Meet Chula, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week.
Six pound Chula sadly got attacked by a big dog last weekend. She was grabbed around the body, literally ripping her skin off of her, and puncturing her abdomen. Emergency surgery was needed to explore the belly (to identify and repair any punctures to her intestines or other vital organs) and repair the severe laceration. Thanks to Dr. Hennessey, Rebecca, Heidi, and Tanja staying after hours to repair her, Chula is recovering slowly but surely.
This is an extreme example of obvious abdominal penetration. However, life-threatening damage can be done internally with such attacks, even without external wounds. That’s why, even if you think your dog or cat is unscathed, she should be examined by a veterinarian immediately.
I spared the graphic “before pictures,” but you can see the extensive stitches from the pictures after surgery.
Meet Indie, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week.
Indie is pet of the week for several reasons. First of all, she is an unusual breed, an Alaskan Klee Kai, so I thought you’d want to see her. This is basically a toy breed of a Husky, bred to be of house pet size but with the great coat, intelligence and energy of a husky. Indie is a petite 18 pounds.
Indie is also pet of the week because I wanted to share her story. Indie is diabetic and has another endocrine disorder called Cushings disease. Both of these diseases are serious and can greatly affect a pet’s quality of life if untreated. In addition, both disorders can lead to secondary problems such as bladder infections and blindness. However, because of her mom’s superb and diligent care (and maybe with a tiny bit of help from her doctors, nurses, and modern medicine), Indie is able to enjoy a good quality of life. Here are a couple pictures of her frolicking outside.
Meet Loki, our Pismo Beach Veteriary Clinic Pet of the Week.
Loki was seen at the clinic for vomiting. X-rays revealed a foreign object of some sort obstructing his intestines. Loki was taken to surgery to have the object removed. The brown toy shown in the slideshow below was the culprit. See if you can identify the toy on the xray (HINT: the toy is positioned face down on the xray – so we’re seeing it from the side).
Introducing CH El Shaddai’s William Le Beau Victor. William is a 3 ½ year old ASCOB (Any Color Other than Black) American Cocker Spaniel.
William was born in Cherry Valley California and is proudly owned by Alan Ormsby of Pismo Beach.
During the past 18 months, William has been competing in AKC shows throughout California, from San Diego to the San Francisco area and parts in between. GCH CH El Shaddai’s William Le Beau Victor finished his Grand Championship at our Mission Valley Cocker Spaniel Club Specialty on October 20, 2012. William is now the #2 ASCOB in California and the #19 Nationally in Grand Champion points thru AKC. Also he is ranked #2 Nationally in the AKC Owner Handler Series. William earned his Championship on May 26, 2012 and just under 5 months later earned his Grand Championship.
To date William has been awarded Best of Variety 11 times.
When not competing William loves to take walks through Pismo and enjoys the local Dog Parks, as well as being an all around family member.
He has made an appearance at all three Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet Costume Contests since he was born, winning Best Small Dog Costume last year.
William has trusted all of his medical care to the friendly Doctors and staff at the Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic.
Meet Squeak, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week. Squeak is an athletic dog, trained in the sport of agility. Unfortunately, Squeak suffered a hyperextension injury to his carpus (the canine equivalent of a wrist). In such an injury, extensive force is placed on the joint (usually while jumping and landing hard on the paw), causing the joint to bend back too far, tearing ligaments. This can be a very severe and irreparable injury, especially for an athletic dog. However, Squeak’s owner was determined to nurse Squeak back to health and is doing so by pursuing surgical, medical, and physical therapies for her dog.
Squeak is the first dog that we’ve treated that had a customized splint made to help relieve stress on his joint (his mom’s idea). Below are images of Squeak wearing his splint. In addition, Squeak goes to weekly hydrotherapy as a great way to maintain strength while avoiding too much stress on the injured leg.
Meet Annie, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week. Annie went missing for a few days and returned with a severe degloving injury to her back leg. A degloving injury is one caused by severe trauma that rips the skin away from the underlying tissue. These often take extensive bandaging and potentially multiple surgeries to fix. However, Annie was lucky in that the skin that pulled away was quite healthy still and we were able to reattach it.
