Thank you both for your comments and suggestions regarding this previous question. I totally agree with both of you that underlying medical causes such as an ear infection or something causing pain should definitely be ruled out before behavioral causes are pursued. In this particular case, the questioner mentioned that she had already been to her regular veterinarian as well as two specialists so I assumed in her case that she had already had a very thorough workup ruling out possible medical causes. Static electricity is a good suggestion and not one that we may normally think of, and it may contribute to sensitizing a dog to being pet on the head if it happened frequently. HERE IS THE PREVIOUS QUESTION AND ANSWER REFERRED TO IN THE TWO COMMENTS ABOVE: “ASK THE VET For the past few months my 8 year old Corgi reacts to someone or something reaching over her head. It is like something is going to strike her and she falls back on her rear legs. She shakes her head a lot. I have taken her to my vet, to an ophthalmologist and a neurologist, but they cannot see what is causing this. Sometimes she jerks while sleeping. Can you advise me where to take her or if you are familiar with this problem. Can you suggest any special tests. Thank you. ANSWER Well, it sounds like you have already had her thoroughly examined to make sure this is not a medical problem if you have been to not only your regular veterinarian, but also to two specialist. This may be a behavioral issue. There are many dogs which are “head-shy”, meaning they do not like people touching or petting their head. In the dog world this is a very dominant thing to do and can be intimidating. Dogs who have been abused in the past also frequently will balk when someone tries to touch or pet their head. The strange thing in your dog’s case is that this behavior has just developed in the last few months. You may want to try to remember back to a few months ago to see if something happened or changed in the environment that may have coincided with her new behavior. To try to get her to stop over-reacting, you can try desensitizing her to the motion of having someone pet her head. First, start by just reaching in the direction of her head slowly. Do not actually touch her and do not reach your hand all the way over her head – maybe just to the level of her nose. Try to do it calmly enough that she does not fall back on her rear legs. Every time that she reacts calmly without falling back, reward her appropriate response with affection or a small treat – but be sure you do not reward inappropriate behaviors. Repeat the process daily for a week before increasing the intensity. In the second stage, reach your hand over her head – again do not touch her head, and again reward only her positive responses and repeat the process daily for a week. In the next stage, actually touch her head – just once, and very lightly. In the final stage, pat her on the head like you would normally. If she still appears to be having a problem accepting your hand over her head or if she shows signs of aggression toward you, consult a behavior counselor or dog trainer to help you further.”  [less]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding this previous question. I totally agree with both of you that underlying medical causes such as an ear infection or something causing pain should definitely be ruled out before behavioral causes are pursued. In this particular case, the questioner mentioned that she had already been to her regular veterinarian as well as two specialists so I assumed in her case that she had already had a very thorough workup ruling out possible medical causes. Static electricity is a good suggestion and not one that we may normally think of, and it may contribute to sensitizing a dog to being pet on the head if it happened frequently. HERE IS THE PREVIOUS QUESTION AND ANSWER REFERRED TO IN THE TWO COMMENTS ABOVE: “ASK THE VET For the past few months my 8 year old Corgi reacts to someone or something reaching over her head. It is like something is going to strike her and she falls back on her rear legs. She shakes her head a lot. I have taken her to my vet, to an ophthalmologist and a neurologist, but they cannot see what is causing this. Sometimes she jerks while sleeping. Can you advise me where to take her or if you are familiar with this problem. Can you suggest any special tests. Thank you. ANSWER Well, it sounds like you have already had her thoroughly examined to make sure this is not a medical problem if you have been to not only your regular veterinarian, but also to two specialist. This may be a behavioral issue. There are many dogs which are “head-shy”, meaning they do not like people touching or petting their head. In the dog world this is a very dominant thing to do and can be intimidating. Dogs who have been abused in the past also frequently will balk when someone tries to touch or pet their head. The strange thing in your dog’s case is that this behavior has just developed in the last few months. You may want to try to remember back to a few months ago to see if something happened or changed in the environment that may have coincided with her new behavior. To try to get her to stop over-reacting, you can try desensitizing her to the motion of having someone pet her head. First, start by just reaching in the direction of her head slowly. Do not actually touch her and do not reach your hand all the way over her head – maybe just to the level of her nose. Try to do it calmly enough that she does not fall back on her rear legs. Every time that she reacts calmly without falling back, reward her appropriate response with affection or a small treat – but be sure you do not reward inappropriate behaviors. Repeat the process daily for a week before increasing the intensity. In the second stage, reach your hand over her head – again do not touch her head, and again reward only her positive responses and repeat the process daily for a week. In the next stage, actually touch her head – just once, and very lightly. In the final stage, pat her on the head like you would normally. If she still appears to be having a problem accepting your hand over her head or if she shows signs of aggression toward you, consult a behavior counselor or dog trainer to help you further.”  [less]

