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.