I don’t mind giving advice over the phone helping people and their animals, l do it all the time. In certain cases though l get angry that people, in easily remedied situations, have not taken the time to do their own basic homework.
I had 6 phone calls between 04:00 and 06:00am the other day. The woman was hysterical about her bitch giving birth. I told her at one point to “put her husband on who l could hear in the background and sounded less upset. Then go and make coffee, bake a cake, anything that got her OUT of the area the bitch was giving birth as she was winding the bitch up screaming and crying over her, hugging her and poking her and she [bitch] would probably kill the puppies”
“Oh dear, oh no oh my god l didn’t realise l was causing a problem” followed by more crying and howling down the phone. She handed the phone over for this call but did all the rest.
None of the calls were quick all needed Q and A and repeating of A as she wasn’t listening properly. There was no complications just people who had not taken the time to learn. The calls kept dragging me away from the inpatients, genuine cases that l was trying to deal with.
The vet took the 7th call as my arms were full of an injured cat it was to tell him the puppies were suckling and wasn’t it exciting, then she put the phone down. The vet looked at the phone like it had bitten him and, then looked at me and said “What was all that about”?
Was it wonderful, no actually it wasn’t, we were dealing with a genuine emergency who were more important than some woman who should have taken her time to do her basic breeders homework. Who couldn’t deal with the basics of a bitch giving birth normally and who stressed her [bitch] to almost reject the puppies, and interfered with the care of genuinely ill patients because of her lack of fore thought.
If you insist on breeding your dog or cat you should at least learn the very basics about what goes on. Instead the vast majority of people look at an average litter, add a couple of extra babies (optimism).
They then look at what new things they want, after all, why use the money to pay off debts.
They look for the cheapest pedigree stud of the breed needed available, preferably their own male but if not any close ones will do.
Unless you want a cross breed litter with a fancy name then any old mutt or moggie, will do.
Finally they take a calculator and work out how much to charge for each puppy/kitten.
It is no excuse to say that it was an unplanned litter and giggle about how exciting it is and how you wonder what is going to happen or be shocked at what does. If you know the bitch is pregnant deal with it, properly. If the bitch or queen is not neutered learn what can happen, you know that bird and bee stuff naughty sex. If your bitch gets a sudden weight gain and they have been in season a couple of months before what did you assume…they ate doughnuts DUH!
Yes, l had that said to me once that they thought the bitch had eaten some doughnuts lying around.
The checklist below is in no particular order; The majority of questions below are not all the questions, just some basic ones the “breeders” wouldn’t even think to look into and if they do, they ignore the question as it would cost money or time or effort or all 3. After all animals have babies all the time so what's the problem...in'it
Should you look into the various birthing stages and what happens?
Yes…ignore
Should the animals (male and female) have any tests for genetic problems?
Yes…ignore
Should you check the family history of the dam and sire to avoid inbreeding?
Yes…Ignore
Should the mother be wormed pre and during and post pregnancy and the pups?
Yes…ignore
Should there be no fleas about (these can suck usually kitten’s dry of blood)?
Yes…Ignore
Should the mother be vaccinated?
Yes...ignore
Should the homes be checked?
Yes…ignore
Should the mother and the pups be fed on good quality food?
Yes…ignore
Should you look at buying in milk substitute and feed bottles in case needed?
Yes…Ignore
Should you look up information on how to hand raise puppies/kittens?
Yes…Ignore
Should you look into the cost of a caesarean and other vets fees?
Yes…Ignore
Should you look into the post birth problems of mothers?
Yes…ignore
Should you know how old the mother should be bred from till?
Yes…Ignore
Should you make sure the dam and sire are fit and healthy?
Yes…Ignore
Should you only breed at responsible times? i.e. Not at Christmas
Yes…Ignore
Should they make up stupid names and charge a fortune for cross breeds?
Yes… Confirm
Should they make sure their pedigree is registered with the kennel club so they can give out paperwork to charge as much as possible?
Yes…Confirm
Should you advertise as cheaply as possible to make as much money as possible?
Yes…Confirm
See you checked the important things yes; breeding animals couldn’t be easier, now just sit back and wait for the money to roll in.
Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Autopsy
The bulldog had been restless so the owners let it out the back door it had taken 2 steps and keeled over dead. He came into us if the boss could have a quick look for any obvious reason if not he was to go for full autopsy.
Given that it was a bulldog it was cherry pick a reason and that would probably be why it died. The dog was put onto the tub table. (big sink with grid on) The boss opened the dog’s mouth and sure enough the reason it died was because it was a bulldog.
The owners had given the dog a chew. It was large and flat, he had chewed some then swallowed it. The chew had become stuck but because he was a bulldog and his normal breathing was so bloody awful they did not realise that he was choking. All it needed was a quick look in the mouth and pull out the item jamming his airway and he would have been eating dinner that night, not lying cold and stiff on a vets tub table.
Since then l am always wary of any pet chews:
I make sure they are on the larger size.
Once they get small enough for the whole chew to go into the mouth l sling them.
I never leave my dog/s alone with a chew.
I am also wary about how long they have them, because in things like rawhide the bacteria build up and can cause gastro enteritis.
Given that it was a bulldog it was cherry pick a reason and that would probably be why it died. The dog was put onto the tub table. (big sink with grid on) The boss opened the dog’s mouth and sure enough the reason it died was because it was a bulldog.
The owners had given the dog a chew. It was large and flat, he had chewed some then swallowed it. The chew had become stuck but because he was a bulldog and his normal breathing was so bloody awful they did not realise that he was choking. All it needed was a quick look in the mouth and pull out the item jamming his airway and he would have been eating dinner that night, not lying cold and stiff on a vets tub table.
Since then l am always wary of any pet chews:
I make sure they are on the larger size.
Once they get small enough for the whole chew to go into the mouth l sling them.
I never leave my dog/s alone with a chew.
I am also wary about how long they have them, because in things like rawhide the bacteria build up and can cause gastro enteritis.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Designer Dogs
A bit of a rant here about people and designer bred dogs. Cats are not quite as exploited. While there is bad breeding going on with cats just as there is with dogs, there is not the amount of crosses (pedigrees)and health mutations that there is with dogs. Dogs appear to mutate easier than cats. Also the Fédération Internationale Féline d’Europe (FIFE) are, l understand, a lot stricter than the kennel club on breeding standards.
People have become obsessed with having fancier and fancier names for dog breeds, damm the temperament and health implications. They are getting bored with the well known pedigrees around. They want designer breeds with fancy names, so that they can show off. This has brought about the situation nowadays where you cross breed 2 different pedigree dogs and merge their names into one. And the beauty of it for breeders is they can invent whatever name they want and do not have any breed standards to stick to. These cross breeds regulaly change hands for upwards of £500 often more than the standard pedigrees.
While l am always quoting “a pedigree is a mongrel that breeds true”. It is also true that if you breed two pedigrees that doe’s not mean you get a healthy ‘purebred’ mongrel pup. You stand a risk of just wrapping the worst of both of those lines with each other and going from horrible inherited diseases to god-awful inherited diseases.
One of the common things that is done is to cross a poodle which doesn’t shed hair with another breed. This is sold as a non hair shedding breed, no proof that the genetics to stop hair shedding will cross over but by the time people realise it is too late.
Crossing a yorkie with another breed does not mean that the teeth will not be rotten, and still be falling out by the time the dog is 8years old.
The healthiest mongrels are generally those that have a totally unknown parentage you may guess parts but they are basically unknown. This doesn’t mean that they won’t get health problems, it is just a hell of a lot rarer. True unknown parentage mongrels are becoming rarer in the first world now where ‘pedigrees’ are gaining ground.
Insurance companies are now classing some of the designer cross breeds as ‘pedigree’ eg labradoodle. This is an insurance definition as a pedigree by kennel club standards has to have ‘bred true’ for at least 100 years.
Insurance standards of pedigree, means that they fall into various risk classes. In the labradoodle case it is hip dysplasia, they are also high in the temperament problem stakes. Many get referred to behaviourists. People don't realise they're getting a very intelligent, big, active dog and most labradoodle owners seem to be first time dog owners too.
Another behaviourist visitor is cockies or Border collie x Cocker Spaniels, pretty highly strung and very uncertain temperaments. Border collies top the behaviourist’s charts on polls. They are unsuited to town life unless they can run themselves stupid and are very intelligent as well so need lots of mental stimulation. Yet they are expected to live like a family pet. Their herder instincts to nip heels become more vicious as it is not channelled into the work they were bred for, by people that do not understand the breed.
Cocker spaniels again not to high in the good temperament stakes especially golden’s. Cocker rage is a well recognised problem but the root cause is unknown. While it can affect all the colours it seems predominant in golden’s.
Pomchi - these were all the rage a couple of years back. Pomeranian x Chihuahua were changing hands at around a £1000. Their temperament was nasty to say the least.
Rottakitas, Rottweiler’s cross Akita’s my god that is insane, l do not want to handle these thank you. Akita’s need careful owners as do Rottweiler’s. Needles to say all too often they do not get it but to mix the 2 is asking for a problem breed, and people think pitbulls are dangerous.
Springador these seem to be popular with gamekeepers. The problem’s become apparent when this active working breed, bred specifically to work ends up in a pet home without the necessary stimulation.
I have put a few here that have been sold as ‘breeds’ you can try and work out the parentage: whipbull, yorkiepoo, sprollie, springerdor, cockalier, cockapoo, yorkadale, yorhua, cockerschon, shorkiepoo, sprocker, shichon, jug, grippit.
To find out what the known inherited problems are in some of the top ‘normal’ breeds, as opposed to designer breeds this site Inherited diseases in dogs database will give you a clue. The site is being constantly updated as more inherited diseases become acknowledged. Now consider what may happen if 2 breeds are interbreed.
Finally to bring a bit of humour into a serious subject
What do you get if you cross a Leonberger with a Shih Tzu?
A shihberger
What do you get if you cross a Jack Russell terrier with a Shih Tzu?
Jackshiht
People have become obsessed with having fancier and fancier names for dog breeds, damm the temperament and health implications. They are getting bored with the well known pedigrees around. They want designer breeds with fancy names, so that they can show off. This has brought about the situation nowadays where you cross breed 2 different pedigree dogs and merge their names into one. And the beauty of it for breeders is they can invent whatever name they want and do not have any breed standards to stick to. These cross breeds regulaly change hands for upwards of £500 often more than the standard pedigrees.
While l am always quoting “a pedigree is a mongrel that breeds true”. It is also true that if you breed two pedigrees that doe’s not mean you get a healthy ‘purebred’ mongrel pup. You stand a risk of just wrapping the worst of both of those lines with each other and going from horrible inherited diseases to god-awful inherited diseases.
One of the common things that is done is to cross a poodle which doesn’t shed hair with another breed. This is sold as a non hair shedding breed, no proof that the genetics to stop hair shedding will cross over but by the time people realise it is too late.
Crossing a yorkie with another breed does not mean that the teeth will not be rotten, and still be falling out by the time the dog is 8years old.
The healthiest mongrels are generally those that have a totally unknown parentage you may guess parts but they are basically unknown. This doesn’t mean that they won’t get health problems, it is just a hell of a lot rarer. True unknown parentage mongrels are becoming rarer in the first world now where ‘pedigrees’ are gaining ground.
Insurance companies are now classing some of the designer cross breeds as ‘pedigree’ eg labradoodle. This is an insurance definition as a pedigree by kennel club standards has to have ‘bred true’ for at least 100 years.
Insurance standards of pedigree, means that they fall into various risk classes. In the labradoodle case it is hip dysplasia, they are also high in the temperament problem stakes. Many get referred to behaviourists. People don't realise they're getting a very intelligent, big, active dog and most labradoodle owners seem to be first time dog owners too.
Another behaviourist visitor is cockies or Border collie x Cocker Spaniels, pretty highly strung and very uncertain temperaments. Border collies top the behaviourist’s charts on polls. They are unsuited to town life unless they can run themselves stupid and are very intelligent as well so need lots of mental stimulation. Yet they are expected to live like a family pet. Their herder instincts to nip heels become more vicious as it is not channelled into the work they were bred for, by people that do not understand the breed.
Cocker spaniels again not to high in the good temperament stakes especially golden’s. Cocker rage is a well recognised problem but the root cause is unknown. While it can affect all the colours it seems predominant in golden’s.
Pomchi - these were all the rage a couple of years back. Pomeranian x Chihuahua were changing hands at around a £1000. Their temperament was nasty to say the least.
Rottakitas, Rottweiler’s cross Akita’s my god that is insane, l do not want to handle these thank you. Akita’s need careful owners as do Rottweiler’s. Needles to say all too often they do not get it but to mix the 2 is asking for a problem breed, and people think pitbulls are dangerous.
Springador these seem to be popular with gamekeepers. The problem’s become apparent when this active working breed, bred specifically to work ends up in a pet home without the necessary stimulation.
I have put a few here that have been sold as ‘breeds’ you can try and work out the parentage: whipbull, yorkiepoo, sprollie, springerdor, cockalier, cockapoo, yorkadale, yorhua, cockerschon, shorkiepoo, sprocker, shichon, jug, grippit.
To find out what the known inherited problems are in some of the top ‘normal’ breeds, as opposed to designer breeds this site Inherited diseases in dogs database will give you a clue. The site is being constantly updated as more inherited diseases become acknowledged. Now consider what may happen if 2 breeds are interbreed.
Finally to bring a bit of humour into a serious subject
What do you get if you cross a Leonberger with a Shih Tzu?
A shihberger
What do you get if you cross a Jack Russell terrier with a Shih Tzu?
