Frozen Fury. The plight of the outdoor pets and severe weather.

FaceBook post for Jarrettsville Vet for January 6, 2013

It's going to be record breaking cold tonight! If you have outside pets, please bring them in out of the cold, into a garage or provide them with shelter & some straw, hay or blankets for warmth. 
In a combined effort: Jarrettsville Vet Center, Animal Rescue, Inc, Black Dogs & Company Rescue & No Kill Harford, we will help provide assistance for your pets! If you need help with providing straw, a crate or bedding/food, please contact the clinic. 410-692-6171

Please CALL JVC front desk for assistance at 410-692-6171. Open until 8pm tonight. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST! Please talk to neighbors and friends with outside pets so we can save lives tonight! — with No Kill Harford.

Please CALL JVC front desk for assistance at 410-692-6171. Open until 8pm tonight. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST! Please talk to neighbors and friends with outside pets so we can save lives tonight! — with No Kill Harford.

The news has been dominated by the polar vortex (my new favorite term!) that has swept through the US and frozen everything from Canada to the gulf.

Repeated continual warnings about "record lows expected," "concerns about fatalities for anyone without adequate shelter, heat, and clothing," and "remember to check on neighbors and bring pets inside," have been echoed by every news, radio station, Facebook page and person we meet.

For us in Maryland the low/high (its hard to know what to call it?) is 2 degrees Fahrenheit, add the wind chill and we are talking negative digits. That is cold, and that will kill.

At the clinic we have put up repeated postings of warnings of the weather, reminding people about their outside pets and pleading with them to bring them inside. The dilemma? Well, my clients who care about their pets already have them inside everyday of the year. My clients who still think that their dog is "just a dog" probably don't follow us on Facebook, and probably don't think that our pleadings have any merit.

It was with this in mind, and after I passed the third chained out dog on my way to work, that I decided to try something other than begging on deaf ears.

Phone in hand I called my friends at Animal Rescue, Inc., Black Dogs Rescue, and No Kill Harford.

"If Jarrettsville Vet donates the funds from our Rescue Fund to buy straw, and we coordinate our extra carriers, blankets and bedding would you all spread the word and act as pick up centers?"

Without debate or hesitation they all agreed to help.

Of course, everyone agreed that we would still try to convince people to bring their pets inside, but for those that won't we could at least be able offer some relief to those pets.

And so began the social media whirlwind over four counties. It is almost 7 pm and over 2,200 people have seen the post and over 60 people have shared it. We had clients call and offer straw from their farms and others who offered to drive and deliver the needed items. The outpouring of help was truly awesome.

As I pondered on my drive back home I noticed those same three chained out dogs lay in their small dog houses, noses barely visible, on a fresh bed of straw. I know these dogs. I look for them every time I pass. They have been to the clinic to see me for the accidents and illnesses that waiting has not cured. Every time I meet them they are exuberant to be off chain, finally able to meet a new person, kiss a new face, and over reactive to each tiny nuance of freedom. And every time their owners remind me that "they are outside dogs. They only receive (the state required) rabies." There is no changing their minds, there is no elevating their dogs status.

I called the clinic and asked the receptionist to "call their home, and offer free boarding overnight."

"But, they are overdue on all of their vaccines?" the  receptionist replied.

"I know, but what choice do we have? And what will we do tomorrow if they are brought in for frostbite? or freezing to death?"

She called and left a message.

At the end of the day no one took us up our offers.

We will try again at the next cold snap.

All I can do is try, and when that isn't enough we have to hope.

Maybe there will be a day when chaining isn't permitted?

Magpie prepping for bad weather.

The puppies demonstrating cuddling to conserve body heat.

Savannah nose to radiator and warm under her blanket.

I will go to bed with a little prayer in my head for all of those that are not as fortunate as our kids. My you all be safe, warm, and with the ones you love.

If you have any pet related questions you can find me at the clinic, Jarrettsville Vet, or at our free pet question site Pawbly.com or on Twitter @FreePetAdvice.

Wordless Wednesday. November 6, 2013

Boo and Beast. Who have become fast friends.
Everybody needs a buddy.

Cordova, mom of the Iditarod puppies, was spayed last Tuesday.
She is the biggest cutie-pie, I am in love with her.

Teddy, here for a weird bump in the armpit (always something to have looked at immediately), also has a thin hair coat and an abnormal liver value.
He is a case in progress. It may be nothing, it may be something.
His mom and I are running more tests to figure this out.
But ask him how he is feeling and he will tell you "I'm fabulous! You?"

Boomer the voracious, mischievous, but, oh so happy and sweet, Lab in his Halloween costume.
Fitting because he has had three trips to the ER for eating massive amounts of unattended, unsecured foodstuffs in the kitchen. If you leave him alone he will keep himself entertained, ruin your kitchen, and bankrupt you with ER charges.

