Holidays without pets, Aussie in Cat fight.

We have been away in Noosa for most of the week. My Mum was house sitting the pets, I came home for 3 days to do some vet work, and Mum told me she had not seen Aussie our cat, I did not see him on Monday night, that is sometimes a worry but especially so If my Mum had not seen Aussie either. It was late on Tuesday night I opened the garage to see if I could find Aussie, and thankfully he came in but I noticed he had a rather bad limp. On closer inspection I realised that he had been in a Cat fight, his nails where shredded and he had an abscess on his front paw and a cut on his left paw. I gave him some antibiotics and took him into work the next day. I felt awful that I had left Aussie behind, as I realized I had not given my Mum instructions about letting Aussie in. At the Surgery, I had to give Aussie an anesthetic and then clean up his wounds. I felt so sorry for him, it certainly seem so different treating your own pets, You hope and assume they will forgive you for giving them lots of needles. I had to leave Aussie at the vet surgery as I was going straight up to Noosa at the end of the day. The cage was probably the best place to rest for a couple of days.
I will think again before I leave the cat behind at the house for holidays.

Grief and Guilt over a dying dog.

A lady came into the vet surgery today distraught and wanted to talk with me. Her 13 year old German Shepard had died of Bloat on Sunday morning, She awoke late on Sunday morning to find the dog's abdomen swollen and the tongue blue, but by the time she had rung the emergency vet the dog had died. She felt so very guilty, why had she slept in? Why had not she taken more notice of the vomiting the night before, why had she let her friends dog come over to play that day? What could have she done to save this dogs life? I could only tell her it would have been very difficult to save a 13 year old dog from bloat. But I could see that she felt tremendous guilt and grief about the loss of her dog. I tried to tell her that is very normal to feel guilt and grief after losing a great friend. One of the best things to do is to focus your energy into remembering what a great dog she had. To put effort into making a memory of the dog. I also suggested she talk to a pet loss counsellor if her feeling became to much. I recommend Penny Carroll. Her details are on my pet loss website www.petsandpeople.com.au I was glad that I had time to listen, I was amazed by the intensity of feeling.

Rainbow on Stradbroke Island

We had a great weekend at Stradbroke Island, We took Rainbow down to the beach, and as I took her off the lead the joy and exhilartion in her face was unmistakeable, She ran in and out of the surf, chasing waves, and meeting other dogs and people. She loved chasing the ball on the beach because as the ball ran across the smooth surface it seemed to go twice as far as normal. When we where back at the beach house Rainbow was happy to hang out on the Verandah as she could always see us. I was sorry that Ruff Ruff could not join us, but I don't think it would have worked out so well as she is not so other dog friendly. It is great to go on holidays with your dogs as you feel as if you have the whole family. We will be looking for more holidays in the future where we can take our dogs with us.

Going on holidays with my pets

Today we are leaving for a weekend to Stradbroke Island, but it is always difficult to decide what to do about our pets. The house we are staying in is pet friendly, but does not have a fence and they do not like dogs in the house. So we have decided to leave Ruff Ruff in a kennel and take Rainbow with us. If we put all three animals in the Kennel it would be $50 per day, which is about 1/2 the accommodation costs for a family of 5 people, seems quite silly really. We are leaving our cat Aussie behind for the weekend and I will get the neighbours to look out for Aussie. I know this is not the most responsible thing to do, But I am confident that Aussie will be fine as he hangs out at the front of the house most of the time without incident. I am really looking forward to going down to the Deadmans beach with Rainbow as it is a dog friendly beach and I know she will love it.

