Vet Stories

This month has already twisted me in several ways - with pets 😅

1. A septic Golden Retriever that had turned yellow 

Lesson - not every pet who turns yellow has a liver disease or is poisoned

Serum creatinine was at 11.23 and septic (Acute Kidney disease due to pyelonephritis and sepsis related cholestasis) 

 Zero injections but put him on just one oral medication. He's back to his self in about 3 days

2. A racing horse with hind limb weekness

Marwari horses have a predisposition to calcium deficiency due to improper feed. Inadequate calcium and Cattle feed given to such horses can make the horse deficient in calcium and amino acids further exacerbating hind limb weakness

The horse couldn't get up. The owner made arrangements to hoist her for once, I had to put her on injections due to urgency, drained her multiple abscesses from a previous recumbency, changed her nutrition and she's recovering

3. A kitten with a liver enlargement (hepatomegaly) on ultrasound scan due to FIP dry form

Lesson - a liver enlargement doesn't always mean a liver failure. A hepatomegaly on ultrasound scan can keep the ALT levels normal but still have the kitten affected with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis). FIP is known to be deadly but I've saved 8 kittens this year 

Zero meds. Changed nutrition. The kitten is recovering 

4. A Labrador with vasculitis

Lesson - vasculitis is deadly if the root cause wasn't identified, it can be extremely irritating to a pet on the skin and it takes several months for the skin lesions to get back to normal. Zero injections but started oral medicine due to acutness 

All of these challenging cases went smooth so far and the pets are recovering except for one case which is, 

5. Death of a cat due to aspiration of oral medicine 

This was an unexpected news from the owner and it's my second time hearing something like this from a pet owner

⚠️The owner had immediately squirted the liquid medicine into the cat’s mouth while keeping the cat’s head raised

Lesson - any animal can get aspirated with improper dosing of medicine orally or improper feeding. Most of the aspirations can't be reversed 

Always keep the medicine (tablet or liquid form) on the tongue and let the pet swallow the medicine on his or her own

Like I say, every case is a challenge. Most cases are different from each other. Plot twists almost every time but it's so satisfying when on-point medicine or focused nutrition can save lives most of the time

📷 Remember "Peggy" the Marwari Horse? 

Stories from Vet 4 Pet Animal Clinic Ja Ela 🇱🇰

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