Hailey and Quest, soccer teammates.

Emmy May, aka "Elbow" in her bright shiny smiley face!

Phoebe, who is here for her annual exam.
She is Beau's best bud and is helping to keep the peace.
Once again, it proves that our pets need a buddy.
When Beau lost Brea his parents adopted Phoebe.
Phoebe was the dog of a client entering long term hospital care.
She was brought to us to be put down because they thought that no one would want her.
Thankfully, they were wrong.

Henry. Growing up, now 6 months old. In his first Halloween costume!
SOO cute!

Palmer. One of Cordova's puppies.
In her first Halloween costume.
How can this not bring a smile to your face?

Me, in costume, at No Kill Harfords Howl-0-ween party.

Me and my date.
I am the Black Widow Spider Bride, and my hubby is my new recently deceased groom.
He is a great sport! Not every husband allows make-up and cocooning.

My beloved and Kelly, our Jarrettsville Vet kennel manager and No Kill Harford founder.

Not a patient, I promise.
Although I would be curious to know if he is on a well rounded commercially available kibble?
Someone needs to enter that on the recall list.

Tootsie came to say "hello" on Sunday, and get her nails trimmed.
She gets them trimmed monthly at the groomer, but they grow abnormally due to her bad skin and need more aggressive trimming to keep them from curling under making it painful for her to walk.

Bruna and Fredo. An interesting pair.
Fredo the new puppy tries desperately to befriend the reserved, somewhat cranky old lady other King Charles Cavalier, of the house, Bruna,
who will  not give him a second glance.
Yes, we all need a buddy, but sometimes it has to be the right buddy.

My favorite feline, Rizzy, with Angela, our receptionist.

Rizzy, and Lulu, who both refuse to forego claiming their spot under the front desk.

Sam, the Addisonian, caution dog (always needs a muzzle) here on Monday to fix his cruciate rupture.
For the first week of November 2013 he is the patient I am most grateful that did well.
These can be hard cases to manage.
He was a double whammy!

Zoey, now 7 months old, was spayed on Monday.
She has an appointment in two weeks to get her bad hip looked at again.
She will be at VOSM soon to get this corrected.

Harley and Brutus, at 6 months old, neutered and spayed on Monday.

Savannah (in her modest Halloween attire) and Jekyll on Thursday.
Savannah is doing well, eating, happy and getting around.
Fingers crossed and feeling grateful.

If you have any pet related questions you can find me, and a whole host of incredibly helpful people at Pawbly.com, or on Twitter @FreePetAdvice.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Rabies. Your Pets And Your Life On The Line.

Munch.
One of the "Raccoon Seven" on the day of his neuter.

There was an article in the Baltimore Sun in mid-March of this year about a Marylander who died from rabies. It made headlines because it was the first death in Maryland since 1976.

As awful as the news was I was not surprised to hear about rabies being in Maryland. Every year the CDC and AVMA publish the number and species of rabies positive animals found in the US. I remind my clients everyday that rabies is alive, well, and lurking in our backyard.

OK, I will freely and openly admit to being completely paranoid about rabies. After all this rabies we are talking about. Rabies, well, it will kill you. I am afraid and paranoid because I have seen rabies in my clinic more than once.

I have seen it in a 3 month old kitten, in a 3 year old cat, and I have euthanized because we were too afraid to live with the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario that an animal was positive and that a human had been exposed. Or, because the animal was feral and unable to be treated and quarantined. I have had the fear of exposure of my staff and this fear has haunted me for days as I waited for the lab to return a verdict. I have had to tell young adults with their whole life in front of them that their pet came back positive for rabies and that now they must go see their physician to discuss their exposure and how to protect themselves. I have also seen a family of eight children be exposed when their dog and the 7 puppies that she had just given birth to were all exposed to a rabid dead raccoon. Can you imagine that discussion? All of the kids had to have post-exposure rabies vaccinations (and pray that this works), and the puppies had to go into a 6 month quarantine.

Guess what happened when the animal control officer came to their house and informed the family that the puppies and adult dogs and all of the cats (five in total) had to be kept in a double enclosure under state monitoring for 6 months because ALL of them were either waaay overdue on their rabies vaccinations, or never vaccinated at all?  Well when notified of this the family began to think about the expense of keeping these pets and not being able to sell the puppies, so we got a call.

The owners wanted to put the puppies down. Seven, seven week old who are happy healthy playful puppies to put to sleep.That's what they had decided to do about their problem.