Amazing new cancer drug EBC-46

Last week I attended a presentation about an amazing new anticancer drug called ECB-46. It is has been developed from the rainforest of North Queensland. It has been very successful in it first preclinical trials, producing completed regression of the tumour after 2-3 weeks with no side effects. I was very impressed with the CEO Dr Victoria Gordon as she has developed and planned the progress of the drug in a very professional manner. This is an exciting development for cancer in both animals and humans as now anticancer drugs are very expensive and may only give people several months to live. This drug treatment only involves the single injection of ECB-46 directly into the tumour. It may be several more years until the drug is commercially available but it gives me great hope for the future of cancer treatment. If you would like to know more go to the website
ecobiotics

Ruff Ruff escapes and lands in trouble with council

I came home today to find Ruff Ruff out on the front footpath, happily greeting me. Ruff had escaped from under the fence. A pot plant had been moved and she was able to get under the fence. I was unhappy but still took them for a walk. When I arrived back there was a red council van outside our property. I knew there was trouble, Ruff Ruff had been reported for attacking another dog with their owners. The pound officer had to inspect our yard to look at the fence and is going to issue us with a notice to repair the fence.We have 28 days to repair the fence. I felt very embarrassed that this was happening as I very much believe in being a responsible dog owner. This is only another drama in the life of Ruff Ruff, Our Labrador Rainbow continues to stay out of trouble. Well I will strive to learn about making a dog proof fence!

2 labdradors desperate for a home together

Cookie and Coco
Even if you cant take them, please pass this around!

Contact: Katherine kjmorris74@yahoo.com

We are moving overseas in just 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I have still not been able to find a good home for Cookie and Coco . We ' re not able to take our beloved doggies with us and I ' ve been desperately trying to find a home for both of them ' together ' . They were raised together and pine without each other. The Lab rescue have already said that they would probably separate them, so this is my last resort. Recently I tried to take Coco out in my car alone and she TOTALLY refused to even get into the car without Cookie.......!!!! She absolutely pulled back on her haunches until Cookie was by her side..

Both doggies are in great health, have been spayed and have ID chips implanted under the skin.

Cookie turned 3 December 10th and Coco turned 3 April 1st. Cookie is my mellow-yellow, and just loves her tummy rubbed. Coco is adorably funny and lives for her "ball." She also loves the water...... Cookie loves lots of attention. Both doggies are loyal and love to walk. They have been raised with my 3 kids running around all over the place, and have survived Sammy ' s constant hugging and love of ' dress-up ' , so they are fantastic family dogs.. This is by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make, but under the circumstances I have no choice.

Please, please forward these pics to all your friends. I want to find a great home for these fabulous doggies. They are just adorable and it ' s heartbreaking to let them go. In a perfect world, I hope that we could find someone local so that we can still keep in touch and visit them. I pray that someone, somewhere can help us keep Cookie and Coco together, and love them just as much as we do.Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. kjmorris74@yahoo.com

Something coming out the back end of the dog.

I knew their was trouble when I was told there was something coming out the back end of the dog. The nurses asked me to see if I could help get the dog out of the van. I walked outside to find the dog inside the van, already with a muzzle on, but nobody was able to pull the dog out, I could just see some mass hanging out, but there was no way the dog was going to let me near it. So I went back inside the surgery and got some sedation. The dog did not mind me giving him an injection in his neck, but there was no way he was going to let me get near his tail. We waited 15 minutes and then finally we where able to bring the dog inside to examine. I was able to lift the tail to find a large dark mass, bleeding and ulcerated. I also examined the dog to find he had a very large fluid filled stomach and was now quite skinny. The owners thought the dog was getting fat and so they where cutting back his ration. Unfortunately the mass at the tail was mostly likely an aggressive tumour that had spread to the abdomen. They had noticed a small lump several years ago but did nothing about it. Now it was most likely too late and I had to recommend that euthanasia was the best option. The owners where very upset, but agreed that this was the best course of action. They paid and left with out waiting for the euthanasia. I always let people decide what they fill most comfortable with, But I actually like when they stay, it seems better for the dog. We all felt quite drained of emotion afterward. The moral must be to always check out lumps with your vet.

Living with cats and dogs may reduce atopy

I found this article in the Australian news paper on Saturday showing that people who live with a dog or a cat may be protected from developing allergies. It makes me happy that I am rasing my children with cats and dogs

PEOPLE who live with a cat and a dog: their pets may protect them from developing allergies, research suggests. A study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology involved 1037 people who were tested for atopy, a tendency to develop allergies. Children who had owned a cat and a dog between birth and the age of nine were less likely to be atopic at age 13 than others. Living with only one of these pets was not protective against atopy. The pets' protective effect continued into adulthood. Among those who were not atopic at 13, having both a cat and a dog in adulthood was associated with a lower risk of atopy by age 32. This link was significant only among those whose parents had atopy.

