A sad day at Crawford Dog and Cat

We had a busy but somewhat sad day at work today. We started with someone that was watching their brother's dog call in to say that the dog had died suddenly last night and wanted to know if we could do a necropsy examination to find the cause of death. These are often unrewarding and I am often reluctant to do them as they cost the client a fair amount of money and are inconclusive as often as not. Not so the case this time. This poor dog was a golden retriever and they are very prone to cancer. I was relatively certain that we would find some sort of bleeding tumor, associated with either the spleen or the liver. I searched through the abdomen and was unable to find anything too far out of the ordinary. Photo's were taken for the record, but I will spare you all the gore.

The chest was a bit more informative. The heart was grossly enlarged so I decided to remove it and the lungs from the chest, no easy task as most of these structures are associated with large blood vessels and if the dissection is not done carefully, it really turns into a bloody mess, with little hope of gaining any useful information.

The organs were successfully removed and the heart was huge, or at least the pericardial sac was huge. I'll explain. The heart is encased in a sac called the pericardium. There is usually a small amount of fluid in the pericardium that lubricates the heart and allows it to move freely in the sac. Here is a picture: http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Figueroa_EL/images/Mystery%20to%20Medicine/pericardium.jpg.

This poor dog's pericardium had about 250 cc of unclotted blood in it form a bleeding tumor on the base of the heart. This restricts the heart's ability to contract and caused this poor pups demise. The woman watching the dog was relieved that the dog did not suffer, as death is somewhat rapid once the bleeding starts. I was also able to assure her that she did nothing wrong and that there was no way for her or her brother to have known that this catastrophe was brewing.

Then my final call of the day was to deliver the cremated remains of a cat to a house call client. She is an older woman, not in good health herself. I met her and the cat about a month ago when she had me out to the apartment to trim the pet's nails. I examined the cat at the same time, and to the owner's surprise, diagnosed a large tumor on the cat's liver. She was shocked, and even worse, when I told her that the poor pus only had a short while to live, she broke down and cried. Unfortunately, my prediction was accurate, and I had to go back out to the home to euthanize the cat just before the holiday. It is always a little awkward when I don't really know the owner or the pet. She was sobbing and the poor cat was almost comatose. Today I returned the ashes to her and we shared a hug. She had about 4 cases of cat food which she gave to me. I'll use it to feed orphaned cats or get it to a shelter.

She was clutching one of her pet's toys in her hand and she pressed a bill into my hand for "gasoline" I tried to refuse but she insisted. I'll use it to buy toys for the strays at work.

Although both people suffered a great loss, I felt lucky to have met them both and fortunate that I was able to help them in some way during their times of need. We all have those unpleasant interactions, especially this time of year when people are very stressed. It is enriching to meet nice people that appreciate the good will of others. Hopefully this will rub off on everyone they meet and on those that I meet going forward.

A promise is a promise

So those of you that follow me on Twitter, (I know there are at least 5 of you) know that I promised to keep the blog more current, so here is a quick post to acknowledge that.

The ever popular media star, Brian Spar BVMSC has just been contacted by the Today Show and they are going to whisk him off in a limo on Monday morning for an interview. He has gotten quite a bit of attention since his marathon debut. Check out his blog at: www.dmbhealer.blogspot.com

I have been in contact with several cat rescue groups in the Whitestone Area of Queens. Now, we've been down the Trap, neuter, release (TNR) road before, but it seems that these particular organizations are doing a good job controlling the feral cat population and are in need of some professional help with their colonies. So, perhaps we can give them a hand. We'll see how that plays out. I'm sure that it will yield some interesting photo opportunities and hopefully I'll become technologically proficient enough to get them posted here for your education and or amusement.

Time to Get serious

OK. The races are over and now we have to get back to business. NO more excuses such as I have to run, ride, swim, lift. OR, I'm too tired, sore, busy... I need to focus on what is going on here at Crawford Dog and cat Hospital and try to keep everyone up to date as much as possible.

First things first, I'll post a detailed race entry later this week so that those that care (if anyone other than me) can read about the Ironman experience as I saw it.

For now, I have been busy trying to set up some networks so that I can stimulate some growth here at the practice. There are many things that I would like to do to help our patients but as with most expansion plans, they take money and money takes patient visits so ...

I have joined a business networking group, BNI. We meet
Thursday mornings and our goal is to help each other by referring potential contacts to each other. It is a novel idea for veterinarians as we rarely look outside of the animal industry for new business. So, I thought I would give it a chance. The web site for the national group is: www.bni.com and you should give it a look. I'll let you all know how it goes in the near future. For now, off to make a house call.

Busy Spring

Well I know I've been remiss about posting, and no one wants to read a blog that is never updated. I will try to be better about regular posts, but you all know how life gets in the way.

After a very smooth transition, we have said good bye to Dr. Wu and hellow to Dr. Spar. Dr. Wu is settling in up in Ct. working through the chores associated with moving into a new house and a new job.

Dr. Spar seems to have stepped right in and it's almost as if he was here all along. He has gotten into the NYC Marathon and is raising money for a charity that combats childhood obiesity. A noble cause that is close to his heart. As you may or may not know, Dr. Spar was featured in last spring's issue of Men's Health Magazine for loosing about 180 pounds. (He knows the exact number and will let you know if you ask.) We will be posting a link for those of you that want to help him reach his fund raising goals.

The challenge for our staff is that the marathon is the same weekend in November as my Ironman Triathlon. Since we both will be out beating ourselfs up on November 1 and 2, I thought it only fair if we both work on that Monday. So come on in, stop by with or without a pet and watch us try to get around the hospital. I'm sure we'll be happy to tell you all about our races.