That call and that day will be forever indelibly etched in my head. Don't ask me how people do it, I don't know. How do you put a needle into a puppy and kill them because the owners were....whatever...to have ever gotten their dogs vaccinated? I can't do it, and every vet at the clinic refused to do it. That left dropping the puppies at the Humane Society for someone else to do. I even felt guilty about this. At least if I did it I could anesthetize them, they wouldn't be conscious, but crap, I would live with this guilt forever. It wasn't those puppies fault. And worse than ALL of that was that these puppies might be completely healthy and be put down based on a big MAYBE.

I told my crying angry receptionists to send me the owners information and I made some phone calls.

Tess. On the day for her spay.

Munch. Already adopted.

Stella.

Teddy.  A happy puppy.
After being spayed. ready for a new home.

After a heated, emotional, and frustrating call to my rescue friends, and a long discussion with the owner that included bartering, begging, and biting of my tongue like never before, we figured out a mutually beneficial arrangement to help take financial and health care custody of the pups if the owners would keep the puppies for their quarantine period. With the assistance of the Harford County MD Health Department we were able to assemble a suitable enclosure and follow up veterinary care.

I saw those puppies every two weeks to monitor their growth, neurological status, and get them vaccinated. At the end of their quarantine period I spayed and neutered 7 puppies (now adolescents lab-Newfoundland mixes) and the adults. It was a long tenuous 180 days, but this story has a happy ending, and how can you ask for more?

None of us took the easy way out. We all helped save the life of 7 of the most adorable puppies. Could the story have had a bad ending? Yes. The puppies could have become neurologic. We could have been forced to euthanize them. It would have been terribly sad. But, instead we had a bit of faith, took the necessary precautions, and a miracle happened.

Many ENORMOUS THANKS to No Kill Harford for their help and vision. http://www.nokillharford.org/

For the rest of this story see;
http://www.nokillharford.org/raccoon-seven/

Minnie.

Teddy.

The most common (what a terrible way to put this), way that I see rabies influencing our day to day activities at the clinic is the cat that walks in the door with a wound. Want to know how often this happens? A whole lot, like weekly. Cats that are outside, especially those cats that are un-spayed, or un-neutered, fight over territory. Abcesses and wounds are a very common thing that we see and treat. In almost all cases treating the wounds is rather simple. But the very difficult aspect of all of these cases is trying to identify how these cats got these wounds, and from whom they came from. In the overwhelming majority of cases we cannot exclude that these wounds were not caused by a bite. Because rabies is transmitted by saliva of affected animals we don't know who, when, where, or why. So we play it safe and leave the possibility of rabies on the table. To make things stickier, many of these cats are un-vaccinated, or presumed to be un-vaccinated because they are labeled as a 'stray'. Even if the cat appears to be spayed or neutered we don't know how long it has been since they were vaccinated. All of these unknowns result in a cat that is going to be either euthanized or placed in quarantine for 6 months. Most people who haven't taken the time or put forth the effort to get their cats spayed, neutered, or vaccinated are not so keen on quarantining it for 6 months. Here we go again, another pet who may or may not ever get sick, who may or may not have even been vaccinated, or even exposed to rabies, and I feel guilty about giving up on these guys again.

Ask me how many cats we have kept?, or how many my very compassionate very generous technician has  taken home with her. Or how many our good friends at No Kill Harford have helped us with. I think its about a dozen..

Aria.
Kept for 6 months by my dear technician.

Gracie.
Also kept by Ms. Kate for her quarantine sentence.

Is there is anyway I can convince, beg, plead, every person out there to get and keep their pets vaccinated for rabies??

We at Jarrettsville Vet are going to try to make rabies vaccines easily accessible, affordable and convenient so that maybe we won't have to look into another pets eyes and ask ourselves all of the "what ifs." Keep watching.

Munch..a mug shot.

A BIG Thanks to everyone who joined forces to help save all of these wonderful wonders!

Update;
September 2013. I see a few of the pups every so often for routine stuff, and because their families know how much it means to me to see them grow.

This is Belle. A little shy, but the love of her mom's life.

This is Belle. A little shy, but the love of her mom's life.

If you have any questions for me about rabies, or anything else pet related please visit me at Pawbly, or on Twitter @FreePetAdvice, or @Pawbly.

Be safe everyone. And PLEASE vaccinate all of your pets for rabies.

The Babies

The babies go to their foster home tomorrow.

I have spent the last week coo-ing, cuddling, and marveling over them.

Butters, their mom, is a sweet, affectionate, happy soul. She will make someone's home replete with her warm, gentle, demeanor and ever present purr.

I will miss them all, but I know I will see them again..

Butters, their mom, is a sweet, affectionate, happy soul. She will make someone's home replete with her warm, gentle, demeanor and ever present purr.

I will miss them all, but I know I will see them again..

For information on adopting these kittens, or Butters please contact
http://www.nokillharford.org/