Day 10

6-4-10

This morning, we did the mass removal surgery on the rat! Dr. Dan’s anesthetic protocol included Ketamine + Midazolam, IM and Buprenorphine, SQ.

It was a very interesting surgery, and Dr. Dan taught me about radio cautery, mass removal in general, and mammary tumors in rats. After removing the mass, Dr. Dan located two smaller tumors that were not palpable because of the larger one. He wanted to remove those as well, but the rat had lost so much blood during surgery, he decided to wait until a later date.

A few of the technicians at the clinic have a pretty interesting sense of humor. Need I say more?

Later this afternoon, we did a healthy pet exam on a Savannah Cat and scheduled a later appointment for a FeLV/FIV test and a neuter.

Then, a rescued rabbit arrived with only one eye. Miraculously, the third eyelid, called the nictitating membrane, had covered the socket sufficiently, and the injured eye had shriveled up and receded into the socket, which is exactly how nature had intended. The so-called “wild” rabbit was doing fine without his eye, and the eye itself hadn’t gotten infected, so Dr. Dan wasn’t worried. He simply treated the rabbit for the ear mites he found on its physical exam and discharged it to a good home.

This afternoon was particularly hectic for me. Two days ago, Dr. Leo performed a tooth trim on a rabbit that had presented with diarrhea and anorexia. Today, the owner claims that the rabbit is doing worse than before, still not eating, and is now grinding its teeth constantly. The client it still managing to force feed her, but less than the recommended dose of food, and she is getting her medications regularly. The owner said that she acts as if her teeth hurt, she is resisting the force feeding more today, she’s less active, and she’s depressed. Dr. Dan became a little overwhelmed this morning, so I told him I would take over the case and the client. I called her personally and got all this information from her over the phone. However, when she finished telling me the current condition of her rabbit, she proceeded to tell me about how upset she was with AEAC and that she considered not bringing her rabbit in at all. I asked her why she was upset. She said that when this rabbit got spayed (seven years ago!) she got burned on her belly during recovery from surgery on a heating pad (which we don’t use anymore). The client went out of town for a week, and when she returned to pick up her rabbit, the technicians supposedly didn’t tell her about the burn on the rabbit’s belly. However, in the computer medical records, it shows that they did. They even showed her how to apply the ointment to the burn. When she brought the rabbit back upon noticing the black spot on her belly, the interim veterinarian told her to please tell Dr. Dan about her concerns; but she failed to do so… until now… seven years later! Therefore I told her how very sorry I was about that and how glad I am that she has told us everything, and that I would do everything I can to make the situation better. By the end of the day, about four hours after our initial phone conversation, and after a couple hours worth of apologizing, I finally had her calmed down enough for Dr. Dan to come in and examine her rabbit once more, listen to her rant for awhile longer, and teach her how to force feed her rabbit correctly. Hopefully, the rabbit will begin to get better, in the client’s opinion, and we won’t have to deal with this problem again.

Our last patient of the day was a duck that someone had brought in from their farm pond. A fox had gotten ahold of it a few days before, and nearly ripped its leg off. However, the duck was truckin’ along just fine on only one leg! It hopped right into the clinic with the other leg dried up and dangling off! Dr. Dan just pulled the dried leg off, which didn’t even phase the duck, and we debrided the gaping hole that was left with forceps, carefully removing the scabs and dirt, while still watching to see if the duck felt anything.

No reaction whatsoever from the duck! We lathered it in SSD and put the duck in a run to hold him a few weeks until it heals over completely. Dr. Dan named her Ilean... Ha-Ha Dr. Dan. It’s pretty amazing how some animals can overcome the loss of a limb in such a short amount of time with almost no veterinary care!