Jackshiht
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Post Spay Bleed
It is not often we get in a patient that is such an emergency the vet doesn’t have time to do anything but operate straight away, with barely time to do a proper hand scrub. In fact l only remember this happening once not long ago. Going straight in as the vet was about to do was virtually unknown and was an indication of just how bad the dog was.
I was ambling up from dog ward to do the stats in cat ward when the vet, arms full of dog pouring blood came fast down the passage. Propflo, kit, spay bleed was all he said as he turned the corner and headed to theatre suite.
Sometimes a bitch spay will bleed. It may be a suture has slipped because the owner has allowed the bitch to jump on or off furniture or allowed a slightly nutty bitch to run around despite instructions. Maybe a suture slipped as it was not tight enough. The bitch may have been in season when spayed and everything is engorged this can cause problems post op. Usually a vet won’t spay in season bitched but they may have to for some reason or she could just be coming in and was not checked properly on admit or not showing much and was missed. Bleeding may be generalised ooze as she has an undiscovered clotting defect or for some unknown reason.
Usually the first line of defence is a tight belly wrap to put pressure on and keep a close eye for strike through and pray there is none.
Operating on a post op bleeding bitch is never easy. They have to find the short stump remaining from what was removed, buried somewhere in the abdomen amongst all the abdominal contents. And while yes, the vet knows roughly where it is, real life is never that simple. They also need to check all surrounding areas for any bleeding.
I pulled up 15ml propflo, a bitch spay kit and sterile gloves then headed to theatre. The vet had an et tube ready. He barely had to wave the anaesthetic under her nose (so to speak) oh well if l had not pulled 15ml he would have wanted more. I connected the gas, unrolled a kit and while the vet scrubbed up l gave her a clean and undid the skin sutures on her abdomen. We had to use surgical prep moving her to theatre would have taken to long.
Gloves on and back the vet took a deep breath then snipped out the remaining internal sutures. Blood bubbled up in a red flood that ran over the sides of the bitch in small rivers, the vet went hunting.
I put popped 6 (large) abdominal swabs onto his kit. The small normal ones were as useful as emptying a dam with a teaspoon.
“What’s her name” l asked to put it onto my op sheet.
“Don’t know, verbal consent”
“Tsk your helpful” l mumbled he flicked a grin at me.
“You want fluids in her” l asked?
I got a grunt l translated as yes and was about to yell for a hand (so l did not have to leave the patient, theatre is a bit away from the main area) when the auxiliary appeared. She had tracked the vet following the blood trail and wanted to know what to do about the owner in the waiting room.
Well l said after you have helped me with a leg you better print a consent form and we could go from verbal to written consent.
I don’t like placing catheters when the animal is on the op table. The leg is sticking into the air and so it is high, instead of bending and looking down you are looking up. You have to consider the vet operating and can not move the dog and have to worry about sterility. Once it was in l attached a bag of No11 some bolus of voluven and placed more into the bag.
Blood transfusion would wait for now. We have a limited supply unlike human hospitals. Once the bleeding was controlled then the vet would look to give blood transfused. No point putting it in if it runs out and we have no more blood. It also depended on the owner due to cost.
People have complained about vets and costing. The NHS causes a problem in that people have no idea of cost, and then start to call vets greedy for charging a market price without realising the cost of the treatment. However go to a country that has no NHS and try and get human treatment. I am not sure that they would operate let alone do fluids, drugs and assessments until they had credit card or insurance details.
The bitch was weak stats but stable and pure white under anaesthetic. I prefer stronger stats, stable and pink but at least she was alive even if she fitted the term ‘just alive’.
Mutterings were coming from the vet and he was shifting instruments about obviously struggling.
“Want another kit you look to be getting low on ‘bits’ and should l scrub up” l asked
Another grunt, this vet was usually a happy soul who would normally make a comment with a big grin and was always good natured, all l was getting was grunts. Things were not good in the innards l perceived.
I placed another kit for the vet and called for the other nurse to take over the anaesthetic while l scrubbed up and pulled on gloves.
Scrubbing in can be confusing. As a vetnurse you get so used to NOT touching anything and suddenly you have to touch instruments and op sites.
It works in reverse for vets. If they are observing they are forever being “OYED” by the vetnurse as they are about to reach in and touch something. In fact some vets will only observe if scrubbed, it saves them being told off.
I had to hold instruments in various positions to keep them out of the way. Instrument rings on various fingers, hand tilted and fingers splayed to try and follow instructions and one hand free to pass instruments or hold others.
The vet was struggling, he had found the stump but there weren’t any slipped sutures, instead it was a sort of general ooze from different areas.
Finally everything was as ooze free as he could get it. Part of the problem was there was no set vessel bleeding. When he tried to suture the tissue that was bleeding it was very friable and tore easily.
When he decided he did not need me any more holding instruments l took back the anaesthetic, the other nurse went to check the inpatients and eventually he closed the patient up.
I gave her a clean as best l could to remove as much blood as possible but did not want to wet her down to much. After that and while she was still recovering he helped me to put a tight belly wrap on her.
Not the best of dressings as she was floppy but made easier though when you have a rugby playing vet holding the patient in the air as if she was lightweight. Was he a football player he wouldn’t have been able to hold her, ok l am biased but it is true.
Normally we do not want owners to wait but in this case we made an exception because of the circumstances and the owner was still in the waiting room, the auxiliary had made her tea. The vet went out to have a word with her and get himself a cuppa, and everyone else bar me, I only like my Dr Pepper.
Post operatively the patient was placed onto another iv catheter and a bag of blood was attached to that. She was closely monitored for any more bleeding, thankfully there was none and after a couple of days she went home, making a full recovery.
All operations even routine carry a risk, the vast majority are free of post operative problems. For my mind and most others in the veterinary profession the benefits of the standard elective operations like spay and castration outweighs post operative risk.
Un-neutered males or females are at high risk from tumours, babies and pyometras, hormonal problems, species specific virus passed during sex or fighting not to mention injuries caused with others of same sex after the mate they want or accidents with cars while looking for the dog/cat in heat.
If you do suspect anything post operatively after any operation on your pet, or if you are worried about anything, contact the vet straight away. In this case it was very obvious but it is not always and it is better to be safe than sorry.
I was ambling up from dog ward to do the stats in cat ward when the vet, arms full of dog pouring blood came fast down the passage. Propflo, kit, spay bleed was all he said as he turned the corner and headed to theatre suite.
Sometimes a bitch spay will bleed. It may be a suture has slipped because the owner has allowed the bitch to jump on or off furniture or allowed a slightly nutty bitch to run around despite instructions. Maybe a suture slipped as it was not tight enough. The bitch may have been in season when spayed and everything is engorged this can cause problems post op. Usually a vet won’t spay in season bitched but they may have to for some reason or she could just be coming in and was not checked properly on admit or not showing much and was missed. Bleeding may be generalised ooze as she has an undiscovered clotting defect or for some unknown reason.
Usually the first line of defence is a tight belly wrap to put pressure on and keep a close eye for strike through and pray there is none.
Operating on a post op bleeding bitch is never easy. They have to find the short stump remaining from what was removed, buried somewhere in the abdomen amongst all the abdominal contents. And while yes, the vet knows roughly where it is, real life is never that simple. They also need to check all surrounding areas for any bleeding.
I pulled up 15ml propflo, a bitch spay kit and sterile gloves then headed to theatre. The vet had an et tube ready. He barely had to wave the anaesthetic under her nose (so to speak) oh well if l had not pulled 15ml he would have wanted more. I connected the gas, unrolled a kit and while the vet scrubbed up l gave her a clean and undid the skin sutures on her abdomen. We had to use surgical prep moving her to theatre would have taken to long.
Gloves on and back the vet took a deep breath then snipped out the remaining internal sutures. Blood bubbled up in a red flood that ran over the sides of the bitch in small rivers, the vet went hunting.
I put popped 6 (large) abdominal swabs onto his kit. The small normal ones were as useful as emptying a dam with a teaspoon.
“What’s her name” l asked to put it onto my op sheet.
“Don’t know, verbal consent”
“Tsk your helpful” l mumbled he flicked a grin at me.
“You want fluids in her” l asked?
I got a grunt l translated as yes and was about to yell for a hand (so l did not have to leave the patient, theatre is a bit away from the main area) when the auxiliary appeared. She had tracked the vet following the blood trail and wanted to know what to do about the owner in the waiting room.
Well l said after you have helped me with a leg you better print a consent form and we could go from verbal to written consent.
I don’t like placing catheters when the animal is on the op table. The leg is sticking into the air and so it is high, instead of bending and looking down you are looking up. You have to consider the vet operating and can not move the dog and have to worry about sterility. Once it was in l attached a bag of No11 some bolus of voluven and placed more into the bag.
Blood transfusion would wait for now. We have a limited supply unlike human hospitals. Once the bleeding was controlled then the vet would look to give blood transfused. No point putting it in if it runs out and we have no more blood. It also depended on the owner due to cost.
People have complained about vets and costing. The NHS causes a problem in that people have no idea of cost, and then start to call vets greedy for charging a market price without realising the cost of the treatment. However go to a country that has no NHS and try and get human treatment. I am not sure that they would operate let alone do fluids, drugs and assessments until they had credit card or insurance details.
The bitch was weak stats but stable and pure white under anaesthetic. I prefer stronger stats, stable and pink but at least she was alive even if she fitted the term ‘just alive’.
Mutterings were coming from the vet and he was shifting instruments about obviously struggling.
“Want another kit you look to be getting low on ‘bits’ and should l scrub up” l asked
Another grunt, this vet was usually a happy soul who would normally make a comment with a big grin and was always good natured, all l was getting was grunts. Things were not good in the innards l perceived.
I placed another kit for the vet and called for the other nurse to take over the anaesthetic while l scrubbed up and pulled on gloves.
Scrubbing in can be confusing. As a vetnurse you get so used to NOT touching anything and suddenly you have to touch instruments and op sites.
It works in reverse for vets. If they are observing they are forever being “OYED” by the vetnurse as they are about to reach in and touch something. In fact some vets will only observe if scrubbed, it saves them being told off.
I had to hold instruments in various positions to keep them out of the way. Instrument rings on various fingers, hand tilted and fingers splayed to try and follow instructions and one hand free to pass instruments or hold others.
The vet was struggling, he had found the stump but there weren’t any slipped sutures, instead it was a sort of general ooze from different areas.
Finally everything was as ooze free as he could get it. Part of the problem was there was no set vessel bleeding. When he tried to suture the tissue that was bleeding it was very friable and tore easily.
When he decided he did not need me any more holding instruments l took back the anaesthetic, the other nurse went to check the inpatients and eventually he closed the patient up.
I gave her a clean as best l could to remove as much blood as possible but did not want to wet her down to much. After that and while she was still recovering he helped me to put a tight belly wrap on her.
Not the best of dressings as she was floppy but made easier though when you have a rugby playing vet holding the patient in the air as if she was lightweight. Was he a football player he wouldn’t have been able to hold her, ok l am biased but it is true.
Normally we do not want owners to wait but in this case we made an exception because of the circumstances and the owner was still in the waiting room, the auxiliary had made her tea. The vet went out to have a word with her and get himself a cuppa, and everyone else bar me, I only like my Dr Pepper.
Post operatively the patient was placed onto another iv catheter and a bag of blood was attached to that. She was closely monitored for any more bleeding, thankfully there was none and after a couple of days she went home, making a full recovery.
All operations even routine carry a risk, the vast majority are free of post operative problems. For my mind and most others in the veterinary profession the benefits of the standard elective operations like spay and castration outweighs post operative risk.
Un-neutered males or females are at high risk from tumours, babies and pyometras, hormonal problems, species specific virus passed during sex or fighting not to mention injuries caused with others of same sex after the mate they want or accidents with cars while looking for the dog/cat in heat.
If you do suspect anything post operatively after any operation on your pet, or if you are worried about anything, contact the vet straight away. In this case it was very obvious but it is not always and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Ditch the Bits
Back in Tenerife and Tony the vet was over from UK. We (hub and l) had taken about 10 dogs up for neutering. Added to the feral cats that Judith had trapped and taken over it was a long day waiting for kits to sterilise and neutering animals in various order to get the best from the day until we headed home.
In Tenerife there is no cremation area for animals. They go into the dustbin then to the dump. In this case it was the body parts and a load of other veterinary stuff from Tony that were to go into the bin. However on the way back from Tony’s the bin areas all had people parked in them and we did not really want to drop our “bits” in public as some was starting to get smelly.
We got back to the kennels and went to unload the dogs when l saw this little bitch tied to the gate and almost at full term ready to whelp. I quickly rang Tony and asked if he could do an emergency abort on her, no problem. I unloaded the dogs as fast as possible and we headed back to Tony.
It may seem cruel to abort but the volume of strays meant that the cruelty came in adding more. Not to mention there was no place to keep a bitch and pups as we were full. It would have meant putting two dogs to sleep to get a kennel. This would add mum and an unknown amount pups for several weeks till they could be rehomed, assuming that all survived.
Tony operated and we all headed back. By now very tired and getting late. I had feeding to do, let them have a bit of time out and finally home about 9pm.
We only needed to use the car over the next 3 weeks or so which meant the van sat and happily relaxed in the underground garage at the flats. I needed to go and get something out of it and went to open the doors. My nose twitched, oh god! My heart stopped as a memory sunk into my brain…along with the now powerfully overpowering smell as l opened the door fully. The interior of the van shimmered in a vicious miasma.
