Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) is a viral disease that affects cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, swine and occasionally sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas. The primary clinical signs are blister like lesions on mouth, open sores and drooling. The virus can also cause laminitis which can cause lameness or limping in your animal. Humans can be infected when in direct contact with clinical animals. Currently there have been 608 livestock facilities/ranches in the state of Colorado in that have reported active cases of VS. The following are statistics in surrounding counties: Montrose 27 reported locations with clinical cases, Delta 41 locations and Ouray 5 locations. It is a reportable disease which means that if an owner or veterinarian has reason to believe that an animal is infected with VS, the case must be reported to the USDA State Veterinarian at (303) 869-9130. Once the state Veterinarian is contacted, the facility/ranch is put under a two week quarantine period with no movement of animals on or off the property. The owner is required to report any additional cases that may show up in other animals during the quarantine period as the that will extend the time until two weeks from the last report of clinical signs.

The following link has important information on the disease, transmission and clinical signs. Please review the information and contact our office if you have any animals that may be infected with the virus. For more information, click here.

Life has a way of surprising us at times. A random meeting of a veterinarian and an owner with an emergency on Christmas Day which led to wonderful reunion. The veterinarian, Dr. Cotton and her family, spend their vacation time on Cat Island, a remote out island in the Bahamas. This island has a local population of island dogs called Potcakes. These dogs are often born in unusual places as many roam wild without owners. This particular dog had been born in the local dump and she was adopted by a man from Colorado who happened to spend time on this island. The dog, Blondie, and owner spent time near Dr. Cotton's home on the island and many times wandered on her porch and into her house to say hi. The owner and his dog became friends with Dr. Cotton and she and her family would often see them fishing on the North shore in the evenings. Blondie's owner passed away and she was adopted by the owner's sister several years ago.

In February, Blondie came to San Juan Veterinary Clinic for her annual exam since Dr. Cotton had cared for her housemate on Christmas Day. When Dr. Cotton realized that the dog was a Potcake, she mentioned to the technician that that is the local breed in the Bahamas. The technician asked the owner where the dog was from and the owner said that she was born on Cat Island in the dump. The technician told the owner that Dr. Cotton just returned from her home on Cat Island. When Dr. Cotton walked into the room and saw the dog and looked at her name, she remembered her as a pup with her previous owner. It was a joyous reunion and Blondie's current owner enjoyed hearing the stories that Dr. Cotton shared of Blondie and her brother. Many tears of joy were shed by all and Dr. Cotton was very thankful for the opportunity to care for this special patient!

Coco’s story is an amazing one and the San Juan Veterinary Clinic team is pleased to be a part of giving it a happy ending.

A client of ours found this sad little dog—now affectionately known as Coco—wandering around in the middle of nowhere without any collar or identifying features. This sweet animal was a mess, with several masses on its body and mouth and teeth in horrible condition. We performed a wellness exam, groomed her, and did a major overhaul on her mouth.

The client who brought her to us attempted to find the dog’s owner by posting ads in the newspaper and hanging up signs, but no owner came forward. Sweet Coco has now become a happy member of her rescuer’s family. Don’t you love when stories have happy endings? We sure do!

There is a new product, Duoxo shampoo, which has been dramatically helping some of our “allergy patients”. Duoxo shampoo is not like any other shampoo currently on the market! This shampoo helps improve the skin barrier; which is the underlying reason the patient is responding abnormally to the environmental allergens.

Frequent bathing can lead to a much improved skin barrier, resulting in a dramatic improvement in allergy symptoms and quality of life!

Our team would like to thank everyone who joined us for our pet photos with Santa event! We had a great time, and we invite you to check out some of our photos in the gallery below:

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