Glad to be back

Well, after a two week hiatus, it's good to be back at the hospital. Alot went on while I was gone.

The pictures on our website show the happy members of Team Crawford at the Chihuahua races at Petco. Check it out at: http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/site/view/108916_IntheCommunity.pml


Also, we finally got most of the staff to hold still for staff photos, (might have been some torture involved, I don't know, I was out of town). See the smiling faces on our staff pages at www.crawforddogandcathospital.com.

Finally, congratulations to Dr. Spar for breaking the 2 hour mark at the LI half marathon. Now lets hope he gets into the NYC marathon this fall.

I was on my first long vacation in ions but am back for now. I would like to spend the next couple of posts talking about what I learned about dogs in France, but we'll save that for next time.

Off to Cornell for the weekend, college graduation for my number one son.

Off for a while

I wanted to try to keep a regular posting schedule, but this is going to be a bit of a challenge this upcoming month. I will be off for two weeks, a long time coming vacation and then have to head up to Ithaca for my son's college graduation at the end of May. Things should run regularly in my absence as Dr. Wu is familiar with how things go here and our new associate, Dr. Spar has caught on quite quickly. Hopefully I'll have some nice photos from my trip to share when I get back.

Spring Cleaning

Well, Hector shamed me into it. You all know Hector if you've been by the clinic. He's the guy that is always running around with some job that needs his immediate attention. And when he isn't doing whatever he is doing, he's helping whomever needs help with whatever unruly dog happens to be creating havoc at that particular moment.

Well, one task he has taken upon himself recently is to take our food delivery packages for petsneedfood to UPS for delivery. (www.petsneedfood.com). Just like my kids, he always wants my car keys and my credit card. Apparently the clinic vehicle was in need of a wash as people were starting to rib him out in the real world. So today, a beautiful spring day, Hector took my car and my credit card out to the car wash. Doesn't it look grand?

I should have uploaded a photo of Hector is appreciation, but I didn't have one on my home computer. This was actually my first attempt at posting a photo on the blog and I wasn't even sure that it would work. Once again, we have proved that you can teach an old dog doctor new tricks.

I don't know if any of you will be at the Nassau Suffolk Challenge, a metric century bike ride out of Sea Cliff this weekend. I'll be there with my training buddies.

Also, Dr. Spar is getting ready to taper for his first attempt at the Long Island half marathon in two weeks. Look for him there. He is attempting a PR for the distance so he may be very serious before the race. Try to catch him as his jovial self after the race.

And lets not forget our canine athlete. Kim Norcott (nee O'leary) is leading up our canine Team Crawford. Team members will be racing at the World's fastest Chihuahua races at Petco in May. Check out our web page for more information. www.crawforddogandcathospital.com. Better yet, come on in with your chihuahua and sign up to race with us.

Damn That Tree Pollen

Well, winter seems to finally be loosening it's grip and spring is here. The bulbs are up, the birds are singing, and the trees have started to dump pollen into the air. I know I can feel it, that itchy sensation in the back of my throat. Unfortunately, the dogs can feel it as well.



Atopy, or an allergic reaction to environtmental pollens, is a big problem here in the Northeast. While we humans get respiratory signs, you know, runny nose, itchy eyes, and sinus infections, our canine companions get itchy skin. The most commonly affected areas are the feet, face, and armpits. We also see a load of ear infections and anal gland problems with dogs suffering from allergies.



Diagnosis of environmental allergies can usually be made on physical examination (yes you need to have your pet seen by a veterinarian), and history. Sometimes, the diagnosis is complicated by be several factors, concurrent skin infections, yeast infections, and otgher systemic diseaess, that mimic allergies all need to be treated or ruled out. Then there are those, non seasonal allergies that also throw a monkey wrench into the diagnostic mix. Hose dust mites, mold spores, and food allergies are all non-seasonal allergies that will present with similar clinical signs as pollen allergies but will last all year long.

We like to do some base line testing to aid our diagnosis. Fungal cultures to rule out ringworm (no it's not a worm rather a fungus similar to athletes foot), skin scrapes to rule out mites, and impression smears to check for yeast a bacteria. Rarely do we start with allergy testing right off the bat as it can be expensive and not always yield information that will help us with our diagnosis.

Once we have our diagnosis, there are several treatment options depending on the severity of the lesions, the length of the season, and the owner's willingness or ability to treat their pet. I think I'll leave that discussion for another post. Maybe next week, and maybe I'll be able to figure out how to add photos by that time, so I can show you all what I am talking about.

A new venture for us at Crawford

Things are changing at Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital. After 6 years, Dr. Wu will be leaving us this spring to take a position in Ct. The move was inspired by her husband who has accepted a residency at Yale University in aneshtesiology. Imagine my surprise when she didn't want to commute back her to Long Island to stay with us.

We are fortunate to have Dr. Brian Spar join our staff. We have all known Brian for 8 years or so. He did several externships with us as a veterinary student. Since his graduation from the Royal Veterinary College in London, he has been working on the South Shore of Long Island. When the time for Doctor Wu's departure approached, I tracked him down and took him out for several long runs alnog the Wantaugh Parkway. Nothing like hypoxia to get a guy to see things your way.

Although none of us feel that we can replace Dr. Wu, Dr. Spar is already fitting right into our practice. Some of the clients have alread met him, and he has been very well received. It was his idea for us to start this hospital blog so that we can share some of our experiences with you all. I will try to post at least once a week. I want to share our comings and goings as well as new medical information, web sites to check out, and interesting cases that we see at the hospital.

So keep checking back and feel free to comment on my posts. You should also check out our web site at www.crawforddogandcathospital.com. This site tons of information about our hospital as well as current pet health information and a search engine that lets you research your veterinary questions from quality sites on the web.