#my favorite fancy bird is the blue macaw

[c4n1blc4tgrlcxrps]

THANK YOU

If I say “aww look at the birds” n you say “they’re just sparrows” I’m killing you. Find beauty in nature or else.

[sewer-rat-89]

YOU

RAT MAN

TELL US ABOUT YOUR GHOULS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

UH OKAY SURE

tiramisu is. well she's a cat. she's a longhair to be specific, or more accurately kind of a medium-hair. she's a tricolor/calico and literally the most normal ghoul i've ever met in my life; aside from the fact that she really likes me, she's literally just a normal cat. she's my main eyes in the city bc mine doesn't have much of a rodent problem and everybody likes cats.

dolly the retic of course, she's a wild-type and is 25(!!!!) feet long, give or take. she's very lazy, as is to be expected, and is the only one of them who isn't willing to bite me to get more vitae so i have to put it on her meals. she literally just stays in my place because wtf is a 25 foot long snake gonna do, but i love her and she is very doted on. i actually had to put up a feeding chart so everyone would stop overfeeding her lmao

to expand on avery. the zoo near me lets their macaws free fly for a few hours a day. he got lost at one point and i ended up finding him. i'd always wanted a bird so i ghouled him pretty quick; he mostly gets fed by the zoo but he comes and hangs out with me a lot, mostly when i'm out. i love him a lot and i collect his feathers bc they're so pretty. he's a blue hyacinth and the meanest animal i have ever met

as for the others... i have!

templeton, buttercup, goose, and champ (with an sh sound, it's short for champagne) the rats (fancy, not wild), who are all SUCH little cards. templeton in particular is very affectionate and goose likes to bully the others lol

there's also pinch, a raven who collects vaguely coin-shaped objects for me, and an extremely shy mourning dove called sal who pinch thinks wants to be his boyfriend (sal does not want to be his boyfriend, sal thinks pinch is going to eat him)

last but not least there's guillermo, my main man when it comes to spying. she's actually a female but i didn't know that at first lmao. guillermo is a raccoon and an absolute genius among men. i have personally watched her outsmart kindred and the only reason she isn't one of my favorites is because she makes me pay her animal crackers for her services

[botwstoriesandsuch]

tell me about how kass is amazing he's my favorite bonus points if you include nice pictures?

My guy Kass is not only beautiful and fashionable... (I mean, just look at his fancy scarf and matching feather headpiece??)

But Kass is also incredibly musically talented. One thing to play an instrument, but playing and singing at the same time is HARD ok? There’s a reason I’ve only ever done it once... 

He literally carries sheet music on his waist, and he’s still memorized at least a dozen songs, if not more, many of which are centuries old considering they are connected to the Sheikah. Dedication to craft? Check. Dedication to his late teacher? Check. 

Passes on his singing talent to his daughter? Check. Travels across all of Hyrule, meeting dozens of new people and is still loyal to his wife? Check. Pretty much helps with the defeat of Ganon by helping Link find shrines to become stronger? Check

Kass is based off of the Blue and Gold Macaw which means the headcanon potential is through the roof

And finally, Kass a subversion of the Rito sterotype that the men are warriors, and the women sing. My bird dad Kass is the best musician and is a sof boi. We love a good role model

[drferox]

20 Questions with Dr Ferox #19

Hi vetlings! I must apologize for my reduced activity and inconsistent schedule, I feel terrible about it and I am working on getting back on track. But for now, here are 20 questions that have been sitting in my inbox for too long. If you asked on Anon you’ll have to see if your question is here manually, but I have tried to tag those that were brave enough to use their name.

Anonymous asked:just curious -- do vets have any confidentiality requirements like people doctors do WRT their patients/their patients' conditions?

More or less, yes. It's more client-confidentiality than patient-confidentiality because it's the human's privacy that matters, not the animal. That's why when I tell stories from work I don't include photos of the patient, even though I know you really want me to, and I often obscure non-critical details like sex, age, name, breed or time. This way I can talk about a case or a situation without talking about a specific, identifiable person.

Anonymous asked: Hi! I've been reading through your blog, and it's really cool. Do you work with exotic pets as well, such as reptiles or birds? If you do, what was your best experience? Have a wonderful day!

Not very much, and most of the birds and reptiles I see these days are wildlife. We're not very well set up for exotics, we don't even have a heat lamp in the building, and we tell people this when they call for an appointment. The best experience was probably treating a blue and gold macaw for egg binding. The bird was part of a breeding pair and supposed to be worth $30,000, and I treated it successfully.

