Category: Pets

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PETTALK: Tight Quarters

I have always been the Kalick family veterinary consultant, regardless of where my family lives. My family who lives in Ohio will always consult with me via the phone when there is a problem, and typically I will tell them they need to see their local veterinarian. Their veterinarian and I have become friends and she sends me all the records, digital x-rays, and bloodwork as soon as she gets them, it saves her a phone call from my aunt asking to send them to me.

One interesting thing that has changed since the pandemic is that my aunt and uncle have become very adept with Facetime and Zoom.

Today’s issue is with Titus, their cat. Titus is a geriatric tabby cat that my aunt thought was depressed because her kids moved out of the house. I would never contradict my aunt, but I think Titus is happy the kids moved out. Titus took back control of the big house, and because the kids took the dog with them, Titus gets to sit in the large bay window watching the world pass by.

However, today my aunt was concerned that Titus had a urinary tract infection because he was urinating in a closet on my uncle’s shoes.

My aunt sat in the room during the Facetime call, switching my view so I could watch Titus sleeping in the window. She wanted me to see the closet that Titus was using as his new litterbox, so she swung the camera around the room so I could see the hall closet. She told me he never used that closet before and now he never wants to leave the room.

Then she walked down the hall with her iPhone because she wanted to show me Titus’s litter box. My aunt, God bless her, talked the entire way from the front room to the bathroom, bouncing her phone the whole time. She got into the bathroom and showed me Titus’ litterbox crammed between the bathroom vanity and the toilet. It looked like it hadn’t ever been used. It. left no room for the cat to move in the box if he ever wanted to use it.

The craziest part of the story was that the bathroom door was closed like Titus could open it with his paws if he needed to.

When I mentioned that the bathroom door was closed and no one was using it, my aunt started to talk about changing the brands of kitty litter or playing music in the house. I even mentioned that if someone is using the bathroom or taking a shower, the door will never be open.

She said that she never thought of that.

Titus’ litterbox was always in the room where he slept, easily accessible, and near his food. I told my aunt that the rule of thumb is that you should have one extra box in the house.

This means: one cat equals two boxes and one of the boxes should be in the front room where he sleeps and spends most of his day.

After she thanked me and was about to hang up, I heard my uncle in the background yelling to my aunt, “What does he think of the new kitten?”

New kitten? My aunt winked at the phone and said it was a topic for another day.

 

By Dr. Glenn Kalick

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PETTALK: Doctors make the worst clients

I recently went to a socially distanced neighborhood block party and met a few people I had never met before. Where I currently live in Jupiter, most of my neighbors are snowbirds and based on the spike in COVID-19 cases in Florida, they may not be coming back anytime soon.

At the party, I met a female neighbor who, after finding out I was a veterinarian, dragged her husband unwillingly out of a group of men who were talking about golf and politics to talk to me.

I am going to call him Dr. Skin because he is a dermatologist and his demeanor got under my skin. Mrs. Skin told him to tell me about Annabella, their 9-year-old boxer, who had increased thirst and urination. Mrs. Skin wanted to take Annabella to the veterinarian, but with the pandemic, she was reluctant to allow Annabella to be seen by her veterinarian while she was forced to stay in the car.

This allowed Dr. Skin the opportunity to act as a veterinarian by searching Google. I asked Dr. Skin how he felt about his clients coming in and comparing his diagnosis to Dr. Google and he said he hated it. I told him that he was doing the same to the veterinary profession.

Dr. Skin told me that he had put increased thirst and urination into the search engine and based on his research, diabetes and kidney disease were the most likely diseases followed by Cushing’s disease and a high salt diet. I nodded my head in agreement that they were definitely high on my list, as well.

So, I asked him what he has done, knowing that he has not called or seen his veterinarian. He told me he obviously wouldn’t start insulin therapy without taking Annabella’s blood sugar but was tempted. He didn’t think Annabella had kidney disease because her urine was very yellow in the morning and he would assume that if she had kidney disease her urine would always be clear in color. Then he abruptly left to get the bag of dog food so I could look at the sodium level.

I told Mrs. Skin that Annabella needs to see her veterinarian. Bloodwork and urine need to be analyzed and Annabella needed to be examined.

She agreed.

Dr. Skin not only brought back the bag of dog food for me to look at but Annabella as well. From ten feet away, I could see that Annabella’s lymph nodes on her neck, chest, and rear legs were swollen.

Annabella is a boxer and boxers are the number one canine cancer breed.

As Dr. Skin was showing me the bag of dog food, I interrupted him and asked if a patient came to him with swollen lymph nodes and abnormal clinical signs, would he take the necessary tests for cancer? He said absolutely and wondered why I had asked. I told them Annabella’s lymph nodes were very enlarged, and her clinical signs were classic for hypercalcemia, secondary to neoplasia.

