Today Gov. Schwarzenegger announced plans to institute a sales tax on veterinary services (along with auto repair, golf, and appliance/furniture repair) effective Feb 1 2009. The state has big financial problems, as I am sure you have heard, and he thinks he has found a great way to resolve it (as opposed to increasing income taxes on the richest of the rich).

Edited to add: A 10% tax on veterinary services will have a HUGE impact on the willingness of an already financially strapped clientele to bring their sick pets in to be examined and treated. This translates directly into increases risk of human infection from zoonoses. In case I wasn't clear about how this works.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/11.06_.08_Spec...
A Revenue Problem: While Governor Schwarzenegger has worked to fix the state’s spending problem, and has kept
state spending relatively flat for the past three budget cycles, the dramatic drop in our revenue projections over the past
six weeks presents an extraordinary situation which, combined with the volatility of our tax system, creates a revenue
problem. Raising taxes is never a good idea, but in this extraordinary situation, there is no question that new revenues
must be brought into the state to protect education and vital services. The Governor is proposing $ 4.7billion in new
revenues for the current budget year in the form of:

A Temporary Sales Tax Increase: A temporary increase in the state sales tax (from 5 percent to 6.5 percent) will
generate additional sales tax revenues of $ 3.5 billion in 2008-09 for the General Fund. It will also effectively
protect significant education funding. At the end of three years, the state sales tax would revert to 5 percent.

Broadening the Sales and Use Tax to Include Certain Services: Effective February 1, 2009, the sales and use tax
rate will be applied to appliance and furniture repair, vehicle repair, golf, and veterinarian services. Effective
March 1, 2009, the sales and use tax rate will be applied to amusement parks and sporting events. This is expected
to generate additional General Fund sales tax revenue of $357 million in 2008-09.

Oil Severance Tax: Effective January 1, 2009, impose an oil severance tax upon any oil producer for the right to
extract oil from the earth or water in this state. This brings California in line with other states. The tax shall be
applied to the gross value of each barrel of oil at a rate of 9.9 percent and will generate additional tax revenues of
$528 million in 2008-09.

Increase Alcohol and Excise Taxes: Alcohol excise taxes are proposed to be raised by five cents a drink beginning
on January 1, 2009. This increase is estimated to raise $293 million in 2008-09. Revenues from this tax will be
used to fund critical drug and alcohol treatment and prevention services. Alcohol taxes were last raised in 1991.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What our dear Governor seems to blissfully unaware of is that, rather than being ENTERTAINMENT or A LUXURY, veterinary medicine is A BRANCH OF PUBLIC HEALTH. Taxation of public health measures is, well, the DUMBEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF.

I am so far beyond irate, I can barely type. Every time a client comes in I am acutely aware of the possibility of infectious diseases in my patients with potentially life-threatening impacts on human health. And Homeland Security even has concerns here because the majority of biological warfare agents are ZOONOTIC diseases or have significant impact on the agricultural industry.

I am asking not just CA pet owners, but people across the US who care about not just the health of our pets but the health of our fellow humans to PLEASE call Gov. Schwarzenegger's office and also your CA assemblymember and CA state senator to express outrage at his attempt to place all our lives and health in danger.

Surely there are other ways to increase revenues. This is one of the most penny wise and pound foolish ideas I have ever heard of, and I have been around the block a few times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guide to Zoonotic Disease - LA County Health Dept.
http://www.lapublichealth.org/vet/guides/v...