JACI

2009;doi:10.1016/

j.jaci.2009.06.038

For the full article http://bit.ly/VGzVs

Ruff Ruff is Found!

I woke early this morning after a restless night sleep, where I kept thinking that Ruff Ruff was outside the window. I went walking with Jessica and looking for Ruff Ruff, but no dog could be found. I thought I would start to ring around vet surgeries and shelters first thing, but work was very busy from the moment I arrived, another tick dog, two dogs with bloody diarrhoea, a cat with an unusual skin problem. I received a call on my mobile asking me if I was the owner of Jack Russell, I was very happy, but Ruff Ruff was still in the original owners name, although I have faxed a form to the microchip registry, the details have not changed. Lucky for me the breeder keeps great details and she still had my phone number. Ruff Ruff had been found last night by a kind lady about 6.30pm huddled under a fence, she took Ruff Ruff home and fed and cared for her, then the next morning she took it to the local vet and they scanned Ruff Ruff for a micro chip. My wife and Children picked up Ruff Ruff after school and they where joyfully reunited. On my way home from another busy day I came across a cat that had just been hit by a car. I pulled over and took it off the road, but unfortunately it was already dead. It was an entire male cat, the most likely one to get hit by a car, I was just so glad it was not my Ruff Ruff

Ruff Ruff our dog is missing after thunderstorm

My day at the vet surgery was almost over when I recieved a text message from my wife, saying that our Dog Ruff ruff is missing. Earlier in the day there had been the first Thunderstorm of spring. I knew that Ruff ruff was scared of storms, but nobody was at home. I was just hoping that Ruff would hide in her Kennel. But when my wife came home Ruff ruff was nowhere to be seen and a hole had been dug under the fence. My family searched the neighbourhood but no Ruff ruff could be found. By the time i found out it was too late to be ringing animal shelter or other vet surgeries, so I will have to wait till the morning to start looking. I am confidant that someone has found Ruff ruff and they are looking after her.

A bat attacks my dog Ruff Ruff!

We where walking around Forest Lake with my whole family just after sunset, Bats where flying everywhere, when suddenly a Bat darted from the sky onto my dog Ruff ruff. I knew it could be dangerous becuase Bats can carry two fatal viruses Lyssavirus and Hendra virus. I shook Ruff Ruff several times before finally the bat let go. I was not going to touch the bat. The Bat did not fly away, but crawled away up a post and looked exhausted. It is very unusal for a bat to attack a dog unless it has been affected by the Lyssavirus. I grabbed Ruff Ruff away who very much still wanted to attack the bat, I also had Rainbow in my other hand to Control. My 5 year old Boy Patrick was crying in fright after the bat attack so my wife took him back to the car. The bat stayed on the post, but there was little I could do as I had no protective gear and I am not vaccinated against the Lyssavirus. We checked Ruff Ruff and there was no signs of Scraths or bites, so a very lucky escape.

