Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet - General Discussion

[raven]

On 2/26/2017 at 0:01 AM, Jeeves said:

I thought the expedition to the yak ranch was cool. Those beasts are huge and those horns are scary!

I just found this show and this was fascinating - that bit about putting the magnets in their stomach (didn't know they had more than one stomach either) - I had no idea!  I read up and it's done for cows too.

Hector and the woman who just had a baby have both worked for Dr. Jeff since they were teenagers.   It looks like a great place to work.

I agree about cat guy - he was so lost without his kitty.  And Shorty's owners in tears when they got him back.  I so love a happy ending.

[LittleIggy]

I want to take all of those puppy mill breeders and shove them all into little wire cages for the rest of their miserable lives! There's a special circle of hell for people who do that to animals. I wish I had a million dollars to give to that lady who runs NMDR.

I had a cat who had a urinary blockage. He was in such pain. I googled his symptoms and took him to an emergency vet clinic. Poor Sami had to be on a special diet the rest of his life.

Strawberry was adorable!

[Minivanessa]

National Mill Dog Rescue just posted a video on their Facebook page. The post says, "So many of you expressed concern about the German Shepherd in our segment on Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet on Animal Planet. Her name is Jennifer, and she was terrified when we rescued her and brought her home to Lily's Haven. This gorgeous 6-year-old German Shepherd has come a long way with the help of our dedicated and loving rehab team. Watch the video to see Jennifer then and now.  If you are interested in finding out more about this beautiful dog, please click on the link:
http://milldogrescue.org/our-dogs/available-dogs/"  

Here's the video - she's no longer terrified, and she's made lots of progress from November to now!

Edited March 6, 2017 by Jeeves

[raven]

On 3/4/2017 at 11:40 PM, LittleIggy said:

I want to take all of those puppy mill breeders and shove them all into little wire cages for the rest of their miserable lives! There's a special circle of hell for people who do that to animals.

Yup, I hope they burn there forever.  The rescuers who go to the auctions and deal with the breeders in order to save the dogs are incredibly strong. 

I had a moment when I thought Strawberry wouldn't make it but then I thought "they wouldn't show that, would they??" and Strawberry pulled through.  When they held his little piggy face up to the camera......and then running around the yard..so adorable.
 

[Bastet]

Good on that black cat's owner for knowing something was amiss in the middle of the night, and how quickly a urinary blockage can become life-threatening, and thus heading off to emergency at 3:00 in the morning.  Sometimes blocked cats show no symptoms other than general lethargy, so their poor owners don't know something horrible is happening, but too few owners know how dangerous it is for a cat to block and thus don't take immediate action when a cat is unsuccessfully straining to produce urine.  Thus, I like when vet shows include blocked kitties on a recurring basis to help get the message out.  Like Dr. Jeff said, in short order, it becomes two days of miserable pain and then death.  That needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

Nearly 10 years ago, a friend whose cat I was going to be checking in on while he was attending a funeral, called on his way to the airport to say the cat kept going to the box and either doing nothing or just dribbling out a little; his girlfriend said it was probably a UTI and he should get some antibiotics for him when he returned in a couple of days, but he wanted to check with me because I'm quite knowledgeable about cat health.  I said it could be, but could also be a blockage, which was very serious, so I'd head over immediately to take the cat to the vet.  He opted to cancel his flight and meet me there, and kitty did, indeed, need surgery for a blockage.  He'd had no idea, and we're both to this day so happy he'd called -- it would have been about 24 hours before I'd have gone over, and depending on how long the cat had been blocked before my friend noticed the litter box issues, that could have been a dangerous delay.

The shot of that German Shepherd cowering and shivering in her cage haunted me, so I'm glad to see the update on her progress.

[zxy556575]

I'm too cowardly to research puppy mills because of possible photos, but don't major pet store chains not sell cats and dogs any more? Is it mostly small local stores or private individuals who pretend to be breeders?

It looked like a lot of the animals at National Mill Dog Rescue were small/toy breeds, which I guess makes sense from an animals-per-square-foot perspective on the part of the mills.

I have a lot of admiration for people who step up to adopt former mill animals.

