Laryngeal paralysis is a diagnosis I can often make as soon as the dog walks in the front door of the hospital. The dog is usually an older, large breed, and he is wheezing like a freight train or a 3-pack-a-day smoker. When a normal…

Nugget is one of the sweetest dogs around. When this young Lhasa was adopted from a local shelter, she was sickly — skinny, with a poor coat and chronic diarrhea. Although she was treated with multiple medications, pampered and loved, she continued to decline. Blood…

Most cats hate going to the vet. Even the sweetest most docile kitty can become a saber-tooth savage when brought to the clinic. For that reason, many cat owners put off seeking veterinary care until an emergency arises. This is very bad for your feline’s…

Honey had been hit by a car as a youngster, fracturing her left front leg. The bones had knit back together, but at a 90-degree angle from where they should have. When Honey ran, her left front foot turned straight out to the side. Rainbow…

Tiny Tim is always in some kind of trouble – this little Pug tips over trashcans, eats boxes of Kleenex, and often jumps up onto the table, grazing on leftovers from dinner. He eats whatever is in the backyard and then vomits it back up…

Chanz trudged into Riverbend a few months ago. His back legs were trembling, he had lumps on his back, and he seemed to be breathing hard. His owner was especially concerned because her previous dog had died of cancer, and she wanted to figure out…

Maggie was a 3-½ year old wheezy Pit Bull who was given up to T.J. O’Connor at the end of last year. When the veterinarian at TJO anesthetized the dog to spay her, only a small endotracheal tube (one sized for a Chihuahua, not a…

After college and before vet school, I worked for four months as an assistant shepherd on the slopes of Mount Snowdon in North Wales. It was a great job, despite the fact that it rained pretty much all the time. But in my thick wool…

I met Nikki for the first time three weeks ago. A ten-year-old female Husky, she was referred to me for excision of a tumor involving the skin and subcutaneous tissue of the lower lumbar region. “Run-of-the-mill surgery,” I thought, skimming through the record. Not so,…