*****"In California, over 45% of human diseases reportable to the California Department of Health Services are zoonoses"***********

Table 5. ZOONOSES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS

INFECTIOUS AGENT PRIMARY HOST(S) DISEASES IN ANIMALS DISEASES IN PEOPLE
Prions
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Cattle Fatal degeneration of CNS Atypical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Vaccinia virus (cowpox) Cattle, horses Papulovesiculopustular lesions of skin of udder and teats Papulovesiculopustular skin lesions
Newcastle disease Poultry Respiratory, GI, CNS Conjunctivitis
Paravaccinia virus (milker's modules) Cattle Vesicles, ulcers, and granulomas of udder Papulovesiculogranulomatous skin lesions
Bovine pustular stomatitis virus
(orf, contagious ecthyma)
Sheep, goats Pustular lesions of mouth, vulva, eye Papulovesiculogranulomatous skin lesions
Vesicular stomatitis virus Cattle, swine, horses Ulceration of oral mucosa, feet, and teats Fever, chills, headache, myalgia
Rabies virus Dogs, cats, cattle, horses, sheep No apparent disease; death with paralysis Excitation, paralysis, death
Chlamydia psittaci Pigeons, poultry No apparent disease; death Fever, cough, pneumonia
Coxiella burnetii Sheep, cattle, goats (?ticks) No disease; rickettsemia Q fever
Ehrlichia canis Dogs (ticks) Hemorrhagic disease, death Ehrlichiosis
Afipia felis Cats, dogs No known disease Cat-scratch disease
Rochalimea henselae Cats, dogs No known disease Cat-scratch disease, peliosis hepatis, bacillary angiomatosis
Bacillus anthracis Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine, dogs, cats Sudden death, systemic disease, GI affliction Malignant pustule, gastroenteritis, pneumonitis
Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Swine, fowl, sheep, fish Porcine erysipelas, polyarthritis, septicemia, endocarditis Erysipeloid
Listeria monocytogenes Sheep, cattle, rabbits, goats, guinea pigs, chickens, horses, rodents, birds Meningoencephalitis, abortion, myocarditis, septicemia, ophthalmitis Leptomeningitis, fetal listeriosis, septicemia, oculoglandular infection
Mycobacterium bovis Cattle, horses, swine, cats, dogs Pulmonary, lymph nodes, udder, GI tuberculosis, spondylitis Primarily GI, lymph node, bone, pulmonary tuberculosis
Streptobacillus moniliformis Fowl No apparent disease Fever, rash
Pseudomonas mallei Horses, mules, asses, cats, dogs, sheep, goats Nodular pneumonia, farcy, lymphadenopathy Granulomatous to pustular lesions, skin and subcutaneous; septicemia
Pasteurella multocida Fowl, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mice, rats, rabbits Hemorrhagic septicemia, pneumonia Skin ulcer, osteomyelitis, sinusitis, pleuritis, leptomeningitis
Brucella spp Cattle, goats, swine, sheep, horses, mules, dogs, cats, fowl, deer, buffalo, rabbits Abortion, lameness, mastitis, granulomas, abscesses Fever, malaise, lymphadenopathy, bacteremia, splenomegaly, osteomyelitis
Capnocytophagia canimorsus Dogs No apparent disease Fever, gangrene, meningitis, septicemia
Salmonella spp (nontyphoidal) Fowl, swine, cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, rodents, reptiles, birds, cattle No apparent disease; enteritis, septicemia, puerperal fever Gastroenteritis, focal infection, septicemia
Yersinia enterocolitica Dogs, cats No known disease Diarrhea, reactive arthritis
Campylobacter fetus Sheep, cattle Metritis, infertility, placentitis, abortion Placentitis with abortion, endocarditis, bacteremia, meningitis
Sporothrix schenckii Horses, mules, dogs, cats, mice, rats Granulomas of extremities Ulcerative, lymph-vascular, skin, subcutaneous lesions, pneumonia
Microsporum spp Dogs, cats, horses, cattle Alopecia, dermatitis Alopecia, dermatitis
Trichophyton spp
Cryptosporidium spp Farm animals, cats, dogs No apparent disease; enteritis, respiratory disease Enteritis, dysentery
Trypanosoma cruzi Dogs, cats (triatomes) No known apparent disease Skin rash, myocarditis, conjunctivitis, myositis, neurologic dysfunctions (Chagas disease)
Balantidium coli Pigs, monkeys No apparent disease in swine; colitis in monkeys Colitis
Toxoplasma gondii Cats, dogs, sheep, cattle, swine Stillbirth, congenital defects, CNS lesions Stillbirth, congenital defects, retinochoroiditis, encephalitis
Ancylostoma canium
(Uncinaria stenocephala)
Dogs, cats Anemia, dysentery, hypoproteinemia, edema, stunted growth, death of pups Itching, erythema of skin, Loeffler syndrome
Toxocara canis and cati Dogs, cats Diarrhea, granulomas in kidneys and other viscera, weight loss and stunted growth of young Granulomas in liver, skeletal muscle, lungs, brain, and eye
Dipylidium caninum Dogs, cats No apparent or known disease; chronic enteritis Abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, anal pruritus
Trichinella spiralis Swine, cattle, horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, mice No apparent or known disease Chemosis, conjunctivitis, myositis, skin rash
Taenia saginata Cattle No apparent or known disease Abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss
Taenia solium Swine No apparent or known disease Abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, cysticercosis
Diphyllobothrium latum Dogs, cats No apparent or known disease Tapeworm infection, megaloblastic anemia
Dirofilaria immitis, D tenuis Dogs, raccoons, cats (mosquitoes) Cardiopulmonary granulomata, subcutaneous nodules Pulmonary nodules, subcutaneous granulomata of face, trunk, or arms
Echinococcus granulosus Dogs No apparent or known disease Space-occupying cysts in liver, lungs; anaphylaxis
Echinococus multilocularis and vogeli Dogs, wild canines No apparent disease Noncapsulated, extensive cysts, of liver, lungs

