Success Stories

Home is where the health and healing happens!

We celebrate your pets success stories, because our patients health is not only our top priority, but something that needs to be recognized.

Happy Spring 2023!

Cheers to the beginning of May! We can start this month with nothing less than a happily ever after. Claurice was a foster cat and came unknowingly pregnant to her foster home. No one wants to hear that their sweet mother cat has been diagnosed with a dystocia (meaning a difficult birth, typically caused by a large or awkwardly positioned fetus). Clarice, the very attentive mom of two kittens already, presented with an additional two kittens still in utero after trying to give birth all night. Dr. Lockhart rushed her to surgery (after performing an exam and ultrasound, of course), where he quickly delivered the two unexpectedly healthy kittens via c-section. Long story short, Clarice and her four kittens are happy, nursing, and doing well! Clarice was also spayed during surgery, so she never has to endure these kinds of difficulties again.

December’s Success Story! (2022)

Angel, the sweet, adorable, white bully, presented to us with a very swollen abdomen. Already spayed, we knew being pregnant was not on her list of worries. After a few diagnostics, it was unfortunately clear that Angel had a large splenic mass. While her odds of a successful surgery were in the air due to her current condition, Dr. Lockhart felt confident that performing a splenectomy would be her best chance at living a longer and better life. As soon as her owner signed for surgery consent, off she went to our surgical suite where Dr. Lockhart ended up performing a smooth surgery. At the end of it all, the spleen itself came in with a weight of over four pounds! After surgery, Angel weighed much less but felt immensely better. She will have a couple weeks of recovery and an unknown lifespan, but for now, she is one happy pup that went home with her very happy owners! We are grateful to have been a helping hand for her family.

November’s Success Story! (2022)

Huncho, the happiest of boys, presented with symptoms similar to those of a case for a foreign body. He was suffering from vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and slight lethargy. After performing radiographs, it was soon discovered that Huncho did appear to have a foreign body, meaning something was stuck inside of his digestive tract. With bloodwork running and the owner signing surgical consent, Huncho went into surgery with expectations of us finding pieces of dog toy, socks, garbage, or even underwear! But to Dr. Lockhart’s surprise, he found a cecal inversion, which basically means the large intestine was turning in on itself. What looked to be foreign material, was really intestines eating themselves, which called for a different procedure. Dr. Lockhart now needed to perform a cecum resection on Huncho in order to make him feel better. Stressful but successful, Huncho was soon on his way to recovery and back to his owner. We recently rechecked Huncho and removed the staples from his incision, and what an incredible difference! All tail wags and smiles, we are proud to see how Huncho has recovered and is back to his normal self. We are thankful for Mr. Louis to have entrusted with Huncho’s care!

April’s Success Story!

Meet little Beanz! Mr. Beanz presented to us extremely lethargic, not wanting to eat or even move. Luckily, the new owners who picked up Beanz in this condition knew to call us first! Directly upon initial investigation, he was found to be infested heavily with hookworms. While hooksworms can be easily treated, the amount of hookworms that Beanz had were life threatening, causing him to be diagnosed with something called Hookworm Anemia. Hookworm anemia can look like weight loss, bloody diarrhea, lethargy, pale gums, weakness, and ultimately death if left untreated.

Dr. Lockhart called upon a donor-dog that was willing to donate blood to Beanz for a blood transfusion. Fortunately, Mr. Ewers with Beta, the very friendly bully, was willing to step up to the job! Because of Beta’s donation and our transfusion process/deworming protocol, we were able to watch Beanz pull through and begin a truly happy, care-free life!

Not all puppies are as lucky as Mr. Beanz, but we are sure grateful for cases like these! Below are pictures of Beanz and his hero, Beta.

Wondering how to keep Hookworms out of your dog’s life? Because hookworms, along with heartworms, are so common in Florida, we recommend keeping your pet on a chewable monthly prevention such as Simparica Trio or an injectable such as Proheart 6 or 12. Ask us about your options today!

Among improving the lives of your pets,

Dr. Lockhart and the staff decided to host a Re-Grand Opening Party April 2022!

This party was to not only celebrate the official opening of Pet Care on Highland which Dr. Lockhart so proudly owns, but to celebrate us opening our front door to the public again! Since Covid-19 began, our doors have been closed, making us curbside only for the past TWO YEARS. We wanted to make opening our building to our wonderful clients a four hour event. Complete with Shedrick’s BBQ (an old friend of Dr. Lockhart’s), face painting, raffle baskets, merch giveaways, a bounce house, and MORE! This event was a success among our staff and clients alike. We enjoyed seeing many joyful faces receiving prizes and chatting with Dr. Lockhart himself. You might even see us at the next Lakeland’s First Friday event downtown to spread awareness of our passion to care for your pets.

Monday morning, though, we were back to helping our animal friends!

December’s Success Story! 2021

What a horrible thing to imagine, your cat being hit by a car, but this was the reality for Little Boy’s owner. She immediately called us and rushed him in. Upon further investigation, Dr. Lockhart found Little Boy to have a fractured pelvis and vertebrae. Because of the fractures, the nerve endings to the tail were damaged, resulting in no feeling or movement in Little Boy’s tail. With the owner’s permission, they took him into surgery to perform a tail amputation and what we call an FHO (femoral head and neck ostectomy). The surgery has been a wonderful success and Little Boy even started using his leg the same day! We encourage everyone to get their pet help right away after an accident such as this, because immediate veterinarian attention can make a world of difference in the outcome!