It was a very hot day and Dr. Skin’s face went from red to pale white in one second. He left abruptly with Annabella and Mrs. Skin. I hoped he was going to the veterinarian.

Follow-up: Annabella had lymphoma and is currently being treated with chemotherapy. I later got a fruit basket from Mrs. Skin, and I would be happy to continue calling her husband Dr. Skin.

Dr. Glenn Kalick

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PETTALK: OK, who’s the stupid one now?

To my wife, I am probably getting a little judgy, but I literally had a Clint Eastwood moment from Gran Torino when he tells everyone to “get off my lawn.” To better explain, I was walking on Juno Beach and maintaining a 6-foot social distance as my wife and I walked on the sidewalk along the road. It was one of those days that said it was 88 degrees but the RealFeel index said 107. We brought water and, probably every 1⁄4 mile, there was a shower under which we kept wetting our baseball caps.

It was nice to be outside and see something other than the same houses on the block, then we heard someone behind us, but could not see him. He had one of those booming voices. I knew he was from New York from the accent and it took nearly 30 minutes for him to catch up to us. There he was, wearing a t-shirt without sleeves, a Yankees hat, mirrored sunglasses, and walking a 6-month old Boxer pup. Over the thirty minutes it took him to catch up to us, I heard about his life, his girlfriend, his frustration with the pandemic, and the stupid dog he bought. It wasn’t until he was close enough that I realized it was a puppy.

When Mr. Yankee was right behind us, I could see that the puppy was thirsty. He was hyper salivating, and when he walked by the showers you could see him try to lick the puddles on the sidewalk, but Mr. Yankee pulled on the leash because he was walking and having an intense conversation on his phone. For the next quarter mile, the puppy kept walking on the grass and Mr. Yankee pulled him back on the pavement making comments on his phone to whomever he was talking to about the puppy being stupid. I made sure that we stayed close. Mr. Yankee was about to walk by the next shower when I stopped and decided to tell him that the puppy was thirsty. Mr. Yankee told me that he didn’t bring a bowl and I told him to cup his hands and fill them with water which he did, and the puppy drank three handfuls of water.

He looked at me and asked me if I was a vet or something.
I told him that I was. He asked me if I could look at his dog’s weird walk. His last dog was a German Shepard and he had to put him to sleep because of hip dysplasia and this puppy never walks straight. I said that I would but I told him that hip dysplasia is a radiographic diagnosis. I asked him what the puppy’s name was and he said it was Aaron, after Aaron Judge, the Yankee superstar. Figures. I watched Aaron walk and he kept getting off the pavement and walking onto the grass. Mr. Yankee kept pulling him onto the sidewalk. This happened multiple times and finally Mr. Yankee stopped and said to my wife and I that this dog either has hip dysplasia, needs extensive training which his German Shepard never needed, or is stupid.

I looked at Mr. Yankee and saw that he was wearing sneakers. I asked him to take off his shoes. He asked me why. I told him it was a training trick. I was so surprised that he listened to me and when he stepped on the pavement, he jumped off the pavement and onto the grass. He told me that it was “f****n hot”. I agreed. Aaron is not stupid he has probably burned his pads and wanted to walk on the grass because it is cooler. He picked up his puppy and saw that the puppy’s pads were raw. It was great watching Mr. Yankee carry Aaron back home.

 

By Dr. Glen Kalick

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Pet Talk: Socially distanced, we told stories on my driveway

One night my wife and I were socially distancing with neighbors on my driveway. People that I have never met, neighbors that have been living on the street for years were coming out of their home quarantines and bringing chairs and coolers to my driveway. The six chairs grew to 20 and we all stayed six feet apart. I learned that more than half of us were in the healthcare profession. The other interesting thing I learned was that everyone owned a dog and most of us recognized each other by their dogs. I went from the golden retriever guy to the veterinarian who lives in the two-story house on the corner. That was fun.

As the evening went on it was like a classic joke: A veterinarian, a physician and a dentist walk into a room. Literally, a dentist and a physician and I spent more than an hour trying to outdo each other with the crazy things we have seen, removed or took off a patient. At least my patients have an excuse why they do some weird stuff but what the physicians or dentist had to do for their patients was mind- blowing.

Then the conversation went to clients and patients that
did not follow the golden rules. The physician was a dermatologist and discussed skin cancer from not using suntan lotion. The dentist talked about severe dental disease from not brushing and flossing and I talked about the emergencies that I saw from not spaying and neutering.

I met a guy years ago who wanted to adopt a dalmatian. At that time, I was the veterinarian in charge of the Dalmatian Rescue League of South Florida. The only requirement to adopt was a home inspection and review of their current pet’s health care. The potential adopter owned two Pekinese dogs, and neither were spayed.