What the hell is this thing???

with the pending eviction (for demolition) from my little house. I have finally got the go-ahead on an apartment rental and am signing the lease tomorrow.

It's a larger 1-BR in a neighborhood full of apartments, much more crowded area than I have been living in for nearly 8 years. But it's newly renovated and big ENOUGH (some things may have to go into storage....).

The asswipe developer who bought the property tried to illegally evict me and the people in the guest house. We complained to the city housing department who slapped him upside the head, saying, "YES, you DO fall under the jurisdiction of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, dummy!!! Now OBEY the law or we prosecute." So he went about things legally, giving us 4 months' notice back in late July, and put the relocation funds in an escrow account, and all was well.

It took me a while to find something within my budget (rents have skyrocketed in the past 3-4 years) and slightly closer to the office so I will do more walking to and from work. I couldn't get one of the giant 2-BR/1.75-BA 1300 sf units 4 blocks from the office like I REALLY wanted, but I looked at one and the sinks and tubs and such needed replacement or refurbishing and were ICKY. The place I got is that nice new feeling.....

I won't have knotty pine paneling and a huge stone fireplace and a big garden (just pots on a small balcony) and built-in bookcases and china cabinet. It's sad to be leaving. But it feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders where it's been sitting for just about 14 months. No more feeling of impending doom, just the urge to get going with the move.

First of all, this will be fairly brief. I am on my crappy old computer at home. Doing any research on it is nearly impossible due to Windows ME, 15 GB hard drive, Pentium 3 processor, and dial-up. So I am not going to be able to post links for everything I think should be here. My internet service at the office (where I have a GREAT computer) has gone out 4 times in 8 days, and is down again (thank you, AT&T DSL, you total POS). I will add additional comments and links to published, peer-reviewed research and official government and NGO policies once I can get online at the office again.

There appears to be some confusion about where I stand with respect to feeding pets raw foods (raw meats, in particular). I was posting a reply to a thread about this earlier today when I lost the internet. The poster seemed to think, for some unfathomable reason, that I had said pets should be gradually switched onto raw foods.

PLEASE NOTE: I DO NOT advocate ANY feeding of raw meats to dogs or cats EVER. This ALWAYS constitutes a risk to the animal's health AND MORE IMPORTANTLY a risk to the health of humans who may have contact with the animal in question.

