Trouble? Or nothing?

She can’t tell you if something’s wrong.

But if you’re worried, she also can’t brush you off with a transparent “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

So if you see something that worries you, it’s probably significant. And even if it’s serious, it’s likely treatable — as long as we get it early.

In fact, the earlier we know what’s going on, the more we can do to save you and your dear one a world of stress, pain and expense.

And preserve as many as we can of the happy times you’ll share in the years to come.

If you have observed any of the clinical conditions listed below, a physical examination may be indicated. Please call us so that we can help determine the next medically logical step.

Digestion and metabolism:

- Is her abdomen growing out of proportion to her size?
- How’s his weight? Is it way up or way down, without a ready explanation?
- Does she have a lot of trouble chewing? Can he no longer eat dry food?
- Is she eating a lot less? Has he not eaten at all, two days in a row?
- Or does she suddenly want to eat everything in sight?
- Yes, cats vomit. But does it seem excessive, suddenly or is it chronic? Is your dog vomiting?

Bowel and bladder:

- Is he drinking a lot more water than usual? Has she been doing that for a while? (More than 50 ml/lb/day, or about 15 oz total for a 9 lb animal.)
- Is she urinating significantly more, or more often, than usual? Is his litter wetter than usual? How long has that been going on?
- Does he have diarrhea that’s lasted more than two days? Is there blood in her stool?
- Is Buster having a tough time passing stool or urine? Is Fluffy spending hours sitting or lying in the litter box?
- Has Fluffy changed her litter habits? Especially – has she started avoiding the litter box?
- Is Buster losing his once-perfect housetraining habits?

Muscles and bones:

- Is she having trouble getting around, or favoring one or more legs?

Brain, behavior and nervous system:

- Has she started sleeping all the time? Or is he now totally wired or restless – when he used to be laid-back and easygoing?
- Has her behavior changed? Has she started tearing things up? Do little things make him irritable? Is he more restless than usual?
- How’s his vision? Did he wake up one morning, and for the first time, couldn’t see nearly as well as usual?
- Is she always shaking her head? How about walking around with his head tilted?

Skin problems:

- Are you seeing masses, open sores or multiple scabs on his skin?
- How about bare spots? Is she scratching or licking one place constantly? Is he losing fur all over?

Ear, nose, mouth and throat:

Is she coughing or wheezing, or having trouble breathing? Does he get short of breath too easily?
Are there secretions (yellow or green) coming from the eyes or nose? Do his ears smell terrible? Are secretions, blood or dark waxy debris in the ears?
Is she drooling? Has she been, for more than 24 hours? Has the breath become foul smelling?