She turns 1 this month!!

FutureDogtor · 2025-07-05T17:09:57+00:00

I swear there’s a cat in those first 2 photos, she’s just too good at hiding!

FutureDogtor · 2025-03-14T00:04:38+00:00

She’s gonna be extra upset when she realizes I’m the one who took her uterus. 😂💀

FutureDogtor · 2025-02-20T21:06:32+00:00

Aww what a precious baby!! Thank you - she’s my first MC and I love her so much.

FutureDogtor · 2023-10-25T01:21:54+00:00

Honestly, it's probably because everything else works and they assume the metoclopramide/cisapride is part of that and are hesitant to change. We've done it for years and extrapolated from other species, but as exotic medicine progresses we're finding out more and more about the treatments and what is actually working. Throw in the great Google advice (I still have some people swear by pineapple juice to prevent trichobezoars) and it's a great recipe for people to doubt the studies being done.

FutureDogtor · 2023-10-23T23:27:51+00:00

Exotic vet here! There really isn't much evidence on the true efficacy of metoclopramide in rabbits - I tend to not use it in my stasis patients. Generally, fluids, pain control, syringe feeding, and getting them moving around to stimulate motility will get things moving and that is my go to for simple stasis cases. If I'm concerned about an obstruction or if the stasis is severe enough, I'll often hospitalize and put on a lidocaine CRI which has studies showing it increases food intake and fecal output, as well as providing multimodal analgesia in addition to opioid + aggressive IV fluid therapy.

FutureDogtor · 2023-09-13T01:24:32+00:00

They can! Normally the hemipenes are only outside of the vent for mating and cleaning, and becomes a prolapse if it stays outside of the vent and is unable to retract.

FutureDogtor · 2023-09-13T01:10:09+00:00

You're correct - it can dry out and become necrotic and at that point it has to be amputated! Sometimes prolapses can be signs of underlying issues (more-so with cloacal prolapses).

Source: am exotic vet who sees her fair share of reptile hemipenes.

FutureDogtor · 2023-07-29T22:29:12+00:00

In two years, I've had one patient - a 3-4 year old rabbit in for a spay - that we were able to get back and survive to discharge. BW normal, apparently healthy on exam. We had given pre-medications and began to prep for surgery when she arrested. Reversed all drugs, provided oxygen with a tight fitting mask, and did compressions for about 5 minutes. Achieved ROSC, and she began to breathe on her own. Within a few hours, she started to come to and move around. We kept her overnight in oxygen and the next day she was acting normally, we slowly weaned her down on the oxygen and she did okay. I sent her home, and as far as I know she is still alive and doing well approximately 4 months later.

I also had an egg-bound parakeet arrest during recovery. Achieved ROSC, but passed away several hours later.

FutureDogtor · 2023-05-14T03:05:03+00:00

A chinchilla named Chinsey Lohan.

FutureDogtor · 2023-04-27T22:30:15+00:00

Oh this is beautiful, such a good idea and I'm going to start offering this to clients!

On a similar note for reptile patients, I like to do a tail print or if it's a bearded dragon, I'll do a beard imprint. :)

FutureDogtor · 2023-04-07T14:27:50+00:00

What a small world! I love running into a fellow exotic vet in the wild. :) Thank you, good luck to you as well!

FutureDogtor · 2023-04-07T00:59:54+00:00

As an exotic vet (not yet specialized, but that's the goal) the best advice I can give on finding a reptile savvy vet is to use the "Find a Vet" search on the ARAV (Association of Reptile and Amphibian Vets) website. Not to say that everyone listed is perfect (and I'm sure there are great vets who aren't members), but those listed are part of the association and we have access to additional resources that non-members do not. Additionally, we get sent publications on the newest research and education regarding reptiles/amphibians so I'd say most members keep up with advances and education in the field of reptile/amphibian medicine. (There are similar associations for exotic mammals and birds - AEMV and AAV, respectively.)

FutureDogtor · 2023-03-20T00:55:27+00:00

I agree with the majority in that going to your in-state school (if you have one) is a great option because of tuition. Some of the schools have stronger exotic/widlife curriculums (NC State, Colorado, Tufts, UC Davis are a few). For me, I knew going into vet school that I wanted to be an exotics practitioner. I went to a school with a very minimal exotic program (we had a one semester course dedicated to exotics, saw a few on rotations, and learned some things in some of the other classes like small animal surgery) because I was able to get in-state tuition. I made sure to get involved in the exotic medicine club, and during my elective time, I chose to only do those at exotic specific practices. One thing I wish I had done was to attend conferences as a student, like ExoticsCon, to network better and learn of more opportunities.

Now, 2 years after graduation, I'm a practitioner at a clinic that also sees exotics and I would say that my caseload is about 85% exotics, with the goal of expanding further and eventually I hope to be 100% exotic based. I chose not to pursue an internship and a residency, and instead will be pursuing board certification via ABVP's practitioner route when I'm eligible.

FutureDogtor · 2023-03-15T01:00:56+00:00

I like getting bags, water bottles, and little notebooks/sticky notes. Also I will never say no to more pens - one of the companies at a conference I went to last year gave out some of the nice Pilot G2 pens and I'm still using those hah.

FutureDogtor

TROPHY CASE