Moist Dermatitis (aka "the hot spot")

This is Daisy, an 11 year old black lab who was in today for treatment of moist dermatitis or "hot spot" on her neck.  This is a problem we see frequently this time of year.  What you can't appreciate from the picture is the odor of infection and discomfort Daisy feels from the inflammation.  Hot spots may be caused by an allergic reaction to fleas or the environment, moisture trapped in an area such as under a collar allowing bacterial growth, or self trauma as the animal licks or scratches a small irritation or wound.  As infection sets in, the damaged skin oozes, increasing the area of moisture and infection, and causes the animal more and more discomfort (thus usually causing more self-trauma). 

To treat her, we clipped up the entire affected area (the photo is after clipping and cleaning), scrubbed it thoroughly with antiseptic scrub and solution, and then prescribed a topical antibacterial/anti-inflammatory spray, as well as oral antibiotics and steroids to reduce the inflammation.  She should be feeling better within a day or two.  To prevent recurrence, her parents will try to dry her thoroughly after she swims, and keep her collar off of her when she is wet.  These hot spots can triple in size overnight, and are often hard to see under a thick coat of hair, so timely detection and treatment is important.

Avoiding Foriegn Body Ingestion

A lot of pets have a tendency to eat things they shouldn't.  Sometimes, this doesn't cause a problems and things pass on their own, but oftentimes it can become a life threatening situation.  We most commonly see foriegn body ingestion in younger dogs or puppies, and kittens or cats that like to hunt and eat their toys.

From dogs, we have removed socks, blankets, underwear, hard plastic chew-bones and stuffed animals, earrings, pacifiers, popsicle sticks and rocks, to name just a few.  Cats may ingest sewing needles (after playing with the thread), fabric, mouse toys, rubber bands, or small pieces of plastic.  

Symptoms can be vague, but often include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and loss of appetite.  A physical examination and radiographs are often sufficient to determine whether a foriegn body is present.  The size and location of the foriegn body and the size of the animal usually help determine whether the patient is a good candidate for exporatory surgery versus endoscopy.  Prognosis usually depends on the length of time the object has been present.

There are many measures that should be taken by any pet owner, regardless of whether the pet has a habit of eating things he shouldn't.  

• Dogs should never be given any sort of chew toy or chew treat unless they are being supervised to ensure they don't ingest it whole.  Once a dog's chewing behavior has been established, one can be a little more lenient, but the risk is always there. 
• Dogs should never be allowed to eat bones or fetch rocks - bones can splinter and cause perforations or impactions, and rocks can be accidentally ingested. 
• Countertops and garbage containers should always be secure, and inaccessible to sniffing noses.  Ideally, dogs are kept out of the kitchen area.   It's not uncommon for a big dog to eat a cake or part of the thanksgiving turkey.
• If a dog has a tendency to eat things, it should be crated or placed in a "safe zone" such as a laundry room or bathroom, when the dog isn't directly supervised. 
• Sewing instruments and needles should never be left around cats.  Strings by themselves can be dangerous if ingested.
• If you ever see a string or thread hanging out of your cat's mouth or rectum, DON'T pull it.  Take the cat to your veterinarian immediately.
• For repeat canine offenders, a basket muzzle can be a very effective preventive measure.  Basket muzzles are comfortable contraptions that strap over the ears and cover the nose with a metal or plastic basket, allowing free movement of air and even the ability to drink water, but prevent the dog from ingesting anything else.  They can be left on for hours at a time, if crating or isolating a dog isn't an option.

Marley the Great

My name is Marley, and I am a Professional Consumer of Huge Indigestible Objects.  In this picture I'm wearing the crown awarded to me with each amazing object I succeed in swallowing .  This is my FOURTH crown.  I began my training in California early last year with my first corn cob ingestion, followed by an unpleasant surgery and extended hospital stay (this is an unfortunate but necessary consequence of my profession).

Several months later, I moved to Oregon where I decided it was time to seek new challenges and acquaint myself with a new set of veterinarians, so I swallowed  a huge piece of hard plastic.  Due to my prior challenges following surgery, the nice folks at Oswego Vet decided to send me on over to Cascade Veterinary Referral Center to have me scoped.  They pulled that thing back out the way it came and I'm good as new, ready to go into training again. 

So, a few months later, I swallowed nearly an entire whole cow hoof  (no - it was not from a live cow).   How many cats can do that?   Yes, back to visit my friends at Cascade Referral for another endoscopy. 

Fast forward to the present - during a nice vacation at the beach, I thought I'd raise the bar, and swallowed 3 corn cobs.  Woo hoo!  That was awesome.  A couple cobs came back up on their own, but one decided to keep on going down my small intestines and got a bit jammed there, at my originial corn-cob surgery site, so I got to meet these really nice vets in Astoria.  They performed surgery again (I prefer the scoping, thank you), fished around a bit, removed the corn cob, and sewed me back up. 

So here I am, feeling proud as can be, yet a little sore and quesy, back at OVH for some supportive care.



Life at OVH

Hi,
I'm Liza and I live at Oswego Vet Hospital.   While I may appear to be sleeping, I am actually keeping a very close eye on the goings-on around here.   This is what cats do - we are sneaky and very smart, and if we pretend to sleep a lot, people stop noticing us, and then we really get to see what's going on.

Today I saw a giant goofy looking dog who had recently eaten some corn cobs and was recovering from the surgery to remove them.  Corn cobs?  I mean who eats corn cobs?  A dog - that's who. Yuck.  Let's hope tomorrow brings some interesting cats my way.  At least they don't eat corn cobs.