New opening for F/T associate veterinarian in West Chester, Ohio. We are an established practice that is growing, and are offering daytime shifts only; no emergencies, Sundays or after hours! We have a full service, three doctor, veterinary hospital offering on-site laboratory, digital x-ray, ultrasound, and a state-of-the-art surgery suite. We have an established, loyal, and affluent client base. We place a high value on quality medicine and good customer service, and have cultivated a collaborative team culture with good work-life balance. The ideal candidate will be friendly, personable, an ..read more

Greetings – I have a canine patient with an anal sac mass, presumptively an ASA. CBC and chemistry panel are normal with the exception of a calcium around 12.4 (no other electrolytes available). Pet is having a little loose stool but otherwise acting normally. Client not going to pursue surgery. Do I treat the hypercalcemia? If so, steroids? Something else? Or check ionized calcium first? Thank you! Mark A. Masucci, DVM ..read more

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Good questions about litter and litterbox preference. Like us, cats seem to have their own preferences, and I don’t have any good generalizations regarding mobility issues and substrate. </p> I think the gabapentin is still a great drug for previsit pharmaceutical use. The thing about Bonquat Is that the last study I saw showed it to be very palatable for cats and the amount of liquid you have to give is very very small. It’s really unmatched as far as those two aspects and it is probably mostly because it’s so easy to administer.  I think that pro ..read more

<p class=”userway-s14-active” style=”text-align: right;”>Thank you so much for the information, Dr. Carpenter!</p>   Danielle Hill DVM ..read more

I truly appreciate your response, Dr. Lee! I think I was on the right track, just wish there was more I could do. As a nerdy side note – I noticed that her bladder was very full on AFAST, despite looking clinically dehydrated.  I thought Lepto or renal toxin until I saw the bloodwork. I think this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed PU/PD from hypercalcemia ..read more

For this dog’s age, I’d still worry about neoplasia (e.g., lymphoma, rare multiple myeloma, anal sac carcinoma, etc.). With your blood work, you ruled out kidney failure… but the dog still needs extensive work up as it could still be rare other things (e.g., a PTH secreting tumor, Addisons – unlikely in this age with muscle wasting, etc. fungal, etc.). I would ideally do chest rads to rule out mets/fungal and an ultrasound. You could send a hypercalcemia of malignancy panel out too (PTH-rP, etc.). If the owner declines ALL, you could try pred. Not ideal, and I would appropriately communicate w ..read more

For this dog’s age, I’d still worry about neoplasia (e.g., lymphoma, rare multiple myeloma, anal sac carcinoma, etc.). With your blood work, you ruled out kidney failure… but the dog still needs extensive work up as it could still be rare other things (e.g., a PTH secreting tumor, Addisons – unlikely in this age with muscle wasting, etc. fungal, etc.). I would ideally do chest rads to rule out mets/fungal and an ultrasound. You could send a hypercalcemia of malignancy panel out too (PTH-rP, etc.). If the owner declines ALL, you could try pred. Not ideal, and I would appropriately communicate w ..read more

Would love some input on a case:  12yr FS german wirehaired pointer w/ acute lethargy, weakness, and appetite loss (all within ~24 hours). She is an outdoor dog, but owners do not think there’s been vomiting/diarrhea. Weak and unsteady in rear limbs at home; here she was a little better thanks to adrenaline. Still weak but no neuro deficits or obvious pain found; thin dog and has muscle atrophy.  MM pink and tacky, CRT 2-3s, HR ~144, femoral pulses borderline bounding, soft in abdomen.  Normal resp and temp. In-house bloodwork showed mild non-regenerative anemia, normocytic, nor ..read more

Hi Danielle, Due to the underlying pathology for MMM being immune mediated, I normally do not recommend that these patients receive any further vaccines due to the risk that it poses to them. Most owners are understanding because they do not want to risk a relapse, however, if some owners state they understand the risks but want their pet vaccinated I at least perform 1 vaccine at a time and space them out every 4-6 weeks. They do not normally need a steroid injection at the time of vaccines.  Let me know if you have any other questions. Sincerely, Missy Carpentier, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology ..read more

Hello I have a 4-year-old 8 month female spayed Staffordshire terrier who I treated for a masticatory myositis with prednisone and it resolved. She is due for her distemper parvo vaccine. Is there a potential risk of this triggering another episode of the myositis? Should I consider premedicating her with a corticosteroid? What’s the best practice in this situation ..read more