Why is it overlooked? Most people do not readily look in their pets’ mouths. They also don’t understand the importance of dental care in regards to bacteria, pain, and quality of life. That is what this page is about.
Vaccination
Your pet’s teeth should be checked every 6-12 months by one of our doctors, especially if it has already had gingivitis and had its teeth cleaned. Any pet that has had periodontal disease should be checked every 6 months. One of these check ups can be accomplished when your pet is brought to our hospital for yearly booster vaccinations.
Nutritional Counseling
Other symptoms depend on whether heparin or histamine is being released (the paraneoplastic syndrome). In this case a pet can be vomiting, have a bleeding disorder (coagulopathy), have stomach ulcers, blood in the stool (melena), poor appetite (anorexia) or no appetite, abdominal pain, or literally be in shock. Some symptoms will look as if your pet is having an allergic reaction and require immediate veterinary care. In pets that have spread of MCT to other parts of the body there might also be weight loss.
Comprehensive Examination
During a physical exam the external ones can be palpated to determine if they are enlarged. The medical term for enlarged external lymph nodes is lymphadenopathy. The lymph nodes are always examined as part of our routine head to tail (if they have one!) exam on all pets presented to us.
The products we recommend are oral Nexgard®, Advantage Plus®, Comfortis®, Bravecto®, or Trifexis® in dogs and topical Revolution in cats. In addition to excellent flea control these products also prevent heartworms and internal parasites like Roundworms. Revolution in cats even controls mites. Our staff has detailed information to give you on these products along with others to help you make the right decision for your circumstances.
Pain Management
A pre-anesthetic tranquilizer/pain medication is also given prior to surgery. We want your pet calm during the whole process, and to wake up with pain medication already on board.
Vomiting Treatment
Diarrhea Treatment
Skin Condition and Allergy Treatment
Allergies are a common cause of skin conditions in dogs and cats, along with other species. This type of allergy goes by several names; the most common are atopy, allergic skin disease, or allergic inhalant dermatitis (AID).
Upper Respiratory Illness Treatment
Mast cells surround nerves and blood vessels, and are oftentimes found at the interface between the environment and the pet. This means they tend to be found in higher numbers under the skin and the lining of the respiratory system and digestive systems. They play a role in wound healing and defense against invading bacteria, and are a big part of the immune system. They have binding sites on them for the immunoglobulin called IgE. This immunoglobulin is a big part of the immune system when it comes to allergies. You can learn more about it by linking to our allergy page.
Bacterial, viral, or fungal infections can cause them to enlarge. This enlargement might be a sign that they are performing their job as expected. When the infection subsides the lymph node should return to normal size. Sometimes though, an enlarged lymph is a sign that the lymph node needs help in fighting inflammation or infection, and we put that pet on antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medication.
Urinary Tract Infection Treatment
Cats get a problem called psychogenic alopecia that can be similar in appearance to atopy. This might start off from licking due to a urinary tract infection (UTI), infection in the anal sacs, or fleas. Even if those problems are treated, the licking behavior can still persist.
These plates and screws, along with the expertise and facility to put them in, don’t come cheap in this surgery for hip dysplasia.
Diabetes Treatment
A high blood glucose can also be a problem in pets with diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes). If not properly regulated with insulin the the glucose in the bloodstream cannot be utilized, and the utilizes a different energy source. This leads to ketones in the bloodstream, causing a serious change in the pH of the blood and organ dysfunction.
Thyroid Disease Treatment
A routine blood panel can also give an indication of internal or hormonal problems that might show up as a skin condition. The most important of these are hypothyroidism and Cushing’s Disease.
Heart Disease Treatment
Kidney Disease Treatment
Arthritis is also a cat problem, and since cats are so highly prone to kidney disease, this diet helps in both of these problems in overweight cats
Periodontal Disease Treatment
We see too many pets presented in a state similar to this. The periodontal disease in this dog has progressed so far that it is systemically ill, and in danger of internal organ failure and a spontaneous jaw fracture. Imagine how this dog feels. Not only that, for a species with such an acute sense of smell the odor must be nauseating.
Cancer Treatment
Mast cell tumors located in the perineal region (anus, scrotum and vulva) may be may be more difficult to remove completely. They might need additional surgery or radiation and chemotherapy.
Lacerations and bite wounds are common, and if treated immediately they usually heal well. Bleeding is a priority, and if it is a small patient like a bird with a tiny amount of blood, we address that issue immediately. Poisons are treated initially by inducing vomiting when it is appropriate for that specific poison and only if your pet is conscious. Internal organ damage like a ruptured and bleeding spleen is remedied surgically. Seizuring pets are given anti-seizure medication. Those with low blood glucose are given intravenous (IV) dextrose.
Even though lasers are used effectively in many surgical procedures they are not used in every surgery. They are especially useful in oral surgery, neuters, growth removals, and amputations of small extremities.
Ophthalmic Surgery
We have been using the laser for surgery in animals at the Long Beach Animal Hospital for over 28 years on a wide variety of surgery. Our laser is a carbon dioxide laser, not the Lasik laser used for eye surgery of the cornea.
Veterinary Surgery
Learning Center Medical and Surgical services provided at the Long Beach Animal Hospital | Long Beach Animal Hospital
Laser Surgery
You might also want to familiarize yourself with our laser surgery before reading about the surgeries we perform at our hospital. It is a major advance in the reduction of pain, swelling and inflammation in animals.
Declawing
Your pet will experience significantly less post operative pain in almost every instance. As a matter of fact, the pain reduction is so great that we perform declaws on cats only with a laser beam. This reduction in pain is a result of the unique characteristics of the laser beam as it cuts nerve endings, preventing the raw ends that are characteristic of scalpel blades.
Spaying and Neutering
Sometimes people get a jaded mindset when it comes to routine surgeries like neuters, that are performed by the thousands, especially at low cost spay and neuter clinics. It is a major surgery, and we treat it as such at the Long Beach Animal Hospital, which you will learn about in this page.
Through the years my cats have often seen Dr. Palazzolo. One day I brought my sickly kitten Prince in for an appointment and after spending a great deal of time listening to me describe Prince’s symptoms, Dr. Palazzolo did a lengthy exam, ordered blood work and other tests and his diagnosis was that Prince had a very rare liver shunt which can often be fatal. Prince ended up having the specialized surgery he needed to save his life.
X-Ray
With the advent of digital radiography, and our current body of knowledge, we realize that we did not treat dental disease anywhere near as thoroughly as needed. This ignorance lead to poor quality (painful) and shortened lives for our pets.