[walnutqueen]

On 3/6/2017 at 8:51 PM, Lord Donia said:

I'm too cowardly to research puppy mills because of possible photos, but don't major pet store chains not sell cats and dogs any more? Is it mostly small local stores or private individuals who pretend to be breeders?

It looked like a lot of the animals at National Mill Dog Rescue were small/toy breeds, which I guess makes sense from an animals-per-square-foot perspective on the part of the mills.

I have a lot of admiration for people who step up to adopt former mill animals.

There's a guy who had a "pet store" (aka puppy mill clearing house) in San Diego that was shut down, so he opened another one in my little North County city ... we picketed and protested, and all that stuff.   But that guy?  Is on my "kill if I'm dying" list - right alongside Pamela fucking Hupp.  As a matter of fact, I'm going for that fat fucker prematurely, because I can put the gas money on my last credit card (and I know some people on the ID Channel thread who'll front me some bail).  :-)

 

ETA - please send someone to feed my critters and medicate my Babalu, should I not post on PTV for a few days or so ...  Apparently, I DO have something to live for, and lose, and cannot risk incarceration.  Or sudden death.  heh

Edited March 11, 2017 by walnutqueen

[Minivanessa]

On 3/6/2017 at 9:51 PM, Lord Donia said:

I'm too cowardly to research puppy mills because of possible photos, but don't major pet store chains not sell cats and dogs any more? Is it mostly small local stores or private individuals who pretend to be breeders?

It looked like a lot of the animals at National Mill Dog Rescue were small/toy breeds, which I guess makes sense from an animals-per-square-foot perspective on the part of the mills.

I have a lot of admiration for people who step up to adopt former mill animals.

Yes, AFAIK the two big pet store chains, Petco and Petsmart, don't sell cats or dogs. They do host adoption events. When I worked full time, I generally had to shop on weekends. I had to be very mindful when shopping at Petsmart, that I was going to see a bunch of adorable adoptable dogs and/or cats. It seemed like there was always some animal welfare or rescue group in the store then. It was great, and I did my share of oohing and aahing, but had a full house of critters already.

Here's a sliver of info about puppy mills, minus gruesome photos, based on what I've learned via NMDR. I'm sure that details vary from place to place but I think these things are generally true. I'm going to spoiler tag it, in case anyone wants to skip the details, although I'm trying to not be gratuitously gruesome. The facts aren't pretty.

Spoiler

 

The dogs aren't named, or called by name, or allowed out of their wire cages. The cages are small, with wire floors which makes cleaning easier, although it's painful to the dog. Imagine living 24/7/365 on a bare wire grid. I don't know if the dogs are vaccinated at all but they don't get regular vet care and based on photos I've seen there is little to no grooming. Conditions like dry eye aren't treated, and it's not unusual that rescued mill dogs have ulcerated, damaged, or infected eyes.

Water is provided via bottles fastened to the cage wall, with a nozzle which the dog has to either suck or lick (I'm not sure). That's because it's easier for the mill owner to maintain than bowls which would get spilled and require more maintenance. The problem with that, is it's a fine system for rabbits but doesn't get nearly enough water into the dogs' mouth for good oral health. The normal way for dogs to drink is to lap up water which irrigates their mouth. Because of the water bottles, the dogs develop nasty dental disease; many rescued mill dogs have dental abscesses or even damaged jaws, and that's why you see many of them with tongues hanging out.

Mill owners are known to clean the cages by power washing them - with the dogs inside. I've browsed the NMDR "available dogs" listings and seen more than one dog who lost an eye because they were blasted by a power washer. 

The dogs are not socialized and almost none of them have felt a kind touch by a human hand. They've never had the luxury of lying on a soft bed. They've never had a toy, or gotten to run around outdoors. Or indoors for that matter. 

 

The amazing thing about dogs is that almost all of them, after living for *years* in those conditions, can be socialized and placed in homes. 

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Yes, AFAIK the two big pet store chains, Petco and Petsmart, don't sell cats or dogs. They do host adoption events. When I worked full time, I generally had to shop on weekends. I had to be very mindful when shopping at Petsmart, that I was going to see a bunch of adorable adoptable dogs and/or cats. It seemed like there was always some animal welfare or rescue group in the store then. It was great, and I did my share of oohing and aahing, but had a full house of critters already.