Raw meats are ALWAYS contaminated with bacteria to some degree when they are purchased. This is inevitable. Germs come with the territory, and the government position is that sterility can not be achieved nor should it be sought for raw meats. It is simply not achievable.

The bacteria commonly found in/on raw meats and likely to cause illness are Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli O157H7. Raw meats may also contain, within the flesh, parasites such as Trichinella, Toxoplasma, and tapeworms. Of these, Toxoplasma is the biggest danger.

Salmonella can make dogs and cats seriously ill and even cause their death. IIRC Campylobacter can also (when I can surf the net I can look up sources on this). Toxoplasma may or may not make any particular cat ill or cause its death, but its greatest danger is to unborn human fetuses. Generic E. coli is ubiquitous in meat packing plants, and anywhere it is found, it may be accompanied by its evil twin, E. coli O157H7, a notorious killer. I do not have information this evening as to whether that one can harm dogs or cats, but it bears looking into. The point is, contaminated meats can AND DO make dogs and cats ill and even cause their deaths with some frequency.

Pets infected with these pathogens may pass them on to humans. The young, the old, the chronically ill and the immunosuppressed are particularly vulnerable. Dogs and cats frequently become asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella and have been widely shown to then pass the infection on to humans. These humans are at risk of serious illness and even death. Same problem with Campylobacter, though I do not recall offhand if an asymptomatic carrier state exists for it. Animals and their food dishes and toys and such may act as fomites for transmission of these pathogens.

The evidence is clear. It is indisputable fact that raw meats should not be fed to dogs or cats because of the disease risk to the pets and the risk of zoonotic disease in humans.

I have been viciously attacked for pointing this out on other threads. But it is my firm belief that, if someone is going to make an outlandish claim that is FAR outside the realm of mainstream scientific thought, it is incumbent upon the claimant to prove their case. My case has already been proved, time after time, in refereed journal after refereed journal, and in study after study.

If you are going to call me a liar (and you people know who you are) you had better be able to back up your claims that raw meat is harmless with some published, peer-reviewed data of your own. I will not accept the rantings of some mad internet bloviator as fact. I don't care HOW many breeders advocate it, or how many "alternate practitioners" in my own profession do. That doesn't make it safe.

I took my professional oath very seriously 26 years ago. I have a duty to the public, and when I see advocacy of something so potentially deadly as feeding raw meats to pets, I intend to speak out.

As I said, when I can navigate the internet normally I will post links to my sources and back up what I say. It's unfortunately not possible to do so tonight.

For those who will no doubt attack me again for daring to speak out, you are on notice. I will aggressively alert on anyone who attempts to start in with the flaming. If you think raw meats are the greatest thing since sliced bread, go back to one of your many threads already here. This one's my baby.

2006 Feline Vaccine Advisory Panel Report (AAFP):
http://www.aafponline.org/resources/guidel... ...

About rabies vaccination:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/405_...
I have personally read two published reports of rabies (and DEATH of course) in two cats that literally never set foot outdoors their whole lives. Those pesky bats, both times.

AVMA policy on vaccinations:
http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/vaccinat... ...
http://www.avma.org/issues/vaccination/def...

2006 press release on vaccinations:
http://www.avma.org/press/releases/061218_...

Website with the different vaccines available.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/gi/dynamic/of... ...

