Notes from Dr. Chau - July 27, 2011

Today was a moderately challenging day…definitely not routine.

We met a new patient today—one that would not allow pet mom to speak a word. Every attempt pet mom made to talk to me, C_ was interrupting and adding her 2-cents (barking.) The minute we decided to give C_ a tour of our facility and a break away from mom, she was quiet as a lamb, well-mannered and quite obedient. She had lots to tell her pet mom when we returned to the exam room. I hope she had nice things to say J

My next appointments were double trouble. Both had histories of thickened bladder wall that was identifiable via ultrasound. We were able to perform a cystocentesis on one and the other we had to send home with a sterile cup to collect a specimen. Sometimes when the bladder is not completely filled, it is harder to take a sample from the bladder. It’s amazing what we can see in, on, and around the bladder with the ultrasound. It is far superior than the x-ray for finding bladder stones, tumors and “sludge”.

A few other routine patients were seen thereafter. Our M. girl came for acupuncture for her incontinence and history of seizures. I decided to do some acupuncture points that target her seizures. No seizures or tremors during our session. She was fast asleep after all her needles were in place!

The challenging case of the day goes to the mast cell tumor surgery that we removed from one of our patients. Mast cells are always a challenge since curing the pet means having to resect them with large “margins”, meaning both wide and deep around the body of the tumor. Surgery went well and closure of the site was achieved. This patient also had a dental and unfortanutely or fortunately (depending on who you ask), we removed 2 rotten molars and premolars in the mouth. The pet was sent home with heavy duty pain medications and lots of TLC.

My wound case that I’m treating with honey, if you remember the story (dog suffers from puncture wound that left exposed muscles), well my patient figured out to manipulate her large e-collar, chew off her bandage and rip out the stainless steel staples and sutures in her skin. If there is a will, there is a way. Luckily the incision is healing so well that we decided to remove the remaining sutures and rebandage the wound. Not shortly before we were ready to go home, our lovely patient figured out a way to chew the bandage off again. Unfortunately for her, we had an upgrade for her ecollar. What will she come up with next?

My vomiting patient from yesterday was positive for pancreatitis. She responded well to treatment and started eating immediately after offering her a bland diet. No more vomiting and she went home happily to finish her healing.

Oh, lastly to end the day, we trimmed a Quaker bird’s nails and wings to the likings of her owner…not too short and not too long…perfect to maintain a low flight but not long enough to race through the house. A little here, a little there and she was perfect.

A good day. I’m sure I’ve missed a few.