Happy stories!
Jan. 21st, 2014 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estelracaSo I promised some happy stories once upon a time (and I need to remember some), so here's a few:
Cornbread is a 5 year old pit bull who loves the world and everyone in it (and has an awesome name). Cornbread came in for vaccines, and during the routine questions (is she eating normally, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) it came up that she hasn't quite been herself for a week. One x-ray and a quick ultrasound later and we have a definite pyometra--a uterine infection common in intact female cats and dogs. As awesome as them not bleeding once a month is, the downside is that their uterine lining will build up if they're not having pups/kittens on a regular basis, and 25-30% of older intact females will develop an infection that leads to a pus-filled uterus. If the uterus ruptures, it usually results in sepsis and death (because an abdomen full of pus is bad). Cornbread's owner just told me to do whatever I needed to do, so we had her in surgery and fixed up within three hours of presentation. I love it when I can just figure out what's wrong, fix it, and go from an animal with life-threatening illness to one who's doing great. (Also, this is one of the reasons we recommend spaying, the other being the 30% risk of breast cancer in intact females. We don't just want money, promise.)
Cuddles is a kitty with hepatic lipidosis, a condition where the liver gets plugged up with fat that's been mobilized too rapidly (in this case it's because Cuddles got bullied by her sister while the owners were gone and didn't eat). It starts a vicious cycle where because the liver isn't doing well the cat doesn't feel good and doesn't want to eat, thereby leading to more fat being mobilized and the liver getting worse etc. The best treatment is to put in an esophageal feeding tube to deliver set amounts of food with the proper nutrition directly to the stomach, and I did it. It's not a terribly hard surgery, but it's the first time I've done it all alone, and it's the first time an owner's actually let me do it. Now Cuddles is doing well at home and I've got my fingers crossed she'll live--and even if she doesn't, I've at least given her and her owner some good, happy days in each other's company.
Ruger is an 8 week old 5 pound puppy who thought the best game in the world was following behind his owner and licking up the carpet cleaner she put on the floor. The carpet cleaner contained a large amount of isopropanol, which is basically like super-ethanol. Ruger presented during lunch very wobbly and retching and basically drunk out of his little puppy head. This type of toxicity can be life-threatening, so I hospitalized Ruger on IVs, got activated charcoal in him to help absorb any remaining isopropanol in his GI tract, and then got to send him home the next day as a happy healthy bouncy puppy who will hopefully not eat carpet cleaner again.
Just a few stories to show that puppies are adorable and stupid and my job is sometimes pretty awesome.
Cornbread is a 5 year old pit bull who loves the world and everyone in it (and has an awesome name). Cornbread came in for vaccines, and during the routine questions (is she eating normally, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) it came up that she hasn't quite been herself for a week. One x-ray and a quick ultrasound later and we have a definite pyometra--a uterine infection common in intact female cats and dogs. As awesome as them not bleeding once a month is, the downside is that their uterine lining will build up if they're not having pups/kittens on a regular basis, and 25-30% of older intact females will develop an infection that leads to a pus-filled uterus. If the uterus ruptures, it usually results in sepsis and death (because an abdomen full of pus is bad). Cornbread's owner just told me to do whatever I needed to do, so we had her in surgery and fixed up within three hours of presentation. I love it when I can just figure out what's wrong, fix it, and go from an animal with life-threatening illness to one who's doing great. (Also, this is one of the reasons we recommend spaying, the other being the 30% risk of breast cancer in intact females. We don't just want money, promise.)
Cuddles is a kitty with hepatic lipidosis, a condition where the liver gets plugged up with fat that's been mobilized too rapidly (in this case it's because Cuddles got bullied by her sister while the owners were gone and didn't eat). It starts a vicious cycle where because the liver isn't doing well the cat doesn't feel good and doesn't want to eat, thereby leading to more fat being mobilized and the liver getting worse etc. The best treatment is to put in an esophageal feeding tube to deliver set amounts of food with the proper nutrition directly to the stomach, and I did it. It's not a terribly hard surgery, but it's the first time I've done it all alone, and it's the first time an owner's actually let me do it. Now Cuddles is doing well at home and I've got my fingers crossed she'll live--and even if she doesn't, I've at least given her and her owner some good, happy days in each other's company.
Ruger is an 8 week old 5 pound puppy who thought the best game in the world was following behind his owner and licking up the carpet cleaner she put on the floor. The carpet cleaner contained a large amount of isopropanol, which is basically like super-ethanol. Ruger presented during lunch very wobbly and retching and basically drunk out of his little puppy head. This type of toxicity can be life-threatening, so I hospitalized Ruger on IVs, got activated charcoal in him to help absorb any remaining isopropanol in his GI tract, and then got to send him home the next day as a happy healthy bouncy puppy who will hopefully not eat carpet cleaner again.
Just a few stories to show that puppies are adorable and stupid and my job is sometimes pretty awesome.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-21 11:07 pm (UTC)Very glad that you got to take them all and saved some lives. Showcasing the cute and stupid all over.
And all I can think of is Grantaire as a puppy.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:21 pm (UTC)Ruger would be a very cute R-puppy.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-21 11:12 pm (UTC)Ruger reminds me of RPuppy. I can see RPuppy being very drunk and silly.
Thank you for sharing. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:22 pm (UTC)Ruger would make a very good R-puppy. Drunk and silly and not understanding why the humans are all being so MEEEEAN and putting things in his arm but oh there's food food is good maybe humans are nice still.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 01:11 am (UTC)Speaking of, he loves to play in the snow, but he hates having to squat down in it to do his business. Poor baby!
no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:23 pm (UTC)Snow is COLD. I do not blame puppies who are like "but but HUMANS do you want to pee in that?".
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 04:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-24 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-25 09:25 pm (UTC)