“These clients are among my best friends. Both have very serious health issues. Archie is their life, and he’s in severe trouble. Please save his life.” Such was the high-pressure phone call I received from a referring vet. Archie, a 10 year old Scottish terrier, was...

Have you ever wondered how common your pet’s surgery is? Here are our 10 most common surgeries at HRVSS in 2023: 1. TPLO TPLO remains our #1 surgery. This procedure addresses a torn ACL in the knee. Our most common breeds are the Lab and pit bulls. Our biggest patient...

“I could tell he was in a lot of pain, even though he did a good job hiding it and continued to act like his crazy self despite his limp.” Rocky, a sweet 10 month old German shepherd, was limping in the right front leg. It started when he was 9 months of age, then it...

Today we answer the 5 most common questions we hear from our clients. Anesthesia Most pet owners are concerned about anesthesia. Even though there is always a risk, it’s fortunately very low. The risk of dying under anesthesia is around 0.25% across all cats and dogs,...

Didder, a beautiful 2 year old indoor/outdoor cat, was found limping. During a visit to the vet, X-rays were taken. The results were concerning… His femur (thigh bone) was absolutely shattered (see preop pictures). How many pieces can you count?Preop X-ray of the...

Signs of pain are not always obvious in dogs. Part of the reason has to do with their evolution. In the wild, sick animals often get eaten. So we believe that dogs have learned to hide pain and sickness in order to survive. Sadly that doesn’t always make our job easy!...

What really happens after your pet is admitted for surgery? We are all pet lovers, and we’ve all had pets who needed surgery, so we know that a pet having surgery can be a very stressful experience.  Today, we share our secrets and take you behind the doors at HRVSS....

This is a follow-up to a previous blog with the same title: Sometimes, we remove a mass that was believed to be cancer, but the biopsy shows that it was perfectly benign. Here 2 more actual patients we recently treated. Delilah and the evil skin masses Delilah, a 12...

Oliver, an 8 year old terrier, was in trouble. Pooping became more and more difficult. He would go outside and squat multiple times, straining, whining and in obvious pain. Yet not much would come out… sometimes, nothing at all… He had swelling on the side of his anus...

Starr, an incredibly cute 3 month old Pug, was the runt of her litter. She was not thriving and was not eating properly. So she had to be bottle-fed, every 2-3 hours, round the clock, by her amazingly dedicated owner! When her siblings were transitioned to solid food,...