PEI generosity

It is has been a bit of a roller coaster week and a half. I absolutely love being a veterinarian but I always feel so helpless when there is something going on with one of my Mom's animals.

Last Thursday my Mom had to take her assistance dog, Tag, to the Atlantic Veterinary College for neurological signs (one eye had started to sink into its socket and a tilt to her head). She ended up getting there later in the day and we knew that being able to find her a hotel room was going to be a challenge. It was Old Home Week on the Island and almost all the hotels were fully booked. On her way to my old vet school, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, my amazing office manager, PJ, did some calling around and found her a room at the Garden Gate Inn.

Mom finally gets there and over the next few hours, in between other emergencies being brought in to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Tag was examined, admitted and a game plan was determined. At nine her time, I received a call from the owner of the Garden Gate Inn. Joan Cumming was wondering if I knew when Mom was going to be arriving as she had to step out. Since I hadn't heard from Mom at that time, she instantly said it wouldn't be a problem. She was going to leave a note for Mom on the door telling her to look in the mailbox for the key to her room!! This is an example of the famous Island hospitality. Mom was at the hospital until 1 am and all she had to do was drive up the street and go to bed.

Through a few emails with Joan, we figured out that I'd worked with her daughter, Karen, when I was a student in Truro, Nova Scotia. Karen is an awesome AHT and taught me many things that I still use today. Joan is also the woman who directed me to the dress maker who made my wedding dress. Such a small world!!!

After six long days, Tag was finally able to come home. Mom will be taking her back to the AVC Monday (tomorrow) for the final test. The moment I found out that Tag was going to be going back for an MRI, I contacted Joan. With that kind of personal service, I knew Mom would be well taken care of during this trying time.

If anyone is ever going to be visiting beautiful Prince Edward Island, I would highly recommend staying at the Garden Gate Inn. I know you will be thoroughly impressed with the service. Thanks again Joan, you are an angel!

Yes, there is a Tim Horton's right beside the Inn! Yet another plus for this Tim's addict!

The Other Side

I was recently on the other side of the exam table and I cannot say that I enjoyed it. I had gone home to do a seminar and visit with my mother, Heather Logan. I hadn't been home to visit in about five years so I was pretty excited. My husband, Troy, went on a photography trip with a friend of his to Trinidad. I had one of my girls staying at the house to take care of the dogs. I really didn't expect to have any problems.

I did get concerned when the housesitter texted me to say that Jazzy wasn't eating well. Normally, Jazzy eats with the enthusiasm of a Lab. As she still had a good attitude and was drinking, I advised her to keep a close eye on her. Well, by Sunday morning she still hadn't eaten so I told her to take Jazzy into the Fish Creek Pet Hospital.

It turns out that Jazzy was much sicker than she looked. The bloodwork showed that her kidney enzymes were elevated so she was put on IV fluids immediately. The radiographs did not show any areas of concern. As the day progressed, she was not improving. The next morning an ultrasound was performed and the kidneys were normal. At the end of the procedure, she had bloody jellylike feces. Not a good thing! I gave permission for the specialist, Dr. Clarkson, to go forward with endoscopy. Since she was stable and well hydrated it would still be safe for her to go under general anesthesia. Her esophagus and stomach appeared normal. Apparently, the large colon was a bit interesting. The analytical side of me enjoys interesting cases; however, I don't like being the owner of one!!! The lining of the colon looked a bit angry and she oozed blood more than normal from the biopsy sites.

The phone call to tell me that she was going to need at least two plasma transfusions did not give me the warm fuzzies. The plasma would provide her with the factors of the blood that would allow her to clot better. Three different antibiotics were also started. By the time I got home three days later, she was ready to come home. I got off the plane and the first stop was the hospital to get her.

Not going to lie, I could barely see her through the tears as they brought her up front. She crawled into my arms and I didn't let her go until I got home.
This is one of my favorite baby pictures.

We are still waiting for the biopsy results but it is looking as though she had an overgrowth of bacteria (most likely a nasty type of E.coli) and became toxic from it entering the blood stream. I really appreciate all the staff at the Fish Creek Pet Hospital for saving my baby girl's life!

Dental surprise!

One of my patients, Tazo, was having a hard time chewing her food so she was brought in for an exam. Her 108 (really big upper molar had some gum recession and purulent (abcess material) along the gum line. We scheduled her for surgery.

Well, today was the day. We took a radiograph to see what was going on with the bone around the tooth and to see if there were any tooth root abcesses. I was not expecting to see this picture. The entire back root was gone, as was the bone from infection. It also usually takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes to remove this tooth but it only took half the time. The biggest problem was getting enough gum tissue to cover the sockets once I got all the "debris" out of them.

Here is the after picture with the area sutured close. No more wiggly, painful tooth! Plus, her breath doesn't clear a room out now.

I saw red!