Photos below show her before surgery, immediately post-op, and 2 weeks after surgery. The 2 week recheck shows a small gap in the incision behind the knee. This is the only spot that we were unable to stitch together. Fortunately, the body can be amazing at healing and simply fills in new tissue and skin into the gap.
Annie continues to heal very well and we expect a full recovery!
Meet Olivia, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week!
Olivia is a 4 1/2 year old, 189 pound Irish Wolfhound, owned by our technician, Julie, and her husband Johnny. We don’t get to see Olivia very often at the clinic because she prefers to keep her dad company at home, not to mention her size makes the journey a bit of an effort. We wanted you to meet her, though, because she is such a beautiful, amazing creature! We love seeing her (and dressing her up as a stegosaurus as you can see below).
Meet Ruby, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week!
Ruby is a sweet, brave, only 5 pound chihuahua that presented to us in early March. Ruby had somehow gotten her little leg tied up in a blanket string. The string had completely wrapped around the leg, strangulating it, and cut off blood circulation to her foot. This resulted in such damage to the foot that it was completely paralyzed and we could not save it. Ruby needed her leg amputated to remove the pain and infection that the wound was causing.
Fortunately for Ruby, she was up and running around on her 3 legs the day after surgery like nothing ever happened! Although her tiny size makes recovery and mobility much easier, the reality is that most dogs will get along quite well on only 3 legs.
Meet Sara Lee, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week!
Sara made pet of the week because at 20 1/2 years of age, she is one of our oldest patients and still going strong!
Sara was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2009 and inflammatory bowel disease shortly thereafter. Despite her ailments which have been managed medically, her family (which includes a 16 year old, Cocker Spaniel sister!) feels she still lives a content cat life.
Sarah Lee is a poster child for preventative medicine, as her parents are diligent with regular checkups and annual blood screening. As a result, Sarah Lee’s ailments have been caught early and treated quickly and effectively. Cats are often the neglected members of the household because there is a misconception that they can “take care of themselves.” This diligent attention to Sarah Lee’s health on the part of her human parents is a huge part of her continued excellent health and a great example to cat owners everywhere!
Meet Chance, our Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Pet of the Week!
This sweet face came to see us when he wasn’t feeling so well. Chance had been vomiting and unable to hold down any food or water for the previous 3 days. Although Chance was an older puppy (8 months old) and he had gotten his puppy shots, we always need to rule out parvovirus as a possible cause of vomiting since puppies are the most susceptible. Unfortunately, Chance tested positive for parvovirus.
Parvo is a virus found EVERYWHERE in the environment because it is extremely tough. Any dog is susceptible; however, puppies and unvaccinated dogs are at greatest risk of coming down with symptoms. This is why we recommend that ALL dogs under the age of 4 months stay isolated from public places.
Parvovirus infection usually causes vomiting, bloody diarrhea, anorexia, lethargy, and extreme dehydration. It is usually fatal if left untreated. However, about 80% of patients that are aggressively treated (this generally means in the hospital on IV fluids and medications for up to 5 or more days) will survive.
Chance’s case is especially eye-opening as he did NOT have any diarrhea and had had 2 parvo vaccines as a puppy. It is extremely important that all puppies (and kittens) receive the distemper/parvo vaccine (aka DHPP or FVRCP) starting at 6-8 weeks of age, and receive a booster vaccine every 3-4 weeks until they are A MINIMUM OF 16 WEEKS OF AGE. So even if your puppy has had 3 or 4 shots by the time he is 12 weeks old, the MOST important shot is the last one he gets. If the last shot was given at less than 16 weeks of age, then he is not fully vaccinated.
This is why at Pismo Beach Vet we do an examination and consult with the doctor every step of the way with a new pet or puppy/kitten, rather than just a vaccine clinic. Puppies grow quickly and things are constantly in a state of change so we feel this additional attention and time spent with the doctor is crucial.
You’ll be happy to know that Chance did great and is on his way to making a full recovery!
The last day of his hospitalization in the isolation ward.