All the body bits, the dead foetus the stuff we had taken from Tony and said yup don’t worry we will throw it away. With all that went on it was all still in the van. I got rid off it asap, it almost floated to the bins. Thankfully the van had been underground if it was parked in full sun, the thought does not bear thinking about.
l had to go and break the news to hub. I prefer to draw a veil over the resultant discussion…ok ok argument. I still maintain that he was also in the van and had just as much to do with forgetting as l did, especially as he rested while l checked, fed, watered and let out all the dogs.
When we left the island over a year later the van still had an aroma in it when it got hot but not as bad as when l opened the door that day and realised that we had forgotten to “ditch the bits”.
In Tenerife there is no cremation area for animals. They go into the dustbin then to the dump. In this case it was the body parts and a load of other veterinary stuff from Tony that were to go into the bin. However on the way back from Tony’s the bin areas all had people parked in them and we did not really want to drop our “bits” in public as some was starting to get smelly.
We got back to the kennels and went to unload the dogs when l saw this little bitch tied to the gate and almost at full term ready to whelp. I quickly rang Tony and asked if he could do an emergency abort on her, no problem. I unloaded the dogs as fast as possible and we headed back to Tony.
It may seem cruel to abort but the volume of strays meant that the cruelty came in adding more. Not to mention there was no place to keep a bitch and pups as we were full. It would have meant putting two dogs to sleep to get a kennel. This would add mum and an unknown amount pups for several weeks till they could be rehomed, assuming that all survived.
Tony operated and we all headed back. By now very tired and getting late. I had feeding to do, let them have a bit of time out and finally home about 9pm.
We only needed to use the car over the next 3 weeks or so which meant the van sat and happily relaxed in the underground garage at the flats. I needed to go and get something out of it and went to open the doors. My nose twitched, oh god! My heart stopped as a memory sunk into my brain…along with the now powerfully overpowering smell as l opened the door fully. The interior of the van shimmered in a vicious miasma.
All the body bits, the dead foetus the stuff we had taken from Tony and said yup don’t worry we will throw it away. With all that went on it was all still in the van. I got rid off it asap, it almost floated to the bins. Thankfully the van had been underground if it was parked in full sun, the thought does not bear thinking about.
l had to go and break the news to hub. I prefer to draw a veil over the resultant discussion…ok ok argument. I still maintain that he was also in the van and had just as much to do with forgetting as l did, especially as he rested while l checked, fed, watered and let out all the dogs.
When we left the island over a year later the van still had an aroma in it when it got hot but not as bad as when l opened the door that day and realised that we had forgotten to “ditch the bits”.
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Christmas Stray
I have been debating with myself about posting the following. The dog a German Shepard cross is a Christmas dumped dog. He was tied up and brought in a couple of days after Christmas day by the dog wardens. The vet checked him then asked me to put him down on humane grounds as he was in pain.
He had a lovely temperament, he licked the nurses hands who was holding him then gave me a final calm look as life faded from him when l injected him.
I think there may be 2 reasons for him to have been dumped, there could be others but this seems to me the main 2 reasons:
(1) I do wonder if he was owned by an elderly person, family visited and did not like the “smelly dog”. They made an excuse and got rid of him, probably by telling the relative they would take him to the vet to be “put out of his misery”, then saved the money it would have cost at the vet's by dumping him.
Often old people have dogs and cats that end up in a state. They are scared to ask for help and or can not afford it. If you do know someone that is elderly then offer to help clip nails (if you feel confident enough) or even groom or walk the pet if they need help.
If you see a problem then contact the charities and local vets ask what their policies are regarding helping the elderly, some vets may be willing to do things on a pre-payment so a few pounds a week to build up a help pot.
Basics like nails and anal glands are nurse’s jobs and if it is a special case they are often happy to do that as a free clinic.
(2) I may be totally wrong about the dog and he is owned by the same people that dumped him. He became a Christmas casualty because a new puppy had his place.
For the second problem especially, if there was a tighter control on breeding and owning, then a lot of this would be brought under control. It could be self financing if a large enough amount was paid to own and or breed. Special rates could be brought in for elderly people as animals are often a vital part of their mental and physical health.
I am afraid though that animals like this and also healthy animals young or old will continue until a politician steps up to the bat, and brings animal ownership and breeding under control, and people start to see pet owning as an honour and not a right.
Close up of the tumour
The tumour was situated under the front leg.
He had a lovely temperament, he licked the nurses hands who was holding him then gave me a final calm look as life faded from him when l injected him.
I think there may be 2 reasons for him to have been dumped, there could be others but this seems to me the main 2 reasons:
(1) I do wonder if he was owned by an elderly person, family visited and did not like the “smelly dog”. They made an excuse and got rid of him, probably by telling the relative they would take him to the vet to be “put out of his misery”, then saved the money it would have cost at the vet's by dumping him.
Often old people have dogs and cats that end up in a state. They are scared to ask for help and or can not afford it. If you do know someone that is elderly then offer to help clip nails (if you feel confident enough) or even groom or walk the pet if they need help.
If you see a problem then contact the charities and local vets ask what their policies are regarding helping the elderly, some vets may be willing to do things on a pre-payment so a few pounds a week to build up a help pot.
Basics like nails and anal glands are nurse’s jobs and if it is a special case they are often happy to do that as a free clinic.
(2) I may be totally wrong about the dog and he is owned by the same people that dumped him. He became a Christmas casualty because a new puppy had his place.
For the second problem especially, if there was a tighter control on breeding and owning, then a lot of this would be brought under control. It could be self financing if a large enough amount was paid to own and or breed. Special rates could be brought in for elderly people as animals are often a vital part of their mental and physical health.
I am afraid though that animals like this and also healthy animals young or old will continue until a politician steps up to the bat, and brings animal ownership and breeding under control, and people start to see pet owning as an honour and not a right.
Close up of the tumour
The tumour was situated under the front leg.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Sex Again
Enjoy the video clip it is of the "Durex Balloon Dogs" l was going to put both up but the bloopers one is good enough on it's own. There is however an edited one without the bloopers. Oh and to get the best laughter use make sure that you have sound on for this clip.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Humanisation
"Humanisation" of animals causing behavioural manifestations and ill health are a major problem especially in dogs. I think they are looked on as substitute humans because of the interaction of our species for so many 1000s of years. This creates conflict because they have inbuilt signals they are not getting. Let alone nutrition and general boundaries for behaviour.
Cats tend to be too independent, and there are not many primates as pets. Those that do like the Brook Bond or Tarzan chimps and others are only used as babies. The older they get the more dangerous, and so they are locked into their cages. The smaller primates can also get nasty at times and do suffer "humanisation".
Other species generally do not interact the same with humans. That is not to say that they do not have problems. I have posted some of my "pet peeves."
How many people feed their pets "the best chicken or steak" as if that is the correct diet, it is neither correct or balanced.
I spoke to someone the other day who said their rabbit was spoiled rotten and had the best life of any rabbit. I knew what they would say but decided to ask anyway.
“How much time does he spend outside?”
“Outside he hates it is scared wants to come straight in, why would he want to go outside?”
I had to bite my tongue when replying, tried to explain about fresh air, sunlight, vit. production, natural habitat but it was like talking to granite.
We all tend to call pets my baby or kid at some point. The problem is for to many people they really are, usually because they have none; the animal is then expected to fill that substitute roll. When they do get a child the animal is often pushed out of their life totally and has to attempt to readjust. Have seen this too many times even a vet l know did this.
It the animal is ill then they are unable to handle this and even refuse treatment because babykins has to be in the vets and will pine without them. Then they rush in hours later the animal dying and owner hysterical.
People won’t go away as the pet would hate kennels in fact it is never left alone. The poor animal is never allowed time alone to process their own behaviour. It has to be an “on tap” child to the humans. At what cost to the pet? The humans would not be able to do this to a child, the child soon leans to go their own way.
I have problems with my Wibble with separation but l know the roots are due to living most of her life with 2 other dogs who have passed on. Now she is insecure unless she can see me, to the degree of following me to the kitchen. I ignore her dithering and do not pamper it. I will go off and leave her at home when l go shopping or other things. I do however make sure she comes to work with me, especially now due to medication regime. However she is now 15 and it is recent behaviour and l know the roots so work around it as much as l do not have time to retrain her.
Misbehaviour is treated as if the animal was a child not a dog/cat so the problem exacerbates. Or it is overlooked because the animal like the "child" can do no wrong in the "family's" eyes again the problem builds. In a pack situation or species that behaviour would never be attempted and if it was would be swiftly dealt with.
If the problem is recognised by the humans often it is treated as if the animal were a child, again forgetting that they are not human, and you can not look at it in a human way to solve.
Other behaviour problems with various species are misunderstood. Cats litter should not be near their food or water, their water should not be near their food they do not kill near water when hunting to preserve their water. Cats in their natural habitat eat little and often, up to 20 small meals a day. Being fed 2 times a day is unnatural and can be the cause of gluttony and stress then overweight. Free choice is best but only can be done if done from kittenhood. Cats like under or over places to hide and feel safe.
Over stocking of cats, they live in female family groups the males are solitary. Forcing cats of non familial stock to live, especially in house only areas stress which can show as fights, bad toileting, overeating, nervous behaviour or generally odd behaviour. Often a couple of cats can get on but the more that are introduced the more stressy it is. The thing is the humans think the animals get on because they miss all the body language and signs and the animals look happy.
Dogs with 2 brothers homed together often ends with vicious fights as adolescence appears and both dogs are evenly matched as they try for top position between them. The wrong animal is told off and it exacerbates the problem.
Animals especially dogs do not get to mix with their own species and when they do they fight because they do not know how to behave with another of their kind. That is why puppy class and dog training are so important. Even if you can train your dog it is the interaction with other dogs that is important.
Small dogs may as well be born without legs. They are not expected to use them heaven forbid! "Mummy and or daddy" carries them everywhere while smothering them with kisses and getting kisses back.
Worming is probably never done as "Babykins" would never allow wormies to have anything to do with them"
That was actually said to me.
Well l said so what about arses they have licked before your face and all that turdy (poop) stuff on their tongues.
I got a horrified look and was told "Babykins would never do anything as disgusting as that".
I gave up at that point.
I know someone that put an injured baby rabbit down a rabbit hole for "Mummy rabbit to look after" She had been told by others to kill it she refused. She was very upset when l explained what would happen as it was a) not the mother rabbit and b) smelled of humans.
Rabbits kept in hutches. They should be outside as much as possible. They need to be able to stand upright and stretch and to be able to move freely around. People get all upset about battery hens and then lock rabbits into small hell holes. The same for birds and cages or reptiles and no heating or light.
Dogs are not castrated so they can have the joy of sex or must be “manly” because the owner is a male and thinks it is sissy. Guess what tumours caused from hormones and wounds from fights from other male dogs, hit by cars when chasing bitches in heat Wow how manly. Cats are usually castrated as they spray.
I know that there is a few people that breed for the love of that breed and do try and do so responsibly all health checks are done, worming feeding, homing, follow ups. I know someone who also microchips and ensures first vaccine is given. Overall the majority do not do this due to cost and or ignorance.
Bitches and Queens (female cats) not neutered so that "she can have the joy of being a mummy." So risk her with caesareans or eclampsia. Then there is pyo's and attacks on vets for the cost being so high to sort. Instead of a quick spay. There is admits, blood tests, fluids and high risk operations followed by further hospitalisation and if very ill more blood tests and rest of life problems.
Mammary tumours, from odd lumps to total mammary strip - basically remove all of their mammary area a painful horrible operation.
Or mastitis another nasty condition. I saw a stray bitch not long ago. She had lost a large area of tissue to mastitis and needed multiple dressing’s changes for months to resolve the problem.
Stray Bitch with Mastitis, the dressing had opened slightly and l was able to get the photo, virtually her entire abdominal area (under dressings)was involved.
Cats tend to be too independent, and there are not many primates as pets. Those that do like the Brook Bond or Tarzan chimps and others are only used as babies. The older they get the more dangerous, and so they are locked into their cages. The smaller primates can also get nasty at times and do suffer "humanisation".
Other species generally do not interact the same with humans. That is not to say that they do not have problems. I have posted some of my "pet peeves."
How many people feed their pets "the best chicken or steak" as if that is the correct diet, it is neither correct or balanced.
I spoke to someone the other day who said their rabbit was spoiled rotten and had the best life of any rabbit. I knew what they would say but decided to ask anyway.
“How much time does he spend outside?”
“Outside he hates it is scared wants to come straight in, why would he want to go outside?”
I had to bite my tongue when replying, tried to explain about fresh air, sunlight, vit. production, natural habitat but it was like talking to granite.
We all tend to call pets my baby or kid at some point. The problem is for to many people they really are, usually because they have none; the animal is then expected to fill that substitute roll. When they do get a child the animal is often pushed out of their life totally and has to attempt to readjust. Have seen this too many times even a vet l know did this.
It the animal is ill then they are unable to handle this and even refuse treatment because babykins has to be in the vets and will pine without them. Then they rush in hours later the animal dying and owner hysterical.
People won’t go away as the pet would hate kennels in fact it is never left alone. The poor animal is never allowed time alone to process their own behaviour. It has to be an “on tap” child to the humans. At what cost to the pet? The humans would not be able to do this to a child, the child soon leans to go their own way.
I have problems with my Wibble with separation but l know the roots are due to living most of her life with 2 other dogs who have passed on. Now she is insecure unless she can see me, to the degree of following me to the kitchen. I ignore her dithering and do not pamper it. I will go off and leave her at home when l go shopping or other things. I do however make sure she comes to work with me, especially now due to medication regime. However she is now 15 and it is recent behaviour and l know the roots so work around it as much as l do not have time to retrain her.