My vaccination protocol:
Kittens - 8 weeks - FVRCP (panleuk and respiratory viruses)
12 weeks - FVRCP, FeLV (feline leukemia)
16 weeks - FVRCP, FeLV, Rabies

Adults - annually whether in/out or "indoors only" - FVRCP, FeLV, Rabies

I use all adjuvant-free vaccines. Both the FeLV and Rabies vaccines are live canarypox-vectored genetically modified vaccines. The FeLV vaccine is administered with a needle-free injection system. I only use 1-year rabies vaccine (the 3-year contains adjuvant and is not considered wise in cats).
I have personally seen great illness and death result from failure to vaccinate. I have only seen two serious complications of vaccinations in 26 years: two cases of vaccine-associated fibrosarcoma - one is doing fine 8 or 9 years later (without any amputations, BTW, and the other is doing very well almost a year later but only time will tell. VaxSA is why we use vaccines without adjuvant - it is felt to be a major risk factor in its development. I have seen countless cats die of FeLV, and have even seen a case of rabies in a cat.
We keep deadly diseases at bay by maintaining good "herd immunity" among our pet cat populations.

There are several vaccines for cats that I specifically DO NOT RECOMMEND:
FIP - not proven safe enough or effective enough to warrant use - best prevented through good hygiene, early treatment of medical issues, and avoiding overcrowding and other sources of stress
FIV - causes cats to test positive on blood test (permanently) - best prevented by neutering everybody and keeping indoors to limit risk of fighting with stray tomcats (a common source of infection)
Ringworm - of no value in preventing infection and of questionable value in treating it - ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin and fungal treatments already exist
Bordetella - of questionable effectiveness - This is a becterial disease and can be treated with antibiotics
There is a Giardia vaccine (or was) but I think it was just for dogs; IIRC some vets advocated it in cats (???) - Giardia is a protozoan infection and easily treated with medicaitons

Anybody with questions can PM me so as to avoid interference from disruptors.

Maybe TMI for some, but very good article.

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petlabel.htm

Kestrel's take-home points:
Feed a food that says "Manufactured by" rather than "Distributed by" (which is a "generic", the lowest quality food generally).
Feed a food that says "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (name of product) provides complete and balanced nutrition." Don't feed something that hasn't been proven capable of sustaining good health. Properly formulated food won't kill any animals when tested, BTW, unless there is unanticipated taint as in the Menu Foods case.
Feed a "life stage" food that provides complete and balanced nutrition for a particular life stage i.e. growth or maintenance. Kitten food has too much protein for older animals. Optimum protein and fat for adults or older animals is sub-optimum for young animals.
Beware of any foods containing garlic or onions. All alliums are known to be poisonous to dog and cat red blood cells, and their presence in a food indicates a manufacturer who doesn't know or worse yet doesn't care about harming animals.
Be skeptical if you note the presence of bizarre ingredients like avocado, blueberries, eye of newt, etc. These may attract purchasers but are not a valid indicator of quality or appropriateness of nutrition.

These are basics that I use to pre-screen any diet before I will consider recommending it to a client for their pet.

