Its just a scratch...

*** picture is not of actual pet- similar bruising pattern though***

Timeline: We had a NC ( new client) come in today with a pet that presented with lethargic, not wanting to eat and a 104.3 temp. upon exam we notice bruising and swelling on the upper chest to last rib, with a few "scrape like" wounds with some bloody discharge and general swelling. The O stated the pet got in a fight and pinned a cat about a week ago, around the time the symptoms started. With recommendations of BW, Xray, observation, clotting profile, tick serology and antibiotics the pet ended up going home with Cephalexin and a pen g shot only due to the O stating he could get xrays and such cheaper thru a source. A few hours later the O called stating it seemed the pet was getting worse, we again recommended to get him in ASAP , the O said okay then later called back to cancel. The next day the O came in to get additional meds after the BW was reviewed( again refusing hospitalization) and happen to have brought the dog with. We asked if we could examine the dog to see how he/she was doing- at that same moment the wife ran in stating the pet wasn't breathing! DOA. Couldn't resuscitate. The Dr. DDx( differential diagnosis)of Cat scratch fever. Cat scratch is actually caused by the same bacterium that is transmitted by ticks- Bartonella. Thus the tick profile would have diagnosed the disease. Interesting, egh?

Discussion: What to do when a client refuses service even in the most grave situations? Is that considered "animal abuse" ?

Future:Trying to finish the Feisty Acres Feline rescue newsletter- motivation!! motivation!! motivation!!

Broken Bones and a Broke wallet

Timeline:Has been a busy month between sick pup at home, chem class and full time work. Sick pup got diarrhea after a sudden change in food for a weekend when visiting the parents. Took over a week and a half to correct thru a bland diet of rice, chicken, pumpkin and yougert. THANK GOSH THATS OVER!
Chem is the root of all evil( my calculus teacher would disagree and say he can prove woman are- its right on his wall)
Cases at work have been pretty disappointing.... a lot of cancer, some FeLV cats, and a little dental dz. One case in particular was a 6m MN pup that while playing managed to break his leg. First had issues that the pet came from another clinic that only took xrays( that were basically black with shadows- they messed them up and didnt fess up) and sent them out the door without anything. They then came to us where we had to reshoot, re sedate, and splint. This break was not sitting well so we informed the owners to recheck in 3 weeks and if not healing correctly to do ortho sx. Poor pup and poor owners sx can be EXPENSIVE!( Not to mention they have double paid already for thing having to be done twice now!)

Discussion:how do you handle situations with clients from other clinics that have had poor service with out bashing the other clinic?
Future: The end of the month is when "operation pawprint " with the local girl scouts is taking place. All the spaces are filled an entire month before the event!! Very exciting and scary at the same time. Hope all goes according to plan!

choco bar? toco bar?

Timeline: The other day we had a cat that presented with hyper salivation and vomiting. Was admitted into hospital where the pet was started on fluids, bw done and meds taken-which is not easy with drool running down its face. BW came back fairly normal. Barium series (Barium is a liquid contrast media that appears solid white on xray. Barium is given alone or with food and can increase the diagnostic accuracy of xrays by outlining objects and structures that do not show up on plain radiographs. In addition, taking a sequential series of radiographs can allow the determination of decreased GI motility. Easy to do but takes at least 4-6 hours)- AGAIN nothing. Exploratory sx here we come!
What did the Dr find? a trichobezoar aka a big hair ball that basically stops GI mvmt. 2 days post sx. cat is still not eating- but not vomiting or hyper salivation.... its a step in the right direction!

Discussion: The longer hair varieties of cats tend be the ones with more hair ball related issues- this one in fact was a persian. Unfortunatly this probably could have been prevented with a OTC hairball remedy like laxatone. Do you recommend hairball preventatives?

Future:I am putting on an animal science event for the local Girl Scouts in this area- anything interesting to do with a group of high school girls to get them interested in veterinary medicine?

presenting.....

Time line: this is sookie. our new addition! We saved her from animal services the day she was supposed to be euthanized. score!

Discussion: 105.00 to adopt. 20.00 bed, 35.00 for crate 30.00 for food ish. pets are expensive- she better appreciate life.

Future: no more pets for a long long time.

Degloved by UPS

warning: GRAPHIC.





Timeline: My clinic is considered an emergency clinic and today we had an epic one. Pet Sitter calls stating the pet she was watching just got ran over by the UPS truck. A Pomeranian to be exact.

