Wildlife blog of Dr. Palazzolo and the Long Beach Animal Hospital

Brushing Your Pet’s Teeth

Carl Palazzolo2024-08-06T07:31:34-07:00December 18th, 2020|Tips|

Dental disease is prevalent in almost every adult dog and cat we examine. Prevention is the key, and in addition to professional cleaning which we provide, the most important thing you can do is to brush your pets teeth. If started at an early age this "bonding time" is an enjoyable time for all. Start the brushing when the adult teeth are in, which is around 5 months of age. You need to start brushing your pet's teeth long before the start of plaque and gingivitis like in this tooth. Tooth brushing now will not correct this problem. People sometimes wonder why pets

Cat Asthma

Carl Palazzolo2025-08-01T11:37:09-07:00December 18th, 2020|Dogs|

Introduction Asthma is a disease goes by several names- feline bronchial disease, allergic bronchitis, and allergic airway disease. We tend to see asthma more often in in young to middle aged cats than dogs, with the Siamese cat being the most prevalent feline breed. It is a disease of the lower airways that affects up to 5% of cats. Feline asthma is not cured, only controlled. It is technically a type-1 hypersensitivity reaction to allergens in the air like pollen or spores. This reaction causes the releases of compounds called cytokines, leading to the following: Bronchoconstriction- the airways constrict and

Seizures (Epilepsy) in Dogs

Carl Palazzolo2025-04-09T20:45:51-07:00December 14th, 2020|Dogs|

One of the most disturbing things to witness in an animal is a seizure, the most common neurologic problem we see in our hospital. It can traumatize the person witnessing it, and always seems to go on forever. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for animals to have seizures, particularly dogs. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of seizures are not life-threatening, and most dogs can live a relatively normal life. Cats and other species also get seizures, but not as frequently as dogs. There is a type of seizure status epilepticus that is a medical emergency. These are the pets that go

Parvo Virus

Carl Palazzolo2024-08-13T11:18:20-07:00December 13th, 2020|Current News|

Disease associated with the canine parvovirus started appearing around 1978. It is postulated that this virus is a mutation of the feline distemper virus. Since so few dogs had developed natural antibodies in the late 1970's, a large number of dogs died from this disease. In some cases, the virus affected the heart, and caused death within a few hours. We can still remember people coming into our clinic in droves to get their dogs vaccinated. There was no parvo vaccine for dogs then, since we did not even know what parvo was. The vaccine we gave initially was the

How to Read a Radiograph X-ray

Carl Palazzolo2024-10-06T07:36:58-07:00December 13th, 2020|Current News|

Introduction This is a fun and educational page for pet owners, veterinary students, technicians, and even other veterinarians. It is designed to educate you on the basics of radiology. There is a fun test at the end to see how much you learned. Hopefully you will get them all right! Can you tell what animal this is from this radiograph? Hint: it is a reptile An important diagnostic modality we use to make an accurate diagnosis on a sick animal is radiography, more commonly known as x-rays. Just like the many other Diagnostic tests we perform, radiograph x-rays are important in