busy day at the vet surgery

I knew it was a bad omen for the day when I arrived at work at 8.00am to find three clients in the carpark waiting to be seen. The first dog had been fitting through the night and already on a high dose of phenobarbitone, the owners where very upset and we where discussing treament options when the dog starting fitting again, the owner had seen the dog fit many times but the mother had never seem the dog fit and she was quite upset and thought the son was being cruel keeping the dog alive. I gave the dog Valium i/v to settle the dog and give the owners time to think. Eventually they decided to euthanse the dog with much heartache involved. Next lady had been waiting all that time since opening and she had a chihuahua that could no longer stand on its back legs and was also starting to drink more water, again I discussed treatment options and she also decieded for euthanasia. A terrible start to Monday morning, next consult was labeled "cancer patient getting worse. I dreaded it being 3 out of 3. We had removed a lump from Goldie 5 months ago and now the lumps where coming back with a vengenace, they did not want surgery or chemotherapy or euthanasia. They just wanted to make her comfortable, I recommended pain relief and high protien , high fat diet. They where pleased with that advice, and I was pleased that I did not have a third euthanasia for the morning. Next we had admissions from the emergency center with two ticks cases, and general admissions, 2 dentals and cyst removal. we then had a laboured breathing dog that we could not find a tick on. The first dental was a new client, the dog had terrible breath, apparently it had been like that for 3 months, their local vet had quoted them $500 to give a GA and inspects it mouth. When we opened the mouth we found a very smelly stick lodged between its molars, this poor dog had a stick in it mouth for 3 months and nobody did anything! we did the next dental and cyst removal as routine, then we where going to xray the laboured breathing dog when we found a tick after several people had been looking for it. Paralysis tick cases are always tricky, I had already started to give tick serum when it started to shake, So I stopped and gave more dexapent and antihistamine to prevent reaction. Next was a cat clip that had diarrohea, as we clipped it we found its back end covered in maggots. we also two cases of young entire male dogs today that had sore paws from jumping fences. Finally about 5.45 pm I stopped for some lunch, tired and famished, and at last a chance to catch up on paper work. another crazy day in the life of a vet.

Marley and Me

I watched "Marley and Me" For the first time tonight with my family. We laughed and cried like we have not for a long time. We could relate to so many moments as we have 3 children and a Labrador. "Marley and Me" is a great story about our life with dogs and reminds me of the reasons I love dogs. The reason I love dogs is that have a great exuberant happiness, especially Labradors. It is the reason I still really enjoy being a vet. I also really enjoy it when I met great pets that bring joy and happiness to the people who own them. The end of the movie was very sad and there was lots of tears in our house, I certainly had a lump in my throat as I watched, but I also thought it was a beautiful end. As a vet I am often there at the end and it always a privilege to witness how much people really loved their dogs. I noted that Marley closed his eyes at the end, when in reality their eyes open up, sometimes to the distress of the owner. After listening to people grieve their lost pets, I decided to do something to help people and I set up a website to promote pet loss counselling http://www.petsandpeople.com.au/. In Conclusion I thought "Marley and Me" was one of the best family movies ever and will be much loved for a long time.

speying a 41kg fat labrador on heat.

I came into work this morning and looked at the surgery list, at first I thought great only 1 surgery, but then I looked again, it was booked in as 41kg Labrador possibly in heat. I thought that is crazy doing that surgery. Well the nurse said the owner was coming for a consult and if I thought it was the wrong time to do the surgery I should tell her. I did see the dog coming in and I thought her was was my chance to talk her out of the surgery. But I was busy and the graduate vet admited the lab for surgery, apparently the owner was adament the surgery should be done as the dog was prolapsing her vagina every other heat and now it was coming back on heat. Well I got ready after I had finished consultations, turned the radio up and started my challenge for the day. She was certainly fat and lots of bleeding with every thing I touched, the ovarian ligament was also very tough, and the ovarian blood vessels were coated in fat. but bit by bit I tied each piece off. One hour later I finished the surgery, where it would normally it would take me 20 - 30 minutes to spey a dog. The Lab recovered well throughout the day and I felt satisfed I had overcome the great challenges of everyday vet life " speying a fat 41kg labrador on heat"

Ruff Ruff eats dark chocolate.

It was my birthday today. 41 and very happy with life, I had a great day, we came home from school and my beuatiful children gave me all these great gifts including a block of dark chocolate 70% Coacca. I kept opening other cards, then I got up and found Ruff Ruff chewing on my Chocalate bar. I knew that some small dogs have died from eating dark chocolate so I had to act immediatley, I knew that I should give Ruff Ruff some apomorphine to vomit up the chocalate but I don't keep apomorphine in my vet kit at home, So I rang some local vets but they had none, So I rang Sherwood Vet surgery and they said they could help. I took Ruff Ruff down and gave him apomorphine and he vomited up all that dark chocolate, the staff there where very helpful, Ruff Ruff recovered well and we finally could go onto my Mum's house for a birthday roast Dinner.

