Clinical Observation

Part of the application process for vet tech school is getting 16 hours of clinical observation in with a licensed vet.  With as many years as I've had dogs, I have way more than 16 hours of observation but I never thought to document it so now I am doing it officially.

Back in October, my regular vet let me observe Ginny's dental and the surgery to remove the mass on her chest.  I was also allowed to observe another dental, tooth extraction and mass removal on a cat.  I still need a few more hours of observation and this Monday I was lucky enough to get some in with a different vet.

Central Virginia is horse country.  Maybe not as much as northern Virginia but there are still a lot of horses here. One of my agility classmates is an equine vet and very graciously allowed me to tag along Monday while she made farm calls.  SO interesting, and so very different from small animal veterinary treatment.

The first call of the day was for a colicky horse.  By the time we got there, the owner had already administered a dose of Banamine to the horse intravenously.  First observation - horse people keep lots of drugs on hand and know how to administer them intravenously, intramuscularly and subcutaneously.  It turned out that the horse had a case of gas colic due to an abrupt change in hay.  We pumped a bunch of water and then mineral oil into his stomach, left the owner with instructions regarding feeding and turn out then moved on to the next call.

James Madison's Montpelier estate also happens to be a very well known racing stable, thanks to Marion duPont Scott the last owner of the estate.  There are lots of Thoroughbreds on the estate training to race on both the flat track and in steeplechase races.  The practice that my friend works for services the racing barns at Montpelier and sends a vet to the barns almost every day of the week to take care of those horses.  Just like dogs who are being shipped to other states, horses need a health certificate to travel out of state to races.  We filled out several of those for horses that would be racing in other states in the near future and also rechecked a horse that had been castrated recently.

Next on the list was a visit to a 'community stable' for a pre-purchase inspection of a pony and to check on a pony that had a bad wound just above her ankle.  Interestingly, before you purchase a horse you pay for a vet to give it a thorough examination.  The vet checks not only the basics - like any wellness exam - but also checks the horse's gait looking for any signs of lameness and rechecks things like heart sounds after the horse has been cantered for a bit.  Unfortunately, the pony we were there to check did not pass inspection.  He had some lameness in his left shoulder and when his heart rate was up he had an arrhythmia.

The pony with the ankle wound was another surprise for me.  When she was treated initially, the vet placed a catheter in her neck so the stable manager could administer antibiotics and other drugs intravenously.  I know that is sometimes done with small animals as well but I think it's a pretty rare owner who administers the drugs themselves rather than take the pet back into the vet.  The pony's wound was healing well but there was some lingering infection.  We left a bottle of antibiotic/antimicrobial spray for the wound and instructions to keep it clean and covered for another week.

Our last call of the day was a sad one.  A horse owner had an old (14 years) Coonhound that needed to be put down.  As a favor, the vet was stopping by to do that.  The owner held the dog's head to keep him calm and I made sure the vet could easily access the leg for the injection.  It was emotional but, as my friend said, you focus on the fact that you are alleviating suffering in an animal and that helps you get through it.

All in all, it was a great day.  I already had an idea that horse people are fairly self-sufficient when it comes to treating their animals for minor issues and this was confirmed.  When they know what they are doing, which most seem to, it really helps hold vet costs down.  The vets also seem to trust that these folks know what they are doing and are more likely to provide horse owners with common drugs to have on hand in the event they are needed; antibiotics, anti inflammatories and even mild sedatives.  Have you ever tried to get a small animal vet to give you a prescription for antibiotics 'just in case?'  Large animal vets also rarely, if ever, use techs.  The owner acts as the tech; holding the animal and helping with the procedure.  It's an interesting difference but not one I'm sure would work well with small animals.  Too many dog and cat owners actually make their pets behave worse and not better when they are involved in veterinary treatment.

Hopefully, I'll complete the last of my clinical observation hours before Christmas.  Then I will forward everything to the college and wait.

