Meet Thor
Thor came in as a third opinion through one of the rescues we work with. Upon arrival, he couldn’t walk, had to be carried, would cry in pain, wouldn’t eat and overall just felt terrible. He was a bit of a complicated case that was a third opinion and had developed these two bizarre very large swellings on the left side of his chest after his neuter. He was neutered, then developed an infection at his neuter site, then developed these swellings that just kept getting worse. It turns out that he had developed a condition called “Necrotizing Faciitis” or flesh eating disease secondary to an antibiotic he was placed on. The antibiotic by itself didn’t cause it but the type of bacteria that caused the infection post-neuter, Streptococcus, can cause a reaction with this one particular antibiotic that can rarely lead to this flesh eating condition. *This is why running cultures can sometimes be REALLY important when treating infections!* We ended up having to take him to surgery (we won’t go into details), pull him off of the antibiotics, place treatment drains, and we used *Ozonated sterile saline injected through the drains and under the skin into the infected pockets daily until healed. This was done daily for 8 days and by day 8 he looked amazing so the drains were removed and was sent home. We still weren’t sure how exactly how things would look once healed or how much scarring there would be. We saw him back three weeks later and he looked AMAZING! His skin was smooth with almost no scarring. He came in wagging his tail and happy to see everyone.
*Ozonated saline is where we use a special machine to convert O2 (regular Oxygen) to O3 and infuse saline with the O3. Medical O3 can be used to disinfect and treat disease. Here’s a link if you’d like to know more: https://o3vets.com/blogs/latest-blog/the-beginners-guide-to-ozone-therapy-for-animals
Thor on Presentation:
Thor Day of Surgery and During Hospitalization:
Thor at his Recheck:
Meet Scamper
Scamper is a 10 year old Corgi who was seen for acute loss of feeling in his hindlimbs about 3-4 weeks before Dr. Rachal saw him. When first examined, his owners were told he would either need a very expensive back surgery or euthanasia. They just weren’t ready to do that given his spirit and reached out in regards to trying other modalities. When Dr. Rachal first meet him, Scamper was dragging his back legs behind him but did have deep pain present and was in good spirits. A herniated disc (IVDD-Intervertebral Disc Disease) is the typical cause of this condition and there are certain breeds that are predisposed, Corgis being one of them. No one can make promises on recovery but we’re always willing to at least try. Dr. Rachal used a combination of medications (anti-inflammatories, pain meds and muscle relaxers) along with acupuncture. His first visit was April 2023. He will always be on some of those medications and still gets acupuncture about every 3 weeks for maintenance. Today (March 2024), Scamper runs and goes on walks around the neighborhood and chases the cats around the house and happily plays. You would NEVER know looking at him that he was paralyzed a year ago!
Meet CW (Cutesy Wootsey)
This little guy was brought in on emergency after being in a house fire. He had massive smoke inhalation and fire damage to the top of his head, the top of his neck, his eyes and his back legs. His dad was also in the fire and was in the human hospital for smoke inhalation at the same time. CW was hospitalized with us for about a month and needed oxygen therapy, eye treatment, and major burn wound care, including daily bandage changes and eventually surgical debridement followed by further wound care. It was the best day when his mom came to pick him up! Although that may have been far surpassed by the day a couple of weeks later when he came back for a recheck and dad had been discharged from the human hospital. Seeing them both alive and reunited made everything we do worth all the hard work!
CW Mid-Healing
CW the day Mom Picked him up
CW at his recheck with Mom and Dad
Meet Willie
Willie is a male Dalmation who presented with urinary issues in June of 2023. There is a genetic condition that Dalmations in particular can get (Bulldogs too) where their bodies create a specific type of bladder stone called “urate” stones. In Willie’s case, his body had made so many that they had blocked his urethra making him unable to urinate which is a life-threatening emergency. Dr. Newton had to do surgery on him that involved removing stones directly from his bladder (cystotomy) and his urethra (urethrotomy) to get them all out. He was hospitalized for a few days afterward and then sent home once we knew he was urinating okay. Within about a day of him returning home, Willie’s owners called to say he was having trouble urinating again. He was brought back in and over a very short time period ended up needing another emergency surgery-this time because he had developed scarring at the previous urethrotomy surgery site (which although a rare complication, can happen) due to more urate stone development and that lead to another urinary obstruction and a tear in his bladder. He was rushed back in to surgery where his bladder was repaired and a more permanent surgery called a scrotal urethrostomy was performed (this is where a permanent opening at level of the scrotum is made that they can urinate out of with the hope that they don’t block again, even if they form stones in the future). Without these surgeries Willie would not have survived. We recently heard from Willie’s mom in February of 2024 and he is doing AMAZING at home and loving life!