Our pet angel fish died today

Our angel fish has been looking a bit sick for the last few days, swimming upside down and on his side. But today the angel fish died. Claire cried and insisted upon a burial for the fish in the morning, but I thought it was pretty important to for the burial to go ahead tonight. we out to the front Garden with a torch and dug a hole in the ground and said a pray for the fish as we layed him in the hole. It was a moving Family moment, Patrick went inside and had a good cry with his mum.
I think that is the first time we have had a pet death in the Family and I was suprised by our children reaction considering how little time they generally have for the fish. All good family bonding moments

A dog's purpose

I received this story today from Dr Tom Cat. I really like it because shows how sometimes children have great wisdom about pets
A Dog's Purpose? (from a 6-year-old).
Being a veterinarian, he had been called to examine a thirteen-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
He examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer, it had spread through the body, and Belker was suffering. He told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As he made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told him they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, Doc felt the familiar catch in his throat as Belker 's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that he wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. They sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.''
Startled, they all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned everyone. Doc had never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way he would live and think.
Shane said,''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?'' The Six-year-old continued,
''Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.''

Cat Joke, A cat died and went to heaven.

A cat died and went to Heaven. God met her at the gates and said, 'You have been a good cat all these years. Anything you want is yours for the asking.'


The cat thought for a minute and then said, 'All my life I lived on a farm and slept on hard wooden floors. I would like a real fluffy pillow to sleep on.'

God said, 'Say no more.' Instantly the cat had a huge fluffy pillow

A few days later, six mice were killed in an accident and they all went to Heaven together. God met the mice at the gates with the same offer that He made to the cat

The mice said, 'Well, we have had to run all of our lives: from cats, dogs, and even people with brooms! If we could just have some little roller skates, we would not have to run again.'
God answered, 'It is done.' All the mice had beautiful little roller skates.

About a week later, God decided to check on the cat. He found her sound asleep on her fluffy pillow. God gently awakened the cat and asked, 'Is everything okay? How have you been doing? Are you happy?'

The cat replied, 'Oh, it is WONDERFUL. I have never been so happy in my life. The pillow is so fluffy, and those little Meals on Wheels you have been sending over are delicious!'

Ruff Ruff my dog cuts his ear.

Yesterday my wife went out walking with the dogs, and came home early with Ruff ruff bleeding from his ear. He ran into the bushes okay and came out with a torn ear. We placed a bandage around his ear and I booked Ruff ruff into the vet surgery I was working at the next day. It certainly feel different looking after your own pet, and was certainly more emotional. After surgery was finsihed I held Ruff ruff like a baby as he was waking up. The nurses gave me heaps but I felt better really giving Ruff ruff some special attention.

When does the stray cat become your pet?

A lady brought a cat in today that she said was a stray cat, it had torn open its foot and needed surgery, what could I do? She said they had been feeding it for 4 months, but not allowing it into the house. I believe you should either deceide to own the pet or take it to a shelter. She said that she did not own the cat, the cat owns her. which may be true in the cat world, but people need to take responsibilty for cats. I quoted her $300 for treatment of the cat, but she was unable/unwilling to pay for that treatment.

We then had to ring the RSPCA to come and collect the cat. It was quite sad because she had named the cat "Dreyfus" and was tearful about saying goodbye. Surely then it must have been her cat, once you give it a name, once you feel attached to the cat. Lots of people acquire cats this way.

We found my cat Aussie under a industrial bin outside a Milk Factory, He was only 8 weeks old, we searched for an owner, but when none could be found we knew he was our cat. Any way that is my message "Own the stray cat or take it to shelter, do not feed stray cats."

Community of vets form desexing clinic

The vets of Logan city have won the contract to provide the Logan Pound with a desexing and microchiping clinic. The main aim is to reduce euthanasia of unwanted pets. This a great victory of a community working together for a better outcome.

As far as I know no study has shown that cheaper desexing reduced euthanasia rates. But some action is required to reduce numbers, hopefully a well done marketing and education campaign that focuses on responsibility for the life of a pet will also have an impact on unwanted pets.

