January 14, 2011
New Vocab: Anal scent glands: glands used to release a personal identifying scent, they are located along the anus.
Canine Hypoglycemia: A dog blood glucose disorder resulting in low levels of blood sugar
ICU: Intesive Care Unit, It contains the animals who need special care due to different critcial conditions.
I have loved going to Primary Care so far. A typical Primary Care day can be described as having a patient (dog or cat) come in for a regular check up, similar to what physicals are for humans you check the animal's temperature, weight, heart, ect.
However, today was a different story. Because Dr. Norrel is leaving next week she did not have any students this week to help her with any appointments and the usual veterinary technician had the day off so a veterinary technician from ICU. While waiting for the first appointment, she was telling me some stories about her experience at ICU. The most shocking story to hear was the one about a cat who had been attacked by a dog. The cat had exposed organs on one side and had a serious infection, and developed a liver problem from the infection. It had developed such a serious infection because the owners decided to take it to the clinic two days after the dog attack. They had attached draining tubes out of its sides and empty all the liquid from the infection every three hours, although there was a slim chance of survival the cat managed to recover and leave the clinic three weeks later. This story is a great example of why it makes me feel enraged when pet owners neglect their animal so much to the point that the animal almost dies. I understand that veterinary appointments can get expensive but when your pet is seriously injured there is no way for it to heal without making a trip to the veterinarian.
After hearing this story the first animal came in; she was an old dog who was blind, had diabetes, and was having seizures. Dr. Norrel believed the reason for her seizures may be because the dog might have hypoglycemia. In order to find out we would have to draw blood to find her blood sugar level every hour. A big problem was that even though it was a big dog it was hard to find a vein and restrain her from moving when she would get pricked. Her sugar levels would fluctuate from 28-238 within 12 hours. The next dog we looked at was a pitbull that had a skin abnormality, after taking a sample from the skin Dr. Norrel decided to give a full body check. She noticed that his anus looked red, which is why she checked the inside of it (this is where the nausiating part begins). By using her finger she found that his anal glands were very large. The dog had not been able to naturally drain his anal gland. In order for the dog to not develop infection Dr. Norrel had to drain them. Draining an anal gland is similar to popping a pimple. The liquid inside the gland looks like diarrhea. The smell is a lot stronger than anything I have ever smelled in my life. Ever smelled the cows when driving , or going to the veterinay open house? or even smelled skunks on the road? I have gone in to dairy farms and never smelled something that bad before. Needless to say the room had a very strong stench after both glands were drained. I learned that the reason dogs wipe their butt on the floor is because those glands have been irritated. Thinking about it now I also realize that the glands must also be the reason why dogs smell each other's butts.
Although I will not be writing about them in detail, today there was also a cat with an open wound that needed to be cleaned, and two other dogs that had their regular check ups. The experiences I have had this week support my dream of one day becoming a veterinarian. I am very excited for next weeks rotation.
No comments:
Post a Comment