Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor
Signs of sickness baffle vets
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There are no symptoms in veterinary medicine, only signs.
In human medicine, a symptom is a described abnormality such as a headache. On the other hand, vomiting or coughs are signs that may compel a pet owner to seek medical attention.
One day an owner called me wondering why her female dog in heat would not stand for the stud. Although the answer was not readily apparent, I was tempted to quip, "Maybe she just has a headache."
Dealing with exotic animals often is frustrating because you can't examine them closely without anesthesia due to the danger of serious injury. Anesthesia itself can be fatal to a sick animal, so sometimes we're stuck between a tooth and a hard spot.
Jonah, a young jaguar at the Olympic Game Farm, had not eaten for several days. With no other obvious signs, the big cat simply would walk over to its food, stand looking at it a few moments and walk away.
We decided to risk general anesthesia to examine Joshua further. A firm, moveable mass was palpated in the abdomen, presumably an intestinal obstruction. Surgery was performed, and a calf knucklebone was removed from the intestine.
The big cat recovered completely.
Another incident involved a cougar showing the same nonspecific behavior; i.e., standing over its food absentmindedly only to walk away and lie down.
Again general anesthesia and close examination, but this time no palpable mass. We decided to preform exploratory surgery and determined the cougar's stomach was so packed with hay that no solid food could enter the stomach, but water was able to trickle through.
The packed hay was removed and recovery was uneventful.
We saw yet a second cougar acting this way and again surgically opened a stomach fully packed with hay. By this time, we understood the hay used as bedding for the big cats had to be changed. Wood chips were substituted and the problem was solved.
To my knowledge, no one really knows why dogs and cats eat vegetation. One nature show about lions mentioned that they frequently open up the rumens of herbivores after a kill to eat the fermenting vegetation within.
Does this satisfy some nutritional requirement such as roughage? When our dogs eat grass, grazing almost like sheep, what does that mean? One only can speculate.
When an animal doesn't eat, the reason could be almost anything. But on occasion, domestic cats displaying not only lack of appetite but no interest in food can have some form of intestinal obstruction.
At least with a domestic feline you can more thoroughly investigate the problem before plunging into a surgery that might not be necessary.
The difference is one of size and, more importantly, safety. I would like to avoid any portion of my anatomy becoming an intestinal obstruction in a big cat.
That could be a real headache.
Dr. Jack Thornton is a semiretired veterinarian. Reach him in care of editor@sequimgazette.com.
In human medicine, a symptom is a described abnormality such as a headache. On the other hand, vomiting or coughs are signs that may compel a pet owner to seek medical attention.
One day an owner called me wondering why her female dog in heat would not stand for the stud. Although the answer was not readily apparent, I was tempted to quip, "Maybe she just has a headache."
Dealing with exotic animals often is frustrating because you can't examine them closely without anesthesia due to the danger of serious injury. Anesthesia itself can be fatal to a sick animal, so sometimes we're stuck between a tooth and a hard spot.
Jonah, a young jaguar at the Olympic Game Farm, had not eaten for several days. With no other obvious signs, the big cat simply would walk over to its food, stand looking at it a few moments and walk away.
We decided to risk general anesthesia to examine Joshua further. A firm, moveable mass was palpated in the abdomen, presumably an intestinal obstruction. Surgery was performed, and a calf knucklebone was removed from the intestine.
The big cat recovered completely.
Another incident involved a cougar showing the same nonspecific behavior; i.e., standing over its food absentmindedly only to walk away and lie down.
Again general anesthesia and close examination, but this time no palpable mass. We decided to preform exploratory surgery and determined the cougar's stomach was so packed with hay that no solid food could enter the stomach, but water was able to trickle through.
The packed hay was removed and recovery was uneventful.
We saw yet a second cougar acting this way and again surgically opened a stomach fully packed with hay. By this time, we understood the hay used as bedding for the big cats had to be changed. Wood chips were substituted and the problem was solved.
To my knowledge, no one really knows why dogs and cats eat vegetation. One nature show about lions mentioned that they frequently open up the rumens of herbivores after a kill to eat the fermenting vegetation within.
Does this satisfy some nutritional requirement such as roughage? When our dogs eat grass, grazing almost like sheep, what does that mean? One only can speculate.
When an animal doesn't eat, the reason could be almost anything. But on occasion, domestic cats displaying not only lack of appetite but no interest in food can have some form of intestinal obstruction.
At least with a domestic feline you can more thoroughly investigate the problem before plunging into a surgery that might not be necessary.
The difference is one of size and, more importantly, safety. I would like to avoid any portion of my anatomy becoming an intestinal obstruction in a big cat.
That could be a real headache.
Dr. Jack Thornton is a semiretired veterinarian. Reach him in care of editor@sequimgazette.com.
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