Misbehaviour is treated as if the animal was a child not a dog/cat so the problem exacerbates. Or it is overlooked because the animal like the "child" can do no wrong in the "family's" eyes again the problem builds. In a pack situation or species that behaviour would never be attempted and if it was would be swiftly dealt with.
If the problem is recognised by the humans often it is treated as if the animal were a child, again forgetting that they are not human, and you can not look at it in a human way to solve.
Other behaviour problems with various species are misunderstood. Cats litter should not be near their food or water, their water should not be near their food they do not kill near water when hunting to preserve their water. Cats in their natural habitat eat little and often, up to 20 small meals a day. Being fed 2 times a day is unnatural and can be the cause of gluttony and stress then overweight. Free choice is best but only can be done if done from kittenhood. Cats like under or over places to hide and feel safe.
Over stocking of cats, they live in female family groups the males are solitary. Forcing cats of non familial stock to live, especially in house only areas stress which can show as fights, bad toileting, overeating, nervous behaviour or generally odd behaviour. Often a couple of cats can get on but the more that are introduced the more stressy it is. The thing is the humans think the animals get on because they miss all the body language and signs and the animals look happy.
Dogs with 2 brothers homed together often ends with vicious fights as adolescence appears and both dogs are evenly matched as they try for top position between them. The wrong animal is told off and it exacerbates the problem.
Animals especially dogs do not get to mix with their own species and when they do they fight because they do not know how to behave with another of their kind. That is why puppy class and dog training are so important. Even if you can train your dog it is the interaction with other dogs that is important.
Small dogs may as well be born without legs. They are not expected to use them heaven forbid! "Mummy and or daddy" carries them everywhere while smothering them with kisses and getting kisses back.
Worming is probably never done as "Babykins" would never allow wormies to have anything to do with them"
That was actually said to me.
Well l said so what about arses they have licked before your face and all that turdy (poop) stuff on their tongues.
I got a horrified look and was told "Babykins would never do anything as disgusting as that".
I gave up at that point.
I know someone that put an injured baby rabbit down a rabbit hole for "Mummy rabbit to look after" She had been told by others to kill it she refused. She was very upset when l explained what would happen as it was a) not the mother rabbit and b) smelled of humans.
Rabbits kept in hutches. They should be outside as much as possible. They need to be able to stand upright and stretch and to be able to move freely around. People get all upset about battery hens and then lock rabbits into small hell holes. The same for birds and cages or reptiles and no heating or light.
Dogs are not castrated so they can have the joy of sex or must be “manly” because the owner is a male and thinks it is sissy. Guess what tumours caused from hormones and wounds from fights from other male dogs, hit by cars when chasing bitches in heat Wow how manly. Cats are usually castrated as they spray.
I know that there is a few people that breed for the love of that breed and do try and do so responsibly all health checks are done, worming feeding, homing, follow ups. I know someone who also microchips and ensures first vaccine is given. Overall the majority do not do this due to cost and or ignorance.
Bitches and Queens (female cats) not neutered so that "she can have the joy of being a mummy." So risk her with caesareans or eclampsia. Then there is pyo's and attacks on vets for the cost being so high to sort. Instead of a quick spay. There is admits, blood tests, fluids and high risk operations followed by further hospitalisation and if very ill more blood tests and rest of life problems.
Mammary tumours, from odd lumps to total mammary strip - basically remove all of their mammary area a painful horrible operation.
Or mastitis another nasty condition. I saw a stray bitch not long ago. She had lost a large area of tissue to mastitis and needed multiple dressing’s changes for months to resolve the problem.
Stray Bitch with Mastitis, the dressing had opened slightly and l was able to get the photo, virtually her entire abdominal area (under dressings)was involved.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Marmoset in a Mask
Well Sunday started off quiet but then went a bit silly. I was getting paranoid about reception picking on me! Every time l answered the phone they were putting people onto me for advice on whelping bitches. After 4 of these calls l refused to answer the phone again. I used the excuse l was busy with inpatients. I was but l just ignored the phone and let others answer it. Suddenly a sheet of paper was thrust into my hand with the comment J…(the vet) says you can sort this.
I should have dropped the paper and said no, go see someone else l am to busy, but l glanced at it. “You are kidding me” l asked the receptionist who was grinning at me.
“Nope have fun” she said her revenge complete at my not answering the phone and making her come down to prep, l was hooked and reeled in and she disappeared.
***Advice wanted for marmoset having difficulty giving birth, please ring back.***
I rang the owner and it turned out that the marmoset had been pushing since at least 12 midday. I explained we had to see it as soon as possible.
In dogs and cats we usually say if they have been pushing non stop for 20 to 30minutes we need to see them. I did not hold out much hope for the little marmoset’s baby/s. It had been pushing pretty much non stop for about 7 hours.
A quick peruse on the internet for some info to thrust under the vet’s nose on drugs and doses and a look in the exotics book for more useful on drugs and caesareans in marmosets. While l was checking things out the senior night vet had come on duty. The Jr. vet decided he was clocking off and disappeared into the blizzard that was blowing outside.
The marmoset finally turned up and the vet came through asking me to mask her down. She was impossible to examine otherwise. I decided to have one go at getting her in the induction chamber if it did not work her owner could do her. I did not fancy chasing a marmoset around the room, or getting bitten.
It would have been ok if her bed had not been super glued to the bed box she was in, and l did not realise it. As l pulled it all out with her in the middle the blanket whizzed back downwards, her head popped out and chomped my finger while she used a few choice phases. I just sucked and washed a bleeding finger.
The chomp on my finger meant l proceeded with plan 2. I felt if l did not the bite would turn into a crazy romp trying to catch a marmoset in the op prep area and l was not keen on that. I took her through and asked her owner to pop her into the induction chamber.
Fancy name for a largish Tupperware box with 2 small pipe in. You connect the anaesthetic gas to the one pipe and the other the tube to remove used gas. Little animals drop off for a "snooze" without holding them and stressing and upsetting them more, or getting bitten, risk them escaping etc.
It also doubles in it’s other life as an oxygen “tent” for rats, hamsters, birds and other small animals.
Once she was asleep l grabbed a passing auxiliary and we took Millie, * (*not her real name) into the x-ray room. I had not weighed her as the postal scales were bust, did a guestimate on weight and settings for the x-ray machine. The picture came out really well of 2 babies that were not going anywhere without a caesarian.
Back to prep room. The vet came through to place an ET tube in her to breath through during the operation but he had not operated on a marmoset before and could not visualise her throat layout so she was to stay masked for her operation.
It took some time to get her clipped up and cleaned and placed comfy under her mask with head and body supports to stop her rolling sideways.
The mask had to be supported as l did not want it falling off or damaging the tiny marmoset and it was not self supporting. It was quite a big mask with a tight rubber seal and small hole that Millie’s head fitted in. I also needed to make sure that the auxiliary's hand was not going to cramp as she had to hold the mask upright during the op.
I needed to be free to sort the babies, pass any equipment the vet may need, monitor and adjust the anaesthetic gas, check Millie’s stats as best l could around the vet and his incision. Not easy as my stethoscope head seemed to be bigger than Millie. Ok maybe an exaggeration but it is still large when dealing with a tiny animal having an operation.
It went very well from a technical point of view, a standard caesarian of which we have a lot. Unfortunately the babies were as expected dead. One was flattened, probably from the movement and straining the other l did start to work on but it was quickly apparent that it was also dead.
The vet went a bit cross eyed at the very thin suture material he had to use to “zip Millie up”. Like the ferret the sutures were hidden under the skin so that she can not pick at them, followed by a layer of glue.
Post op I gave the op area a clean, there was another caesarean, this time a dog lined up. The guinea pig that had been due to have a caesarean died on the way into us. That was someone else’s job, home beckoned. When I left for home at 22:00 Millie was back in her kennel and had snuggled deeper into her house. Recovering and confused about what had happened and despite pain relief still sore on her abdomen.
Animals do not equate pregnancy with emotions like people do. They need to sniff, lick, hear, feel and see the young before they realise what is happening. They do not have the same feelings that humans do if they loose them as Millie did. It is not a baby growing inside them just a fat belly.
They also do not get the emotional problems that some women do either if they can not have babies. This is different to phantom pregnancy’s l am talking about attempts to conceive hence spaying (ovariohysterectomy) is not the trauma for animals it can be in women. In fact it stops the phantom pregnancies and (generally) the risk of mammary tumours or pyo’s.
The problems come with animals because people ascribe human feelings to animals instead of looking at what they are and understanding, or trying to understand the species specific animal feelings.
Post Op Recovery Still on Oxygen (blue tube)
I should have dropped the paper and said no, go see someone else l am to busy, but l glanced at it. “You are kidding me” l asked the receptionist who was grinning at me.
“Nope have fun” she said her revenge complete at my not answering the phone and making her come down to prep, l was hooked and reeled in and she disappeared.
***Advice wanted for marmoset having difficulty giving birth, please ring back.***
I rang the owner and it turned out that the marmoset had been pushing since at least 12 midday. I explained we had to see it as soon as possible.
In dogs and cats we usually say if they have been pushing non stop for 20 to 30minutes we need to see them. I did not hold out much hope for the little marmoset’s baby/s. It had been pushing pretty much non stop for about 7 hours.
A quick peruse on the internet for some info to thrust under the vet’s nose on drugs and doses and a look in the exotics book for more useful on drugs and caesareans in marmosets. While l was checking things out the senior night vet had come on duty. The Jr. vet decided he was clocking off and disappeared into the blizzard that was blowing outside.
The marmoset finally turned up and the vet came through asking me to mask her down. She was impossible to examine otherwise. I decided to have one go at getting her in the induction chamber if it did not work her owner could do her. I did not fancy chasing a marmoset around the room, or getting bitten.
It would have been ok if her bed had not been super glued to the bed box she was in, and l did not realise it. As l pulled it all out with her in the middle the blanket whizzed back downwards, her head popped out and chomped my finger while she used a few choice phases. I just sucked and washed a bleeding finger.
The chomp on my finger meant l proceeded with plan 2. I felt if l did not the bite would turn into a crazy romp trying to catch a marmoset in the op prep area and l was not keen on that. I took her through and asked her owner to pop her into the induction chamber.
Fancy name for a largish Tupperware box with 2 small pipe in. You connect the anaesthetic gas to the one pipe and the other the tube to remove used gas. Little animals drop off for a "snooze" without holding them and stressing and upsetting them more, or getting bitten, risk them escaping etc.
It also doubles in it’s other life as an oxygen “tent” for rats, hamsters, birds and other small animals.
Once she was asleep l grabbed a passing auxiliary and we took Millie, * (*not her real name) into the x-ray room. I had not weighed her as the postal scales were bust, did a guestimate on weight and settings for the x-ray machine. The picture came out really well of 2 babies that were not going anywhere without a caesarian.
Back to prep room. The vet came through to place an ET tube in her to breath through during the operation but he had not operated on a marmoset before and could not visualise her throat layout so she was to stay masked for her operation.
It took some time to get her clipped up and cleaned and placed comfy under her mask with head and body supports to stop her rolling sideways.
The mask had to be supported as l did not want it falling off or damaging the tiny marmoset and it was not self supporting. It was quite a big mask with a tight rubber seal and small hole that Millie’s head fitted in. I also needed to make sure that the auxiliary's hand was not going to cramp as she had to hold the mask upright during the op.
I needed to be free to sort the babies, pass any equipment the vet may need, monitor and adjust the anaesthetic gas, check Millie’s stats as best l could around the vet and his incision. Not easy as my stethoscope head seemed to be bigger than Millie. Ok maybe an exaggeration but it is still large when dealing with a tiny animal having an operation.
It went very well from a technical point of view, a standard caesarian of which we have a lot. Unfortunately the babies were as expected dead. One was flattened, probably from the movement and straining the other l did start to work on but it was quickly apparent that it was also dead.
The vet went a bit cross eyed at the very thin suture material he had to use to “zip Millie up”. Like the ferret the sutures were hidden under the skin so that she can not pick at them, followed by a layer of glue.
Post op I gave the op area a clean, there was another caesarean, this time a dog lined up. The guinea pig that had been due to have a caesarean died on the way into us. That was someone else’s job, home beckoned. When I left for home at 22:00 Millie was back in her kennel and had snuggled deeper into her house. Recovering and confused about what had happened and despite pain relief still sore on her abdomen.
Animals do not equate pregnancy with emotions like people do. They need to sniff, lick, hear, feel and see the young before they realise what is happening. They do not have the same feelings that humans do if they loose them as Millie did. It is not a baby growing inside them just a fat belly.
They also do not get the emotional problems that some women do either if they can not have babies. This is different to phantom pregnancy’s l am talking about attempts to conceive hence spaying (ovariohysterectomy) is not the trauma for animals it can be in women. In fact it stops the phantom pregnancies and (generally) the risk of mammary tumours or pyo’s.
The problems come with animals because people ascribe human feelings to animals instead of looking at what they are and understanding, or trying to understand the species specific animal feelings.
Post Op Recovery Still on Oxygen (blue tube)
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Ferret Op
Ferrets you either like them or hate them. I happen to be in the like them camp. They can be smelly but so can a lot of things and they are generally sweet natured. They do not often bite but if they do then those teeth really do lock into their meal, and if it is your finger, their logic is simple, it was there, so obviously it was meant to be their meal.
Ferrets are very playful and can bend into amazing shapes, not to mention get through incredibly small holes.
Ferret Females are called “jills” if you are not going to breed them they should be spayed. If not mated they will remain in season. You can use a male ferret that has had a vasectomy to bring them out but spaying is a lot easier.