The owner did not have an issue that the female dalmatian that he wanted to adopt was spayed but had no intentions
of spaying his Pekinese. He wasn’t going to breed them but has never spayed or neutered a pet before and didn’t believe in it. I was a younger veterinarian and respected the owner’s opinion but was steadfast that he was not going to adopt this dalmatian. It caused a big problem for the rescue group and

for me. What I didn’t know was that he was a politician. He wasn’t used to not getting his way.

About a week after I told the owner and his kids that they were not going to adopt one of the dalmatians I got a call
on my after hours emergency line. It was from the politician. He was at an emergency hospital in Fort Lauderdale and his dog was being prepped for emergency pyometra surgery. Pyometra is when the uterus fills like a balloon with pus. It is the nightmare scenario that can happen when you don’t spay your female dogs.

He wanted to know if I could do the surgery, not because of my reputation, or that he respected me professionally, but he wanted to know if I could do it cheaper than the estimate he received at the emergency center. I hung up.

Back to quarantine. At the end of the night a female neighbor approached me. She told me my story gave her the courage finally to spay her Labrador. Her last dog died due to sepsis from a ruptured pyometra.

By Dr. Glenn Kalick

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What a Zoo! Sawgrass Wildlife Hospital’s Small Miracles

“We have a real Dr. Doolittle here,” is how Allan Rose, executive director of Sawgrass Nature Center & Wildlife Hospital in Coral Springs, describes Donna Fife, the hospital director. And with good reason.

His description reflects Fife’s dedication to saving wild animals and her skill in treating them, although she is not a veterinarian.  On the day of my visit in early February, about 50 animals were hospitalized at the center. Recent arrivals included three doves, a gopher tortoise, and a blue jay suffering spinal trauma. The blue jay was being given steroids and oxygen and fed through a tube. Its chance for survival, Fife guessed, was about 50 percent.

The two doves had broken wings, which hospital staff set and wrapped. Sometimes broken wings heal; sometimes they don’t. If a dove can’t fly perfectly, it cannot be released into the wild and will have a permanent home at the wildlife center. The gopher tortoise was treated for an eye infection. As a “keystone” species, the tortoise is valuable in our eco-system because its long tunnel-like burrows provide shelter for other endangered animals.

In addition to the hospital’s inpatient animals, Fife was caring for nine orphaned baby raccoons in her home. The babies have to be fed every few hours, so they couldn’t be left overnight at the hospital. “It’s like having my own babies,” Fife said. The outlook for them is good, and she expects they’ll eventually be released back into the wild.

Baby raccoon being bottle fed

One of the hospital’s patients hasn’t flown the coop. Ewok, an Eastern Screech Owl, lives at the center and now serves as an educational “ambassador” on school trips and events for wildlife education. When the owl arrived, its head tilted to one side. An examination revealed a detached retina in one of its eyes. Fife gave him a stuffed “mama owl” that he’d lean his head against to try to straighten it. “He still loves it and grooms it,” she said. Ewok is friendly enough that he also sometimes provides company for Rose, sitting on the executive director’s desk.

Screech owl being fed with tweezer

Besides medical treatment, “we give the animals a lot of TLC,” Rose said.

When injured animals arrive, Fife describes the work as detective work. “We go by what we see, smell, and feel.” Among the wildlife being treated during my visit was a possum found by the road about three weeks earlier. It was in such bad shape that “it looked like an alien,” Fife said. It was almost bald and had lost much of its muscle. The possum was treated with subcutaneous (under the skin) fluid injections along with rounds of antibiotics and nutritional supplements. At the time of my visit, the outlook for the possum was promising. 

Because possums eat rats, mice, ticks, and venomous snakes, they’re great to have in your garden, Fife said. They happen to be the only marsupial indigenous to North America. Even a dead possum is welcome at the hospital, Rose said, because it could have babies in its pouch. (As a marsupial, a possum’s very tiny babies crawl into the pouch after birth.) 

The possum, along with Ewok the owl and the baby raccoons, are just some of the nearly 1,000 injured or orphaned animals brought to the center and hospital in a typical year. Some people make great efforts to save wildlife simply because they love animals. Others, like Robin Reccasina, the center’s operations and education director, believe every animal has an important role in the ecosystem, and since humans are damaging it, we have a responsibility to help.

Not all animals are welcome at the center. Animals of an invasive species should not be brought to the hospital because they cannot be released back into the environment. They include iguanas, Muscovy ducks, and Egyptian geese.

Operating a non-profit organization almost always requires two things: money and volunteers. The Sawgrass center and wildlife hospital always needs the latter. The work isn’t easy, Fife said, and volunteers must be committed. Some who don’t handle animals are needed in the busy kitchen, which prepares meals for 100 or more animals of different species. Others transport supplies.

Money also is always welcome. “We rely totally on donations,” Rose emphasized. “We are unique. If you love animals, this is a great place to donate.”  To donate, volunteer, or learn more, call 954 752-WILD (9453), or visit SawgrassNatureCenter.org.

