Brie Breathes Easy: Training a Cat to Enjoy an Inhaler

Brie Breathes Easy: Training a Cat to Enjoy an Inhaler

When I took Brie to the emergency vet, his respiration rate was over 80 breaths per minute. His two-day stay in the oxygen kennel receiving IV fluids and additional medications brought his respiration rate back into the normal range. The veterinary specialist...
Coping with Quarantine at a Shelter

Coping with Quarantine at a Shelter

This is a reflection on a distemper outbreak/quarantine from a behavior perspective, as opposed to an operations, medical, or management review. Our shelter Maricopa County Animal Care and Control is located in Phoenix, Arizona. We have two shelter locations known as...
The Dog’s Nose in Prostate Cancer Detection

The Dog’s Nose in Prostate Cancer Detection

Puppies are born blind and deaf, and stay this way until approximately 14 days of age, so their lives depend on finding the mother’s nipple through smell. This early stimulation of olfactory organs allows them to reach adulthood with the ability to smell the...
Managing Canine Osteoarthritis

Managing Canine Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease commonly seen in pet dogs. It has been found that 80% of dogs over the age of 8, and 20% of dogs over the age of 1 have osteoarthritis to some degree, with complications of arthritis being one of the leading causes of euthanasia in...
Special Challenges of Senior Cats in Shelters

Special Challenges of Senior Cats in Shelters

How do senior cats end up in shelters? For over a decade, I have volunteered in the cat areas at Dallas Animal Services (DAS), a municipal shelter which has the fifth highest intake volume of animals in the United States. I routinely see senior cats on their rescue...