If they are left in season they may get infection via the vulva but that is of minor concern. The real danger is she will also continue to produce estrogen which will lead to bone marrow suppression and anaemia and finally death if left untreated.
Tonight we had a very worried owner turn up with her ferret, it had been spayed yesterday and the sharp little teeth had chewed through the sutures. This resulted in the incision opening up and a sloge of fat called omentum hanging out.
The owner, and most people mistake this for intestines. Luckily though animals that break sutures in their abdomen through chewing or other methods do not generally dump intestines out, although l have seen it happen but only a couple of times.
It is almost impossible to use a buster collar on a ferret, if they are going to get their stitches out then they are gonna do it and nothing anyone can do will stop them. In a dog or cat though, if you are given a buster collar, use it.
The owner needless to say was distraught; l calmed her, promised her that the little ferret would be fine it was not as bad as it looked (and no, it really wasn’t too bad) and left her filling in paperwork. I took the little maniac into the back.
She was most unhappy at being restrained especially as she was a meat eater and could smell blood and wanted a snack the fact it was herself was immaterial. One of the nurses tried to sort a buster collar so l could let go the writhing ferret but it was impossible to keep it on her so l held her, in every conceivable shape she was bending herself into.
She was given a GA as soon as all the paperwork was filled in and was thankfully soon sleeping peacefully. I had cramp in my hands. My main worry was the wriggle bot would decide my fingers smeared with blood were a snack and try to take a chunk out of me, to be fair she was very well behaved though.
Within half an hour everything was stitched back inside. This time she had sub-cut (under the surface hidden stitches) so that there was nothing to “worry” on and chew through, and a line of surgical glue was a final layer over the incision. The bruising on the incision site is due to her teeth chomping away and nails scrabbling. She was snuggled into a blanket, given a couple of “hot hands” (silicone gloves filled with hot water) and allowed to come round slowly till her reversal injection was due shortly after l left.
As you can see by her pre op photo l snapped, she is not worried and just wants to know what is going on and who is who. It took about 6 photos to get that one she was so wriggly, l had almost given up.
Hey Where Am l?
Asleep and about to be preped
Omentum Cleaned and Trimmed
All Hidden, Start Resuture
What Incision?
Recovery
Ferrets are very playful and can bend into amazing shapes, not to mention get through incredibly small holes.
Ferret Females are called “jills” if you are not going to breed them they should be spayed. If not mated they will remain in season. You can use a male ferret that has had a vasectomy to bring them out but spaying is a lot easier.
If they are left in season they may get infection via the vulva but that is of minor concern. The real danger is she will also continue to produce estrogen which will lead to bone marrow suppression and anaemia and finally death if left untreated.
Tonight we had a very worried owner turn up with her ferret, it had been spayed yesterday and the sharp little teeth had chewed through the sutures. This resulted in the incision opening up and a sloge of fat called omentum hanging out.
The owner, and most people mistake this for intestines. Luckily though animals that break sutures in their abdomen through chewing or other methods do not generally dump intestines out, although l have seen it happen but only a couple of times.
It is almost impossible to use a buster collar on a ferret, if they are going to get their stitches out then they are gonna do it and nothing anyone can do will stop them. In a dog or cat though, if you are given a buster collar, use it.
The owner needless to say was distraught; l calmed her, promised her that the little ferret would be fine it was not as bad as it looked (and no, it really wasn’t too bad) and left her filling in paperwork. I took the little maniac into the back.
She was most unhappy at being restrained especially as she was a meat eater and could smell blood and wanted a snack the fact it was herself was immaterial. One of the nurses tried to sort a buster collar so l could let go the writhing ferret but it was impossible to keep it on her so l held her, in every conceivable shape she was bending herself into.
She was given a GA as soon as all the paperwork was filled in and was thankfully soon sleeping peacefully. I had cramp in my hands. My main worry was the wriggle bot would decide my fingers smeared with blood were a snack and try to take a chunk out of me, to be fair she was very well behaved though.
Within half an hour everything was stitched back inside. This time she had sub-cut (under the surface hidden stitches) so that there was nothing to “worry” on and chew through, and a line of surgical glue was a final layer over the incision. The bruising on the incision site is due to her teeth chomping away and nails scrabbling. She was snuggled into a blanket, given a couple of “hot hands” (silicone gloves filled with hot water) and allowed to come round slowly till her reversal injection was due shortly after l left.
As you can see by her pre op photo l snapped, she is not worried and just wants to know what is going on and who is who. It took about 6 photos to get that one she was so wriggly, l had almost given up.
Hey Where Am l?
Asleep and about to be preped
Omentum Cleaned and Trimmed
All Hidden, Start Resuture
What Incision?
Recovery
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
A Ramble and a Rant
Today’s blog is a vague ramble through life. I have made a wonderful discovery. Up to now l have been unable to eat kiwi fruit. The initial taste was great then l got an awful taste in my throat that had me choking for hours and swilling coffee, coke cola and orange juice to try and flush the taste.
No more is that a problem, now l can eat kiwi fruit. The secret was found by accident. Before the 3 or so l have ever eaten l had peeled. The other day when l was looking at the fruit basket delivered to work l was drooling at the, for me, inedible kiwi fruit, l was told you can eat the skins.
I decided to take a chance as they did look nice. I discovered that if l eat kiwi fruit with the skin on, and make sure l get some skin in each mouthful (not hard given their size) l can eat them with only a very small after taste that goes within a few minutes and not the hours before.
On the subject of food l will be so glad when the hordes of Christmas chocolates are gone. No is a very flexible word with chocolates.
Speaking of insanity. Mike the vet has been away on a 2 day course on canoe rescue. He does a lot of canoeing. The thing is it is mid winter, it is many – below freezing and he said they will have to spend a lot of time in the river. We have a nice book running on if he comes back with a cold, frostbite or both, l hope both as thats what my money is on.
Just been having a read of veterinary type news and seen this which l may look at. I have tried Wibble on dog a car harnesses before but it end up all twisted and more of a danger than a help. And that was after one normal journey when all she did was sleep.
Being as how this is a Roger Mugfords Company of Animals item so l recon it should work.
Was cheered up reading an article that some liberal lord is trying to get the Dangerous Dogs act scrapped and put in place a proper act based on behaviour not breed. The change can not come quick enough as far as many of us are concerned.
The DD act is very much abused. I know of one dog warden who has had what probably amounts upto a couple of hundred dogs destroyed as they are pit bull or pit bull types.
The destroyed dogs are Staffordshire Bull Terriers or crosses. And that info comes from veterinary staff, not some wannabe that wants to be an expert.
Certainly the decision is visual there is no DNA test l know of that can say otherwise. And l trust the veterinary staff’s judgements not the wannabe expert.
99.5% of the dogs have temperaments that range from big babies to very sweet. Only a few at most 0.5% have been nasty and were justifiable to be put down on grounds of temperament. I am told this cretin did a one day course and is now considers its self some sort of expert.
The dogs destroyed include puppies of barely 10weeks through all ages to dogs that are old and crippled. Once marked then there is no choice but to destroy them as there is no way any rescue home will touch them.
The persons behaviour is building an even more totally unjustifiable position on the pit bull breed, availability and temperament. Believe me a lot more dogs from other breeds deserve the title of dangerous a hell of a lot more.
If the rescue homes are full, if the dogs are injured or ill and cost has to be taken into account including rehab, if they have a behavioural problem. Then l can use reason and accept PTS (put to sleep) but on the grounds given l find it abhorrent and repulsive.
Ahh well thats my bit of a rant for tonight. I am off to walk Wibble and the inpatients and consider falling into my pit and awaiting the morning.
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
Mike just came in darn l lost my bet he only has a cold :-))
No more is that a problem, now l can eat kiwi fruit. The secret was found by accident. Before the 3 or so l have ever eaten l had peeled. The other day when l was looking at the fruit basket delivered to work l was drooling at the, for me, inedible kiwi fruit, l was told you can eat the skins.
I decided to take a chance as they did look nice. I discovered that if l eat kiwi fruit with the skin on, and make sure l get some skin in each mouthful (not hard given their size) l can eat them with only a very small after taste that goes within a few minutes and not the hours before.
On the subject of food l will be so glad when the hordes of Christmas chocolates are gone. No is a very flexible word with chocolates.
Speaking of insanity. Mike the vet has been away on a 2 day course on canoe rescue. He does a lot of canoeing. The thing is it is mid winter, it is many – below freezing and he said they will have to spend a lot of time in the river. We have a nice book running on if he comes back with a cold, frostbite or both, l hope both as thats what my money is on.
Just been having a read of veterinary type news and seen this which l may look at. I have tried Wibble on dog a car harnesses before but it end up all twisted and more of a danger than a help. And that was after one normal journey when all she did was sleep.
Being as how this is a Roger Mugfords Company of Animals item so l recon it should work.
Was cheered up reading an article that some liberal lord is trying to get the Dangerous Dogs act scrapped and put in place a proper act based on behaviour not breed. The change can not come quick enough as far as many of us are concerned.
The DD act is very much abused. I know of one dog warden who has had what probably amounts upto a couple of hundred dogs destroyed as they are pit bull or pit bull types.
The destroyed dogs are Staffordshire Bull Terriers or crosses. And that info comes from veterinary staff, not some wannabe that wants to be an expert.
Certainly the decision is visual there is no DNA test l know of that can say otherwise. And l trust the veterinary staff’s judgements not the wannabe expert.
99.5% of the dogs have temperaments that range from big babies to very sweet. Only a few at most 0.5% have been nasty and were justifiable to be put down on grounds of temperament. I am told this cretin did a one day course and is now considers its self some sort of expert.
The dogs destroyed include puppies of barely 10weeks through all ages to dogs that are old and crippled. Once marked then there is no choice but to destroy them as there is no way any rescue home will touch them.
The persons behaviour is building an even more totally unjustifiable position on the pit bull breed, availability and temperament. Believe me a lot more dogs from other breeds deserve the title of dangerous a hell of a lot more.
If the rescue homes are full, if the dogs are injured or ill and cost has to be taken into account including rehab, if they have a behavioural problem. Then l can use reason and accept PTS (put to sleep) but on the grounds given l find it abhorrent and repulsive.
Ahh well thats my bit of a rant for tonight. I am off to walk Wibble and the inpatients and consider falling into my pit and awaiting the morning.
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
Mike just came in darn l lost my bet he only has a cold :-))
Thursday, 18 December 2008
The Stray Puppy (Part 2)
This is just a short blog, l need to go and watch the inside of my eyelids. Tonight has been a very busy night at work. I met myself a few times! The important part and why l put this up now was that l have updates and photos on the staffie pup. He had his op today, there looks to be quite a lot of nerve damage but with physio will see how it goes.
X-Ray of the right femur 2 positions. 1st is a side view 2nd is lying on his back. The red arrow points to the fracture.
He had an external fixator applied. The x-ray is a final check before the xfix is set in place. The small round looking things are staples closing the op site.
When l got in at 14:00 he was recovering in critical care.
At 17:00 He was having a snack.
19:00 He had to have a buster collar on as he was trying to eat his drip line.
22:00 he was evicted into dog ward l popped a toy polar bear in with him for company as he was yapping and bouncing up and down. I also removed his drip as he was eating and drinking and took his buster collar off. If he starts to pester the external fixator though, it goes back on.
X-Ray of the right femur 2 positions. 1st is a side view 2nd is lying on his back. The red arrow points to the fracture.
He had an external fixator applied. The x-ray is a final check before the xfix is set in place. The small round looking things are staples closing the op site.
When l got in at 14:00 he was recovering in critical care.
At 17:00 He was having a snack.
19:00 He had to have a buster collar on as he was trying to eat his drip line.
22:00 he was evicted into dog ward l popped a toy polar bear in with him for company as he was yapping and bouncing up and down. I also removed his drip as he was eating and drinking and took his buster collar off. If he starts to pester the external fixator though, it goes back on.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
The Stray Puppy (Part 1)
I was at work last night. The dog warden brought in a staffy puppy. He is very sweet. Someone found him Sunday and kept him overnight. They finally rang the dog warden Monday evening to say when they had found it and it had been limping.
He was limping all right, the femur was fractured and the leg was literally "swinging in the wind". It is too high a fracture for us to put a supporting dressing on so he has had a strong dose of pain relief and anti inflammatory. He may have a concious x-ray overnight if he lies still enough.
He had some food when he came in so a GA is out. If not then he will have a GA Tuesday and the surgeon will assess him. I do not know what will happen to the pup, chances are it will be repaired and rehomed but that will depend on the x-ray.
If you find an animal and there is anything amiss please make sure that you contact the dog warden or rspca, as soon as you find them. Even if they are fit they need to be taken to someone (vet, rescue centre,dog warden, etc) that deals with strays who can scan them for a microchip and hopefully trace the owner.
The RSPCA in the NW are often slow at collecting, blame the head office not the ACO. They do a bloody hard job in the face of extreme abuse often over how long they take. There are about 4 ACO (animal collection officers) and they cover a huge area, the whole of the north west UK.
The local dog wardens may also be slow. Help them all by arranging to take the animal in to a vet, ask them to let the vet know you will take it in and they can arrange collection from there.
By law UK vets have to offer first aid, even if that is just putting an animal to sleep. I know some practices that begrudge even pain relief and l have had to sneak it to them with a junior vets ok on the strong drugs l have used. Nothing is noted and drugs given passed on verbally so only the nurses and one vet knows what’s been given and when. A nurse or vet will sneak back overnight unpaid to give more pain relief. Yes it is shameful but the animals will always have someone in the practice to supply their needs above or below the management radar.