Meet Yoda
Yoda presented for a consult for integrative treatment with Dr. Rachal with a history of disc disease issues. He had already had surgery in the past on his lower lumbar spine and was already on medications. He had a couple of acupuncture appointments and then all of a sudden got worse! He was having these weird episodes of screaming out in pain. These episodes actually went on for quite a while in spite of changing up treatment, changing up medications, taking xrays and running bloodwork. To make things more challenging, the screaming episodes never happened while he was at the clinic. Dr. Rachal had never seen anything like it and the episodes were escalating at home to the point where Yoda’s mom and dad were considering euthanasia. Dr. Rachal deep dived into researching what could possibly be going on (knowing doing an MRI was out of the cards at this point) and managed to get things narrowed down to either a bizarre seizure disorder or a disease called Syringomyelia which is mainly seen in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (of which is part of what he is mixed with turns out). We started treatment for both of these diseases (this involved steroids, Gabapentin, Omeprazole, anti-seizure meds and more). It took a bit for things to kick in but once they did, Yoga was like a whole new pup! All of the screaming episodes went away. This is a long-term management disease issue so he’ll be on most of these medications the rest of his life and he does have disc disease issues that we keep him going along happily with by doing acupuncture and laser therapy.
Yoda Getting Acupuncture:
Meet Ava
Ava came from the animal shelter and has one of the worst cases of Demodectic mange Dr. Rachal has seen. She has a severe secondary bacterial skin infection as well as bite wounds on her back. This picture was taken two weeks ago when her treatment started. We are excited to see her back today for a recheck as we have heard that she is already looking and feeling much better! Follow-up picture soon to come!
An updated picture of Ava after two months of intensive treatment:
Meet Dannie
Dannie was picked up from the animal shelter by Apollo Rescue. She was underweight, covered in scars and bite wounds and very sweet. Since then she has survived numerous life-threatening issues. We first saw her for heartworm treatment. Then, one month later, she arrived very sick and needed emergency surgery for a pyometra (infected uterus) and had two cancerous skin growths removed at the same time.
Very soon after she recovered from her pyometra surgery, Dannie’s stomach twisted and she had to have another emergency surgery for bloat. She is a true survivor and miracle and continues to be a sweetheart and wants nothing more than to cuddle in your lap.
Meet Greyson
Greyson came to us from Apollo Rescue late on a Tuesday afternoon. He had gotten his arm stuck under a fence and the next door neighbor’s dog had chewed it off. He was in shock and had massive tissue damage when he came in. We stabilized him that night and he had the arm amputated the next day. Greyson is certainly a trooper and has grown into a handsome sweet boy and will be traveling at the end of the week to his new forever home in Tennessee. We will miss him very much but are excited for his next phase of life!
Meet Bella
This is Bella with her mom and dad. Bella is 17 weeks old and was in for a spay and declaw surgery. She had a problem with the anesthesia and her heart and lungs stopped functioning. CPR was performed. Bella woke up having problems walking and couldn’t see, which can sometimes happen after an event that causes the brain to be deprived of oxygen for even a short period of time. Bella’s been home for a week now and making a wonderful and fast recovery, in large part due to her mom and dad being so great and working with her every day. Bella is walking and eating and drinking like normal and is slowly regaining her vision. We are hopeful that she will make a full recovery and we all adore her!