Epilepsy usually requires lifelong anitconvulsant treatment to manage the symptoms so it is not surprising that the symptoms returned following discontinuation of the medication. However, a diagnosis of epilepsy can only be confirmed after all other causes for seizure activity have been ruled out. This usually requires a comprehensive battery of testing ultimately resulting in consultation with a veterinary neurologist specialist and an MRI of the brain. However, for people who do not have the financial capability for this level of testing, often treatment is started based on the most likely cause based on the clinical symptoms, the age of the dog and some routine tests, such as bloodwork, to rule out another underlying disease that can mimic epilepsy.  [less]

I am very sorry that you both had a bad experience at your veterinary visit. These kinds of cases are frustrating for the veterinarians as well as the pet-owners and are certainly stressful for the kitty. And to top it off, when the cat has a bad experience like this, it is likely that he is going to be even worse the next time he has to visit the veterinarian. This may eventually result in a cat that cannot be handled by any veterinary staff member without the use of drugs to sedate the cat. In addition, he may start to escalate his aggression toward the people who live with him every day during routine handling if this problem is left unaddressed. Aggression at the veterinary hospital is most often fear and anxiety related in both dogs and cats. The good news is that there are ways to help this kitty reduce his anxiety levels so that he can have a more pleasant experience at his next visit. The first thing to start with is the cat carrier. Most cats associate the cat carrier with a scary ride in the car and a visit to a scary place, such as the animal hospital. But you can change this association by keeping the cat carrier out always and feeding your cat in the carrier every day. After a while of doing this, the carrier will no longer seem like such a scary place and you will find your cat easily climbs inside. You can also take him for frequent car rides (just around the block and back home again will do), so he doesn’t associate riding in the car with going to the hospital. Finally, you can take him to the veterinary hospital frequently just to visit the lobby and say hello to the staff on days when he does not need any treatments performed. You can pair each of these steps with counter-conditioning by offering food or a delicious treat that the cat doesn’t normally get on a regular basis. Although these steps may take some extra time and effort, this process should make him easier to handle for you and for the veterinarian the next time you need to visit.  [less]

First, I must qualify this answer by specifying that I do not see alligators at my veterinary practice and am also not an alligator expert. However, I do treat a variety of other reptiles and may have some insight into your alligator’s problem. Your description sounds like a case of stomatitis, or mouth rot. This can be caused as a result of stress, husbandry issues (such as water quality, inappropriate feeding, unhygienic housing, etc), trauma or injury to the mouth. The result is the immune system function is stressed allowing a serious infection to develop in the mouth. Finding a veterinarian in your area that treats alligators can be difficult, you should be prepared to drive quite a distance to see someone. You can go to the website: www.crocodilian.com/crocfaq and click on appendices to see a list of veterinarians who can treat alligators in your area. You can also go to www.arav.org and click on member directory to see a list of reptile veterinarians in your area, however not all of these will treat alligators so you may have to contact each one individually. Finally, you can contact the local university veterinary hospital (U-Penn), which should have access to resources to help you treat your alligator.  [less]

