With the wide variety of people advertising their ability to help you with your dog’s behavior concerns, it can be difficult to know where to find the appropriate help. Here are some tips on when to seek out a trainerRead More
Rascal’s Corner on Generation Wags
Michelle Gonzalez, DVM, MS shares insight and professional perspective on a wide range of pet health, pet retention, and rescue crisis issues.
Rascal’s Corner is being hosted by GenerationWags.com as we believe Dr. G’s experience and broad range of veterinary combined with rescue related issues is of great value. The opinions and advice are being presented solely as those of Dr. G.
Dr. G Talks about her new blog!
About “Dr. G”
Michelle Gonzalez (Aka. “Dr.G”) graduated from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999 and completed an Internship in Small Animal Medicine, Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Missouri – Columbia in 2000. In 2006, she founded the Rascal Unit, a low-cost mobile veterinary hospital created to provide sterilizations and wellness care to animals throughout the State of Ohio. In 2011, she opened the Rascal Animal Hospital, an AAHA Accredited veterinary hospital providing affordable wellness, surgical, and emergency care. In 2016, Dr.G completed a Graduate Certificate in Shelter Medicine and in 2017 earned a Master’s Degree in Veterinary Forensics from the University of Florida. Dr. G is the Director of Rascal Charities, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization that helps provide financial assistance to pet owners in need, and assistance to rescue groups and organizations with cruelty and neglect cases. Her primary goal is to increase pet retention and decrease animal euthanasia by providing affordable pet ownership and education.
Declawing: Why I Don’t Do It and Why I Hope You Don’t Either
When I was in High School (1990), I started working at a small animal practice. I had no previous experience in veterinary medicine other than the few minutes a year when we took our dogs in for check ups orRead More
Pain as a Form of Exercise Restriction
In practice we often hear people say “I did not give kitty the pain meds because he did not look like he was in pain” or “I did not give puppy the pain pills because I didn’t want him toRead More
When Trying to Save Money on Pet Care Costs You More
As a high volume general practitioner and emergency veterinarian, we see different problems at our office ranging from minor injuries to life threatening emergencies. At least half of our clients are either rescues or individuals experiencing financial difficulties, and becauseRead More
Preventing GDVs: The Benefits of Tacking your Pet’s Stomach
Most people are not familiar with the term Gastric Dilatation Volvulus, or GDV, but most dog owners have heard of the term bloat or stomach torsion. For those who are not familiar, or those who need a refresher, GDV isRead More
“It’s All About the Money!” Behind the Cost of Pet Health Care
A common concern or complaint we hear from pet owners and caretakers is the cost of pet health care. People often complain about the costs involved in everything from wellness care to sick and emergency care. I own a low-costRead More
Emotional Support Dog or Emotional Support for a Dog?
The term Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is becoming quite popular. An ESA is an animal, usually a dog, that provides companionship, relieves loneliness, and helps with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias (ADATA.com). These animals do not require training or theRead More
Fireworks and Fearful dogs
Thank you to Maggie O’Brian, DVM of Rascal Animal Hospital for this guest article! July 5th is said to be the busiest day of the year for animal shelters across the country. This is presumed to be due toRead More
Are Rabies Vaccines for Feral Cats Different Than for Owned Cats?
NBC channel 8 in Hillsborough, Florida, made an investigative report last August called “Rabies immunization procedure different for pets and feral cats in Hillsborough”. They were looking into why there are different protocols for Rabies vaccination for feral and ownedRead More
Rescue Burnout: What is Causing Rescuers to Stop Helping Animals?
I have been seeing post after post on social media about animal rescues shutting down or people leaving rescues, either in search of a different group, to create a new group, or to get away from it completely. Many rescuersRead More
Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Thank you to Maggie O’Brian, DVM of Rascal Animal Hospital for this guest article! Separation anxiety is a common behavior problem seen in our canine companions. Certain dogs, whether due to genetics, lack of early socialization, or life experience, willRead More
Pet Lumps and Bumps: The Importance of Biopsies and Why You Want to Know
At our practice, we remove anywhere between 5 – 8 lumps and bumps on an average week. These are submitted for biopsy so that a Board Certified Pathologist can give us information about the lump. Occasionally a pet owner willRead More
Pet Dental Health: The Importance of a Healthy Smile
Did you know that dental disease is the most common medical problem affecting dogs and cats in the U.S.? According to the American Veterinary Dental College (www.avdc.org) most dogs and cats have some degree of dental disease by three yearsRead More
Feline Heartworm Disease: It’s Not Just a Dog Problem
The last two articles discussed the impact of heartworm disease in shelter dogs and the financial impact to dog owners. We also talked about how the disease is transmitted and the importance of year-round heartworm prevention. But did you knowRead More
Heartworm Disease: Can You Afford Not to Prevent It?
A few days ago, we discussed the impact heartworm disease has on the rescue community. But how about we talk about the impact that it has on the dogs and their owners? By understanding the health issues that result fromRead More
Heartworm Prevention: It’s Not Just About Your Dog’s Health
Imagine being a shelter dog. Sometimes you are set up for failure from the beginning. You are scared, in a strange environment, surrounded by strange dogs and strange people, and trapped in a cage or kennel most of yourRead More
Rescue or Hoarder? When We Can’t Say No Despite Our Limitations
I just read a very insightful article about “over-rescuing”. It describes the different reasons an individual may fall in the trap of taking in too many animals. How could you not? With social media sharing so many animals onRead More
Things That Animal Professionals Hate to Hear: The Truth About Garlic
Buddy, a very sweet Labrador Retriever, came to us for examination and vaccines. During the exam, when I went to look in his ears, he screamed and pulled away. Very gently I raised his floppy ear to find a severeRead More