to no avail.

🌟And there is a very good chance that once the pain is dealt with / under control, the problem (reactivity to dogs) disappears.

💯You 🅒🅐🅝🅝🅞🅣 train / modify behaviours successfully IF they are originating from medical / health issues. If there are 𝙖𝙣𝙮 suspicions, or grounds, to be recommending a full vet check before training started, this is a priority.

➡️Dogs who are unwell, in pain, in discomfort, or even in state of increased stress or fear, should not be expected to learn new things, as these factors do inhibit learning.

Health & wellbeing should always come first, training second ❣️

10/12/2024

10/12/2024

https://fb.watch/womCz35mQv/?mibextid=cr9u03

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

UPDATE: Pup and family have been reunited.

🚨Help us find this dog’s family🚨 She was found in Aptos and brought in by a Good Samaritan who did post a sign in area she was found. Please share on Nextdoor and any other lost dog groups.

WE ARE FULL!! Both our shelters, in Watsonville and Santa Cruz, are packed full of animals, so we need your help! Yesterday we posted 15 dogs who have been brought in. We need their families to come in or call. Thank you for spreading the word!