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,…

Amelio, a sweet male Ragdoll cat, was born with everything going against him — a congenital malformation of his spine that rendered the rear half of his body non-functional. He has no use of his rear legs, and he is unable to defecate or urinate…

The Black Bear talk last Wednesday evening was a real success. Ralph Taylor from MassWildlife spoke to 40 or 50 of us at the Forbes Library about black bear biology, behavior, and interactions with humans. Black bears are native to this area. During the 1800s…

Free presentation on Wednesday, September 25th, 7:00 PM at the Forbes Library in Northampton. Do you ever wonder about the presence of black bears in our neighborhoods? How do you stay safe, and how can we keep the bears safe? Riverbend’s Dr. Christina White has…

Broken bones are fun to fix. No question! When I started out as a young veterinarian, leash laws were lax, and the caseload from auto/dog encounters was high, so I repaired lots of crunched up limbs. I was new at this, and I remember getting…

Piff and Phoenix were brought to Riverbend about a week apart. They were a lot alike . . . talkative, incredibly cute little grey kitties with big personalities and big problems to match. Piff could not poop. Phoenix could not pee. Not good problems, but…