@theroyalfrogman said: Have you ever worked with aquatic animals, such as fish, salamanders, frogs, etc.? If so, did you enjoy it? (Sorry if this was already answered in the faq, I'm on mobile and the app won't let me see it)

We don't have salamanders down here, and I haven't worked with frogs since I was a vet student. I do keep my own fish, nothing super fancy at the moment, and I desperately wanted to get more into aquarium medicine when I first graduated, but Tasmania is very strict about importing fish so there wasn't much I could do, and I found most of the local pet store owners unusually hostile, so I did not get into it as much as I wanted to. I did spend some of by vet school time at the Melbourne Aquarium, and on placement with their vet Dr Robert Jones.

Anonymous said: I have a question- a lot of people I know that interact with a lot of animals seem like they've noticed that certain cat coat colors have traits that they tend to have- ginger cats are nice, tortiseshells tend to be tiny, etc, etc. Have you noticed anything like this? Thank you!

I have noticed that 'boring' colour cats tend to have nicer personalities, probably because they have nothing else to make themselves stand out for adoption. Most of the time I associate personalities with breed, though tortoiseshell cats having attitude definitely seems to be a real phenomenon.

Chestnut mares also have a reputation for being difficult to handle and 'spicy'. I don't know about riding them, but they do have an increased risk of anaesthetic complications in recovery which is statistically significant  and they are notably more likely to injure themselves while waking up.

@mewwile said: what's your favorite coat/fur pattern? it can be any animal, cats or bunnies or dogs or multiple patterns you like!

I'm pretty fond of anything 'wild-type' or wolfy in dogs. I will always have a fondness for the humble tabby cat. I horses I can't help myself, I just love the look of buckskins. I know it's not fur, but I also always wanted to keep a blue marble crowntail betta, but life hasn't gotten me that far yet.

Anonymous said: i recently, literally only a few weeks ago, got my female cat fixed and shes been puttin weight, is the normal and like is there anythin i should be doin about it?

Yes, feed her less. If she's gaining weight then she's consuming more calories than she's expending. Removing the reproductive tract can reduce a cat's energy requirements by up to 10%, so you may need to account for this.

Anonymous said: So, I got a dog about a year ago, and she unfortunately contracted Parvo. She's fine now, but I have sort of two questions. One, what are the long term, if any, affects on a dogs growth because of Parvo? She's significantly smaller than her siblings. Two, is it possible she contracted Parvo from the vaccine? She didn't go anywhere in the weeks leading up to her vaccination except for the vets, and they said it could be a number of things. Thank you for your time, I very much enjoy your blog!

She did not contract parvovirus from the vaccine. Parvo is an extremely resilient virus and it can survive in soil for at least 20 years, and it's also spread by foxes. It may also be spread by cats (I'm pretty sure it is, but the jury's still out on that one). In high parvo areas we often don't figure out how the transmission has occurred, because people could bring it into the house on their clothing, cats could bring it into the yard, or there might have been a previous case at that property years ago. I've written about parvovirus before, but in terms of long term effects pups that were very young when they contracted the infection may have some heart muscle damage, some dogs end up with some intestinal scaring, but most dogs do pretty well if they get over the initial infection.

@friskerart said: Hello :D So straight away I will say this is NOT a request for advice, I have a lovely vet who goes above and beyond to help our senior cat. Eve is at least 18 now and in the last year she started having both seizures and syncope. With the help of anti seizure medication and funnily enough hyperthyroid cream she's gone from near constant fits and fainting to one a week :D Is this something you've ever dealt with before?

Syncope is fairly common with hyperthyroidism secondary to cardiac changes and high blood pressure. The seizures responding to the medication makes me wonder if they were related to high blood pressure also, but I'm no medicine specialist so don't take my word as gospel.

Anonymous said: Hi Dr. Ferox. I was wondering how necessary you think dental cleanings for cats are? I've had some vets say that it's absolutely necessary every year and some others say that it isn't. I know that some cats are more prone to periodontal disease also so I would assume it depends on the cat?

You certainly should have a dental check at least every year, but whether a cleaning under anaesthetic is required or not will depend on the cat. Some cats should be checked every 6 months, which is why many clinics offer free dental checks during their dental month promotions.

Anonymous asked: I've read on cat forums that cats vaccinated for FIV (or maybe it was FeLV?) can test positive for it later. Do you know if there's any truth to that? There was a bit of a fear mongering vibe, recommending against that vaccine, so that if something ever happened the cat wouldn't be in a worse situation for testing positive for a disease with a stigma. (It was awhile ago, might have been in the context of managed feral cat colonies?)

That's an excellent question. It used to be true that  cats vaccinated for FIV would test positive on all tests, so it was only recommended for microchipped cats. However in the last few years at least two tests on the market have proved that they only detect infected cats, not vaccinated cats, so this is now much less of an issue. There was always a lab test that could be done to differentiate between vaccinated and infected cats, but it was expensive so never popular.

Anonymous said: Is panting ever good for a cat, or always a sign of distress of some kind?

