Digital X-rays for Pets at Kaukauna Veterinary Clinic

Kaukauna Veterinary Clinic is proud to offer advanced digital X-ray technology for our patients with our new Vet-Ray Digital system.  Radiographs help the veterinarians to diagnose a variety of things such as signs of heart disease, location and severity of fractures, identify foreign objects your pet may have swallowed and much more. 

Digital x-ray technology has many benefits for you and your pet. Our new machine produces high-quality images with excellent resolution and contrast in just seconds after exposure.  This means less stress for your pet and less waiting time for you.   It also reduces the exposure of radiation to your pet and our staff!  These images can be emailed or saved to a disc, allowing us to quickly consult with veterinary specialists, when necessary.

Unlike film, digital X-ray images can be enhanced with use of the magnifier, sharpen, display as negative, and colorize software tools.  This assists in making a precise diagnosis.  In addition, the software allows for measuring, adding text, zooming in, printing, and much more.

Magnifier

Measuring heart size

                                        
Our staff is very excited as they no longer have to use harsh chemicals for film processing or take time out of the busy schedule to clean the old film processor. Digital radiology significantly reduces the need to re-take X-rays.  The whole process is less labor intensive for our staff, quicker and easier for our patients, and produces high quality X-rays to help our doctors arrive at a diagnosis faster.   

Dr. Laritson's Cat Tales

Dr. Laritson

Spencer Stories Second Edition

After a lot of requests, I’ve decided to pass along some more anecdotes involving our Bengal cat named Spencer. For those of you that missed the inaugural edition, Spencer was a foster cat “just for the weekend” in order to get his medication and wounds cared for. That was 2 years ago this past August and he hasn’t left yet! (In the first edition, I think I said 3 years
ago, I guess it seems like a real long time already.) He has an insatiable drive for food, especially anything that might involve butter. Like in the photo below, a pot of mashed potatoes is included in his list of favorites because they are made with milk and butter. But he is by no means limiting himself only to those types of items. The other day, as my wife was gathering the dry ingredients for pancakes, measuring each, and putting each back in the cupboard in an attempt to prevent cat thievery, she turned around to find Spencer with his head buried deep in the mixing bowl. Now remember, only dry ingredients no milk or eggs yet. Of course she yelled at the naughty Bengal who only left the scene when she started towards him, and as he ran away, he puffed clouds of flour from his nose and mouth like a flour breathing dragon.

Spencer is not above garbage picking. We routinely find him digging through the garbage if someone forgets to close the drawer. He has his favorites, like any meat scraps, so those go out to the garbage can in the garage immediately, but one item that he loves is the wrapper from the butter. We have found those licked clean in various hiding spots around the house. Lately, he’s even resorted to licking the box that holds the sticks of butter!

Spencer now has had a huge change in his life. No he hasn’t been banished to the basement, although that sometimes sounds like a good idea, but he does have to share his house with a canine. A big yellow Lab to be exact named Winnie. She is a foster as well, at
least still officially, although I fear another foster failure like Spencer, especially after being the cover family on the FVHA magazine. Spencer has made the transition remarkably well. He was even going to visit the dog frequently when we first got her and her kennel was down in the basement. We thought it was so cool that he was really curious and not afraid at all. Well, like most things with Spencer, his rapture wasn’t due to having a dog, but to having access to her food bag, which we found he had turned into a self feeder. He had very discreetly chewed a hole into the back of the bag so we couldn’t see it, and helped himself every time he went to “visit” her! Needless to say, he developed a rather large belly before we figured all this out. Now his efforts are being thwarted by a Sterilite plastic bin with a locking cover, but he still tries daily to figure out the lid lock. And as long as I give him a
kibble of her food every now and then, he is content to allow her to remain in “his” house. In fact, last night, both of them were working on the food bin together, joining in a common effort to
obtain more food. A brotherhood of sorts is developing between them in their quest for extra calories. When one gets something to eat, the other is not far behind. At least they are getting along, perhaps too well.

September is Senior Pet Health Awareness Month

By David Gagnon, DVM

 

 

 

We all, at one time or another, have had (or will have) older pets.  When are our pets considered “seniors”?  Hard to say exactly, though in dogs we can estimate around 7-8 years old, and in cats around 8-9 years old.  Just because your pet is considered a senior, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily time for him to slow down or show his age.  Some energetic animals will finally become more mellow, but not all.

Cats and dogs age much faster than humans do, and the rate even depends on the size of the animal.  Larger dogs age far more quickly than small ones, so our “rule” about the age of seniority does vary.  Upon entering their golden years, the likelihood of developing certain conditions increases.  Some animals become arthritic, some develop hormonal abnormalities, while others grow tumors… the list goes on.  That’s not to say your pet’s quality of life will diminish, or that we can’t always treat these conditions.  But this is a particularly important time to keep a close eye on our furry friends, and consider being proactive in looking for changes.


My name is Rikishi, and I will be 14 years
old September 30!  Thank you to the doctors
and staff at KVC for helping to keep me
healthy all these years!!