Here's a sliver of info about puppy mills, minus gruesome photos, based on what I've learned via NMDR. I'm sure that details vary from place to place but I think these things are generally true. I'm going to spoiler tag it, in case anyone wants to skip the details, although I'm trying to not be gratuitously gruesome. The facts aren't pretty.

  Hide contents

 

The dogs aren't named, or called by name, or allowed out of their wire cages. The cages are small, with wire floors which makes cleaning easier, although it's painful to the dog. Imagine living 24/7/365 on a bare wire grid. I don't know if the dogs are vaccinated at all but they don't get regular vet care and based on photos I've seen there is little to no grooming. Conditions like dry eye aren't treated, and it's not unusual that rescued mill dogs have ulcerated, damaged, or infected eyes.

Water is provided via bottles fastened to the cage wall, with a nozzle which the dog has to either suck or lick (I'm not sure). That's because it's easier for the mill owner to maintain than bowls which would get spilled and require more maintenance. The problem with that, is it's a fine system for rabbits but doesn't get nearly enough water into the dogs' mouth for good oral health. The normal way for dogs to drink is to lap up water which irrigates their mouth. Because of the water bottles, the dogs develop nasty dental disease; many rescued mill dogs have dental abscesses or even damaged jaws, and that's why you see many of them with tongues hanging out.

Mill owners are known to clean the cages by power washing them - with the dogs inside. I've browsed the NMDR "available dogs" listings and seen more than one dog who lost an eye because they were blasted by a power washer. 

The dogs are not socialized and almost none of them have felt a kind touch by a human hand. They've never had the luxury of lying on a soft bed. They've never had a toy, or gotten to run around outdoors. Or indoors for that matter. 

 

The amazing thing about dogs is that almost all of them, after living for *years* in those conditions, can be socialized and placed in homes. 

Thanks, Jeeves - my "kill if I'm dying" list just got SO much longer.  I'm gonna have to start before I'm diagnosed as terminal, fer shure.

I'd really like to win the lottery.  Not only could I afford cat food & vet bills forever, but I could establish a veterinary internship program with Dr. Jeff, AND hire a hitman to go after puppy mill people.

And lets give some love to the kitties, too.  My little feral Mama Girl, who birthed all of my feral babes before I could even trap her, is too shy & askeered to allow me to approach in person, even after all these years.  Yet she sits by my back (French - window pane) door for hours every day looking in, and rubs her pretty little face at my hands through the "looking glass" ... we bond daily in many ways, as long as the door is her safety net.  If I breach that barrier, she goes at least 6 feet away and rolls like the vixen kitten she once was.

I NEED to visit Petsmart to get my Babalu's prescription diet food.  There be cages of danger kitties there - every day.  I even had a long standing love affair with a conure, before they stopped that display.  I need the human equivalent of horse blinkers when I shop there ...    :-)

[LittleIggy]

Since I have three rescue cats now, when I go to Petsmart my wistful looks are at the ratties and hammies. I miss having those guys, but my Sigurd would have the cages knocked over in a heartbeat.

Another urinary blockage cat tonight. Lloyd sure is a gorgeous kitty!

Chopper was a cutie, and Samson was so handsome!

[zxy556575]

It's sweet how Jeff always talks up Petra in his interviews -- graduated top of her class! Good to see him back coaching and doing what he loves despite his pain. He's pretty darn stoic himself.

I tell ya, I am NOT the sort of person who could stand for long periods of time doing fiddly surgery on teeny tiny bones and arteries. I would be throwing scalpels after the 4-5th time trying to fit fragments of bone together.

I'm not even a guy but the phrase "split the penis" made me shudder. Did I hear correctly that the other clinic who screwed up the catheter charged the owner for botching it?

[walnutqueen]

11 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

Did I hear correctly that the other clinic who screwed up the catheter charged the owner for botching it?

I think so.  And if they'd managed to kill the poor creature, they would've charged even more for euthanasia.

As if I couldn't love Dr. Jeff any more, he says one surgery was easier than he expected, so he took even more money off the vet bill (with a sly little grin, 'cause you know his daughter gave him grief for it afterwards).

