Small Animal

The Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is seeing an increasing number of cannabinoid intoxication since legalization. Animals find it on trails and in parks without their humans realizing it. Some dogs and cats need nothing more than extra comforting and fluids to counteract the effects, but others require additional medical intervention

Growing older can be tough – and that goes for all species. When it comes to age-related illnesses, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are some of the most notorious and least understood human afflictions. If you’ve noticed your senior dog has been increasingly irritable and disoriented, having sleep troubles (including sleeping all day) or having frequent accidents inside the house, he or she may be suffering from a disease that manifests very similarly to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in people.

Several burned dogs and cats at the VCA Valley Oak Veterinary Center in Chico are getting an unusual treatment to help them heal from injuries they suffered in the Camp Fire: fish skins. This is the first time sterilized tilapia skins have been used to treat burns on dogs and cats.

Two UC Davis oral surgeons are now Founding Fellows of the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS). Drs. Frank Verstraete and Boaz Arzi, of the UC Davis veterinary hospital’s Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service (DOSS), were recognized at the 2018 Veterinary Dental Forum.

A UC Davis veterinary patient is being described as a miracle by her owner. When Ethel, a 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier, was rescued by MaryAnn Lawson, the rambunctious pup was in a cast for a broken leg. Unfortunately, two previous surgeries failed to properly heal her broken right ulna and radius (equivalent to both bones in a human’s forearm). Lawson forged on and consulted with other veterinary orthopedic surgeons, all of whom recommended amputating the leg.

Arai, a 5-year-old female pit bull terrier, loves to chew on balls. Her owners describe her as a “100 percent ball dog.” So when she had a ball in her mouth for a few hours, they didn’t think much was out of the ordinary. When Arai wouldn’t drop the ball when it was time to eat, however, they knew something was wrong. 

Every year, hundreds of thousands of kittens end up in animal shelters, in need of permanent homes. But raising orphaned newborns into healthy, fluffy, frisky 2-month-olds ready to be adopted requires an enormous behind-the-scenes effort.

Roxie, a 12-year-old female Shih Tzu, was having trouble moving her hind legs, to the point of becoming partially paralyzed. After being referred to the Neurology/Neurosurgery Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, an evaluation of Roxie showed her to have an arched posture, avoided moving her neck, and had some incoordination in her hind legs.

Miao Miao, a 4-year-old male domestic shorthair cat, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital with persistent nosebleeds. Based on previous medical issues, his owners were aware that he had some variation of a blood platelet disorder (causing an inability to properly clot blood), but the exact make-up of that was never discovered.

Your dog is a member of the family, right? So when that family expands to include a new little human member, your pup is one of the many "loved ones" you'll need to prepare for the arrival of a baby.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital recently performed a study to determine if intensive medical management offered a viable treatment alternative to surgery for feline patients with severe deep ulcerative keratitis.

There are recent concerns about reports of heart disease in some dogs eating commercial diets. UC Davis Nutrition Support Services provides this statement to offer guidance to owners/veterinarians regarding the nutritional aspects of this condition and best practice information regarding blood testing for taurine status.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued an alert about reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs eating certain pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume seeds, or potatoes as main ingredients. UC Davis is leading the investigation between these dog diets and heart disease.

Pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume seeds or potatoes as main ingredients may be linked to cases of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs, according to an alert to pet owners this week from the Food and Drug Administration.

Read More from Food Safety News

Maddie’s Fund, a national nonprofit that supports the status and well-being of companion animals, is granting more than $2.5 million to support the Million Cat Challenge as it expands to into its next phase of animal lifesaving in shelters across North America.