Pomeranian small then UPS TRUCK

Stated pet was still alive but coming over now. About 10 mintues later we get the pet in our hands and OH MAN. This. is. BAD. Major sedation, Trachtube, 2 cathaters and fluids started. Epinephrine down. Vitals not the best at all. Now what? What do you do with a pet that half of its body was DEGLOVED (which an extensive section of Skin is completely torn off the underlying tissue, severing its blood supply)Unfortunately after 45 minutes the pet didn't make it- the trauma was just too much for his young, little body.The parents said their child was walking the pet and he shuck out of his collar to chase after the truck ( a recently new habit)

Discussion: So is the child at fault. the parent for not tightening the collar enough or the pet sitter who let the child walk the dog?

Future: Moving to the new apartment this weekend- so much to do in 2 days .

A Lucky Rabbits Foot

Timeline: Had a client come in today with a pet rabbit that wouldn't use its back leg for the past day. After a basic TPR and clearly being able to see the foot was as limp as it could be the Owner admitted that the 3yr old son took care of the pet and might have pulled on the leg when the pet was jumping back into the cage. After a nice x-ray and defiantly seeing many bones in the foot broken the O chose to surrender the pet to a technician who knew of a vet that would do it for low cost. That night the rabbit had a pin placed into the food and is doing well!

Later we had another client come in with a pet cat that got ran over by the neighbors car. The pet was not using either of the back legs and was making it quite clear he was NOT happy. With an x-ray we found that one socket was out of place ( look left on the picture above.) and that he fractured his hip( top right ) Dr. tried a few time to put the bone back into the socket with no luck. Unfortunately the pet ( and the Owners pocket minus$ 1600.00) will need surgical correction or the pet will have a major limp for the rest of his life and a LONG recovery.
Discussion: It seems many parents buy small animals for their kids because the are cheap and supposedly easy to care for. I would have to say a rabbit is so fragile that it can cause itself more harm then good in small hands. Or when something goes wrong parents tend not to want to spend $45.00 on an exam of a $4.00 animal.
Future: Off to Hollywood for My great friends " congrats to getting into vet school party" at the end of the month!

My what big Eye(s) you have...

There is always that ONE SURGERY that passes you by. The one when you are at lunch, or aren't scheduled for that day ... maybe you might even be in the building but busy with another pet. Well for me that has always been an Eye Enucleation ( Removal of the eyeball without taking all the tissues around it.) After removal of the eye, the eyelids are permanently sutured closed. Once the hair and whiskers grow back, the appearance of the cat is usually decent.

Well as it turns out... I FINALLY GOT MINE! A rescue cat that came to us - probably from a big tom cat fight ( he sure was a BIG tom cat..if you know what i mean hah!) and that thing had to come out. This is one of three cats in the past few weeks that we had to do this too, must be eye season!

Overall the procedure went well and hopefully he will soon be adopted!

“The best doctor in the world is a veterinarian. He can't ask his patients what is the matter -- he's got to just know.”

Time line:
Case #1:So we normally do not do small animals such as rats, gerbils, guinea pigs etc. But we will on the occassion for existing clients. A few weeks ago we had a client come in with a newl purchased gerbil that his back leg was not "working". Soon to find it the leg was not broken ( and me getting a slight bite on my finger from the bugger) the Dr. deduced it was a neurological disorder. At this point the mother had to make the young daughter aware of the situation- with a few tears for her new friend the O ( owner) elected to euthanize. Now the pet could have lived quite a while with this problem- but you have to think of the quality of life. The gerbil would have gotten his foot stuck in the wheel or the other gerbils might have done some harm as well.
_____________________________Gerbil shirt! ______________________________



Case #2: When vets usually see the smaller animals it is usually due to eating problem because teeth are overgrown. Many times you never have to trim a guinea pigs/rat/ hamsters teeth if the chew on a wood block or wear down naturally. When we get them in it is a pretty simple procedure of just using nail trimmers to cut of the excess tooth since there is no nerves in the teeth. We had a 2 yr old Guniea come in with those exact problems. One tech says its easier to just knock them out with gas ( anestesia) others opt not to due to how poorly these guys do with it. The Dr. elect to go without gas. Pet was doing great until we were completely done and then he goes limp. This guy just might have had a heart attack due to the stress! We immediately put him on O2 and start stimulating him and within less them 10 seconds he is breathing again and fine. That pet is not getting teeth trimming for a long long time!