The Logan pound has built a vet clinic next to them. It will only be used for desexing and microchiping so that it will not impact on the business of vets around them. If an animal requires treatment they will be redirected to their local vet clinic. The clinic will begin operations in late September.

dog detects low blood sugars in owner

A client came in yesterday with his little chihuahua for vaccination and he told me that this dog was pretty special because it warns him that he has low blood sugars (hypoglycemia) which is a very useful thing if you are diabetic. He told me that the dog regularly smells him and if the dog thinks he is low, the dog taps the owner on the foot and growls at him until he goes and eats some jelly beans. I think this is amazing, he never taught the dog this. The dog just fiqured this out. My Wife is diabetic but our two dogs have no idea about her low blood sugars. What gave this dog the ability to do this? The only difference I can see is that the dog is the only and constant companion for this man and they have developed a very special bond, still this dog must have a special insight or intelligence to have worked this out. Meeting people and pets like above pair really make my day as a vet.

Dog bite wound, after hours treatment.

Our Dog fight dog went home today finally after 8 days at the vet surgery. It was a very happy moment, as there was many days that I thought the dog may not make it. He still has a large wound, but I am confidant that it will heal. This dog I thought was very special, a happy little sheltie that was a very good patient. All the staff had become attached to this little dog over the week, but we where all very pleased to see him going home. Sending home a recovered dog is a great joy in being a vet.

Again it was a very busy day with non stop consultations, followed by 7 surgeries, then non stop consults. Finally everything was ready to go home and I was about to walk out the door when in walked a lady with a cat in her arms, saying can we please treat the cat. We explained that we were closed and there would be an after hours fee. Then she started to cry and told us she had just been in a car accident and her fiancee had died, and now this cat was all she had, she only had $50 dollars cash. So we compromised and examined the cat. It had a very swollen paw most likely from a cat fight. The cat was a 2 year old entire male cat, never vaccinnated, never been to a vet before.
I gave it a shot of antibiotics and told her to come back tommorrow with more money and to get some more tablets. She was most grateful. but I had mixed feeling now I was late home to my family yet again and I think why do the clients with no money, turn up at the wrong times with very sick animals in desperate needs, compared to the good clients that make appointments, always have the money and bring their animals down when ever the treatment is needed. These are the people that really deserve our attention. I think it takes discipline to balance your life and sometimes say no to people.

way too much for a one man practice

Another day of drama at the vet. The sheltie dog bite wound was sent to the AEC over the weekend, they did a great job of looking after the sheltie but still felt that he need extra surgery and recomended that he go to the specialist center, but they quoted between $3000- 6000 for the surgery. that was not an option for the owner so they brought the dog back to our surgery, we already had a busy day of surgey with 5 planned surgeries, little did I know what was ahead. After finishing the routine surgery we started debriding the sheltie, but it was already late in the afternoon and we then had a cat with a broken leg, two dogs from the same house with broken nails, a fitting dog, a whelping dog. way too much for a one man Practice, but it is so hard to turn people away when they are desperate for help. I left the surgery about 8.00pm. thankfully Ihave the day off tommorow.

Parvo Puppy

Another Day, Another Drama, Again at about 5.30pm in comes a vomiting puppy, The owners had only purchased the puppy three days ago from the local pet store. It was a replacement puppy after the last puppy had to be euthanasied because of advanced hip dyplasia. We did a parvovirus test and it came back positive, well the owners where now in tears, they had already become attached to the puppy but could not think of outlaying at least another $500 to start treating the Parvo virus. We rang the pet store owner who could not believe that it was parvo virus despite the positive test. After much discussion he decided he refund the money and ask us to euthanize the puppy, after more tears and more phone calls there was a change of heart and he said he would take the puppy back to his own vet who doubted the parvo virus test. we left about 7.30pm. Two hours of heart break, being a vet is often about understanding the emotions of the human animal bond and balancing that with rational, economic thoughts.
PS the dog fight dog is doing okay, but late this afternoon he started to vomit and his temp was 41.0c