A letter from Bella’s mom and dad:
“We wanted a kitten so badly so we went to an animal rescue shelter and there were dozens of kittens to pick from but there was only one kitten there that we couldn’t take our eyes off of and we already fell in love with her. So two days before Mother’s Day 2012 we brought our little Bella Rose home. She has brought us so much joy and love. We would do anything for her. She was only 3 to 4 weeks old so we bottle fed her for a couple of weeks. She is now 4 months old and we took her in to have her spayed and front declawed. She had a bad reaction to the anesthetic and her heart stopped but Dr. Rachal was not going to let our baby die, she worked hard on her and brought her back. It did cause Bella to become blind and she had some motor skill problems at first. We could have just put her down but she is like our own child and we couldn’t and wouldn’t give up on her. She was meant to be here for a reason and is improving every day. She is walking better and is eating her own food (for a while there we had to bottle feed her). We do have to help guide her on finding her food in her bowl but she is getting better with it. She still thinks that her bowl is food as well so she bites the sides and picks it up. She is finding her way around better and better every day and we love her even more than we ever did. We would like to thank Dr. Rachal and her staff for everything ya’ll have done for our miracle kitty Bella Rose and us.”
We at the clinic would like to thank Bella Rose’s mom and dad for letting us be a part of her wonderful journey to recovery as well and being such amazing “parents” to Bella.
UPDATE: Bella is now almost 100% visual and back to normal. She still has some mild peripheral vision loss but is doing wonderfully at home!
Meet Tiger Lilly
Tiger Lilly was found by one of our clients and came in very sick. She was covered in fleas, had severe anemia (low red blood cells) to the point of needing a blood transfusion and couldn’t walk well on her back legs. We, along with her wonderful new owner, nursed her back to health and she is doing wonderful in her new home and is one of the sweetest cats you will ever meet!
“Tiger Lily” is proof that fleas can cause life threatening illness. Not only can they transport diseases, but because they feed off of blood, they can cause severe anemia that, without transfusions, can quickly lead to death. Please keep your pet on a flea and heartworm preventative year around, especially here in the Texas as our winters never get cold enough to stop them from reproducing and being active.
Meet Addison
Addison or Addy as her family calls her. Addy is an approximately 5 year old Shepherd Mix that came to us through Pet Rescue. She had heartworms and an old, abnormally healed fracture of her left front leg and was walking on her left “wrist” instead of her foot. We treated her for the heartworms and once she was healed from that we amputated her left forelimb. Addy is now doing fantastic and runs around on her three legs! We are so happy to have been able to help her get healthy and find a forever home!
Meet Ash
Ash had her first litter of puppies and had a lot of problems afterward. She developed eclampsia-where her blood calcium levels dropped due to the amount of milk she was producing and couldn’t walk well. She also had muscle twitches, which is very common with this illness. On top of that, she had mastitis (inflammation and infection in her mammary glands) as well.
Ash did not look well when we first saw her. We started her on calcium supplementation and antibiotics. A couple of days later she returned. The eclampsia had gotten better (no more muscle twitching and she was walking), but the mastitis had gotten worse, to the point where one of her mammary glands had a large amount of necrotic tissue. We switched her to a stronger antibiotic and bandaged her mammary gland. She returned a couple of days later and we had to surgically remove the infected gland. The photo above is Ash on the day of her suture removal about 2 weeks later. Everything healed up perfectly and she is happy and active and has gained some weight. She looks great!
Eclampsia and mastitis are potentially life-threatening illnesses that can arise in the post-partum period. If you have a pregnant animal, it is important to meet with your veterinarian to discuss proper care during pregnancy, birthing and the post-partum time period.
Meet Indi
Indi is three years old. He came to stay with us for a few days at the beginning of December. He had surgery to remove stones from his bladder a few days before and was still having problems urinating. Before he came here, he had to have multiple urinary catheters placed. He wasn’t urinating upon arrival so another urinary catheter had to be inserted. Once it was removed, he still wasn’t urinating on his own. We were very worried and so were Indi’s mom and dad. We decided to give him heavy sedatives and kept him in a warm, dark and cozy area of the clinic to let him sleep and have time to heal from the surgery and multiple catheterizations. Two days later Indi urinated on his own. He was sent home and has, slowly but surely, continued to improve. We are happy to report that currently Indi is doing great at home. He’s not quite 100% yet, but he gets better every day!