Discussion:For you future vets out there- are you interested in our small animal population? Any experiences with these little guys?

Future: Bday this weekend and off to Orlando!

Growing Pains

No, not the show- Growing pains are an actual symptom in young dogs that occur in a variety of ways. Today we had a 11 month old pup that presented with painful hindquarters and no major impact occuring.When taking an x ray( after much fighting from the pup and hair stuck all over my face/scrubs/ etc.) Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) presented: This disorder occurs when calcification does not follow cartilage growth. The cartilage continues to grow, becomes thicker than normal, and vessels from the bone marrow are unable to penetrate.




Easy remedy- let the pup grow and leash walk! No major surgery most of the time and a happy, and BIG PUPPY soon to come!

Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored.

Today we had a case of a HBC ( hit by car)....a puppy to be exact. A client of ours called frantic because she found a momma pit trying to herd her just hit puppy off the road. This owner ran out there grabbed the puppy and mom and rushed them to us. The puppy had multiple broken ribs, no response to moving it legs and was barely breathin. Emergency drugs were used, an x ray was taken of his abdomen and the Dr. told us to give him a fighting chance. Unfortunately this puppy did not have much more fight in him and he passed soon after. This is what a puppy this has died looks like. It is not pleasant, it is not nice- it is what it is. This is a clean version- after the blood has been cleaned up, after the wining has stopped.
This is not necessary.

-This comes from people breeding their dogs and not caring two cents for them. This momma pit was owned and had a collar
-This comes from someone OBVIOUSLY knowing they hit this dog in broad daylight and not stopping.
-This comes from people not caring for other living beings around them.

Seeing is not always believing

Timeline: So I have a thing for eyes- and not only mens hah! So it seems everytime we have a pet come in with an intense eye problem ( like this guy to the right- look and the " eye " on the right) it seems the awesome surgery always is scheduled for a day i am not there. Today we had a 7 week old kitten come in with a similar problem with the eye sticking out and now black with decay after rupturing. The Dr. chose to hold of the Sx ( surgery) until Tuesday! Of course this would happen to me. Now am I scheduled to work this day? Why, yes, yes I am- but with my luck they will probably get it done during my lunch hour. Pray to the awesome DVM eye Gods that I will get to see this enucleation.

Discussion: a standard enucleation, in which the eye is removed and the eyelids permanently sutured closed. The animal does not miss this eye psychologically, unlike the owner. This surgery can be performed by general practitioner veterinarians, and does not usually require a veterinary ophthalmologist to perform the surgery. However, there is a second method to remove the eye, which is more cosmetic, called Enucleation and Placement of an Orbital Prosthesis This surgery is performed by a veterinary ophthalmologist. The eye is removed, but just before the lids are permanently sutured closed, a sterile prosthetic ball is placed in the eye socket, and then the lids are sutured closed. This hidden ball (orbital prosthesis) prevents the lid skin from sinking down into the eye socket (which would be the case with a standard enucleation), and makes the pet look like the eye is simply closed.

Future:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/27/272214/261-dogs-confiscated-polk-rescue-organization/c_1/

A Rescue was recently charged with 261 counts of animal cruelty!
The states really need to set more restrictions on who can become animal rescues and have frequent check ups like all other businesses- this is a sad case and should not be happening!

Seizure pets

So here is a post dedicated to my dear Dizzy Devil. Dizzy was aquired from my first vets after being hit by a car when he was approx 10 months old and left on the stairs to die. After major surgery for his hips, major surgery for his head, a neuter and some TLC he came to the Alva Ranch where he has been ever since. A few years ago he had his first Seizure, then the progressivly got more severe and more common. He was then put on Phenobarb ( a common seizure medication). Worked for a bit, then the dose had to be increased, and repeat that a few more times to now he is at 4 pills a day plus another medication called Potassium Bromide. His everyday being has gotten worse-he sleeps a lot, pees uncontrollably and runs into a lot of walls. We are desperate at this point and am willing to try something new. Talking to my vets tomorrow to see what we can do.

Palm trees, ocean breeze, salty air, sun kissed hair.

Timeline:The first three weeks of the new job at Westchase Veterinary have been good. It takes time to get into the routine of things and they use different protocols then what I am used to, but overall doing okay. There have been some bump in communication which caused the "boss man" to question my abilities but I believe this will be sorted out soon enough.