This is often caused by a hereditary condition called vitiligo and certain breeds of dogs, including Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans and Belgian Turverens are predisposed. The symptoms often do not appear until the dog is a young adult and result in whitening of the hairs around the face, eyes, nose, and face. A skin biopsy of the area will show a lack of melanocytes, the cells which produce the pigmentation of the skin. There is no treatment for this condition but luckily it is merely cosmetic and does not cause any serious medical problems. The biggest risk is sunburn on the lightly pigmented areas, so often sunscreen needs to be applied to prevent burning if the dog will be outside most of the day. It is important to distinguish this condition with VKH (Vogt- Koyanagi-Harada Syndrome), also called uveodermatologic syndrome, which can affect not only the skin but also the eyes. VKH is thought to be an immune mediated attack of the melanocytes and can result in tremendous inflammation in the eye which, left untreated, can result in blindness. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is the treatment for this condition. A thorough ocular examination is recommended to rule out this much more serious condition.  [less]

Kennel cough is a name for a variety of viruses and bacteria that cause upper respiratory infections in dogs. The most common culprit is Bordetella bronchiseptica which is a bacterium that is passed in airborne respiratory secretions to other dogs. Although this does not happen often, the bacteria can survive on your clothes for a few hours and has the potential to be spread to your dog at home through close contact with both the puppy and then your dog when you arrive home. There have been reports of veterinary staff members who have treated an infected dog at work only to take the infection home to their own pets. In general, you should consider the puppy potentially infective for as long as he is coughing (usually 1 – 2 weeks). The antibiotics will kill the Bordetella bacteria and canexpedite the recovery, howeverif there is a viral component, the antibiotics will not improve or hasten the recovery and the puppy will continue to be contagious until the infection resolves. You can thoroughlywash your hands and change your clothes (including your shoes) before coming into contact with your own dog at home to minimize the risk of transmission, or you can just stay away until you are confident the infection has cleared. The good news is that most of the time kennel cough infections are relatively mild causing a dry, irritating cough that can persist for a week or two, similar to the common cold in people and most do not cause any serious consequences. However, you should monitor your dog closely for any symptoms just to be safe. In addition to dogs, Bordetella infections can also be transmitted to cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.  [less]

Separation anxiety is a difficult behavior to manage and often takes a long, slow, deliberate process of re-training to help the dogs work through their emotions. While medications can be beneficial, they are not a panacea and must be paired with behavioral conditioning to see an appropriate response. In your case, consultation with a behaviorist is strongly recommended to help you both through this process. A behaviorist can come into your home to see first hand how she responds in her own environment to tailor a behavior program specifically for her needs. There are a few different resources you can consult to find a behaviorist. You can consult a trainer that is experienced in handling difficult behavior problems (www.apdt.com or www.iaabc.org ) or you can contact a veterinarian who is a specialist in the field of behavior (www.veterinarybehaviorists.org).  [less]

This is a fat pad that is present in all cats (including the large jungle cats). It varies in size from relatively small to quite large and its size is often related to the size of the cat, although even thin cats can have a pronounced fat pad. There is no concern about the fact that she has this fat pad, aside from the fact that it may indicate she is becoming too heavy and starting to store excess fat there. A “tummy tuck” is not necessary, but often cats that have been spayed or neutered start to gain some extra weight as their metabolism slows down. You may need to cut back on the amount of food she is getting now that she has been fixed to prevent her from over-indulging.  [less]

The most common cause for hair loss in hamsters is a parasitic mite infestation (also called mange). These small mange mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye and require a skin scraping performed by your veterinarian to diagnose. Most of these mite infestations cause the hamster to be very itchy and flaky in addition to causing the hair loss. They can be carried by other hamsters or can be brought into the hamster’s environment on cage furniture or even occasionally food items. They are easily treated with an anti-parasitic injection, however cleaning the environment thoroughly is also necessary to prevent re-infestation. Other possible causes include ringworm, which is a fungal infection, and hormonal disorders (which, in female hamsters, can be caused by ovarian tumors).  [less]