Today was interesting. We had a macaw with a neurological disorder come in, three snakes come in for boarding, various other appointments, and then a silver (I think she was actually brown with an activated dilution gene) Shepherd-type mix come in for what we originally thought was poisining.
I'll start with the macaw because her story is shorter. I wasn't there long enough to find out what she was diagnosed with, but the macaw came to us because she'd been exhibiting the inability to balance and random, uncontrollable shaking of her head for about three months (since the owner got her). She would also take a few steps and fall, take a few steps and fall, etc. whenever she walked. The owners said she could fly fine, but couldn't climb. The bird was quite affectionate but very obviously had a neurological disorder. I'll update when I find out what they diagnosed her with.
Long story short, the owners had a bit of sand—that had mixed with the contents of a busted aerosol can filled with rose insecticide—in the corner of the yard. They have four dogs and none of the dogs seemed interested in the pile. Then this morning, they saw Ashley (the dog) digging through and eating from the sand. She then staggered into the house, layed down, and defecated on herself. They brought her in immediately. When she came in, her temperature registered at 97.5°. A dog's temperature should be around 101°. 99° would be something to be concerned about so as you can tell...97.5° is much too low! She was very cold to the touch. We looked up the ingredients in the particular formulation of insecticide they said had busted in the sand and even checked with a few other sources and found that these particular ingredients would not poison a dog. In the meanwhile, we got a catheter in (it took about six tries between the different nurses who tried because Ashley's blood pressure was terrible! Poor pup.) and started fluids on her. We also put some warm towels on her and placed some warm fluid bags beneath the towels to help get her temperature up. We drew blood and Dr. D ran a CBC on it...there were four values that were abnormally high (I will update with the names of the values after I go back on Friday) which indicated trouble with the kidney and the liver. So Dr. D began to think of alternatives...one of which included that perhaps Ashley was suffering from ethylene glycol poisoning. Ethylene glycol poisoning is what happens to dogs when they eat antifreeze. We promptly called up one of the local emergency clinics to order an ethylene glycol test. While we were waiting for an estimate on the cost of that, Dr. D did an ultrasound on Ashley. He extracted urine from her bladder and in the process discovered that Ashley had ascites (fluid in the abdomen). This meant that perhaps the situation was even more serious than we were already worried it was. Dr. D extracted some of the fluid from the abdomen...it was blood! The blood clotted in a few minutes which indicated that Ashley was still actively bleeding. This is when we called the closest Animal Diagnostic Center. I don't know exactly why Dr. D wanted to send Ashley there but we knew that in order to figure out exactly what was going on with her, we were going to have to do an abdominal exploratory surgery anyway so he called them up. I left around this time, but he had Ashley's owners come pick her up and bring her to the ADC. I really hope things turn out for the better for this pup; she was a sweet, pretty little gal. I'll update when I found out how things went with her as well.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Friday, December 26
Today was extremely enjoyable. While the clinic was relatively slow (the day after Christmas in a Vet clinic can often be that way), I got a bit more hands on and was able to interact with the customers more. It started with a very ticked off kitty who needed blood drawn. Once that life threatening task was over, I shadowed Dr. S in a room with a less-ticked-off (but still not happy) kitty who is suspected to have suffered a stroke. What was interesting is that we had two cases of cardiomyopathy occur today and I've been trying to pull together research on that very disease in order to post my sidenote information about it (one suspected and the other was confirmed as the cause of death). Dr. J performed an autopsy on the second cat and after looking at the heart was fairly certain that he was suffering from heart failure. While sad, it was incredibly interesting to see his heart. The left ventricle was ten times the thickness of the right ventricle! Granted, the left ventricle is supposed to be slightly thicker than the right ventricle but certainly not ten times as thick. Something odd she also noted was that his heart was smaller than it should have been. I'm not completely sure what caused that, but I will hopefully have more information when I go back on Monday. Once she was finished with her autopsy, she allowed me to suture the cat back up before he was cremated. I learned how to do running sutures as well as how to tie knots when you've finished suturing. That was the highlight of my day and also my week! I've now got plans to practice on stuffed animals so that I can prepare for my Veterinary days. I also got to practice drawing blood from the cephalic veins (the vein that runs through the front legs) on about three dogs. I was only able to accurately hit the vein on a larger dog. With time and practice, I'll be able to get the veins on smaller dogs and those wiggly-veined Dachshunds!