This week, we got a call that an emergency was coming in and they were just a few minutes out. Dog versus horse. That is about as heart warming as reading a Dean Koontz book.

In came Soda with blood coming from the right nostril and the right eye trying to leave its socket. The picture kind of tells the story for me.

Everything was bloody. The anterior chamber (area of eye in front of pupil was full of blood, the sclera (white of the eye) was bulging and the entire eye was being pushed out by the hematoma that was likely bleeding behind the eye itself. The swollen eyelids were basically holding the eye in place.

I was so proud of my staff. We got things happening pretty quickly. Stephanie drove to Troy's clinic to get non-absorbable suture (I only had absorbable), Kelly, PJ, Claire and Caitie got her pre-meded and under a general anesthetic while Jac and Belle rearranged my schedule so we could do the procedure.

The procedure is pretty neat when you don't think about what would happen if you accidently poked the eye with the needle............You basically use the eyelids as the bandage. The eyes stay lubricated and by suturing the eyelids closed, it stops the bleeding. To make sure the eyelids don't rip (well, if you don't like gross stuff, you should have stopped reading sooner!) I used small pieces of IV tubing as anchors. We will remove the sutures in 2 weeks and see what is happening. There is a chance she may be blind in that eye but as long as she is comfortable, that is the most important thing!

Always learning

So, today a lady stopped in to ask about her young cat. Snowflake had chewed on a plant earlier in the week and didn't want to eat much. Luckily she knew the scientific name of the plant - Dieffenbachia. I tried to go onto VIN (Veterinary Information Network) but it was temporarily down. So I hit Google and then asked my receptionist, Belle, to tell the owner to go home to get Snowflake.

It turns out that this beautiful houseplant is completely toxic to cats, dogs and young children. When chewed on, the plant cells release calium oxalate crystal that cause pain in the mouth and skin. There are also toxins that cause swelling and burning in the mouth and throat. The other fun symptoms include hypersalivation and difficulties eating and drinking. In some cases, the throat can close causing suffocation.

Well, our little Snowflake had eaten a very tiny amount and had vomited the little piece of plant. He continued to vomit periodically and had a poor appetite. Lucky though, no issues in the mouth and only a little dehydrated. Even though he wasn't thrilled with the fluids given subcutaneously, he should do very well on the tasty food his Mom can syringe in for him.

The other name of this plant is Dumb Cane because it can render a person speechless (from pain) for a short period of time. Hmmmmm.........

Why do dogs jump up on us?

Why do dogs jump up on us? Why do they do behaviours that we find annoying? Well, the simple answer is that if it has worked in the past to get our attention, they will do it again. Think of the way people normally handle a dog jumping up on them. They tell them to get down, shout, push them down or other more punitive (not recommended) measures. Regardless, they get attention even if it is negative.

Now think of what happens when the rules get changed. One of the best ways to get rid of the behaviour is to simply ignore it. For a dog jumping up, fold your arms, turn your back and walk away. When they stop the behaviour, quietly ask for an appropriate behaviour such as a sit and when they give it, treat, praise and/or play with a toy.

One of the side effects of changing the rules is our dogs will often go through what is called an extinction burst. They will do the behaviour with more vigor in hopes of getting the desired attention. (I once had a Lab X jump into my lap during a consultation when the paw on the lap just didn't work with me.)

A great way to illustrate a point is to get a human example. Yesterday morning, I went to yoga class. Their scanner can be a little touchy with the cards. You just have to get the angle right. Sometimes I would need to scan it a couple of times (kind of like a dog jumping up to get attention). So I walked in with my card ready and swipped it under the scanner. I thought nothing of it as I changed the position of the card, how close or far away it was and kept swipping (extinction burst). Now, I won't embarrass myself by saying exactly how many times I trying. The truly embarrassing part was that the machine was off..........

If you have read my blogs before, you know that Kodak is my special needs dog. Since I diagnosed him so early with his anxiety based aggressive issues, I instituted protocol for deference. He has to sit for all attention, then he gets what he wants. I grabbed a picture of him asking for attention to get up on my lap as I was doing a draft of this blog.

The Itch Factor

When I arrive at work in the morning, I will often have a quick peak at the day’s appointments. This week, I noticed one appointment with a note saying the dog was itchy. No problem. I’ve seen quite a few itchy dogs lately (food allergies, canine atopy, ear infections) so I wasn’t surprised. Well, that was going to change!!!!

I entered the room and found a dog that couldn’t stop scratching and twitching its skin. His owner mentioned that he had been quite itchy for a week and had taken him to the groomers two days ago. She had not seen any improvement after the bathing.

For kicks, I grabbed my flea comb and used it down his back before starting my physical exam. I pretty much became instantly itchy myself. Off came oodles of lice. Then I excused myself from the room and ran for the topical medication to kill them off. The sooner we got rid of them, the sooner he would be comfortable.

Now why am I still feeling itchy?