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.........

Oh yes, I took the picture!

These pictures were taken in the name of science.

Many people don't know that intact male cats have barbs on their penises. They are supposed to have two purposes. One is to induce ovulation in the female cat and the other is supposedly to scrape sperm from other male cats out of the female's vagina.

For veterinarians, there is another purpose. If there are no barbs on the penis, the cat has been castrated. I know it is generally very easy to tell if a cat has been castrated (just lift the tail). I have run into a couple cats that had been adopted as neutered males but it turned out they were bilaterally cryptorchid (the testicles were still in the abdomen).

Ear polyps

One of my feline patients has been having bad ear infections recently. It is pretty uncommon for a cat to have chronic ear infections so I advised her owners to have her anesthetized for a proper otoscopic examination (this cat had a very sore ear so there was no way to do it awake without significant pain).

Today we did the scheduled general anesthetic and I was in for a surprise. She actually had a polyp stuck in her tympanic membrane! These masses have three general causes: inflammatory polyps, nasopharyngeal polyps or cancer. Regardless, the obstruction causes secondary infections since normal wax migration is stopped.

The picture is one I found on the web as I wasn’t able to get one myself. Just like the one I dealt with today, it was attached to the tympanic membrane. There was a significant amount of purulent material around the mass.

It required a significant amount of suction, patience, swearing and manipulation to get it out. Flushing was done using saline as it is safe to cross a ruptured tympanic membrane and panalog ointment was placed as the topical antibiotic.

When a tympanic membrane is ruptured, some of the side effects can be a head tilt, pain and walking in circles. I had to wait until she was fully awake to find out if I had done the rupturing or if the membrane was already gone. It felt like a very long time before she raised her head, looked me straight in the eye and started to purr. One of the best sounds I’ve heard in a long time. It was amazing to see her so much more comfortable after the procedure.

This is part of the job description?

One of the perks of owning my own veterinary hospital is being able to make the protocols. One of them is to have an exam room dedicated to just cats. It sometimes looks like the cats think they’ve been abducted by aliens. I would like to help them change their minds about the visit.

The change can actually start at home. If the carriers are left out they can’t mean something scary will occur. When you periodically leave wonderful toys and treats in there, the cats will start to anticipate good things and seek out the carrier on a regular basis. The odd time they are placed in the carrier and taken somewhere, they will be more relaxed. A relaxed cat is much easier to examine.

The cat room has toys and a cat tree for them to hang out on. They are allowed to get used to the room by walking around. It is always best to let them go at their own pace when possible. A very important thing is to not shake them out of their carriers. Cats do not like to be treated like salt and pepper shakers. If they won’t come out on their own, taking the top off the carrier is easier.

Ideally, I like to do the physical exams on the exam table but some cats will have none of that. I have done exams on the floor, chair, cat tree, sink and counter. About three times a year I have to do the climb. I get up on the counter and do a complete physical and vaccinations while the cat is on top of the cupboard. They did not tell me about this maneuver in vet school!

Sir Lancelot

For such a young boy, he could already have a movie made out of his life. We were first introduced March 2010. A good Samaritan brought him in to us during a cold snap. As Okotoks has no by-laws on cats, my staff took him in. I was walking from one appointment to another when the formal introduction of “here is Sir Lancelot, isn’t he adorable?” was made.

He soon worked his way into our hearts. A blood test was run to make sure he didn’t have feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency virus. Then we set about to make him a good adoption candidate – neutering, tattoo, vaccinating and socializing. The socialization part was fun. We had a metal kennel so he could interact with people up front; however, he quickly learned to climb up and through to go for his own visits.

He was adopted out shortly thereafter. We were so happy until December, when another good Samaritan brought in a grey tabby. We were surprised but happy to see Lance. He had been hanging out at the gentleman’s house for a week and when it turned cold, brought him into us.

The phone call to his family was odd. The family member who answered didn’t seem excited that he had been found. My staff were told he would be picked up the next day. I was also personally contacted by one of the family members saying their child was not paying enough attention to Lance and they had friends who really wanted him.

You can imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from the Calgary Humane Society the next day. The owners had left our hospital and had driven straight to them. The excuse was “our child is allergic to the cat”. I asked the CHS to keep him on the floor but to let me know when his time was up. Two weeks later I was given the call that he would be euthanized the next day unless I picked him up. I told them to hold him til Sunday (two days later) as I wanted him.

Sunday morning, I headed in to get Lance. I didn’t realize how emotional I was until he was brought out onced the paperwork was finished. The bail fee was $145. I couldn’t hold back the tears. He started howling when he saw me. It only stopped when we were in the car and I put my hand in the kennel. He either rested his head on my hand or rubbed his head on my palm.

You can imagine that I’m a little protective of him. He deserves to be in a home where he will get a lot of love and attention. As much as I would love for him to live in the cat condo with Thurber and Egan, they don’t agree. Yes, he does need a new home; however, the process to adopt him will be daunting. I have promised Lance that I will find him his forever home.

Eager Young Minds

When I got into veterinary medicine, I knew my job description would be highly varied. Yesterday was an absolute blast. . Each year one of the vet schools across Canada host the SCVMA Symposium and this year it was held at the University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine. I was asked to go to USVM for the day to do two sessions on humane handling of cats for the students.

I started by going over some basics of cat development and then we got into the fun part of cat body language. Cats are much more subtle in their signalling so it is our job to learn from them. I have some very neat cases (I could be prejudice!) we could go over. Pictures are definitely worth a thousand words when it comes to figuring them out.

Then we started to practice. What the students didn’t know was that we were going to practice with balls and stuffed animals before they were allowed near the cats. The reason for using the balls was to practice holding animals appropriately when they try to get out of your hands. Wish I had a video of the first student who volunteered. I had her hold the ball while I spoke to describe what I was going to do. As I was part way through, I hit the ball from underneath so the “cat” went running across the room. She didn’t make that mistake again!

Once that exercise was done, they practiced wrapping the stuffed animals in towels. There are a variety of holds for them to practice and I wanted the students feeling comfortable with the technique before using the cats.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect with the cats. I remember the ones we had in vet school and they weren’t the happiest of animals. The UCVM cats were great. They were so happy to have undivided attention, toys and treats. Once the students had perfected a hold, the cats were given treats and/or a small play session then onto the next hold. By the end, we had some of the happiest cats I have ever seen being restrained. I was so proud of the students. They did such a great job and were like little sponges. (Plus, I got a really cute scarf as a thank you.)