Edit: I forgot to mention the other pretty neat thing I saw at the Vet today. Dr. S has a cat that was given to her by some former clients. You see, the cat was an at-risk patient and ended up dying under anesthesia. However, Dr. S was able to bring her back. She did suffer some brain damage and in the beginning, she was blind so the owners didn't want her back. She's no longer blind (Well not totally...she doesn't see very clearly. She can see shadows and general places of where things are, though) but does have some evidence of brain trauma. She swats at things that aren't necessarily there (either that or her depth perception is off) and she gets very, very stressed (very, very ANGRY) and it takes her a couple of days to calm down after she's had to travel. (i.e. to and from the actual vet office.) Well I just thought I would add that because that was an interesting part of my day which built on my experience.
Edit: I forgot to mention the other pretty neat thing I saw at the Vet today. Dr. S has a cat that was given to her by some former clients. You see, the cat was an at-risk patient and ended up dying under anesthesia. However, Dr. S was able to bring her back. She did suffer some brain damage and in the beginning, she was blind so the owners didn't want her back. She's no longer blind (Well not totally...she doesn't see very clearly. She can see shadows and general places of where things are, though) but does have some evidence of brain trauma. She swats at things that aren't necessarily there (either that or her depth perception is off) and she gets very, very stressed (very, very ANGRY) and it takes her a couple of days to calm down after she's had to travel. (i.e. to and from the actual vet office.) Well I just thought I would add that because that was an interesting part of my day which built on my experience.
SIDENOTE: Cardiomyopathy
I did some research on cardiomyopathy and I must say that it is quite an extensive topic. As such, the information I give here will be less in depth than the explanation I gave for gout.
To put it simply, dogs and cats (and other animals as well) can suffer from Cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart which causes it to function improperly/poorly. Boxers seem to have their own set of symptoms when suffering from cardiomyopathy (search: boxer cardiomyopathy). Large/giant breeds of dogs have a higher rate of incidence with this disease (FYI - Doberman Pinchers, Scottish Deer Hounds, and Irish Wolfhounds were commonly named in the articles I read). There are two types of cardiomyopathy that occur in dogs: hypertrophic and dilated. Cats can suffer from three types of cardiomyopathy: hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive. The details listed in this article are brief descriptions of what occurs in dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. For more information regarding either of these diseases in cats or dogs, please visit the links listed below the definitions.
Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form. It occurs when the chambers of the heart increase in size and the muscles that form the walls become thinner.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a rare form of this disease, but occurs when the heart's chamber walls thicken, causing decreased pumping efficiency.
More information on cardiomyopathy in Cats -
http://www.2ndchance.info/cardiomyopathy-cat.htm
More information on cardiomyopathy in Dogs -
http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm
http://www.2ndchance.info/conghtfaildog.htm
SOURCES
Hines DVM PhD, Dr. Ron (2006, 06 24). Heart Failure In Dogs - Congestive Cardiomyopathy. Web site: http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm
Cardiac Diseases of Dogs and Cats. from Pets Health Web site: http://www.petshealth.com/dr_library/cardiac.html
To put it simply, dogs and cats (and other animals as well) can suffer from Cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart which causes it to function improperly/poorly. Boxers seem to have their own set of symptoms when suffering from cardiomyopathy (search: boxer cardiomyopathy). Large/giant breeds of dogs have a higher rate of incidence with this disease (FYI - Doberman Pinchers, Scottish Deer Hounds, and Irish Wolfhounds were commonly named in the articles I read). There are two types of cardiomyopathy that occur in dogs: hypertrophic and dilated. Cats can suffer from three types of cardiomyopathy: hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive. The details listed in this article are brief descriptions of what occurs in dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. For more information regarding either of these diseases in cats or dogs, please visit the links listed below the definitions.
Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form. It occurs when the chambers of the heart increase in size and the muscles that form the walls become thinner.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a rare form of this disease, but occurs when the heart's chamber walls thicken, causing decreased pumping efficiency.
More information on cardiomyopathy in Cats -
http://www.2ndchance.info/cardiomyopathy-cat.htm
More information on cardiomyopathy in Dogs -
http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm
http://www.2ndchance.info/conghtfaildog.htm
SOURCES
Hines DVM PhD, Dr. Ron (2006, 06 24). Heart Failure In Dogs - Congestive Cardiomyopathy. Web site: http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm
Cardiac Diseases of Dogs and Cats. from Pets Health Web site: http://www.petshealth.com/dr_library/cardiac.html
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
SIDENOTE: Gout
I said I would do a bit of research and update with some information about gout. Here it is...enjoy!
Gout is the buildup of uric acid crystals in the body of a bird. It is commonly seen in birds who have been fed a diet that is too high in protein (greater than 20-25%), calcium, or vitamin D-3 or in birds who have been fed a diet that is too low in vitamin A. This disease is diagnosed by a test which reveals high uric acid levels in the blood. Birds develop these abnormally high levels of uric acid when the glomeruli (filters) in the kidneys are not functioning properly.
There are two types of gout: Visceral and Articular (also known as synovial). Visceral gout is when the uric acid crystals build up in internal organs. The organs affected are the liver, spleen, pericardial sac, the kidneys, and the air sac. Birds who are diagnosed with this form of gout do not live very long. Articular gout is when the uric acid crystals mainly affect the joints. Birds with this form of gout live longer but may experience pain and/or stiffness in the joints, which can be treated.
Gout can also be either primary or secondary. Primary gout is when the high levels of uric acid are caused by abnormal protein breakdown, whereas secondary gout is when the kidneys cannot adequately separate uric acid.
The unfortunate truth about this disease is that it cannot be cured. The damage that is done by the time a bird has been diagnosed with gout cannot be reversed. Gout can, however, be treated although treatment will only lessen the pain and/or help the bird live longer.
SOURCES:
Hines DVM PhD, Dr. Ron. "Gout in Birds." http://www.2ndchance.info/gout.htm
Foster, Dr., Smith, Dr., Educational Staff "Gout in Birds: How to Recognize the Signs in Your Bird." http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=571
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feel free to comment and ask if you've got any questions that I haven't addressed in this post. If I don't know the answer, I will most certainly find out and get back to you!
Gout is the buildup of uric acid crystals in the body of a bird. It is commonly seen in birds who have been fed a diet that is too high in protein (greater than 20-25%), calcium, or vitamin D-3 or in birds who have been fed a diet that is too low in vitamin A. This disease is diagnosed by a test which reveals high uric acid levels in the blood. Birds develop these abnormally high levels of uric acid when the glomeruli (filters) in the kidneys are not functioning properly.
There are two types of gout: Visceral and Articular (also known as synovial). Visceral gout is when the uric acid crystals build up in internal organs. The organs affected are the liver, spleen, pericardial sac, the kidneys, and the air sac. Birds who are diagnosed with this form of gout do not live very long. Articular gout is when the uric acid crystals mainly affect the joints. Birds with this form of gout live longer but may experience pain and/or stiffness in the joints, which can be treated.
Gout can also be either primary or secondary. Primary gout is when the high levels of uric acid are caused by abnormal protein breakdown, whereas secondary gout is when the kidneys cannot adequately separate uric acid.
The unfortunate truth about this disease is that it cannot be cured. The damage that is done by the time a bird has been diagnosed with gout cannot be reversed. Gout can, however, be treated although treatment will only lessen the pain and/or help the bird live longer.
SOURCES:
Hines DVM PhD, Dr. Ron. "Gout in Birds." http://www.2ndchance.info/gout.htm
Foster, Dr., Smith, Dr., Educational Staff "Gout in Birds: How to Recognize the Signs in Your Bird." http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=571
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feel free to comment and ask if you've got any questions that I haven't addressed in this post. If I don't know the answer, I will most certainly find out and get back to you!
