Posts in Category: Cat and Kitten Care

Weight isn’t just a number

No one really wants to talk about it—weight that is. It is one of the first things I evaluate as a veterinarian. For every appointment at Borgfeld Animal Hospital we put your dog or cat on the scale and get their updated weight. As part of their physical exam, we determine a body condition score. These values help to determine if you pet is healthy or if there could be an underlying problem. The sad truth is that most pets that we see are technically considered overweight to obese. It has become so commonplace to see overweight pets that what a veterinarian considers normal or lean most owners consider too thin. And the vice versa applies. What an owner considers normal, we as veterinarians would deem as overweight. 

Uh-Oh! What just happened? 

Most people have been there. You get a new puppy or kitten. For the most part they are good. They run, and play, and bring love and entertainment to your family. Then it happens. You see them chewing on a rock, or toy, or a sock. As you walk over to get it out of their mouth, they look you dead in the eyes and swallow it whole and run off like nothing ever happened. 

Then the waiting game begins. Will the object pass? Is it going to become a costly problem that requires intervention from your veterinarian? The truth is many times dogs and cats can pass these objects without much of a problem. Sometimes, you have no idea that they have eaten something until you see it in the litterbox or when you take them outside to go to the bathroom. Other times though, that poor decision of eating the head from a Barbie doll does create a medical emergency that has to be fixed.