Dog bite wound

A owner walked into the surgery this late this afternoon, saying that thier dog had been biten by another dog. The dog was a Sheltie with very long thick hair, I had a quick look and I could see some abdominal fat hanging out, I knew it would need surgery straight away but thought it would be simple stich up. We admited him to hospital and got ready for surgery. After placing the dog on i/v fluids and anesthetizing the dog, we started to clip the hair back to find the spleen was showing through the skin and the wounds where quite intensive. I thought the surgery would be out of my depth, so I spoke to the owner and recomended he go the after hours emergency clinic, but he could not afford that option, Would I please attempt the surgery. So we opened up the dog to find extensive damage to the abdominal muscle and several broken ribs if was very difficult to piece it all back together, I placed two drains into the wounds and gave extensive antibiotics and pain relief. I spoke to Emergency center and they told me cases like this have a poor survival rate, that is 30% will die. After waiting for the dog to wake, we left the surgery at about 8.30pm. Another long 12 hour day in the life of a Vet.

Convenia injection revolutionizies vet treatment

Today I saw a difficult cat that was lame in his front right leg, he had been playing roughly with the other cat in the house and there was a tooth mark on the front right leg, So I suspected that it was a cat fight wound. In the past that would mean giving the cat one injection and then giving the owner 14 tablets to give the cat one tablet twice a day for 7 days. This can be quite difficult as cat get wary of people shoving tablet down their throat. Now with Convenia, it is one simple injection that lasts two weeks. I think that this is one of best advance in Vet science for years, It makes everybody vet, client and patient alot happier. Cheers Pfizer.bit.ly/12sUFo

Vomiting dog

I saw a dog yesterday, that had been vomiting for 3 days, on enquiring about the dogs history I found that he had a history of pancreatitis , the owners had been good with diet, but had recently changed diet to a new pet mince and given the dog a marrow bone, both sources of fatty diet, so I strongly suspected pancreatitis again. We admitted the dog to hospital and took blood to look at pancreatic enzymes, the amylase and lipase were very high, so that confirmed my diagnoses, we placed the dog on fluids, antibiotics and pain relief, he will need to stay in hospital for the next few days. The moral of the story is always be careful of feeding dog fatty meals

Mammary Gland Abcess

I saw a dog yesterday that had a large mammary gland abcess, it was about 8 and 1/2 weeks pregnant, full of puppies, they had taken it to the emergency center the night before and been given antibiotics but now the abcess had opened up wide under considerable tension. The owner was keen to reduce the mess, so I opted to sew the wound under local anesthetic, I am not sure how long the suture will hold. It might have been better to leave it open. But the owner was happy that I had tried.

Sore Eye

I saw a cat today that came in with a sore eye, He had been treated at a local vet surgery for a few months with out any success, It most likely is a herpes virus ulcer http://bit.ly/PV1ol they have treated it with tricin, lysine and some other antiviral medications but with out any suceess, the owner felt frustrated because every time he went to the vet surgery he saw a different vet that had a different idea how to help. I think this is because there is no easy solution to herpes viral infections. I have started it on Conoptal, and booked it for further investigation

A sad euthanasia yesterday, a good clients dog had suddenly started to lose a lot of weight, had an enlarged chest cavity and pale gums, They had no further money to investigate as her Husband has just become unemployed, but it was very likely to be some kind of tumour. We opted for euthanasia, the owner was distraught with grief, I can only try to act with compassion and offer a few words of comfort, my heart goes out to pet owners at this time, it is so hard to let pets go but it is a reality of pet ownership as most pets only live for 10 -15 years if you look after them well. I want to help more and that is why I want to promote the use of pet loss counselling at http://www.petsandpeople.com.au

Photo of Michael O'Donoghue and his pets

1st post

This blog is about my mission to help improve human animal relationships, that is to help people who help pets, It will be about my daily progress, my life as a vet and also about being a pet owner.

Today I had a difficult surgery on a cryptochorcid cat, I had trouble finding the missing testicle, I had to ring a friend for advice, but I was pleased it all finsished up well.