Bark, Bake & Beyond

Hello! It’s Friday and time for a Case. This one is more sad than anything. Cancer. Wow, does it suck. And, I’m sure it has touched all of our lives in some way. Whether it was ourselves, a relative, a pet, it is always terrible. This case was no different. I always enjoyed seeing both this dog and his owner. The dog was friendly and his owner was an extremely nice young man who obviously cared very deeply for his four legged friend. Darby (name changed for privacy) was a happy go lucky yellow lab. Aren’t they all? Labs are such nice dogs. I had been seeing him as a client for years. Routine exams, vaccines, the occasional ear infection, etc. But today was different. His owner had noticed that he had started limping with his left hind leg. It had been going on for a few weeks, and was pretty mild at this point. His owner thought maybe he twisted it running outside, and gave him a few weeks to see if it would resolve. After seeing the limp was continuing and gradually g...

Yellow Cake, otherwise known as Vanilla Cake. If you are going to be a baker, you NEED a basic yellow cake recipe in your arsenal. This recipe, I will admit, has been the most labor intensive and frustrating to perfect. It has been YEARS in the making. I do try to make all of my cakes from scratch, but for years this one eluded me. I would try a recipe, not be happy, and go back to making the Pillsbury Moist Supreme Yellow Cake. You know which one I’m talking about in this picture…. Hats off to them, it is a great cake mix. It has everything you want a cake or cupcake to be….light, moist, tasty, rises well, and frosts well. Try as I repeatedly tried, I could not copy the recipe. I searched far and wide on the internet, trying so many bloggers’ recipes, but in the end, combined a number of them to get this recipe. Again, I pride myself in the fact that if a baked good comes out of my kitchen, it will be from scratch. Here we go! First, as always a few special notes about som...

Fleas. YUCK. One of my least favorite things. Definitely in the same category as ticks. Has anyone out there dealt with a flea infestation on their pets and in their homes? Definitely not for the faint at heart. These creepy critters are easy to contract, very difficult to get rid of, and carry a host of diseases that can be spread to your pets and your family. So, today let’s talk about what they are, where they live, the stress they can cause in your life, and how to prevent ever having to go through any of this. Courtesy: Getty Images Fleas are parasites that feed off of animals. They are tiny, they are fast, they jump VERY high, and they live EVERYWHERE. Most pet infestations come from wild animals. The number one sources are bunny rabbits and squirrels or chipmunks outside. Clients who tell me that they don’t use a preventative for their dog or cat that go outside, and have never had a flea problem are incredibly lucky. Fleas are typically a problem in the summer months,...

Hello Everyone! Today’s cool case might not be for the squeamish at heart. There are some pictures in today’s post that may not be suitable for all readers and especially small children. Today’s subject is ENUCLEATIONS. What are those? That is removal of an eye due to trauma, infection, or inflammation. Let’s jump right in. Mimosa (name changed for privacy) was another animal that came over to my Animal Hospital from the local animal shelter. This tiny kitten had a HUGE eye. I believe that eyes are one of the most important things on our body. We only get two of them, they play a huge part in how we perceive the world, and are necessary for depth perception, safety, and for creating bonds with others. I always do my best to help pets keep both of their eyes. Sometimes, however, that just is not possible, and enucleation is our only option. What are some of the reasons we may need to remove an animal’s eye? The most common is TRAUMA. Most of the eyes I have removed during m...

Alright, today I have another recipe for you that NEEDS to be in your recipe book. A basic, go-to, white cake recipe is not only great by itself, but it also serves as a starting point for so many other cake recipes. Decorated with a simple buttercream, and you have a beautiful wedding cake or winter-themed cake. Change the flavor of the buttercream to strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, or mango, and you have an award-winning summer cake. Add mint, and suddenly you have a grasshopper cake. The possibilities are ENDLESS! After finally figuring out my vanilla cake recipe, I used many of the same ideas to create this great recipe. Let’s get started. Like I mentioned, some of the ingredients and ideas will be similar to the yellow/vanilla cake, with the obvious change from full eggs, to just egg whites. Here’s some other important information about some of the ingredients. Cake Flour is used in this recipe. As you know, cake flour has corn starch added to it. This will help creat...

How many of my readers today have torn their ACL ligament? If so, you know how fast it can happen, and how much it hurts. Dogs experience the same thing. It’s unfortunately an all too common reason for medium and large breed dogs to come in and see me. First, WHAT is the ACL? The ACL ligament is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament, and it is found in our knee. Courtesy: Shelbourne Knee Center In fact, there are two ligaments there that provide stability in the knee joint: the ACL and the CCL (Caudal Cruciate Ligament). Humans and dogs rarely rupture the CCL, but it can happen. These two ligaments form an “X” shape in the knee, and allow us to do all sorts of crazy movements with our legs. Next, how does an ACL rupture happen? This is usually an injury that happens when the knee is abruptly turned at a high rate of speed. Think of the dog out running full speed that suddenly switches directions to catch that squirrel or that frisbee. Those high speed 90 degree turns are usually the c...

Hello! It’s Friday and today’s case is pretty cool. When I lived in the upper Midwest, the practice I owned was located in a very rural location. If you wanted to shop at any store other than Walmart, you were driving a good couple hours. Yes, we had woods, woods, and more woods. In those wood were LOTS of critters. We had wolves, bears, cougars, coyotes, foxes, etc, etc, etc, and we also had the subject of today’s post: PORCUPINES. While in the winter we would not get many cases of dog vs porcupine, in the spring/summer/fall, we would get at least a couple cases every week. These would vary from a dog with few only a couple quills, to dogs with HUNDREDS of quills that needed to be removed. So, without further ado, let’s meet Bucky (name changed for privacy). This was an interesting emergency call in many ways. This time it was not a pet owner who called me, rather it was my technician. On weekends she worked up at the animal shelter. This dog was found by a good Samaritan on ...