Jumping To Conclusions

So, I have been out in practice for over a year already (amazing!) and have seen a lot of things from the mundane to the unique to the ridiculous. Some of those things I have posted about on here, and some I haven't. One case I saw about 2 weeks ago is still haunting me a bit.

I was on call on the weekend a few weeks back and got the fateful and strangely typical Sunday evening call: "my dog Cooper has not been eating and has been vomiting for the last week or so." It is amazing how few of these calls you need to get before you start to get a little tired of them. Honestly, you need to wonder sometimes...if it didn't bother you for the last 7 days, why are you worried about it now, on a weekend evening when it will be infinitely more difficult to do a work-up on it than it would be during the week? Relatively simple procedures like blood collection, IV placement, and radiographs suddenly become next to impossible, because I have learned the hard lesson that -- essentially without exception -- people cannot restrain their animals for most medical procedures. It's not a demeaning statement....it is just fact! People think it would be easy to restrain little Fluffy for a blooddraw, but if you aren't trained or experienced in it, forget it!

But before I digress on that subject, lets return to Cooper. After discussing the myriad of issues that could lead to inappetance and vomiting in a 2 yr old Golden Retriever (they are many) and clarifying the clinical signs (will eat treats but not food, sometimes vomits them up, not lethargic, normal drinking/urination, no diarrhea), the owners decided that , yes, they would like to bring him in that evening.

When Cooper came in, I was certainly relieved to see that, yes, he seemed to be a happy, active Golden. Wagging his tail while I examined him from stem to stern and finding nothing particularly alarming, he certainly seemed a happy healthy dog. Given his age and breed, the next step was radiographs to see if there were any obvious signs of a foreign object in his stomach or intestines that could be blocking things up. There really wasn't anything remarkable that I could see.

The next step was bloodwork just to make sure that there was nothing to blame there. I also wanted the firmly establish his hydration status. One would expect a vomiting dog to be at least a little dehydrated, but Cooper didn't seem dehydrated at all on physical exam. However, I wanted to see the bloodwork to confirm that subjective observation. The bloodwork confirmed that he was not dehydrated and didn't have changes in his white blood cells that would indicate any type of specific problem.

Then I looked at his chemistry values......and my heart nearly stopped. The kidney values were higher than my machine could even read. I ran the blood twice to make sure there wasn't something wrong with the machine, though I had run bloodwork on it on a different emergency earlier in the day and had gotten numbers that made sense.

A very long story made very short, Cooper was in acute renal failure, the cause of which we'll likely never know. He may have had access to some antifreeze, but the owners weren't certain. Though his kidney values stayed hugely elevated and his kidneys actually stopped working altogether despite aggressive treatment (he became almost anuric -- he didn't produce nearly the amount of urine he should have, given the liters of fluids I was giving to his through an IV) and he continued to refuse to eat, he still would walk with a wag in his tail and would greet everyone at the clinic with a happy Golden grin. On ultrasound, his kidneys were vaguely the shape they should be, but the architecture was completely destroyed. I sent his blood to another laboratory to make sure that I was getting accurate numbers. What little urine he did have even before fluids was like water, not concentrated at all. Ultimately, he was euthanized, though until the end he didn't look anywhere near as sick as he really was.

Things are not always what they appear to be. Oh how I wish he had swallowed a toy.

The Birds and the Bees

Since I haven't posted in awhile, I thought I would post something on several cases I have seen lately. With the coming of spring and early summer, the number of people curious about reproduction and their pets has increased of late. Following are several painfully true stories about questions and concerns clients have had lately regarding this delicate and confusing topic. Some are certainly understandable. Others are...not. Note: I'm fairly certain all of the following individuals have kids of their own, so I have to assume they have at least a working knowledge of where babies come from.

1. Question from a client asking about spaying her dog: "after this is done, will she still be able to have puppies?"

2. Question from a client that wants to breed her female Shih Tzu with her friend's Yorkie: "Will she ever be able to have purebred puppies if I breed her to something other than a Shih Tzu?"

3. Question from a client regarding when ovulation will occur in his dog: "Will I hear the egg hit the floor when she ovulates?"

4. I asked the fatal question once after vaccinating a man's two beagles, "Do you have any other questions or concerns today?" "Yeah," he replied. "How do I get my dogs knocked up?" (yes, classy individual)

5. I spent a somewhat silly phone call informing a client that, yes, her 5 month old male Maltese would figure out how to do "it" though she was unable to even say "breed" or "mate" or any related word besides "it."