Dr. Petra has beautiful eyes.  I never even noticed that before, as I was always watching her deft little hands (working with Dr. Jeff's amazing fat fingers!).  :-)

I loved seeing Dr. B working at the parrot rescue.  It breaks my heart seeing all those lovely birds being abandoned (or even in captivity in the first place); but very nice to see them getting a decent life in spite of human stupidity.

[walnutqueen]

Oh, I just remembered my favorite line from this episode.  Dr. B describing ferrets as "snakes with legs and fur".  I DIED!  :-D

[raven]

58 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

It breaks my heart seeing all those lovely birds being abandoned

I know I should expect it but I still can hardly believe how people just abandon animals.  It's one thing to give up your pet because something happens and you can't take care of it, but people who just don't want to to do it anymore - ugh.

Chopper in the garage was too cute. 

It's interesting in the operating area that some docs have their hair covered (I noticed this because of Dr Petra's hair) and some don't. 

I was watching some older repeats and Dr Jeff was the hottie when he was younger - not that he's not a good looking guy now!

The woman with Samson was saying they drove 17 hrs!  Worth it to save a thousand bucks or more.

[chenoa333]

I love ALL animals. But why is nobody rescuing or being the voice for cats, kitten mills, cat abuse, I just don't get it.

[Minivanessa]

39 minutes ago, chenoa333 said:

I love ALL animals. But why is nobody rescuing or being the voice for cats, kitten mills, cat abuse, I just don't get it.

I assume you're asking why this show hasn't shown the clinic crew interacting with any cat rescue organizations. Because it's not that "nobody [is] rescuing" cats. There are in the Denver area, both cat-specific rescues and organizations that work for the benefit of cats and dogs. 

It seems to me that sooner or later this show will feature a field trip for Dr. Jeff and crew to a cat house. Sorry, I had to say that. I mean, of course, a cat rescue/welfare organization. They've been going for the exotics (yaks, tigers) and Colorado mountain scenery with those trips, but sooner or later they are going to run out of the exotics. They've already done dogs with NMDR, so I expect to see them working with a cat group before long. 

Edited to add: I've been thinking about the issues that might come up if the show wants to shoot Dr. Jeff and crew doing some kind of pro bono work for any animal welfare group. I assume that most of them would welcome any positive publicity including being featured on a TLC show. But they probably also have good ongoing working relationships with some vets who provide low-cost or no-cost services day in and day out. I think that some tact and diplomacy would be required. As in, "Well, this vet with a cable TV show wants to come in and do some work on our cats for the cameras. We know that you, Dr. X, and your staff do a lot of affordable/free work for us without publicity, but we need the publicity this show will bring." So basically, in that scenario Dr. Jeff gets to look like the fab charitable vet donating his time to the good cause by doing one visit with a camera crew, while the vets who are actually there day in and day out might as well not exist. Dr. Jeff's practice gets the goodwill boost and the other vets' practices get bupkus. It's an interesting scenario to speculate about. 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Jeeves

[LittleIggy]

Dr. Jeff B. comes across as a great guy, too. Love his sense of humor.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, raven said:

It's interesting in the operating area that some docs have their hair covered (I noticed this because of Dr Petra's hair) and some don't. 

It drives me crazy to see them not wearing masks while operating.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, chenoa333 said:

I love ALL animals. But why is nobody rescuing or being the voice for cats, kitten mills, cat abuse, I just don't get it.

Me, me, me. For decades now ... I'm an equal opportunity animal lover (and feeder) , but cats just happen to gravitate towards my planetary orbit.

Meet the weird old cat lady, who is now trying to figure out what to do with some nasty fighting neighbor's Tomcats.  I've already turned my garden hose on their nasty asses in an effort to keep  them from killing each other.  This shit  is NOT allowed in my backyard.  I'm about to try to kidnap and neuter them once I save some more pennies  ... like their "owners" would even know the difference.

[raven]

I know someone on another board who put out a public plea for $ for his cat's life-saving operation.  I don't know him, but others on that board do so I trust  it's not a scam.  He just moved and has terrible credit (I recommended Care Credit, which turned him down) and he's gotten some money from an agency that helps people.  He should be able to collect what he needs.  He's on the other side of the country from Dr Jeff so I can't tell him to go there. 