Tuesday, December 23
Today was my first day at location B. Dr. S told me that the two locations were very different, and she was right! They're run exactly the same, of course, with the same uniform required of techs and that sort of thing but the clients are totally different and as such, the atmosphere in the clinic is different too. The staff are different too, in my opinion - mainly in the way that they seem to be more laid-back. I spent a lot of time with one of the techs today while Dr. S bustled in and out of appointments. I went in and out of rooms with her too but also spent time practicing and learning skills with the tech. I gave an injection of morphine to a dog to prep for her dental. She was an obese, long haired Chihuahua and Dr. S ended up having to pull about four teeth on her. One was a molar. Two she was able to extract manually and two she had to extract surgically. It was neat to watch - I've never seen a surgical extraction before. It was even cooler because the surgical extractions were performed on two molars which had three roots as opposed to just one.
When that was finished, Dr. S did a neuter on a Red Heeler (a red Australian Cattle Dog). That was a lot of fun to watch because I was basically one-on-one with Dr. S. The whole process (suturing included) took about ten minutes...and that was just because she was talking me through what she was doing. Dr. S seems to move pretty quickly without sacrificing quality...there is a lot I can learn from her about efficiency. I know part of it just has to do with the fact that she is a person who is naturally good at multitasking. I'm really enjoying myself here. After Dr. S finished with the neuter, she allowed me to cut open one of the testicles. I asked for permission to do so because I was interested in handling a dog testicle...I've examined large animal repro tracks but never small animal repro tracks (aside from in pictures). Also, I took Reproductive Physiology last semester and became familiar with the anatomy of the testicle so I was eager to do a bit of disecting. I didn't do much destruction, I just removed all of the layers until I was down to the pure contents of the testicle. I examined them, "ooo"ed and "awww"ed and then disposed of them. That was a pretty neat conclusion to the morning.
When that was finished, Dr. S did a neuter on a Red Heeler (a red Australian Cattle Dog). That was a lot of fun to watch because I was basically one-on-one with Dr. S. The whole process (suturing included) took about ten minutes...and that was just because she was talking me through what she was doing. Dr. S seems to move pretty quickly without sacrificing quality...there is a lot I can learn from her about efficiency. I know part of it just has to do with the fact that she is a person who is naturally good at multitasking. I'm really enjoying myself here. After Dr. S finished with the neuter, she allowed me to cut open one of the testicles. I asked for permission to do so because I was interested in handling a dog testicle...I've examined large animal repro tracks but never small animal repro tracks (aside from in pictures). Also, I took Reproductive Physiology last semester and became familiar with the anatomy of the testicle so I was eager to do a bit of disecting. I didn't do much destruction, I just removed all of the layers until I was down to the pure contents of the testicle. I examined them, "ooo"ed and "awww"ed and then disposed of them. That was a pretty neat conclusion to the morning.
Monday, December 22
It's my third day at this particular location and things are going pretty well. I've met most of the staff and I feel pretty comfortable with them. I'm really enjoying this shadowing experience, and I'm considering applying for it again for the summer session. I met Dr. J today so now I know three of the four Vets that work at location A (I'll call this location that I've been at so far "location A"). Today is not a surgery day so I spent most of my time bustling in and out of appointments with Dr. S. What was pretty awesome was that I got to see a liver Dalmatian in person...I knew they existed and have seen pictures, but never saw and interacted with one! The dog had an awesome temperment (although he apparently had a distaste for Portugese Water Spaniels) and seemed to be a great dog. What was sad was that he was having some health issues - he had a cardiomyopathy. [SIDENOTE: I will update and explain what cardiomyopathy is after I do a bit more research on it. What I do know, however, is that there is a pretty high death rate if your dog suffers from cardiomyopathy.] Anywho, that was a highlight for my day.
We also had two euthanasias that day. One was a bird that had gout. [SIDENOTE: Again, I will update when I do a little more research on gout. What I remember from what Dr. S told me is that gout cannot be cured/treated and so pets must be euthanized when diagnosed with gout...I hope I remembered that right] The other was a hamster that came in for a surgery. The hamster was a patient of Dr. D's so I'm not sure what was wrong with him when he came in, I just know that he hadn't had any food or water for a few days. Dr. D and the tech tried to give the hamster some fluids before he went under for surgery but he was just too far gone and went into shock. He was bleeding internally and vomited a bit of blood I think so Dr. D called the family and let them know that it would be better to euthanize.