Checking bloodwork, looking at radiographs (x-rays), evaluating blood pressure, and doing a urinalysis are all great ways of gathering information about your pet’s health.  Dogs and cats alike can benefit from a wellness screen.  What we hope for is a completely normal result in all aspects, which not only rules out many diseases, but also gives us an accurate baseline in case we need to repeat any test in the future.  If we stumble upon something that is unusual, we can jump on it as early as possible.  This may involve something as simple as a change in diet, or something as advanced as surgery to remove a previously-undetected mass.
 
 Our team at Kaukauna Veterinary Clinic believes strongly in preventative medicine, and early treatment when needed.  Being proactive in your pet’s healthcare can provide you with peace of mind in knowing your best friend is in good health, or that we can maintain a good quality of life for a long time.  Ask one of us about our senior wellness plans and which tests are available for your dog or cat. 

In any older pet, ultimately, the time will come when you know they just can’t go any longer.  Whether due to disease, or weakness from arthritis and old age, things will decline.  It’s at that time that it’s necessary, albeit difficult, to consider euthanizing.  It’s our final way to pay them with our love, and allow them to slip away quietly and peacefully, with dignity and comfort.  Although it’s not an enjoyable service, it’s out of respect for our animals that we can give this to them.

Dr. Laritson's Cat Tales

Dr. Laritson

Spencer Stories

Many of you have heard some of these tales that I’ve shared over the years about our newest cat, named Spencer, but at the urging of several individuals, I agreed to put some on our blog.  So, if these are repeats to some of you, bear with me.  Depending on how these are received, this may be a regular segment of our blog, or perhaps a one time rambling about a peculiar cat.

A little background about Spencer first.  He is a foster failure.  He came to our house because he needed his wounds attended to post-op and had to have his antibiotics all weekend.  That will be 3 years ago next month!  Like a house guest that has overstayed his visit, Spencer has remained.  Now I’d like to say I let him stay, but the truth of the matter, like many households, is that my wife and kids wanted him to stay.  My opinion was that we should try to find him a home as soon as he was back on his feet.  However, during his recuperation period, he was allowed to interact with our other cat, which was still young and thought that a playmate was a great idea!  When time came to send Spencer away, our other cat now had a best friend and I had to reluctantly agree to keep him. 

I say reluctantly mainly due to his behavior.  You see, while he was recuperating in our basement “hospital,” he was very shy, didn’t want to be held or cuddled, didn’t play or purr at all--a relatively easy decision in my mind as to whether or not to keep him.  There are so many other wonderful cats in this world that need a home, why keep this one.  Perhaps it is this reasoning that Spencer and his behavior torments me the most!

Spencer is a Bengal cat or at least that’s what was told to the shelter when he was dropped off.  He looks like a Bengal and hunts like one as well.  He can be very vocal and loves to eat.  And it is these last 2 traits that seem to get him into the most trouble.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention his other trait—he is very smart!  He has figured out not only how to find a new home, but also how to get what wants.  He is also very persistent.  So all of these traits combined leads to a unique cat.  One that I didn’t appreciate early on, but like mold, he is growing on me.

He loves food.  He has a butter fetish!  I have caught him chewing on the cardboard wrapper that the sticks of butter come in.  Our butter has to remain in a cupboard, on the second shelf, no less, or he will help himself.  Recently he has acquired a “smash and grab” style in sneaking butter.  He waits until a back is turned, then jumps up, grabs a mouthful of butter and runs away to eat it.  Now Bengals are big, agile cats.  And Spencer is both, with an ability to jump and surf the counters with the stealth of a hunter.  So when he grabs a mouthful of butter, it’s about a quarter stick.  Sometimes the only way to know that he’s been up to no good is to find a chunk missing and the grooves from his fangs in the remaining butter.  He also loves anything that is made with butter, from toast to bakery.  He loves donuts and cakes.  One birthday cake recently while cooling was found to have a large chunk missing from one edge when we came back to ice it.  A container with donuts is also preferred hunting for Spencer.  He pushes the box off the counter where it opens up when it hits the floor, and he darts in to grab his prize.  I’ve come running from the family room at the sound of a crash only to see him running away with a whole donut in his mouth.  He is very reluctant to give up his prize.  We have to chase him around the house, him growling the whole time and our family yelling out instructions to each other trying to cut off his escape routes.  Needless to say, now bakery also goes up in a cupboard, and also on the second shelf!

He is a hunter.  While most normal cats may pounce on your feet under the covers when the move, it’s usually just a playful game.  Spencer doesn’t really play.  He hunts.  So when he decides that there is something moving under the sheets, he attacks.  His pounce and bite has drawn blood.  Blankets are a must on our bed now to try to prevent this.  Like some cats, flying insects are also fair game.  His housemate loves to spend an hour tracking and batting at a fly that has managed to get into our house.  But Spencer, once he sees what the other cat is doing, quickly and silently stalks the fly and attacks when in range.  In a matter of a second he catches the fly and eats it! All the while the other cat is watching and wondering what happened to his toy. 

Over the years, Spencer has become a member of our family now.  He is a unique cat, both in his looks and behavior.  He has many other naughty habits, which will have to wait for the next installment (if there is one), but we love him (most of the time).