Frankie and I have been searching for new furniture for the new apt. ( yes, we signed a lease!) So far we have aquired an all wood dining table that extends for $20.00 we are refubing it to a different stain so once that gets done it will be awesome! Then a full wood coffee table (There are a few bug friends that we had to eliminate but after a new shine coat it will work well.) for free and 2 side tables for $5.00. So far so good!

Discussion: So, i love thrift store, but have you ever noticed how some... oh say SALVATION ARMY... is EXPENSIVE?! like a table for $200.00 and totally not worth it. Explain how they can get donations and sell them for exorbitant amounts??

Future: SO I am debating weather or not to go for a second bachelors or not. It is an online BS in veterinary management and critical care.I need more credits to up the GPA-But only need 3-4 more classes to apply to vet school. I will be taking my GRE in August. So I think I will decided on the 2nd BS based on my score on my GRE. oh boy!

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”

Sina and I taking last minute bathroom photos!

Time line: 2 more finals left! While I should be studying, I am instead, writing this lovely tale. Brain needs a break plain and simple.
Picked up the grad cap and gown, pack most of my stuff. Do you realize how much STUFF you acquire after living somewhere for so long?! Putting in boxes and figuring out what you need for your next place is even more frustrating. Especially if you are moving in with another person. 2 toasters or one? This or that poster?
Graduation pictures were done with a friend- on a hot, sunny day, with crazy wind action.

Discussion: Locks of Love. Your hair grows, you cut it- then donate it! I recently just donate 11 inches ( to the horror of my mother) to the program. Check it out!!
Hair after the cut!

Future: More interviews. IQ tests. "what if" tests and every other type of test you can think of for a job. Moving on Sunday. Tampa look out!

Spring is God's way of saying, 'One more time!'

Timeline:

So the Ropin in the Swamp went quite well! Not as many people showed due to March of Dimes being on the same day ( darn babies!) but overall things were fun, dusty and had a "horse" of a time!

Graduation is soon approaching and I am getting ansy! Senioritis round two.

Also, it has been almost 3 years since I have been working with Feisty Acres Feline Rescue and I am now having to hand over the reins. This is a difficult task since there is so much that I do, and no one else knows how currently.So I am training my "replacement" having to make master lists,make sure things are done before I leave and cope with the loss of a great past time and close friends.

I have 2, maybe 3 interviews next weekend for jobs in Tampa- one being at the Lowry Park Zoo, another at the USF animal research lab. Wish me luck maybe it will complete my circle of life.

Discussion: I am thinking about getting an Ice Cream maker. Delicious. Homemade. soft serve. ICE CREAMM. I think its a way of the universe to tell me something...keep stumbling across all these FANTASTIC recipes like.. PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM


Future: Graduation is on MAY 1st! Moving to Tampa 2nd.And my roomies just came up with the idea of Bacon Scented panties to attract the guys FYI ( the life of the college student)

Its not the Length of Life, but the Depth of Life

Timeline:
hello! Currently I am in the ads committee for the 5th Annual Ropin in the Swamp team roping event. This is keeping me mucho busy having to handle 3 other students and design multiple ads, fliers, programs and posters!

Got Senior pics done for graduation. it was funny to see the looks on peoples faces when im walking around in a long dress at a park ! believe I am getting bored of them, but the pic opportunities were great!

Went back to Ft. Myers last weekend for the Swamp Cabbage Festival- and it poured rain! /but we still ended up ha!

Went the the local medieval faire- I eating yummy foods and passing out once we got home!

Spring Break has officially started and I was pleasantly surprised to receive a free Taylor Swift/ Kelli Pickler concert ticket. The night was very entertaining while I had a 6 yr old on my lap the entire night knowing every, and I mean EVERY word of the songs!

Discussion:
So a local paper had an editoral printed about the local shamu problem (http://www.alligator.org/opinion/editorials/article_72a748a6-21cc-11df-8e7c-001cc4c002e0.html ) and the way they potrayed it left me appauled! I actually sent in a Re: letter and I felt very proud of myself!

Future:This week we are going camping at Wekiwa Springs in Florida for a few days- Getting back to nature after being stuck in gainesville will be good for the soul.

This is Where Our Hearts Collide

Winter Break is over- and it was full of adventure- Cocoa Beach, Horseback riding in Alva and then up to NC for a week of snowy adventures ( and 11 degree weather!) where Skiing, hiking and bonfires took up Frank and I's time! Now back to UF with 12 credit hours before I retain my little piece of paper with my name on it making me an official "BS 'er".