Self Medicating

With the holiday season upon us, I thought I would share some common household medications that can be used for dogs as well.  As always, you should contact your vet before giving any medication to your dog long-term but these are pretty safe to use in situations where getting to your vet right away is not an option.

Product	Common Use	Canine Dosage
Buffered Aspirin	Pain relief, anti-inflammatory	18-12 mg per lb every 12 hours.
Benadryl	Treats allergies, itching, etc.	½ mg per lb every 8 hours. Max dose 2 mg per lb.
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%	Used to induce vomiting after accidental ingestion of toxic items.	1-3 tsp by mouth every 15 minutes until vomiting occurs.  DO NOT induce vomiting if it has been more than 2 hours since ingestion.
Dramamine	Reduces motion sickness.	Up to 50 mg every 8 hours.
Pepto Bismol	For diarrhea, vomiting and anti-gas.	1 tsp per 5 lbs every 6 hours.

Hopefully, you won't have to use any of these this holiday season.  Also, as The Chronicles of Cardigan pointed out, pureed pumpkin is also an excellent way to treat diarrhea and/or constipation but typically works a little slower.

Of Awesome Vets

I just have to brag on our vet a bit.  Her name is Dr. Hillary Cook and, in our opinion, she is the best vet ever.

I started taking the dogs to see Dr. Hillary when I lived in Orange.  Initially, she just saw Sam for acupuncture treatments but it wasn't long before she started seeing all the dogs, and Grace, for general care.  When Bogey joined the family, he started going to Dr. Hillary too.  Last fall Dr. Hillary left the clinic in Orange to strike out on her own and open an integrative clinic in Crozet.  It's been a long haul getting the clinic open but, she's finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime, she's been making house calls.  Do you know how cool that is?  With the exception of Sam's surgery this spring, she's come to the house for nearly a year now to take care of the dogs.  She was here yesterday, along with her new vet tech, Tara, for some annual check ups.  Four of the five dogs needed testing for heart worm and the girls all needed vaccinations; rabies only for Ginny & Ra, but the works for Georgia since she's show dog and exposed to lots of nasties.  We also sedated Ra so we could get her toenails clipped and Dremeled.  I know that seems extreme but, it's the only way to do her nails that doesn't cause undue stress and injury for everyone involved.

Dr. Hillary's new clinic, Crozet Animal Wellness Center, should be opening by the end of July.  If you are in Central Virginia and looking for a wonderful, progressive and integrative vet give Dr. H a call.

Dr. H with Bogey during his first vet visit.

"Mojo: The libido. The life force. The essence. The right stuff. What the French call a certain... I don't know what."

Much like Austin Powers, Sammy got his mojo back today.  Our 1 o'clock appt with Dr. Dove proved that the surgery in March was a success.  There wasn't a lot of volume (he's 13 and he only has one testicle!) but what was there was good quality and sufficient for freezing.  The thousand dollar testicle WORKS!

The Holiday Weekend

For you poor working stiffs out there, I understand this is a long weekend.  I hope you enjoy it :)  The Horde started the weekend with a small success.  Miss Georgia got her second point today at the Hampton, VA, show under breed-judge Janet Robinson (Snowdonia).

In other Georgia news, she is in season.  At this point, that doesn't really mean much to anyone but Sam.  He is absolutely gobsmacked by her beauty and enticing aroma.  He sings, he tap dances, he tries to make the tips of his ears cross in his efforts to express to her the degree to which he finds her alluring.  It's a little pathetic to watch him try to impress her since she's still young enough that she doesn't really know what all his posturing is about.  Being the unscrupulous dog-mom that I am, I plan to take full advantage of Georgia's condition and Sam's infatuation.  Today I called Dr. Dove's office to make an appointment for Sam to be collected on next Friday.  Sam has never really needed incentive to do his business at Dr. Dove's office but since Monday will be the old man's 13th birthday and he's down to just the one testicle, I figure it can't hurt to give him a little encouragement, something to strive for, even though he won't be allowed to consummate the relationship in that way. I'm considering it a belated birthday gift for the old man.