It's always a sign of distress of some kind. It mighe be just heat or fear, in which case the cat should calm down and stop panting after a minute or two of being allowed to do so, but more than that and I get very worried.

Anonymous said: Hiya, I can't find a current question tax? So have a compliment tax: you are amazing and lovely and have the best blog <3 and anyway I was talking to a friend who is working with dogs and he was advocating for it being a good thing to not feed your dog for a day every now and then? it sounds utterly stupid on the surface (especially as someone recovering from EDs...) and google is giving me nothing but controversy and I just wanted an opinion from someone I respect and trust. :)

Yeah, I'm not a fan of fasting your dog unless it has a GI disturbance from eating something stupid (eg garbage) or prior to surgery, and even then try not to do it for more than 12 hours. Those enterocytes need food in the gut for nutrition, you don't have to fast a dog to keep it healthy, and it's probably super confusing for the dog too. A dog is not a wolf.

Anonymous said: Hello! I hope you've been having a good day! I was wondering your thoughts about the dental treats they make for dogs. I've been giving my 9 year old milk bone brushing chews lately but I was wondering if they really help or if I should do something else to care for her teeth Thanks for taking the time to help me.

If they have a VOHC certification (Veterinary Oral Health Council) then they are probably some use in promoting good dental health, but if they don't then there's no way to prove that they do. Anybody can make something they claim is good for your dog's teeth, but only products with the VOHC seal have proven it.

Anonymous said: Not a pleasant question, but: if a heavily pregnant animal is speyed, is there usually an attempt made to euthanize the fetuses in case they're capable of feeling pain at that stage? If so, how is that done?

Once the uterus and its contents are removed from the animal, the foetuses are generally injected with euthanasia solution one by one. They're usually not removed from the uterus to do this, sometimes you can feel the heartbeat enough to aim. They're often partially anaesthetised when removed anyway, since the medication affecting the mother will affect the fetuses, so they are already slowed down and I would expect them to feel less than they normally would, the injection just makes sure.

@politically-elected-king-of-hell said: Hey Dr! I have seen on the internet that sometimes vets will pack wounds with sugar. Why is this, and what would make you want to pack sugar versus not packing sugar?

I would really only use sugar for something oedematous and prolapsed, eg a rectum or penis which has popped out and swollen up so much I can't get it back in to where it's supposed to be. Sugar is extremely hypertonic, it draws moisture into itself, thereby reducing swelling. Then if I happen to get some stuck on that organ when it's replaced, it wont do much harm, the body is well adapted to absorbing that sugar. That's really the only scenario I would use it. Sometimes I will use honey on grossly contaminated external wounds for a similar reason, but also because honey will stick to the dirt and necrotic tissue, helping me debride it at a bandage change and is so hypertonic bacteria struggle to grow in it.

Anonymous said: Can the flu be spread from humans to cats and dogs?

It's generally not spread to dogs and cats but can be spread to ferrets.

@ladyofthemountains said: Is there a age restriction for catnip? Like should a kitten not play with toys that have it till a certain age?

No, but it shouldn't play with it if it's going to be driving home later.

@gravity-gravy said: You know I've always wondered why the traits that greyhounds have were breed into them, like the dolichocephalic faces and the general body shape that they have. Do these traits help them at all with perform with racing or where they breed into them because of aesthetic? And do we know when these traits first appeared in the breed?

They were bred for function, their appearance certainly assists them in running fast and winning races. The origin of the breed is somewhat obscured, but there are greyhound-like dogs in Ancient Egyptian art, so that's a good start. Dogs that win more races these days are bred more, so there is a slight selective pressure for the longer face too in dogs which win their races 'by a nose'.

@themagickey13 said: I have a habit of trying to get injured wild animals to wildlife facilities. People keep telling me I am not really helping at all because they are just going to put the animal down rather than try to save them. I am a realistic person so I know most of those animals have to be euthanized, but I always say to these people that I would rather be put to sleep peacefully than be left dying on a highway in agony, and I don't own a gun. Am I right to do this or should I let nature take it's course?

If it's a species with a high conservation value (eg something endangered) then it might not be put to sleep, you never know. Your actions might not make much difference to the whole ecosystem, but I don't think that's why you're doing it. You do make a difference to that individual animal, and need to decide for yourself whether you think that's worth it.

Anonymous said: I usually do sanitary/booty trims but I have heard people having their cats get lion cuts instead. I was hoping you could shed some light on what animals can be fully shaved and why. For the QT: if it's still the headcanon thing, then I always thought you must have dark hair. I'm honestly not sure why.

There's nothing super special about doing a lion cut for a cat. We often do it for cats that have trouble grooming themselves, or that have major hairball problems. Some cats can be done conscious, but a lot need to be sedated for this groom.