I mentioned this because I watched an older ep with a homeless guy whose dog needed surgery.  He had to bring the dog back every couple of weeks for a cast check, and apparently was doing that.  Dr Jeff told him to pay $100 in $10 increments.   I know Planned Pethood takes donations to help cover these types of things but it really warmed my heart - it could just be set up to make money and nothing else.  Now of course PPP needs to be in the black (even "non-profit" is a misnomer; if you operate in the red all the time, you're not going to last long) but the fact that they try to help those who can't pay is great IMO.   We see it every day, people who need expensive help for their pets and can't get it.

There were also some good comments from Dr Jeff where he was worried about the dog because the owner didn't have a place to live, but the guy so obviously loved the dog that Dr J, though worried, wanted to do the best thing.   He also commented that he was more like the owner :)

[Happy Belly]

I am very proud to say that here in NJ,  we have a State Senator who is a huge advocate for the animals. Senator Ray Lesniak introduced a bill banning the sale/import of puppy mill dogs. i know it was voted on this past Monday and passed by one vote. Now it is on to (I believe) the State Assembly for their vote. He is pretty confident it will pass their also which would make NJ the first state to ban puppy mill dogs. Sen. Lesniak is running for governor. I won't say anything further about that. 

Watching how Dr. Jeff makes veterinary costs so affordable warms my heart. I have a vet who is very similar and I needed his services many, many times when my cat was dealing with megacolon. I know we all work to make money, but vets like these two gentlemen make you know they truly love animals. 

UPDATE! This bill was passed overwhelmingly the the Assembly so it now awaits Gov. Christie's signature. He is not expected to sign it, however Sen. Lesniak has enough votes to override the veto, so I am pretty sure this ban will become law. YAY!

Edited March 18, 2017 by Happy Belly
Update to bill in NJ

[raven]

Quote

 

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Edited March 19, 2017 by raven
ugh, wrong thread, don't post when tired

[raven]

I had mentioned in the ep thread I was surprised to see a lot of uncovered heads in the ER.

The American Veterinary Medical Association wrote a letter to the Discovery Channel about just that a few weeks ago.   It's more of a "we're concerned" and they do mention the good work Dr. Jeff does.

Dr Jeff wrote an interesting article about pet care and overpopulation and if you scroll about half way down the page, there's a response to the letter (it's under a photo).   Here's an excerpt:

 

Quote

Responded Young, “Let’s take a look at outcomes. I challenge any vet at any time to do 100 surgeries at the same time I do and compare outcomes. Look people, our patients lick their own asses. We are working on animals with great immune systems. The biggest threat we should be concerned about is all the antibiotic use. Where do you get bad life-threatening infections? At human hospitals with very strict sterility.

I think it's an interesting discussion to have; I do volunteer for a pet rescue and my dog had expensive surgery in October.  Still, how hard is it cover your hair and put on a mask in the ER?

[Pfj99]

In tonight's episode it looked like Baldwin still had balls after his leg amputation.  During his surgery Dr. Jeff said "Now let's neuter him."  Did anyone else notice Baldwin's non-neutered appearance?

[LittleIggy]

37 minutes ago, Pfj99 said:

In tonight's episode it looked like Baldwin still had balls after his leg amputation.  During his surgery Dr. Jeff said "Now let's neuter him."  Did anyone else notice Baldwin's non-neutered appearance?

I did and thought the same thing you did! I was like, "Wait! Baldwin still has his balls!" In any case, it was amazing to see him tearing around his yard with his new family.

The cuddle puddle of puppies after their stinky bath was adorbs.

[Bastet]

Interesting.  I raised that same issue, and the volume of surgeries of which he speaks is one of the reasons why - despite my immense respect for the work he does - I wouldn't opt for his hospital if I had better options; they cut some corners I don't think are huge, but are a factor, and, being fortunate enough to have the means to have options, I'd go elsewhere even if his clinic was local; the differences I've observed are worth paying for, since I can. 

And, really, masks don't add that much to overhead.  At first I was willing to write it off as being akin to when the producers of ER opted, despite the realism they spent a lot of money to integrate into the series, to largely keep the characters unmasked, as it obscured too much of the actors' faces (and thus didn't fully convey the emotion of the scene) -- I figured the unmasked scenes on this show were recreations meant to properly convey the process and emotion of surgical procedures the cameras hadn't caught in real time.  But then I realized that was, indeed, real-time footage of surgery, and found it off-putting.

