Fulshear-Katy Community Guide & Directory 2023-24

are ‘oh my God, get in here now’ issues. It all depends on the situation,” Dr. Bowling advised. “We are going to work with you and your schedule and strive to get you worked into our schedule if necessary.” “Be safe – make the call.”

unfortunately she didn’t make it,” said Dr. Bowling. “But she had given birth to two little kids and the family raised them.” Dr. Bowling, who grew up in the country in Orchard, said she amazed the technicians by knowing how to examine a goat’s uterus. “I blew the city kids’ minds,” she laughed. The Emotional Side Working in a veterinary clinic has its obvious moments of sadness. “It’s emotionally nerve-wracking for everybody involved. We want the best for our patients, and it never fails – it’s always the sweetest, kindest pet whose owner wants to do everything, and you have to deliver a poor prognosis,” Dr. Bowling said. “I want to give a shout out to our technicians and receptionists – they are very strong people. It can be a very tough ordeal to lose a pet.” Make the Call If an owner notices their pet is acting strangely or appears to be ill, they should not take chances by “waiting to see” if the pet will start feeling better. “Give us a call and tell us what’s going on. Maybe they ate something they shouldn’t have. Some things are not life-threatening, and then some things

his fever, likely due to the large amount of bacteria in cat bites. Dr. Bowling is seeing increased prevalence of dental disease in cats, including the resorption of teeth. She also discussed the interesting differences between dogs and cats – diabetes cases in dogs are usually Type 1 and in cats are usually type 2. Dogs will have hypothyroidism while hyperthyroidism is more specific to cats. Pocket Pets Dr. Michelle Hessell at WellPet cares for pocket pets such as rabbits, ferrets, gerbils and guinea pigs. Some of the curve balls rabbit owners should look out for result from some of them having continuously growing teeth that must be filed down if they don’t wear correctly. Rabbits can also have gastrointestinal problems, while some ferrets develop insulinoma, which is basically the reverse of diabetes (hypoglycemia). Goats Don’t be surprised if you’re in The WellPet waiting room and a pet goat comes in on a leash. A recent goat patient was in a rough state after having a difficult birth, called dystocia. “That poor girl had some pretty extensive damage to her uterus, so

these advances in care. X-rays at WellPet revealed that the needle was still in his stomach. “We gave the owners the option of taking him to our partner, Veterinary Emergency Group, which has an endoscope. We prepped the dog so when he arrived there, the vets could grab the needle with the scope,” she said. Other Issues with Dogs Sometimes cancer doesn’t immediately present itself, so the vets dig deeper into what symptoms are being presented. What initially looked like dental disease because of drainage in the mouth of a Labrador Retriever took a different turn when his muscles started to atrophy. Dr. Bowling sent him for a CT scan, which showed a tumor that was creating the drainage. A curve ball during a canine dental procedure could be finding a broken tooth that likely was the result of chewing on something hard. Unfortunately, the tooth has to be removed in most cases. Cats Cat fights are a longstanding threat to their health. Old Leo is a WellPet patient who has lived to tell the tale. However, he almost lost a dew claw and needs to be on stronger antibiotics because of

The WellPet Center Veterinary Hospital 5910 FM 1463 Katy, Texas 77494 Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday: 8 a.m. to noon 281.394.2355 info@TheWellPetCenter.com

TheWellPetCenter.com, Facebook facebook.com/wellpetcenter and Instagram @wellpetcenter WellPet Veterinarians Owners: Dr. Bryan Ping and Dr. David Thurmond Associate Veterinarians: Dr. Cynthia Aswad, Dr. Sadie Bowling, Dr. Andrew Faist, Dr. Michelle Hessell, Dr. Tyler Ping and Dr. Jessica Rivera

Dr. Cynthia Aswad • Dr. Bryan Ping • Dr. David Thurmond Dr. Sadie Bowling • Dr. Michelle Hessell • Dr. Jessica Rivera

FULSHEAR-KATY COMMUNITY GUIDE & DIRECTORY 2023-24 ISSUE 89