Note: some personal identifying information has been removed


Senator John Ensign
119 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

March 8, 2007


Dear Senator Ensign,
You might remember me. Or perhaps not. I was one of the teaching assistants for your freshman microbiology class in veterinary school at Colorado State University in the fall of (year), and I certainly remember you. This, plus the fact that I am and have been for the past 24 years a resident of California, might be sufficient grounds for you to discard this letter and with it my opinion. But please bear with me for a moment.
I was born in Washoe County General Hospital in Reno. My father was born in Ely, White Pine County, in (year). My grandfather was born in (year) on the George (last name) homestead in the Snake Valley at the turnoff to the dirt road to Silver Creek Reservoir on what is now Highway 6/50. My great-grandfather came to the Snake Valley alone in 1880 at the age of 16 and was the first rancher to run cattle up on Bald Mountain and Wheeler Peak for summer pasture. My grandparents raised 6 boys, of whom my father was the youngest, on the last lonely little hardscrabble ranch where Weaver Creek peters out in the sagebrush north of Baker.
As a child I spent innumerable vacations in White Pine County, where my grandparents lived until they died – where my twenty-some (last name) cousins grew up to become miners and mine engineers, ranchers and housewives – where my Uncle (first name) had his long career as a State Brand Inspector – where my grandfather, (full name), was a White Pine County sheriff and Ely’s Chief of Police. My father left Nevada for college in Colorado (at our alma mater) and then a highly decorated career in the USAF, but he always considered himself a Nevadan. And so do I. You can take the girl out of Nevada, but you can’t ever take Nevada out of this girl.
Before I get to the purpose of this letter, in all fairness I must give you credit where credit is due. I have read your summary of the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2006 and applaud your efforts in this regard. Though it would be nice to keep the area as I have always known it, I accept that this is not realistic. What I do know is that too many young people have had to leave this beautiful land, as my father did, in order to have any future at all. A larger tax base, larger population (within reason), and more jobs would allow more of my extended family, which includes Bakers, Smiths, Hesselgessers, Tilbys, Hickmans, Meachams and countless others, to stay right where they want to. My generation has spread to the four winds, and it’s a family tragedy. Please continue to keep an eye out for the well-being of this forgotten corner of America that my heart still knows as home.
Now to my point in writing to you: I note with some interest your dissatisfaction with the firing of Nevada’s US Attorney Daniel Bogden. According to The Las Vegas Review-Journal you are not happy with how you were misled by the Justice Department. I know full well how supportive you always have been of George Bush and his plans for this country.
Now that you have tasted the bitter fruit of those plans do you feel the same? Do you feel betrayed? Do you feel cheated? Do you perhaps even feel just a little bit afraid? Remember the old joke that ends “You knew I was a snake when you picked me up”? Remember this poem from your history lessons?


First They Came for the Jews……..

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

--- Attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller

They have come for the Jews, when they came for the Muslim “terrorists” who languish without benefit of trial. They have come for the Communists, when they came for the “commie pinko liberals” who dissented. They have come for the trade unionists, when they came for the United States Attorneys who asked too many questions. And now, John, they will come for you, and the other Republicans from whose eyes the scales are falling.
Are you happy now, John?


Sincerely,



(full name), DVM (CSU ’(year))

Yes, I know the format is hinky. It's normal format in the letter. I don't do HTML. I sent the letter by snailmail as I am not legally a constituent.

I wrote it on my professional letterhead.

about how HAAAARRRRDDDD medical school is. Hell, they only have to learn about the inner workings and ills and treatment of ONE species. We have to learn about ALL THE REST. We could learn a single species in our sleep.

Will Rogers once said something about vets being the best, smartest doctors in the world, because their patients couldn't tell them what was wrong. We just had to "know".

I rather prefer the way somebody compared Ginger Rogers' dancing to Fred Astaire's. Ginger had to do everything Fred did, but backwards and in high heels. That's sort of like us vets. We are seriously handicapped by our patients' inability to speak, clients' lack of funds, our own shortage of trained assistants at our beck and call, and inadequate equipment. Yet our clients have virtually the same expectations of us as they do of their own physicians - sometimes even higher. This isn't helped by the TV mentality, where folks truly believe that it's possible to diagnose and successfully treat a serious medical condition in one to two hours, lol.

My profession surely must attract large numbers of true psychics. How else would we be able to succeed in patient treatment at all???

Thirty-two years ago today the largest tornado ever recorded (IIRC) struck the town where I lived. Formed by three tornados that merged, and with a base a mile wide, this thing laid down a huge path of destruction right through the heart of this small city in Ohio (pop. 50k). It killed about 35 people, and injured 680. Thousands were left homeless.

My family's home, fortunately, was in a suburb to the west. I was at my after-school job at the front counter of a dry cleaning shop (all alone). I will never forget the ugly sky that evening.......the undersides of the clouds resembled cotton balls of a dirty pea-soup color. There was first a tornado watch on the radio, and then a tornado warning. I plotted a course of action: if I heard the freight train coming, I would go lie down in the pile of clothes waiting to be dry cleaned, where I might at least be safe from flying glass shards.

Lucky for me, but not so lucky for so many others, the tornado hit to the east. Our house was untouched. My high school was untouched, but te other HS in town was utterly destroyed, so those students had to pull the 3-11PM shift at my school for the rest of spring semester.

