It’s been added to our list of requests so stay tuned.   Felicia Leung, DVM VETgirl Communications Coordinator ..read more

Thank you so much for your input. Your lectures on herpes have made me much more proactive in my care of suspected viral cats and kittens. I did give the owner the discussion of progression and loss of sight or the eyes during her visit. Hopefully she will take that to heart and reconsider treatment. I will see if adding in gabapentin may make treatment more feasible.   ..read more

Awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. We have optimmune but I have a feeling ointment for this dog would be a bit tricky for the owner; no difference in efficacy with 0.03% tacrolimus drops, correct ..read more

Hi Jill I don’t think that you are missing anything. It does sounds like an unusual manifestation of spinal pain to me. I think that we can rule out Lyme as the cause – would have expected to see some improvement already. Immune-mediated polyarthritis could cause the stiff gait but I would expect that you would see something on your examination. Other Ddx that I have for the neck pain: 1) partial (“fly-biting”) seizure activity – less likely since he doesn’t seem normal in between times; 2) GI pain/reflux – interestingly a lot of dogs with fly-biting seizures are probably mischaracterized ..read more

Hi Frank, Great job on the grid – these are “boxer” like dogs who often get indolent ulceration. You could try 2 things – Optixcare PLUS which has HA in it and can help reduce fibrosis over time, and also may prevent recurrent ulceration.  However, Optimmune or Tacrolimus would not be wrong – these are pretty safe even with ulceration (as long as it isn’t infected) and can dramatically help to reduce the persistent corneal inflammation while also improving tear quality (STT often normal in these guys!).   Hope that helps! Shelby ..read more

Hi there, You sound like you’re pretty on point – I would explain to the owners that the cat has an eye condition that will require more testing (refer to Ophtho) and medications to prevent pain, infection, and loss of vison or the eye.  They’ll have to accept that giving medications is required and use Gaba etc to allow that.  Often if I explain what could happen if we allow this to go on without appropriate treatment, they suddenly can medicate. Lysine is not worth anything. FortiFlora and Calming Care and my go tos now ..read more

Hello, I am a new grad trying to navigate this ulcer case. Buster is a 5yo MN Am. Bulldog X who presented on March 6 for squinty eye after being outside. No known trauma or injury, but known to go through bushes and things. No prior ocular abnormalities have been noted in this pet’s medical history and was recently adopted from Texas. Ocular exam: Painful (OD) with blepharospasm, mucopurulent discharge present. OS appears normal. Normal pupil and PLR, menace, palpebral bilaterally. No flare was noted. Moderate conjunctival hyperemia and thickening. Tear test WNL. Positive fluorescein stain upt ..read more

Hi Kristina – It has been a while since I have taken it, but I  would say do what you think helps you most. Everyone studies differently, and what works for someone may not work for you. I would check it all out! I relied heavily on my tech school notes, and I bought a couple of the review books which were nice as well. I did not use many apps, but there wasn’t a ton back then. I  would also take any practice tests you can get your hands on. I  hope this helps, at least a little ..read more

Hi all, I am still in my training program and in semester 3 of Penn Fosters Technician program but I want to start looking into the best, most effective, ways to study for the VTNE. I plan to subscribe to VetTechPrep but not until I get closer to when I will take the exam. I know there are several books available and apps but I’d like to hear what others found most helpful. Thank you! Kristina This topic was modified 23 minutes ago by Kristina Alexander. Reason: add tags ..read more

Any VETgirl member can do any of the certificates.  There is no cost for the certificate if you have a VETgirl elite membership. Felicia Leung, DVM VETgirl Communications Coordinator ..read more