We also had a pretty neat gray Great Dane come in. She was an older dog but quite pretty and very well mannered. She'd split her toe open so I got to watch Dr. S suture it back up. That was neat, but I'd been standing for so long that I began to get light headed so I had to squat on the floor and rest my head between my knees for a few moment to get the blood circulating to my brain again...haha.
We also had two euthanasias that day. One was a bird that had gout. [SIDENOTE: Again, I will update when I do a little more research on gout. What I remember from what Dr. S told me is that gout cannot be cured/treated and so pets must be euthanized when diagnosed with gout...I hope I remembered that right] The other was a hamster that came in for a surgery. The hamster was a patient of Dr. D's so I'm not sure what was wrong with him when he came in, I just know that he hadn't had any food or water for a few days. Dr. D and the tech tried to give the hamster some fluids before he went under for surgery but he was just too far gone and went into shock. He was bleeding internally and vomited a bit of blood I think so Dr. D called the family and let them know that it would be better to euthanize.
We also had a pretty neat gray Great Dane come in. She was an older dog but quite pretty and very well mannered. She'd split her toe open so I got to watch Dr. S suture it back up. That was neat, but I'd been standing for so long that I began to get light headed so I had to squat on the floor and rest my head between my knees for a few moment to get the blood circulating to my brain again...haha.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, December 19
Today was my first day to actually shadow Dr. S, who I am assigned to. It was also a very busy day at the clinic, which means I got to see her in action! I must admit, it was pretty neat. But I think that woman has more multitasking skills than I could ever hope to have. She moves very fast paced and at times I was literally skip-stepping to keep up with her. It made things interesting though. I really like the way Dr. S interacts with her clients. She's very personable and makes them feel at home and comfortable...she's the sort of Vet I would like to have. She gets to know them and their families and has just the right amount of balance between business and personal relations. It makes you want to come back, which is good for your pet and good for her! Fridays are surgery days at this clinic (she and her husband own two) so I got to watch her perform a neuter and prep for a dental in my time there. There is also a tech there who is a first year Vet student so she got to scrub in and Dr. S explained in detail how she performs her neuters so I got to listen in while I monitered TPR on the dog (temperature, pulse, & respiration). Overall, I had great fun and became MORE excited (if that's possible) about my lifelong dream of becoming a Vet!
Thursday, December 18
Today was my first day to shadow. Dr. S ended up not being there because she had a doctor's appointment, so instead I shadowed Dr. D for the day. I had a great time with an interesting case. Early in the day, things were slow so I spent time talking with Dr. D and looking through some of the textbooks they've got in their "mini-library." I also gave a couple of injections which really isn't anything new to me - one subcutaneous (sub-q) and one intramuscular (IM). The sub-q injections were vaccinations and the IM injection was morphine I believe. Then later in the day, a 17 year old potbelly pig came in. He was severely underweight and had stopped eating (hence him being underweight). He also had two abscesses on his lower lip. [SIDENOTE: An abscess is an area where pus is collecting due to an infection in the tissue] We knew we were going to have to look at his mouth and we knew it was going to be bad...but it turned out to be HORRIBLE. For starters, one of his teeth had grown up out of his mouth and THROUGH one of the folds in his face. Once inside, the first tooth Dr. D pulled out was a tusk...which is NOT supposed to be loose enough to come out in the first place, much less as easily as Dr. D was able to pull it out. He did get a lot of good pictures for studying purposes, though. While probing the mouth he also discovered that one of the abscesses went clear through the pig's jaw. After pulling about five or six teeth and discovering that his other tusk was loose, Dr. D decided it would be inhumane to keep the pig alive what with the poor condition of his mouth so they ended up euthanizing him. I wasn't there for the euthanasia though, I left a little while earlier. I was told that when the pig woke up, he was in a lot of pain and just kept squealing so it was decided that it would be better to put him out of his misery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