Where l went last night they are the opposite. Blood tests, x-rays and general anaesthetics, chest drains, feeding tubes, oxygen therapy, fluid therapy about 90% of the strays need iv fluids and all drugs are supplied.
Each animals needs are assessed. Uninjured strays are shipped off to rehoming /rescue centres as soon as possible. Terrible injures to animals means put down on admit. Those too old, too old and ill, young and too ill, if they are dangerous, or it is just not cost effective to repair them. The animals in these categories are given 3 days, this allows for owners to come forward. The 3 day patients are the worst ones. You nurse them, often intensely over 3 days, then they are put down.
If an operation is possible then major operations are carried out. Amputations, eye removals (one only eye if both needed removal they would be put down) Legs and pelvis are repaired, wounds repaired, spay or castrate is done, and the nurses arrange re homing.
3 nurses tend to specialise and have “black books” although all of the nurses join in.
There is an internal stray fund and anyone that gives a donation, the money goes into that and is put to good use. Check if your vet runs such a fund. To be fair someone has to pay for the drugs used, they are not cheap.
On the other hand when you see the amount of healthy strays that are destroyed, are you doing right by major operations and taking a home a healthy animal may have gone to? That healthy animal is often then destroyed?. Many agree, others see those that agree as cruel. Generally those who think it is cruel, have not had to deal with the sharp end. A rescue centre that is snowed down under healthy unwanted dogs or strays. No where to put them and seeing long term animals getting cage sick.
If anyone has any answers please let me know.
Putting anything down healthy or ill is not easy. You learn to sit hard on your feelings and make excuses or you would tear apart. Even so all of us have those moments when emotion takes us and when it does it is a really hard belly kick. Stress and depression is rife in the veterinary profession. I understand vets have the highest suicide rate. A lovely vet l knew committed suicide about 4 weeks ago. Veterinary Nurses also have a high suicide rate.
The problem is not easy to resolve and until breeding animals and unregulated sale and ownership of animals is brought under proper control it will continue.
Dogs Trust and Cat Protection League (CPL) and some of the smaller charities have packages to help with neutering contact them and do not let your pet have even one litter. Each of those "sweet babies" will grow up and someone may well breed from them and continue the problem.
The stray puppy snuggled under a blanket.
He was limping all right, the femur was fractured and the leg was literally "swinging in the wind". It is too high a fracture for us to put a supporting dressing on so he has had a strong dose of pain relief and anti inflammatory. He may have a concious x-ray overnight if he lies still enough.
He had some food when he came in so a GA is out. If not then he will have a GA Tuesday and the surgeon will assess him. I do not know what will happen to the pup, chances are it will be repaired and rehomed but that will depend on the x-ray.
If you find an animal and there is anything amiss please make sure that you contact the dog warden or rspca, as soon as you find them. Even if they are fit they need to be taken to someone (vet, rescue centre,dog warden, etc) that deals with strays who can scan them for a microchip and hopefully trace the owner.
The RSPCA in the NW are often slow at collecting, blame the head office not the ACO. They do a bloody hard job in the face of extreme abuse often over how long they take. There are about 4 ACO (animal collection officers) and they cover a huge area, the whole of the north west UK.
The local dog wardens may also be slow. Help them all by arranging to take the animal in to a vet, ask them to let the vet know you will take it in and they can arrange collection from there.
By law UK vets have to offer first aid, even if that is just putting an animal to sleep. I know some practices that begrudge even pain relief and l have had to sneak it to them with a junior vets ok on the strong drugs l have used. Nothing is noted and drugs given passed on verbally so only the nurses and one vet knows what’s been given and when. A nurse or vet will sneak back overnight unpaid to give more pain relief. Yes it is shameful but the animals will always have someone in the practice to supply their needs above or below the management radar.
Where l went last night they are the opposite. Blood tests, x-rays and general anaesthetics, chest drains, feeding tubes, oxygen therapy, fluid therapy about 90% of the strays need iv fluids and all drugs are supplied.
Each animals needs are assessed. Uninjured strays are shipped off to rehoming /rescue centres as soon as possible. Terrible injures to animals means put down on admit. Those too old, too old and ill, young and too ill, if they are dangerous, or it is just not cost effective to repair them. The animals in these categories are given 3 days, this allows for owners to come forward. The 3 day patients are the worst ones. You nurse them, often intensely over 3 days, then they are put down.
If an operation is possible then major operations are carried out. Amputations, eye removals (one only eye if both needed removal they would be put down) Legs and pelvis are repaired, wounds repaired, spay or castrate is done, and the nurses arrange re homing.
3 nurses tend to specialise and have “black books” although all of the nurses join in.
There is an internal stray fund and anyone that gives a donation, the money goes into that and is put to good use. Check if your vet runs such a fund. To be fair someone has to pay for the drugs used, they are not cheap.
On the other hand when you see the amount of healthy strays that are destroyed, are you doing right by major operations and taking a home a healthy animal may have gone to? That healthy animal is often then destroyed?. Many agree, others see those that agree as cruel. Generally those who think it is cruel, have not had to deal with the sharp end. A rescue centre that is snowed down under healthy unwanted dogs or strays. No where to put them and seeing long term animals getting cage sick.
If anyone has any answers please let me know.
Putting anything down healthy or ill is not easy. You learn to sit hard on your feelings and make excuses or you would tear apart. Even so all of us have those moments when emotion takes us and when it does it is a really hard belly kick. Stress and depression is rife in the veterinary profession. I understand vets have the highest suicide rate. A lovely vet l knew committed suicide about 4 weeks ago. Veterinary Nurses also have a high suicide rate.
The problem is not easy to resolve and until breeding animals and unregulated sale and ownership of animals is brought under proper control it will continue.
Dogs Trust and Cat Protection League (CPL) and some of the smaller charities have packages to help with neutering contact them and do not let your pet have even one litter. Each of those "sweet babies" will grow up and someone may well breed from them and continue the problem.
The stray puppy snuggled under a blanket.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Whelping
What a fun day yesterday. I was asked to go in early as there were no vet nurses or even auxiliaries on from 16:00 so l worked 16:00 to 03:30. I left a message when l left do not ring me today (Sunday) l am moving to Outer Mongolia and unavailable. So far no calls to work however it is not the days end yet.
Whelping and puppies was the theme yesterday. One caesarean on a bulldog before l got in l just discharged her. They had no box / blanket for the pups, so l said well take off your jersey wrap the 2 pups into your jersey. Not a chance they would do that. The idiot person with the owner pushed a puppy into each pocket and tried to do the zips up on the pockets. Idiot owner pushing bits of puppy’s back into the pockets as they squashed out. One pup may yet need to be put down it had a bad cleft palette but we were not allowed to do so, that’s a big loss of money.
I was told she was 14months old this was her 3rd caesarean. I said to the owners do they know what they are doing to her breeding her like that. And they got all uppity and could not decide if she was 18months, 2 years or 2.5years old, and if it was her 2nd or 3rd whelping.
Finally the male owner whined “We spent £3000 and all we got is these 2” pointing at the 2 little heaving cramped pockets on the friend, “we are loosing money on this you know”.
I just talked over him giving discharge instructions and ignored him. It was safer that way, for all of us.
Two more bitches in whelp turned up. One Bull Mastiff had had a pup stuck paws showing for most of the day. Well it varied they came out with a different reply to whoever asked how long the pups had been stuck.
She came in at about 1am. Pointless asking WTF the person had waited so long for, l tried over the phone and got no sensible reply.
The vet managed to pull the stuck dead foetus out in a pool of blood and gunk and the bitch went home.
The other SBT had ended whelping at about 17:00 and then started pushing non stop. She came in at 2am. X-rays showed nothing there and she showed no signs of pushing, again sent home.
A bulldog puppy 4 weeks old with a chest infection, the owner informed me that everyone accepts bulldogs have trouble breathing, just when the green gunk was pouring out his nose they got worried. (Hold hands by my side at this comment to avoid strangling the owner)
He was further puzzled at my question if it was eating solids yet and said he is only 4 weeks old, and anyhow l don’t know anything about it l never bred dogs before.
I had to give a quick lesson in puppy care. Then stomped through to get a vet to check the pup and bypass the wait in the waiting room. I left the owner sitting in the waiting room, with people looking at him wondering why he was breeding and knew nothing.
Both bitches that came in at 1 and 2am were pedigrees. They and the bulldog chest puppy were via a charity that paid the vet fees. If l gave vent to the feelings of all of us at work over the above then the post would be unreadable. Bulldogs are going for up to £3000 each, Bull Mastiff up to £1000. The bitch with no pups left was a SBT and hers are around £250-£300
When we get calls with owners wanting their pets to see a vet the animals always come first. If the person is elderly or disabled then we will go all out to help as much as possible. The frustrating thing is that often they do not qualify for help. We bend the rules as much as possible. The vets will also do what they can for this group when the person comes in. Just as well management is locked up at night in houses far away or they would have a fit. What they do not know means we sleep peacefully during the day.
There is the sensible owner group. May be insured (please god) or not insured but still want to help their pet.
Then group 3. After about a month on nights even new members of staff can recognise something in the caller’s voice. The following conversations are carried out by all the night staff with varying degrees of tooth grinding.
Often the animal may have been sick for days or hours (this can happen with the first 2 groups but most commonly with the 3rd group). It is a wake up call for owners when people ring and say they have a sick pet, are told the fees and are expected to actually pay. I think it is the first time reality almost hits on many of them.
Before they open their mouths to reply you know you have a choice of 2 answers.
“We don’t care how much it costs”. This really is true, they won’t pay so they do not care about cost. Or
They state that they are on benefits and are again told we are private you pay us for work done. There is a silence while they digest this.
Now at this point one of 2 things happen.
1) They ask if anyone can help them and l pass them on the details.
2) They start screaming that “You don’t care about animals, you are money grabbing scum” and other sweet words, really helping their case. This group l tend to yawn and doodle on a bit of paper, play with the computer and await the end of the hissy fit.
When the tirade dies down l may ask what stopped them ringing a vet during the day 4 days ago when it got it. The usual reply is that l am a money grabbing yadda yadda. Conscience at leaving a sick animal so long without care is not guiding the answer, it is crass stupidity.
Anyhow when l have told them who to ring l give advice on what to do with the animal while the calls are going on.
If they do not qualify then there is the discussion over payments and how we will go about dealing with that.
Generally once it is all sorted comes the final whine. I aint got no transport.
My comment is “So go call a friend”
The whine comes back “They are sleeping” or “They have been drinking”
My reply is along the lines of “Tough l have been working it is not my problem, we are already doing all we can to help you now sort something out for yourself and let us know when you are setting off”
When they realise that they better make an effort because we are not going to do it for them, funny how they manage to get down by taxi or a friend.
Vets legally are obliged to give first aid, even if that is putting the animal to sleep. If the owners can get a charity to pay fine, if the charity will only pay part or non then the owners are legally obliged to pay.
Insurance means that you won’t be able to afford a few beers a month. Do you not owe that to the pet. Some insurance companies are trusted by vets. You can pay the excess and the vet will claim direct for treatment. I think it is mainly Petplan who are accepted for this but some others are as well.
Humans do not have a right to animals; Animals have a right to responsible humans.
Whelping and puppies was the theme yesterday. One caesarean on a bulldog before l got in l just discharged her. They had no box / blanket for the pups, so l said well take off your jersey wrap the 2 pups into your jersey. Not a chance they would do that. The idiot person with the owner pushed a puppy into each pocket and tried to do the zips up on the pockets. Idiot owner pushing bits of puppy’s back into the pockets as they squashed out. One pup may yet need to be put down it had a bad cleft palette but we were not allowed to do so, that’s a big loss of money.
I was told she was 14months old this was her 3rd caesarean. I said to the owners do they know what they are doing to her breeding her like that. And they got all uppity and could not decide if she was 18months, 2 years or 2.5years old, and if it was her 2nd or 3rd whelping.
Finally the male owner whined “We spent £3000 and all we got is these 2” pointing at the 2 little heaving cramped pockets on the friend, “we are loosing money on this you know”.
I just talked over him giving discharge instructions and ignored him. It was safer that way, for all of us.
Two more bitches in whelp turned up. One Bull Mastiff had had a pup stuck paws showing for most of the day. Well it varied they came out with a different reply to whoever asked how long the pups had been stuck.
She came in at about 1am. Pointless asking WTF the person had waited so long for, l tried over the phone and got no sensible reply.
The vet managed to pull the stuck dead foetus out in a pool of blood and gunk and the bitch went home.
The other SBT had ended whelping at about 17:00 and then started pushing non stop. She came in at 2am. X-rays showed nothing there and she showed no signs of pushing, again sent home.
A bulldog puppy 4 weeks old with a chest infection, the owner informed me that everyone accepts bulldogs have trouble breathing, just when the green gunk was pouring out his nose they got worried. (Hold hands by my side at this comment to avoid strangling the owner)
He was further puzzled at my question if it was eating solids yet and said he is only 4 weeks old, and anyhow l don’t know anything about it l never bred dogs before.
I had to give a quick lesson in puppy care. Then stomped through to get a vet to check the pup and bypass the wait in the waiting room. I left the owner sitting in the waiting room, with people looking at him wondering why he was breeding and knew nothing.
Both bitches that came in at 1 and 2am were pedigrees. They and the bulldog chest puppy were via a charity that paid the vet fees. If l gave vent to the feelings of all of us at work over the above then the post would be unreadable. Bulldogs are going for up to £3000 each, Bull Mastiff up to £1000. The bitch with no pups left was a SBT and hers are around £250-£300
When we get calls with owners wanting their pets to see a vet the animals always come first. If the person is elderly or disabled then we will go all out to help as much as possible. The frustrating thing is that often they do not qualify for help. We bend the rules as much as possible. The vets will also do what they can for this group when the person comes in. Just as well management is locked up at night in houses far away or they would have a fit. What they do not know means we sleep peacefully during the day.