[riley702]

22 hours ago, Pfj99 said:

In tonight's episode it looked like Baldwin still had balls after his leg amputation.  During his surgery Dr. Jeff said "Now let's neuter him."  Did anyone else notice Baldwin's non-neutered appearance?

I know they frequently don't remove the scrotum because removing it would cause a larger surgical wound with all of the hazards associated with that. It will naturally shrivel up and become unnoticeable after several months. I figured that was what was happening there.

[Bastet]

I like that the animal rescue worker said of Baldwin, the fact he's a tripod will make it easier to find him a home -- animals with something dramatic (but not something that requires ongoing specialized care) tug at the heartstrings.  Gypsy the deaf dog loving life with her deaf owner certainly tugged at mine.

Speaking of that rescue worker, I'm impressed she can tell those black puppies apart.  And the pile of sleeping lab puppies was adorable!

Jack, the cat with the bone lodged in his trachea, is very lucky it didn't do any damage.  I wonder how he got ahold of a bone; raw bones are fine, unless the pet swallows too large a piece whole, but owners have to be so careful with cooked bones because of the puncture risk.  I was hoping they'd have included a talking head to that effect for the audience's benefit.

That was quite a rock Sampson swallowed!

I'm throwing out to the universe my request for a Dr. Jeff/Pit Bulls & Parolees cross-over episode.  Villalobos desperately needs more organizations it can partner with for spay/neuter events.  And, while I can't remember if Dr. Jeff has ever specifically addressed the misinformation and discrimination against the breed, I've seen a couple of staffers in pit-positive shirts.  So I'd love to see Animal Planet bankroll a Planned Pethood trip to New Orleans (like it did with My Cat From Hell's Jackson Galaxy coming in to help Tia assist a local woman in rounding up and housing a colony of feral cats [to give credit where it's due, Galaxy also provided a lot of additional help on his own])

[Happy Belly]

Does anyone know if Denver still has the BSL law? Just wondering because I truly don't remember seeing any pitties in his clinic. If I am wrong, forgive me. I am on lunch at my job after an extremely stressful morning.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Happy Belly
I cannot spell

[chenoa333]

I had to look it up but according to denvergov.org the "breed specific law" is still in effect. 

[Happy Belly]

Thank you chenoa333. I would love to see Dr. Jeff go forward and tackle this stupid discriminatory law. When he feels better, of course. 

[raven]

Just watched an older ep with a beagle (Jake) who had been attacked by 3 other dogs and had a lot of bloody puncture wounds.  His owner had left him with a friend and it was this other person's dogs who attacked him (they were left alone, because the friend is stupid).  Luckily Jake had no internal damage and just needed to heal and be watched for infection.  Jake's owner told PPP to put him down (!!!), but Dr Jeff had them call her back and the owner agreed to surrender Jake to PPP.  The ep ended him with Jake adopted and looking very happy. 

I'm happy that Dr Jeff and staff go the extra step and not euthanize a healthy dog who just needed a little time to get well.  

[LittleIggy]

Loved the scenes of Brynne with the nursing home residents. That was so sweet. Pets bring so much love to our lives.

[Bastet]

On 3/25/2017 at 1:44 PM, raven said:

I'm happy that Dr Jeff and staff go the extra step and not euthanize a healthy dog who just needed a little time to get well.  

That's standard practice among the vets I've used.  In fact, that's how they (and the techs and office staff) got some of their own pets, when an owner wanted the animal euthanized rather than treated for a totally treatable condition, so the owner signed over ownership, but then the vet clinic was unsuccessful in adopting the pet out after treatment (since, even though a sob story helps, there are simply more animals in need of homes than there are homes for them).

Watching Walter's forehead move as he breathed, because of the damage to his sinus caused by getting kicked in the head by a horse, was crazy.  I like when Dr. Jeff asked Dr. Petra to close so he could go call the owner and she said the real reason is that she closes nicer.

Addie not caring a whit that one leg is casted all the way up to the shoulder is adorable.  Brynne the nursing home dog had such a sweet face, and a great full-body wiggle.  I bet Adequan would help that joint feel better.