I understand there are parts of Xenia that have still not rebuilt.........vacant lots where homes once stood..........businesses gone and never reopened.......it was a beautiful place, full of huge trees and old Victorian homes, and will never be the same.

I'm giving Xenia a moment of silence in memory of those who died, and for those whose lives were forever changed.

specifically developed for management of specific medical problems. Some of the diets are formulated differently enough from a "maintenance" or "growth" type diet that they are INAPPROPRIATE or UNSAFE in animals that do not have the medical condition. For example, I am always careful to caution people not to put K/D (kidney diet) out if they have kittens in the home. You CANNOT raise a healthy kitten on a renal diet, because it is protein-restricted and kittens have a very specific protein requirement.

Also, if you have a cat that is prone to calcium oxalate urinary stones, it is critical that it not have access to a diet that acidifies urine (like C/D or S/D) because acidic urine PROMOTES formation of oxalate stones.

There are many examples of this sort of thing. We put cats on prescription diets when they have a medical condition tht requires monitoring and followup, so we don't sell them OTC to just anybody who walks in the door. The potential for harm is there. Hill's Prescription Diets and the other brands of medical diets have a statement on the label something like: for temporary use as recommended by your veterinarian. This is different from the statement of nutritional adequacy on regular food that should say somethin like: Provides complete and balanced nutrition for growing kittens (or adult cats, or senior cats) based on AAFCO protocol feeding trials.

Some prescription diets (like S/D) we use ONLY short term, to dissolve struvite uroliths, and NOT for long-term maintenance. Other prescription diets we use for the life of the animal. But it always requires ongoing veterinary supervision in case the animal's needs change and the diet becomes inappropriate.

I put them on methimazole (anti-thyroid medication) for an initial trial period of several weeks, starting with a very low dose and gradually increasing, and rechecking the blood and urine tests to make sure there are no side effects developing and the kidney function is stable. If the cat can be well-controlled with methimazole and the kidneys are still ok then the cat is a good candidate for I131 treatment. Here in SoCal it involves a one-week stay at a special facility where the cats board in a lead-lined room to pee away the radiation. The treatment itself is one simple injection of I131. Simple, easy.......some followup blood tests to verify a cure, and voila! Not cheap........probably around $800-1000. But this is state-of-the-art treatment.

Surgery is what we used to recommend before the I131 became available. It is NOT considered a permanent cure because of occult thyroid tissue lurking all over the neck and chest. Long-term methimazole can be done, but there is the ongoing expense of blood tests to make sure sll is still well. And it has a risk of side effects.

I have a patient that can't take methimazole (he's hypersensitive to it and many other things) and because of existing kidney dysfunction he is not a candidate for I131 or surgery. So he is essentially screwed. He is ok for now, but will eventually waste away.

Kitty continues to do VERY well - eating like a pig, gaining weight, no surgical complications, very little visible blood in his urine. He still has some bladder control issues, but it's only a little over 48 hours postop. I am very encouraged by all this, and expect a complete recovery. The stone turned out to be struvite (magnesium-ammonium-phosphate), recurrence of which is easily prevented by appropriate diet (no cheap dry food, no food with fish). I am feeding him Prescription Diet A/D (canned) to get meat on his bones, some Science Diet turkey Adult canned to decrease the chance of diarrhea from the A/D, and all the Science Diet Adult dry mixed with Kitten dry that he can eat (for fiber and fat and to retrain him to eat dry food). He needs the high-protein A/D and kitten food to speed healing, especially since he had a slightly low albumin.

We had some quality time in an exam room today, sat on the floor and played for a while, and let him sleep on my lap. He likes to claw on my left shoe (guess I need to get him a scratching post!).

We removed his intravenous catheter today - he was a VERY GOOD BOY, only got a little upset. He is an excellent patient, very cooperative!