There is the sensible owner group. May be insured (please god) or not insured but still want to help their pet.
Then group 3. After about a month on nights even new members of staff can recognise something in the caller’s voice. The following conversations are carried out by all the night staff with varying degrees of tooth grinding.
Often the animal may have been sick for days or hours (this can happen with the first 2 groups but most commonly with the 3rd group). It is a wake up call for owners when people ring and say they have a sick pet, are told the fees and are expected to actually pay. I think it is the first time reality almost hits on many of them.
Before they open their mouths to reply you know you have a choice of 2 answers.
“We don’t care how much it costs”. This really is true, they won’t pay so they do not care about cost. Or
They state that they are on benefits and are again told we are private you pay us for work done. There is a silence while they digest this.
Now at this point one of 2 things happen.
1) They ask if anyone can help them and l pass them on the details.
2) They start screaming that “You don’t care about animals, you are money grabbing scum” and other sweet words, really helping their case. This group l tend to yawn and doodle on a bit of paper, play with the computer and await the end of the hissy fit.
When the tirade dies down l may ask what stopped them ringing a vet during the day 4 days ago when it got it. The usual reply is that l am a money grabbing yadda yadda. Conscience at leaving a sick animal so long without care is not guiding the answer, it is crass stupidity.
Anyhow when l have told them who to ring l give advice on what to do with the animal while the calls are going on.
If they do not qualify then there is the discussion over payments and how we will go about dealing with that.
Generally once it is all sorted comes the final whine. I aint got no transport.
My comment is “So go call a friend”
The whine comes back “They are sleeping” or “They have been drinking”
My reply is along the lines of “Tough l have been working it is not my problem, we are already doing all we can to help you now sort something out for yourself and let us know when you are setting off”
When they realise that they better make an effort because we are not going to do it for them, funny how they manage to get down by taxi or a friend.
Vets legally are obliged to give first aid, even if that is putting the animal to sleep. If the owners can get a charity to pay fine, if the charity will only pay part or non then the owners are legally obliged to pay.
Insurance means that you won’t be able to afford a few beers a month. Do you not owe that to the pet. Some insurance companies are trusted by vets. You can pay the excess and the vet will claim direct for treatment. I think it is mainly Petplan who are accepted for this but some others are as well.
Humans do not have a right to animals; Animals have a right to responsible humans.
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Crufts
I see pedigree chum have dumped crufts the worlds most famous dog show. Of course it is nothing to do with the publicity that has been going on thanks to BBC expose about just some of the problems with dog breeding.
BBC, RSPCA and Dogs Trust dumped crufts when the truth came out. Oh the hypocrites, all of them have known for years about what is being produced by the great British breeders with the full authority of the kennel club.
Oh sorry kennel club are ploughing money in to sorting the problems in breeds. Well guess what kennel club...you aint doing a good job.
They have started to revamp breed standards. Sorry kennel club to little to late.
Those breeds that have the major problems are those breeds that everyone wants, they carry the "breeding money" in them and the animals pay the price.
I went to visit crufts once a few years back. I actually went to drop a ships radio off to a vet friend who was there for the day. We lived opposite ends of the country and it seemed ideal centre point as a meeting spot.
Also if l dislike something l feel l should see if that was the correct instinct, for me, it was l hated it. The pimping and preening of the dogs, the snobbery from breeders and handlers l took one look at them and got instant teeth grind, the sheer falsity of it all.
I was going from the car park to the exhibition and this woman got on with 2 shar peis ohhh wonderful, how pretty everyone was cooing.
I edged far away thinking "Go on someone touch them and when you remove your hands from the teeth say that". I felt let down when no one tried to pat the dogs.
Not that this wonderful breed with, eye, skin, skeletal problems, that some insurance companies won’t touch is nasty as well, perish the thought.
My introduction to the breed was when l was at “A Oranges” vet practice.
I caught and held the shar pei on the dog grab, the nearest anyone could get to the dog in question unless it’s muzzle was on. Unfortunately the owner took it off and home when he put the dog in the kennel for us.
I pinned it in the corner so a nurse could sedate. Then l sat, holding the dog grab and gazing into space, till the deep sedative took effect on the patient.
It came awake so fast post x-rays and lunged for me in one movement, l had not managed to remove the ET tube. The dog, in one bite, bit through a very thick size 12 endotracheal tube. I grabbed the swinging end still connected by a thin rubber strip and pulled, nearly lost my fingers.
I know l have said dogs get stressed at the vets but some breeds do not need that excuse.
Rotties can often be nice till you want to treat them, hence using muzzles and not trusting them 100% for whatever treatment they are about to have, dressings change, nail clip, teeth check, staples/sutures removal, needle jab etc.
Shar peis for most veterinary staff fall into the "do not trust any time" category.
BBC, RSPCA and Dogs Trust dumped crufts when the truth came out. Oh the hypocrites, all of them have known for years about what is being produced by the great British breeders with the full authority of the kennel club.
Oh sorry kennel club are ploughing money in to sorting the problems in breeds. Well guess what kennel club...you aint doing a good job.
They have started to revamp breed standards. Sorry kennel club to little to late.
Those breeds that have the major problems are those breeds that everyone wants, they carry the "breeding money" in them and the animals pay the price.
I went to visit crufts once a few years back. I actually went to drop a ships radio off to a vet friend who was there for the day. We lived opposite ends of the country and it seemed ideal centre point as a meeting spot.
Also if l dislike something l feel l should see if that was the correct instinct, for me, it was l hated it. The pimping and preening of the dogs, the snobbery from breeders and handlers l took one look at them and got instant teeth grind, the sheer falsity of it all.
I was going from the car park to the exhibition and this woman got on with 2 shar peis ohhh wonderful, how pretty everyone was cooing.
I edged far away thinking "Go on someone touch them and when you remove your hands from the teeth say that". I felt let down when no one tried to pat the dogs.
Not that this wonderful breed with, eye, skin, skeletal problems, that some insurance companies won’t touch is nasty as well, perish the thought.
My introduction to the breed was when l was at “A Oranges” vet practice.
I caught and held the shar pei on the dog grab, the nearest anyone could get to the dog in question unless it’s muzzle was on. Unfortunately the owner took it off and home when he put the dog in the kennel for us.
I pinned it in the corner so a nurse could sedate. Then l sat, holding the dog grab and gazing into space, till the deep sedative took effect on the patient.
It came awake so fast post x-rays and lunged for me in one movement, l had not managed to remove the ET tube. The dog, in one bite, bit through a very thick size 12 endotracheal tube. I grabbed the swinging end still connected by a thin rubber strip and pulled, nearly lost my fingers.
I know l have said dogs get stressed at the vets but some breeds do not need that excuse.
Rotties can often be nice till you want to treat them, hence using muzzles and not trusting them 100% for whatever treatment they are about to have, dressings change, nail clip, teeth check, staples/sutures removal, needle jab etc.
Shar peis for most veterinary staff fall into the "do not trust any time" category.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
The Throwaway Society
Sadly the world is a throw away society and it is shown in the care of their animals. All to many are dumped in favour of a younger, newer, fitter model.
The great news the other day was that Los Angeles is getting hard on owners. Last year LA animal shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs and destroyed approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million. Now any dog or cat over 4 months old has to be neutered.
The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders.
The average pet owner, however, must have their dog or cat spayed or neutered by the time it reaches 4 months of age (as late as 6 months with a letter from a vet).
First-time offenders will receive information on subsidised neutering services and be given an additional 60 days. If they still fail to comply they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offence could result in a $500 fine or 40 hours of community service.
I wonder if apart from guide dogs that owners of unneutered animals have to pay a whopping great yearly licence fee. I understand this is the case in Germany, but there is no news on that being part of the LA ordinance.
Recent reports state in UK say that over 100,000 strays were collected in 2007. These had to be cared for by local councils or charitable organisations, and a huge number were destroyed.
The best present would be to hear that the LA law was being enacted in UK as well, and a big yearly fee for unneutered animals paid, l can but hope.
In UK vets do not like to neuter under 6 months the excuse is that animals bodies have not had time to form correctly and bitches risk getting bitch spay incontinence.
I find Tony Boardman MRCVS comments on lack of confidence in their own skills by vet’s to be more realistic. Finding immature sexual organs can be difficult but with practice it is not that hard.
USA have been spaying dogs and cats from 2months (females) 10 weeks (males) for years. You can bet that if there was a risk, being USA and with their litigation culture they would not do it.
Males are slightly older when castrated usually over 10 weeks when their testis have descended.
One UK vet l spoke to that is happy to neuter young animals said that a study he read was that there can be at most 1mm difference in mature growth size height.
My Wibble was spayed at about 10weeks old, is now 15 and never had a problem. Santa (now deceased) was about 2years old (a stray) and ended up with bitch spay incontinence from about 10years old.
l had any stray pups done in the K9 rescue kennels from about 2 months old or as soon as Tony arrived on a working trip. When we caught any feral kittens, the same rules applied they were spayed or castrated. All of them the younger they were the faster they recovered.
Quite frankly unsubstantiated (to my mind) comments on problems from neutering early are immaterial to the reality of the present out of control animal situation.
Those who think it is wrong to neuter young should be the ones that pump pentobarb into animals veins that are fit, young and healthy. Not one animal, thousands of them, just because there is no where for them to go.
Some people say animals should not be "just put down". Well keeping an animal for months, even years in a cage, that grew up in a family is a cruel sentence and many animals mad.
Death is a better option than life, Life would have been better not formed in the first place.
Included with spay/castrate to stop the stray problem is to have all dogs and cats microchipped.
Next to an animal having no chip, the worst is an animal having one that has no contact details. Either the owners had the pet id chipped but never sent the paperwork in or they have changed address or phone and not updated the chip company.
Dog wardens usually do id chipping at a greatly reduced rate. And if you are having an operation done on your pet (say neutering) then often id chipping is done at a reduced rate by the vet.
Even if you have a cat that never goes out, it can still escape, and the only real hope of rejoining you is an idchip.
Id chips are put into every animal including parrots, tortoises, fish (Koi), zoo animals etc. Even expensive plants are often idchipped.
Have your pet spayed or castrated, have them microchipped and have them insured. And do not forget.
******* An Animal is For Life, Not Just For The Present*******
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
No blogging tomorrow. I've spent the week working halfway down the country at an amazing referral practice and drive home after work tomorrow night.
“Normal services should be resumed Saturday night”
The great news the other day was that Los Angeles is getting hard on owners. Last year LA animal shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs and destroyed approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million. Now any dog or cat over 4 months old has to be neutered.
The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders.
The average pet owner, however, must have their dog or cat spayed or neutered by the time it reaches 4 months of age (as late as 6 months with a letter from a vet).
First-time offenders will receive information on subsidised neutering services and be given an additional 60 days. If they still fail to comply they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offence could result in a $500 fine or 40 hours of community service.
I wonder if apart from guide dogs that owners of unneutered animals have to pay a whopping great yearly licence fee. I understand this is the case in Germany, but there is no news on that being part of the LA ordinance.
Recent reports state in UK say that over 100,000 strays were collected in 2007. These had to be cared for by local councils or charitable organisations, and a huge number were destroyed.
The best present would be to hear that the LA law was being enacted in UK as well, and a big yearly fee for unneutered animals paid, l can but hope.
In UK vets do not like to neuter under 6 months the excuse is that animals bodies have not had time to form correctly and bitches risk getting bitch spay incontinence.
I find Tony Boardman MRCVS comments on lack of confidence in their own skills by vet’s to be more realistic. Finding immature sexual organs can be difficult but with practice it is not that hard.
USA have been spaying dogs and cats from 2months (females) 10 weeks (males) for years. You can bet that if there was a risk, being USA and with their litigation culture they would not do it.
Males are slightly older when castrated usually over 10 weeks when their testis have descended.
One UK vet l spoke to that is happy to neuter young animals said that a study he read was that there can be at most 1mm difference in mature growth size height.
My Wibble was spayed at about 10weeks old, is now 15 and never had a problem. Santa (now deceased) was about 2years old (a stray) and ended up with bitch spay incontinence from about 10years old.
l had any stray pups done in the K9 rescue kennels from about 2 months old or as soon as Tony arrived on a working trip. When we caught any feral kittens, the same rules applied they were spayed or castrated. All of them the younger they were the faster they recovered.
Quite frankly unsubstantiated (to my mind) comments on problems from neutering early are immaterial to the reality of the present out of control animal situation.
Those who think it is wrong to neuter young should be the ones that pump pentobarb into animals veins that are fit, young and healthy. Not one animal, thousands of them, just because there is no where for them to go.
Some people say animals should not be "just put down". Well keeping an animal for months, even years in a cage, that grew up in a family is a cruel sentence and many animals mad.
Death is a better option than life, Life would have been better not formed in the first place.
Included with spay/castrate to stop the stray problem is to have all dogs and cats microchipped.
Next to an animal having no chip, the worst is an animal having one that has no contact details. Either the owners had the pet id chipped but never sent the paperwork in or they have changed address or phone and not updated the chip company.
Dog wardens usually do id chipping at a greatly reduced rate. And if you are having an operation done on your pet (say neutering) then often id chipping is done at a reduced rate by the vet.
Even if you have a cat that never goes out, it can still escape, and the only real hope of rejoining you is an idchip.