I completely share Dr. Jeff's embrace of TNR for feral cats.  I'm also as surprised as he was that they trapped so many in one night.  Dolly was sure keeping those kitties well fed -- those suckers could stand to eat a little less, which would save her some money.  I liked watching them all take off out of their traps like bats out of hell when they got back home.

I don't like the way they said Smokey would have to go to a home with no other cats or other cats who are FIV positive.  He's only a danger to other cats if they'd be fighting, because the virus is only transmitted through bites that break skin; with his time living among the ferals and thus remaining bouts of combative behavior, it's perfectly reasonable to say it's not worth taking the chance putting him with a cat who does not have FIV.  But I wish they'd made clear that it was his particular circumstances with respect to temperament that made that necessary; too many people think cats with FIV cannot live with non-FIV cats, period, and this was an opportunity to debunk that as a bright-line rule.

[SRTouch]

On 3/6/2017 at 11:07 AM, Jeeves said:

National Mill Dog Rescue just posted a video on their Facebook page. The post says, "So many of you expressed concern about the German Shepherd in our segment on Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet on Animal Planet. Her name is Jennifer, and she was terrified when we rescued her and brought her home to Lily's Haven. This gorgeous 6-year-old German Shepherd has come a long way with the help of our dedicated and loving rehab team. Watch the video to see Jennifer then and now.  If you are interested in finding out more about this beautiful dog, please click on the link:

Thanks for the update... a remarkable bounce back recovery. I grew up watching Roy Rogers' Bullet and Rin Tin Tin in reruns, and had a couple German Shepherds as a kid. They all seemed so proud and full of confidence, so seeing poor Jennifer cower in her cage was heartbreaking - poor thing was afraid to face the people looking at her.

[chenoa333]

1 hour ago, SRTouch said:

1 hour ago, SRTouch said:

 I grew up watching Roy Rogers' Bullet and Rin Tin Tin in reruns, 

 

Don't forget Old Yeller or maybe it was Old Yellow? I was only 6 or 7-ish but man did i cry my eyes out over that one. I realize now, in retrospect, that i was "born this way"....with this passion and intense respect and love for all animals/nature.  

[zxy556575]

The owners of the dog with the malformed elbow were so devastated to think about possible amputation. I wanted to give them a hug and reassure them that if the leg needs to go, the pup will be fine. Possibly even better if she's out of pain.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Lord Donia

[walnutqueen]

Animal Planet cut out on me Saturday night, so I missed most of Dr. Jeff and The Zoo, and must wait for reruns.  :-(

But I can attest to the low risk of having an FIV kitty in a non-FIV household; one of my rescues had it, and never fought with or infected my other boys.

Speaking of TV dogs from the good old days - does anyone else remember The Littlest Hobo?  

[SRTouch]

7 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Speaking of TV dogs from the good old days - does anyone else remember The Littlest Hobo?  

Hadn't heard of this series,  but looks like I would have liked it from reading wiki.

[walnutqueen]

31 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

Hadn't heard of this series,  but looks like I would have liked it from reading wiki.

Before my Mum in Canada was moved to Hospice, she told me she was watching The Littlest Hobo, and I was SO jealous.  Because i have every channel Uverse offers, and STILL can't find it!    :-)

[halopub]

On 3/27/2017 at 4:07 PM, walnutqueen said:

Animal Planet cut out on me Saturday night, so I missed most of Dr. Jeff and The Zoo, and must wait for reruns.  :-(

It might be worth checking if your cable provider has free on-demand. Animal Planet Go also offers their episodes online for free if you're willing to sign in with your cable user account. 

[raven]

Aw, Walter.  I love names like Walter and Henry for our furry family members.  When Walter's owner cried "I looovve him" I said, I know just how you feel!!  All those bony pieces!  At least I could tell what they were, usually when they do surgery, the piece they show is just a bloody blob to me.  

I get a little annoyed with Dr Jeff telling Dr Petra to help out because her hands are smaller,  It's true, her hands ARE smaller and she's obviously a good vet, but it makes me wonder who helped with their smaller hands before Dr Petra??? It just seems a little put on for the camera.