Male cats naturally have a narrow urethra. That means that severe inflammation due to infection or urinary stone formation can often cause them to not be able to urinate. This is a life-threatening condition and can kill a cat in a matter of hours. If you notice your cat having problems urinating or trying to urinate but nothing coming out, they need to be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. If caught in a timely manner and with the right treatment, these cats can be saved and go on to live long happy lives.
Meet Darla
Darla was rescued by Apollo Rescue. She was diagnosed with severe demodectic mange and severe secondary skin infection. We will keep you updated with more photos throughout her recovery.
Even after only two weeks she has greatly improved. This is Darla shortly after her treatment was started. Doesn’t she look amazing!
This is the final result. Darla looks like a completely different dog. She is doing great in her forever home!
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Meet Lucky
What a fitting name for this lucky girl. She was found roaming the streets near the clinic and was picked up by a good samaritan. Lucky was mauled by another animal. When she was brought to us her face was very swollen and she was covered in lacerations and puncture wounds. You could hardly tell she was a dog. ?
Several days after the swelling began to subside her severe lacerations and puncture wounds became necrotic and the skin began to die. Pictured above is the aftermath. This picture was taken after we removed all the necrotic (dead) tissue.
As you can see Lucky has a long painful recovery ahead of her. Through all this she has been the sweetest girl and has not given clinic staff anything but love and affection. We will keep pictures posted with progress of her recovery.
Can you believe its only been 3 weeks since the first time we saw Lucky. Yes, its the same dog!Look at the amazing progress she has made. She has become a staff favorite around the clinic. She is such a sweet amazing girl!
Meet Jasmine a.k.a Matilda
She was brought to us as a rescue from Texas Italian Greyhound Rescue. Her breed is Saluki. I’snt she beautiful. When we first saw Jasmine she was diagnosed with mammory masses, dental disease, urinary tract infection and heart-worm disease. We had our hands full. We started with the heart-worm treatment. Only days after her 2nd dose of medication she became very ill. She began vomiting and having severe bouts of bloody diarrhea.
At one point, the poor thing, was so weak she fell over and was unable to stand for at least 30 minutes. She was immediately brought back to our clinic for treatment. We kept her here in our hospital for several days on a IV catheter. She slowly started getting better, the diarrhea subsided and she stopped vomiting. She is now doing great and is ready to be back with her new family.
Meet Sandy
a very sweet 18 month old Shepherd mix. Sandy contracted Parvovirus. She had been vaccinated twice but because the vaccines were given under stressful circumstances (in the shelter), she did not have a full antibody load. Sandy survived after an almost 10 day intensive care hospital stay. Sandy is walking proof of why it is so important to booster our animals’ vaccines and that even dogs over the age of one can contract this potentially fatal virus.
Meet Knox
Knox is a rescued Basset/Rottweiler mix. While we are unsure of exactly what happened (possibly an embolism or stroke), Knox was rendered blind and unable to walk. Through use of conventional medicine, he has been gradually improving, and is able to get around with his doggy wheelchair. His owners have been very cooperative and patient, and were willing to do whatever he needed to get back to being himself.
After talking to the doctor about his options, his owners decided to try K-Laser laser therapy treatment. While results will vary, his new mom is thrilled with Knox’s progress:
“Knox just went in for his second laser therapy treatment on Monday. His first one was two weeks prior. I go into a lot of things with skepticism on whether it will work or not. After his first treatment, we got home and he was walking around WAY more, than he had been, in his wheelchair. Please note: that he was NOT moving his hind legs while walking in his wheelchair. Immediately, and I’m not exaggerating, after that very first treatment he was using his back legs while walking in his wheelchair. He was still knuckling his hind feet, but he was moving his legs! I could not believe it! He was walking all around the backyard acting happier, seemed to have felt better and was back to his old self. Just being a dog! As of Monday he is still knuckling, but he will lift his left hind leg, while he’s walking without his wheelchair, as if he’s hiking and then sets that leg down with his foot in the correct position. Yes – he’s walking without his wheelchair! His right hind foot is still knuckling, but I have hope after seeing the progress that I’m seeing in his left foot. I am so proud of him and I couldn’t be happier with the results from the laser therapy! We’ll be back again in two weeks for another!”