Blog
Season’s Heatings!
It’s officially fall, and the nights are getting cooler. It will soon be time to turn on your heat. Before you do, take some precautions that can save your pet’s life. When you turn your heat on for the first time, the smell of burning dust and particulate on the elements can be very strong.…
Read MoreCecotropes: What’s That?
You can tell a lot about your rabbit’s health by examining their feces. Rabbits have 2 types of normal poop: fecal pellets and cecal pellets (aka cecotropes). Fecal pellets are a waste product primarily composed of fiber, and should be well-formed and consistent in size, not wet or mushy but not completely desiccated. Cecal pellets,…
Read MoreCase Study: This Snake Bit Off More than It Could Chew
This lovely wild rat snake was brought to us by a rescue organization after getting itself into quite the predicament. It had a large foreign body in its stomach that it was unable to pass. The snake was active and alert and otherwise was in good spirits, so surgical removal of the mystery object was…
Read MoreCase Study: A Delicate EGGstraction
This macaw was out of state with her family when she started acting abnormally on a Friday. Her owners searched for a qualified vet, but no one was able to help. They were able to get her into an emergency clinic and had an x-ray which confirmed there was an egg present. She has never…
Read MoreCase Study: Guinea Pig Loses 1/3 of Her Body Weight in 1 Hour!
Ovarian cysts are very common in female guinea pigs, and we recommend spaying them around 3 months of age to prevent reproductive issues from developing. By the time she was 10 months old, this female guinea pig had already developed two extremely large ovarian cysts. She was scheduled for surgery with us and presented with…
Read MoreSeniors Rule!
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We recommend senior pets have annual to biannual bloodwork performed to keep tabs on any changes in organ function and annual imaging performed to catch issues of concern that may not register with bloodwork alone. An 80-year-old tortoise was found to have an enormous bladder…
Read MoreA Ferret with Something Extra
Neutering a ferret is not something we do every day, because the ferrets sold in pet stores have already been spayed or neutered before being offered for sale. This little guy came from an interesting rescue background and somehow never was neutered. Until today. He started marking “his” territory in his rescue home with urine,…
Read MoreKnow Your Normal
Knowing what is normal for your exotic pet is key to spotting illness, as these pets will do everything in their power to hide weakness and illness until they are absolutely drained of resources and often at death’s door. Any change from normal behavior should raise a red flag for you and be treated as…
Read MoreSpring has Sprung!
After a dreary cold winter, it is so nice to enjoy our Southern Spring before the heat of summer sets in. When the weather is beautiful we want to share it with our pets, but we need to do so safely. Unseen threats are all around us including disease, parasites, chemical pesticides and fertilizers and…
Read MoreCase Study: A Tail and Two Stones
This 14 year old female iguana was brought into our clinic for suspected tail rot. In an older iguana, death of the tail tip is very concerning. No matter the underlying cause, the dead part of the tail had to be removed which meant surgery. Before that, we needed to figure out the cause of…
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