6. Almost a daily occurrence are the giggles and comments elicited from clients as I check their new puppies to make sure both testicles are there.

7. People are always very incredulous when I tell them that cats in heat will remain in heat, more or less, until they are bred. I'm fairly certain they think I am nuts and making things up.

8. People are always incredibly confused by the fact that most dogs will only be able to be bred twice a year, and then not always when it is convenient for them. Again, they think I am nuts and making things up.

9. People are always very skeptical when I tell them that one litter of puppies or kittens can have multiple fathers. Yet again, I am certifiable and clearly delusional.

10. I have determined that it can be really difficult to encourage some men to neuter their dogs, but very easy to encourage women to do so.

Don't sign me up for one of those

Many of you are probably familiar with the amazing variety of "designer dogs" out there. For some reason, mutts of all types are the in-thing, and if you can give your puppies a cool breed name, you can sell them for big bucks. Labradoodles, Schnoodles, Puggles...the list goes on and on. But today, I was confronted with one I hadn't seen yet. A lady brought her new puppy in today for an exam and vaccinations. This pup was a Shih Tzu / Bichon Frise cross. When she filled out the information, she wrote the following in the breed section: "Shibich."

Backyard Birds

Some more common visitors to our feeders!

--Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
-- Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) -- male-- Eastern Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) -- male, the state bird of Iowa
--Grey Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) -- normally very shy, but they have been visiting our feeders daily for the last few weeks. Named for their cat-like "meow" song. They also mimick other bird songs, but the periodic meow gives them away.

Baby Critters!

Here is a list of link about some baby critters born around the world lately:

Baby Hedgehogs in the UK

Baby Giraffe at the Jackson Zoo in Mississippi

Wolf Puppies in Minnesota (make sure you click through the pictures)

Fawn adopted by a Great Dane in the UK

Elephant Calf at Maryland Zoo

All very adorable!

A Week after the Derby

I purposely delayed writing about this year's Kentucky Derby while I waited for the dust to settle. By now, even those who didn't watch the race know that the undefeated favorite Big Brown won the race handily while the second-place finisher, favorite filly Eight Belles suffered an ultimately life-ending injury after the race had finished. The official report is that she broke her two front "ankles" (actually called "fetlocks" or the metacarpophalangeal joint) and had to be euthanised on the track.

The tragedy and triumph of the Derby has once again brought out all those who are against the horse racing industry and those who defend it. PETA has called for the suspension of the jockey, Gabriel Saez, and the forfeiture of the $400,000 purse that the filly won in the race (along with the usual call to end all horse racing). The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) made a public announcement of sympathy for all those involved with Eight Belles and reiterated their dedication to making horse racing as safe as it can be. The trainer, Larry Jones, has publicly defended the jockey and his actions. An online petition has been started to encourage the ringing of eight bells before the start of next year's Derby in memory of the filly. There are even wrist bands now available, the proceeds of the sale of which benefit a horse rescue organization.

There are many questions about the racing industry being raised, all of which have been asked before with no good answers as yet. Questions about the safety of the track surfaces, the breeding practices that have lead to the Thoroughbred of today, the age the horses are run, the training routine, the running of fillies against colts, the relative short time between the 3 Triple Crown races are continually asked. I won't try to address those questions at present, as I don't think I have enough information on any of them to make an educated answer, but suffice it to say that I am a horse-lover and a lover of horse racing and whatever they can do to make the sport safer, I will support.

In the meantime, Big Brown is off to the Preakness next weekend, and none of the Derby racers will be joining him. In fact, few horses at all will be racing against him. Everything seems to indicate it will be a much smaller field than the 20 horses that ran in the Derby. Many seem to agree that he is simply an amazing horse. While Big Brown's ultimate fate as a breeding stallion is certain, he is a promising candidate to win the Triple Crown for the first time since Affirmed in 1978. Hopefully he does, and does so safely.

Derby Day

It's Derby day! In about 6 hours, the most exciting 3 minutes in sports will take place. They have a very nice interactive site at http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/contenders where you can see all of the contenders and videos of their races and some exercise rides. Check it out!

I certainly like Big Brown (he's a monster!) and the filly Eight Belles, but I also like Visionaire and Colonel John.