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The Doctor Is In

Pets have become an extremely significant piece of the standard school curriculum. Whether teachers are beginning to use them to help with peer counseling classes or to further enhance science courses, there is no mistake that our furry and scaly friends have become important teaching tools.

While animals have been cuddled, admired, and learned about in schools for many years, no one has offered a course on how to care for these animals… until now. Dr. Jeffrey Sands is a practicing veterinarian in Parkland and owner of the Parkland Animal Clinic. In the field for more than 35 years, his passion for animals is evident when speaking with him. His goal is to help instill his love of caring for animals to the next generation.

Dr. Sands wanted to help students who share his love for animals and learn what life as a veterinarian is like. He felt that an after-school club would be the best fit. He approached the principal of Westglades Middle School and proposed starting an after-school club for future veterinarians once a week. After the principal accepted the idea of the club, he needed to secure a sponsor. Ms. Hughes was happy to oblige and has been very supportive. The Future Vets Club of Westglades Middle was ready for business.

Dr. Sands did not want this club to be a show and tell. Students would not be bringing in their pets and demonstrating the tricks they do. This club was going to be informative, functional, productive, and fun. Students would be learning the medical side of their pets and discovering how and why animals act and react the way they do. The club would be accessible to all who want to participate and would be an eight to ten-week session.

Students have watched a video of an extraction, learned about parasitology, participated in role-play as a veterinarian explaining a diagnosis, and learned about the anatomy of a dog by examining its skeleton. These lessons have enriched each student and they are all gaining such an incredible compassion for animals and insight into the daily life of a veterinarian.

Dr. Sands is happy to come each week to Westglades and help educate the middle school students, but his hope is to expand his program to reach the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. His goal is to reach as many students as possible and help them develop a love for animal care with the ultimate goal of becoming a veterinarian.

While most of the education has taken place on campus, Dr. Sands hopes to include field trips in his program. He would like to bring the students to the Wildlife Care Center and have them care for the injured animals. Each hands-on experience will help the students learn more about being a veterinarian more than any book could teach.

Students took the knowledge they gained and constructed projects, which were recently presented at the Pet Adoption Fair at Pine Trails Park. This was a great way for them to showcase what they learned while helping to educate local residents on animal adoption. Dr. Sands and his future veterinarians are spreading the love of animals, one class at a time.

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A Book About Differences and Similarities

When Erica Bayes’ golden parrot, Noodle, escaped from her Wellington home last year, little did Bayes know that Noodle’s adventure would help spark the idea for Noodle Makes New Friends, an innovative children’s book about accepting each other’s differences.

That memorable incident occurred in May of 2017, when Bayes was at home playing with the golden parrot she had adopted as a very young bird. When Bayes’ Rhodesian Ridgeback jumped on a sliding glass door that was slightly ajar, the door opened. The dog trotted out, and Noodle flew out after him. Even though Bayes put up 500 posters with a picture of Noodle, posted on a neighborhood app, alerted The Palm Beach Post, and organized search parties to look for her beloved parrot, Noodle was missing for four days before she was rescued. When found, she was very ill. Fortunately, Noodle made a complete recovery.

The second inspiration behind the book derives from the author’s work doing yoga with children who have disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, and physical handicaps. A certified yoga instructor since 2009, Bayes found that making children comfortable with their bodies and providing them with the one-on-one acceptance and intimacy they don’t often get was a very moving experience. “With the muse being Noodle coming off her escape and her healing, and being so touched when I worked with these children, writing the book merged all sorts of passions for me,” recalled Bayes.

Noodle Makes New Friends is a colorful, happy-hearted book with the message that kids can learn from and celebrate each other’s individual distinctions instead of being afraid and shying away from them. “I have seen parents usher their children past a child or an adult in a wheelchair and say, ‘Don’t ask, don’t look,’” Bayes said. “I want the conversation to be open. Children are naturally curious. I think when you deny them answers; you’re actually invoking fear. They learn to be trepid of someone who’s different. Instead of, ‘Hey this person might look different from me, but we may actually have things in common and get along just fine.’”

In Noodle Makes New Friends, it’s the first week of school and Noodle feels shy about meeting new people until the teacher has students present a little bit about themselves. Olive Owl has a glittery eyepatch and loves to sing and dance. Lemon Leopard has a crumpled paw but enjoys painting. Mango the Macaw has a fake wing yet plays basketball. Sam the Frog has autism and likes to cook. Noodle learns that although her classmates have had accidents or were born with a disability and look a little different, they’re not scary at all. On the inside, they all have a lot in common and can have a wonderful time together. Available on Amazon, Noodle Makes New Friends is the first in the series of Noodle books. For more information, visit www.EricaBayes.com or email enbayes@gmail.com.

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