Rocky
Canine Pet of the Month - March 2024
This month's Pet of the Month is Rocky. Rocky is a 15-week-old Pit Bull who came to the Animal Hospital of Statesville for severe itching and head wounds. Rocky's issues started a few days before coming to the Animal Hospital of Statesville and progressively got worse. His skin issues started as a small scratch/scab area on his head/face and quickly progressed, causing vision issues and severe discomfort. Upon examination of Rocky's skin lesions, some type of parasite was suspected. Typically, skin lesions such as the ones seen on Rocky are caused by what is commonly called mange. At this point, a skin scrape of his lesions was performed, and a diagnosis was quickly identified as demodectic mange. Demodectic mange is caused by a very common organism called demodex. These organisms are a type of mite which is commonly found on the skin but in some cases, especially puppies, these mites can cause severe dermatitis and itching. Once the cause of Rocky's skin issues was identified he was treated with Simparica, antibiotics and steroids for the severe itching. Simparica is a drug that belongs to a class of drugs called isoxazolines. These drugs were introduced many years ago for ectoparasite prevention in dogs, but it was quickly identified that these drugs are very effective at treating certain skin parasites. After a few weeks, Rocky came for a follow-up exam and had a few other issues with his skin but was doing much better. About a month after his first visit, Rocky had improved greatly and was feeling much better. Rocky's case highlights the effectiveness of isoxazoline preventatives in our patients. It is important to start your pet on prevention during their first puppy visits to prevent ectoparasites and other skin issues. This is one great benefit to our Puppy/Kitten Wellness Plans because all prevention is included within the Plan. If you have any questions about puppy/kitten wellness or our Puppy/Kitten Wellness Plans, please contact the Animal Hospital of Statesville or call to schedule your puppy/kitten for an appointment.
Milo
Feline Pet of the Month - March 2024
Milo is a handsome senior kitty that came to see us last year for a problem with his foot. There was a wound on his toe on the rear paw. His owners were not sure how he injured it, but it was bleeding and would not heal. Last year he was treated with an antibiotic and an injection for inflammation. He seemed to respond well to the treatment and his toe was almost completely healed on his 2-week follow-up. However, over the past year, the toe started to have problems again. It became raw and would bleed on and off. We saw Milo again this year for the same problem. Due to the chronicity and lack of healing with medication, it was decided that the best way to treat would be to amputate the affected toe and submit a biopsy for histopathology. This would allow us to see the underlying cause. Milo would not wear an e-collar after surgery, so his foot had to be wrapped to keep him from licking his incision. His owners were diligent to limit his activity while his paw healed. The histopathology results indicated the wound was due to a type of cancer called hemangiosarcoma. We were able to remove the cancer with surgery. He has thrived since the surgery and no longer needs to have his foot wrapped. Milo was a trooper through all his visits and usually seemed happy to see us!