Is it me or do they seem to be mentioning other vet costs more often, as in "the other vet cost was x hundreds of dollars more".  Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic that PPP has affordable costs and does a lot of pro bono work - the episode where they were in Mexico comes to mind - but I just want to yell "I get it! The rest of us are paying too much to our vets!" LOL

[LittleIggy]

It's awesome the work Jeff and his team do in Mexico. I shed a tear for the poor feral dog that had to be euthanized.  I'm sure they gave her the only love she had had her whole life.

[zxy556575]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

I shed a tear for the poor feral dog that had to be euthanized.  I'm sure they gave her the only love she had had her whole life.

Everyone was so genuinely upset about having to euthanize her. These are such caring people. (So was the man who was feeding them, even though it was likely he couldn't really afford it.)

But jeez -- "hours" spent catching two dogs? The feral problem is so overwhelming and daunting. Five street dogs for every person? Oy. Jeff said their work had made a noticeable difference in the town they've been going to for years, so there is some hope.

Geometry isn't my thing and I don't know how I would have cut it differently, but that cardboard cone was more of a pipe! Heh.

[zxy556575]

I was thinking that the owner of the cat with the fish hook through its lip would have done as well going to @Bastet's house.

Some really sweet, loving owners this week again.

Edited April 9, 2017 by Lord Donia

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

I was thinking that the owner of the cat with the fish hook through its lip would have done as well going to Bastet's house.

Me? 

I only saw the second half of the episode, so I saw the "kitty is fine, we put the fishing gear away" wrap-up at the end, but never saw the actual story.  Pray tell. 

That was one nasty-looking spleen (and a lot of blood) they took out of the older dog.  I was glad to hear the tumor was benign, so there are no significant long-term impacts from this incident.

If that adorable kitten's inner ear infection is all cleared up, yet she still has a head tilt, does that mean there's also something neurological going on?  Is it not completely cleared up?  I've dealt with a friend's cat having a tilted head, listing walk, etc. because of a fungal infection, and that took a long time to clear up.

[zxy556575]

49 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I only saw the second half of the episode, so I saw the "kitty is fine, we put the fishing gear away" wrap-up at the end, but never saw the actual story.  Pray tell. 

Kitty apparently won her game of pounce-n-catch with a fishing line. Petra cut off the barb end and pulled it out. She did lightly sedate the patient and gave her antibiotics, but you probably keep that stuff lying around the house anyway. I still maintain you could have made just as neat a job of it.  :)

[Bastet]

2 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

Kitty apparently won her game of pounce-n-catch with a fishing line. Petra cut off the barb end and pulled it out. She did lightly sedate the patient and gave her antibiotics, but you probably keep that stuff lying around the house anyway. I still maintain you could have made just as neat a job of it.  :)

How funny - I almost mentioned in my first post that I once did that with very thing (minus the sedation and antibiotics) with a duck.  It was a lakeside campground, so the duck was fairly used to people, and the poor guy had a fishing hook in his beak.  We lured him into our campsite with food, my dad caught him and held his body, my mom held his beak still, and I snipped off the hook so I could pull it out the other way.  Clean and easy, and Mr. Duck waddled happily back to the water.

Riley is so fidgety when held, I'd probably have to take her in if that happened to her.  With Maddie or Baxter, though?  Oh yeah, I'd have just grabbed my pliers and taken care of it.  (Then clean the wound, dab on some antibacterial ointment, and watch for any signs of infection.  Mr. Duck didn't get those luxuries, but he seemed fine.)

[raven]

Though I used to live with a cat that I was attached to (he was the ex's cat) I'm not really a cat person - don't throw tomatoes at me :)  but that little tilted head cat was adorable.  What a sweet face! Glad it was just an ear infection that should clear up.

That bloody spleen was scary.  I liked seeing the younger vets work together and get experience, as long as Dr Jeff is around in case of emergency,

[riley702]

We had a kitten named Antonio back when I was a teen. He was a tiger and Tony the tiger wasn't original enough, so Antonio he was. He was racing to beat the closing screen door one day and got bonked in the head/neck region. He seemed to shake it off, but always had a bit of a head tilt after that. And, smart-asses that we were, we called him Antonio Crick-neckio. He lived a normal life span, and the head tilt was adorable, as though he was perpetually wondering, "Whatcha doin"?"