Id chips are put into every animal including parrots, tortoises, fish (Koi), zoo animals etc. Even expensive plants are often idchipped.
Have your pet spayed or castrated, have them microchipped and have them insured. And do not forget.
******* An Animal is For Life, Not Just For The Present*******
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
No blogging tomorrow. I've spent the week working halfway down the country at an amazing referral practice and drive home after work tomorrow night.
“Normal services should be resumed Saturday night”
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Hip Scoring & Breeding.
I was discussing hip scores with a client as she wanted to know if it was worth breeding (NO). Would her Labrador need a hip score if breeding (Yes).
Hip scoring is an x-ray taken of the patients hips to check for hip dysplasia. HD is abnormal formation of the hip socket, is very painful, and may require an artificial hip, or other surgery to correct it, or them if both sides are affected.
The bitch was too young at that point as she was only 10months old, a hip score is only done over a year old. Once scored the hips can not be re-scored, “you gets what you gets!.
Doing a hip score x-ray is one of those painful episodes in a vn’s life. In many practices x-rays are the vet nurses domain. Vets may pop in and check you have the view they want, and they always diagnose, but the setting up of patient and machine is for the vn.
The patient has to be lying on their back, usually supported in a plastic trough.
Wedges placed around so they do not roll over. Some dogs are thin, and roll like a boat on a stormy sea, no matter how you try and wedge them, using foam wedges and sandbags.
Each leg has to be the same height from the table top and pulled out straight (along the tail line) and together, at the correct angle.
This is an unnatural position and the legs do not like this. A foam wedge is placed so the legs do not loose the straight line and form a sort of hip to toe triangle.
Tape is often wrapped around or across the legs to hold the position and more wedges to support placed under the lower leg (away from the xray)
The pelvis must be flat and perfectly straight across the xray cassette.
Five x-rays (depending how good a day it is or isn’t) and slight readjustments to position or machine settings finally the decision is that the picture is as perfect as can be taken.
A few weeks later you get a rejection slip saying not good enough. This means back comes the dog, another anaesthetic and more muttering noises from the nurse!.
Usually things are ok on the second set but they look identical to the first set. The outcome to the nurse is the same. A frazzled bad hair day, that requires a large coffee or tea and a bit of chocolate to de-stress.
The score system is based on 9 areas per side with an overall score from 0 (best) to 106 (worst)/side.
Each breed has a mean score, indicating the breed’s predisposition towards hip dysplasia. 16 in UK for Labradors.
I know a boasting Lab breeder that told me she bred from a bitch who had a score on one side of 42. Most of the litter was destroyed, mum as well. It was ok though as she made money on the others. I did manage to be almost polite to her.
The particular client l had been discussing hip scores and breeding with decided against breeding. I threw the whole gamut of what was needed and could go wrong at her.
The £600 for a caesarean (which generally insurance won't cover), possible hand raising and 2 hour feeds of puppies.
And if the above did not happen you still have the cost of doing it properly. The food, the mess around the house (unless it is in an outside kennel), worming at the correct intervals of mum and puppies, arranging first vaccines, arranging insurance (free first 6 weeks), advertising. Looking for the correct sire and those fees and checking his health.
Many breeds are part of the hip have Hip Score scheme and other scoring schemes for hereditary problems. If you must have a pedigree for all pre health checks of the parents that the breed has available to it.
A Labrador should have had hip and elbow score and eye checks for Progressive Retinal Atrophy.
Many breeders do not do the above, do part, or do none. The sensible ones do everything and more but they do not usually make any money.
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
I am driving home tomorrow back across the country after work. I do not think l will get to writing, instead l shall put finger to keyboard before work on Saturday.
Hip scoring is an x-ray taken of the patients hips to check for hip dysplasia. HD is abnormal formation of the hip socket, is very painful, and may require an artificial hip, or other surgery to correct it, or them if both sides are affected.
The bitch was too young at that point as she was only 10months old, a hip score is only done over a year old. Once scored the hips can not be re-scored, “you gets what you gets!.
Doing a hip score x-ray is one of those painful episodes in a vn’s life. In many practices x-rays are the vet nurses domain. Vets may pop in and check you have the view they want, and they always diagnose, but the setting up of patient and machine is for the vn.
The patient has to be lying on their back, usually supported in a plastic trough.
Wedges placed around so they do not roll over. Some dogs are thin, and roll like a boat on a stormy sea, no matter how you try and wedge them, using foam wedges and sandbags.
Each leg has to be the same height from the table top and pulled out straight (along the tail line) and together, at the correct angle.
This is an unnatural position and the legs do not like this. A foam wedge is placed so the legs do not loose the straight line and form a sort of hip to toe triangle.
Tape is often wrapped around or across the legs to hold the position and more wedges to support placed under the lower leg (away from the xray)
The pelvis must be flat and perfectly straight across the xray cassette.
Five x-rays (depending how good a day it is or isn’t) and slight readjustments to position or machine settings finally the decision is that the picture is as perfect as can be taken.
A few weeks later you get a rejection slip saying not good enough. This means back comes the dog, another anaesthetic and more muttering noises from the nurse!.
Usually things are ok on the second set but they look identical to the first set. The outcome to the nurse is the same. A frazzled bad hair day, that requires a large coffee or tea and a bit of chocolate to de-stress.
The score system is based on 9 areas per side with an overall score from 0 (best) to 106 (worst)/side.
Each breed has a mean score, indicating the breed’s predisposition towards hip dysplasia. 16 in UK for Labradors.
I know a boasting Lab breeder that told me she bred from a bitch who had a score on one side of 42. Most of the litter was destroyed, mum as well. It was ok though as she made money on the others. I did manage to be almost polite to her.
The particular client l had been discussing hip scores and breeding with decided against breeding. I threw the whole gamut of what was needed and could go wrong at her.
The £600 for a caesarean (which generally insurance won't cover), possible hand raising and 2 hour feeds of puppies.
And if the above did not happen you still have the cost of doing it properly. The food, the mess around the house (unless it is in an outside kennel), worming at the correct intervals of mum and puppies, arranging first vaccines, arranging insurance (free first 6 weeks), advertising. Looking for the correct sire and those fees and checking his health.
Many breeds are part of the hip have Hip Score scheme and other scoring schemes for hereditary problems. If you must have a pedigree for all pre health checks of the parents that the breed has available to it.
A Labrador should have had hip and elbow score and eye checks for Progressive Retinal Atrophy.
Many breeders do not do the above, do part, or do none. The sensible ones do everything and more but they do not usually make any money.
*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*====*
I am driving home tomorrow back across the country after work. I do not think l will get to writing, instead l shall put finger to keyboard before work on Saturday.
Saturday, 4 October 2008
From Floppy Dogs to a Rant.
It started out steady yesterday but then seemed to end up going a bit mad. We were several nurses down so that did not help.
There is a big German Shepard Dog (GSD) in l will call Max. He had been an RTA at about 3am. His main injury was a pneumothorax (chest full of air). When night shift came back on duty they were all shocked to see him. He had come in almost dead and no one would have bet on his odds of survival.
Now he was trying to leap out of the kennel whenever the door was opened, this was often as he had been having his chest drained every 30mins. When l got in they had decided as the amount withdrawn had been dropping it would be left for an hour.
As everyone was battered from playing grab the 10mth old nutter in mid air game, or the lift the floppy dog back into the kennel, l was given the job of official "air puller".
First pull was depressing at 650ml of air, oh well back to every 30mins. After a couple of hours though it settled down and by 23:00 we were only getting fairly small amounts out after an hour or so.
"Max" has a wonderful temperament which makes it nice to deal with him, a lot of GSD are dangerous. Max's problem is he hates to be in a kennel so you have to try and keep him in the kennel by pushing your head up and blocking as he tries to leap out. Sometimes he gives in and lies down, other times he pants and dribbles in your face and hair knowing you hate it and that you are stuck, hands holding the 50ml syringe and working a 3way tap.
Calling for help is no use as everyone is busy doing other jobs and this in theory is a simple job, as he is a softie. If he gets out he stands still for his draining.
Great except try and get him back in the kennel. Back legs slide slowly down front legs go stiff and he folds drunk style to the floor. You are left to lift bits of a roughly 40kg totally floppy dog into his kennel bit by bit, as he does his best to push just enough to slide out.
Slide him round on the floor like a mop head so he is facing the door, he bounces up and is all "Ohhh goody, no more kennel" Turn him back to the kennel and down he goes.
A sweet old terrier came in via a police collection call. His owner was walking down the street and started to kick the dog, ripped off all of his clothes and ran away naked. Well that was other peoples problem the old dog was lame on his back leg but we were not sure if it was an old injury or a new one. He was on pain relief and rest overnight and reassess today (Saturday).
From there it will be treatment on a new injury, decisions on what or if anything can be done to help the old injury. Then off to the rescue kennels where they will decide what his future will be. If they can track down relatives to look after him that will be the first course of action.
I managed to leave just in time last night. I am not a fan of breeders or dog breeding. A bulldog with whelping difficulties turned up. I guess the owners got the dates wrong or are new. Bulldogs are so screwed up thanks to the breeding that they are all caesarian to give birth. If they do manage to give birth to one pup the rest are caesarian out so the stress on them is lessened by elective caesarian.
Bulldog litters often come out all dead from deformations or just a couple dead with deformed bodies.
It gets better l was speaking to a bulldog breeder once he told me that it takes 4 people to support a pair of attempting to mate bulldogs as their legs can not support the effort. An Aussie vet was telling me that over there they just use artificial insemination a lot easier and in that heat would have dead dogs.
One research team was looking into bulldogs stamina and needed them to walk a certain amount of time round a hall (l or 2 circuits) the test was abandoned as none of the dogs could compete the walk.
While nice but ugly bulldogs are a walking disaster of inherited problems and for this people pay upwards of £2000 for one.
Many breeds should be allowed to die out. The extreme cruelty of their existence should be lived by those that want to breed them, not the animals whose crime was to be a source of income.
For information on genetic disorders in dogs, go to
Outright lies are often told to prospective buyers about problems associated with breeds but if they ask the correct people, vets and vet nurses, prospective buyers should be given the correct information in as much that is known but the website is the full known and often updated lists of a lot, but not all breeds.
There is a big German Shepard Dog (GSD) in l will call Max. He had been an RTA at about 3am. His main injury was a pneumothorax (chest full of air). When night shift came back on duty they were all shocked to see him. He had come in almost dead and no one would have bet on his odds of survival.
Now he was trying to leap out of the kennel whenever the door was opened, this was often as he had been having his chest drained every 30mins. When l got in they had decided as the amount withdrawn had been dropping it would be left for an hour.
As everyone was battered from playing grab the 10mth old nutter in mid air game, or the lift the floppy dog back into the kennel, l was given the job of official "air puller".
First pull was depressing at 650ml of air, oh well back to every 30mins. After a couple of hours though it settled down and by 23:00 we were only getting fairly small amounts out after an hour or so.
"Max" has a wonderful temperament which makes it nice to deal with him, a lot of GSD are dangerous. Max's problem is he hates to be in a kennel so you have to try and keep him in the kennel by pushing your head up and blocking as he tries to leap out. Sometimes he gives in and lies down, other times he pants and dribbles in your face and hair knowing you hate it and that you are stuck, hands holding the 50ml syringe and working a 3way tap.
Calling for help is no use as everyone is busy doing other jobs and this in theory is a simple job, as he is a softie. If he gets out he stands still for his draining.
Great except try and get him back in the kennel. Back legs slide slowly down front legs go stiff and he folds drunk style to the floor. You are left to lift bits of a roughly 40kg totally floppy dog into his kennel bit by bit, as he does his best to push just enough to slide out.
Slide him round on the floor like a mop head so he is facing the door, he bounces up and is all "Ohhh goody, no more kennel" Turn him back to the kennel and down he goes.
A sweet old terrier came in via a police collection call. His owner was walking down the street and started to kick the dog, ripped off all of his clothes and ran away naked. Well that was other peoples problem the old dog was lame on his back leg but we were not sure if it was an old injury or a new one. He was on pain relief and rest overnight and reassess today (Saturday).
From there it will be treatment on a new injury, decisions on what or if anything can be done to help the old injury. Then off to the rescue kennels where they will decide what his future will be. If they can track down relatives to look after him that will be the first course of action.
I managed to leave just in time last night. I am not a fan of breeders or dog breeding. A bulldog with whelping difficulties turned up. I guess the owners got the dates wrong or are new. Bulldogs are so screwed up thanks to the breeding that they are all caesarian to give birth. If they do manage to give birth to one pup the rest are caesarian out so the stress on them is lessened by elective caesarian.
Bulldog litters often come out all dead from deformations or just a couple dead with deformed bodies.
It gets better l was speaking to a bulldog breeder once he told me that it takes 4 people to support a pair of attempting to mate bulldogs as their legs can not support the effort. An Aussie vet was telling me that over there they just use artificial insemination a lot easier and in that heat would have dead dogs.
One research team was looking into bulldogs stamina and needed them to walk a certain amount of time round a hall (l or 2 circuits) the test was abandoned as none of the dogs could compete the walk.
While nice but ugly bulldogs are a walking disaster of inherited problems and for this people pay upwards of £2000 for one.
Many breeds should be allowed to die out. The extreme cruelty of their existence should be lived by those that want to breed them, not the animals whose crime was to be a source of income.
For information on genetic disorders in dogs, go to
Outright lies are often told to prospective buyers about problems associated with breeds but if they ask the correct people, vets and vet nurses, prospective buyers should be given the correct information in as much that is known but the website is the full known and often updated lists of a lot, but not all breeds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