I did surgery on Kitty (not his real name) this AM. I first sedated him, then gave him some ketamine which knocked him down and cooperative, but not asleep. Thus disabled, he was a good boy while I placed an intravenous catheter in a front leg. Through this I gave him more ketamine and some valium. He was then out enough for me to place an endotracheal tube for him to breathe anesthetic gas through. A few minutes spent shaving his tummy, and off into surgery he went.

With him tied to the surgery table and his gas hooked up and running and his IV fluids running, we got to work. My trusty assistant kept an eye on his depth of anesthesia and followed my instructions when he needed more. I did what I do best: CUT. We have a saying in vet medicine: a chance to cut is a chance to cure. So that's what I set about to do. I cut a 2 1/2" incision in his abdomen (south of the belly button), packed off the undesired innards, and brought the bladder to within reach. After placing a couple of stay sutures (anchors for manipulating tissue) in the bladder, I opened it up and was easily able to find and remove the HUGE bladder stone (1 cm x 1.5 cm x 1 cm). Rather than prolong his surgery with poking around (known as an exploratory laparotomy) I opted to close the bladder and then get the heck out of his tummy as his compromised condition made him increased risk for complications. So I sewed the bladder closed (not easy, the wall was over 1/4" thick!!!) with absorbable suture, then closed the abdominal wall and then the skin with more of the same absorbable suture. I use a buried suture pattern in much of my abdominal surgery so the cats can't pull stitches out amd make trouble.

I finished up around 11:30 AM. We pulled his trach tube around noon. By 3:30 PM he was up and demanding to be fed. He got two small meals of Prescription Diet A/D and then a few crunchies over the following 3 1/2 hours and when I left at 6 PM he was a little unsteady on his feet still, but one VERY happy kitty. He fidgeted a little when I capped off his IV catheter for the night, but not so I couldn't do the job.

I am very happy with how he is doing so far post-op. Because of his low albumin level and the anemia, he will bear watching the next several days. Low albumin can result in poor wound healing, but with the high protein diet he is on I am not too worried. He is still on antibiotics, but they agree with him so far. I hope the anemia is just what we call Anemia of Chronic Disease, which should self-correct as he recovers from surgery.

All-in-all a fun and interesting case, and a really sweet cat.

Today I just took custody as the new owner of a kitty relinquished to me by a client who couldn't afford to pay for the very expensive surgery it needs. So I get to do the surgery for free on what is now MY OWN cat, lol! I get suckered by these periodically.

Kitty (not his real name) is a 9-yr-old male with a prior perineal urethrostomy for FUS/obstruction who wound up with a large (1 cm x 1 1/2 cm) bladder stone, and the poor thing has been suffering for so long he is very underweight and anemic. I will be stabilizing him on antibiotics and good nutrition over the weekend and do a cystotomy on Monday to get that darned thing OUT, already! He is only going to go downhill more the longer I wait. I hope he does ok postop. The long-term plan is to place him with one of my better clients (whichever one wants him). These sickies can be a tough sell, though, so I may have a new mascot.

Wish me luck.

Pics to follow if I can ever figure out how to post them here.

because of what you are seeing. They are going to keep popping up. They also tend to be quite aggressive, and have a high propensity for distant metastasis. It is uncommon to find and remove a feline mammary CA before it has already spread.

That said, I have a patient who I diagnosed a year ago (that's four years in "cat" years), who has been going in for weekly chemo all this time, and is still alive. The owner opted out of mastectomy, so of course new lumps are cropping up. But the oncologist says not to fuss over them - the chemo will (in theory) keep them from spreading. Quality of life is ok - she has kidney problems due to age and exacerbated by the chemo but it's not major.

This is one of those diseases that is virtually 100% preventable. I cannot recall a single case in a cat who was spayed on schedule. They all tend to be cats who at the age of ten still haven't been fixed. Except for the one male (neutered, FIV positive, former stray) - he was a WEIRD case. But human males can get it, too.