A Nightmare Night With a Post-Neuter Pooch...

Buddy

It's 2:25 am, and Buddy, my Pit Bull mix, is standing at the side of my bed yelling at me, wanting me to help him onto the bed. He tries to jump up himself, but everytime he does, his e-collar catches the side of the bed, and he crashes back to the floor. I realize, if I am going to get any sleep, I'm going to have to lift him into bed. I crawl out of bed, half asleep, and hoist my 55 lb. dog into bed, thinking I will finally be able to rest. Wrong! Buddy then begins to "alligator roll" twisting and turning, pawing, crying and whining at his e-collar trying to get it off..and so my night continued.

I write to you today, in a sleep-walking state, to let you know that even the Veterinary Clinic staff have problems, lol. Buddy was neutered by Dr. Carl yesterday. I was a nervous wreck going into his surgery, we neuter animals every week, but it's different when it's your own baby. The surgery went off without a hitch, and then he woke up. Within the first 30 minutes of waking up, Buddy decided he needed one less stitch than Dr, Carl thought he did, this is where the e-collar enters the story. As soon as I placed an e-collar on him, he started thrashing around his cage, flipping over backwards, like it was the end of the world! I felt like such a mean mommy, and from the look he was giving me, I'm pretty sure he thought I was a mean mommy too!

To say that he hates his e-collar is an understatement. I keep telling him it's for his own good, but he doesn't want to hear that. But in the end, he will simply have to pout about it for a few days, because he has already shown what he will do if he can get to his incision... Buddy is about 5 years old now, I've had him about a year, he is my little rescue. I've loved him from the start, and he's been a great dog, but it's gonna be a long week!

Sorry Buddy, Mommy loves you!

Samantha

Piper Needs A Home

 I had just sat down on my couch after returning home from work when I heard an insistent meow. I stuck my head in the bedroom where my cats lounge and saw nothing out of the ordinary. They looked at me as if to say "What lady? We're trying to nap here!"  Thinking I might be hearing things, I sat back down to relax.
Again I heard a meow that refused to be ignored. Suddenly a little white face appeared in the kitchen windowsill. She begged me to come out and see her. When I stepped outside she quickly jumped down and weaved in and out of my legs purring loudly. My husband jokes that my first thought when I see an animal outdoors is that it must be hungry. True to form, I ran back inside and grabbed bowls of food and water. She quickly dug into the food, eating as fast as she could manage. She was extremely thin and it looked as if she had not received a solid meal in quite a while. She had no form of identification. I live in a fairly small neighborhood and I did not recognize her as a resident outdoor cat. I sat and watched her clean out her bowl and she appeared grateful when I gave her a refill. After she had her fill, she found a spot in the sun and lounged. I decided to leave her to her nap as I had adequately filled her belly. Later, when I peeked out the window and did not see her I assumed she was just passing through. She had a different plan. The next morning, there she was in the window ready to be acknowledged and of course fed. My indoor cats were visibly offended that I had offered this outsider the windowsill. As it now appeared that she was sticking close, my next step was to see if she had been implanted with a microchip. I packed her up in a carrier and brought her to the clinic. She was less than thrilled with the car ride, although I explained to her that she needed to comply if I was going to help her find a new home. No microchip was found. I knew that I was now charged with finding her a loving home. We moved forward with testing her for feline leukemia and FIV, both of which were negative. Dr Carl then spayed her and vaccinated her. After her spay procedure as I set up her cage for recovery I yelled to DeAnna that I needed some "paper" (newspaper) for the bottom of the kennel. She replied, "Who's Piper?" And so it was that my southern accent named that sweet white cat. I am now in the process of finding the perfect home for Piper. She is an affectionate cat that loves people and more specifically their laps. Do you or someone you know have room for her in your life? If so, please contact me at the clinic. (859) 224-1418

Brandi

Farewell Ramsey. You will be missed..

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day... We brought 3 new kittens into the world and lost an awesome cat as well.  As most of you know Ramsey had been sick for about 2 weeks. After numerous test and surgery we were convinced it was some type of cancer. Yesterday Ramsey let us know he was tired of the fight. As a family we decided it wasn't fair to him anymore.  After tests came back after his death it was confirmed that no matter what treatment was performed Ramsey wasn't going to make it. Goodbye Bam Bam, WE LOVE YOU.

Ramsey's Chemo Adventure

Tuesday afternoon Ramsey was started on chemotherapy. Although none of his tests have been conclusive all signs point to Lymphoma. Without treatment there is no hope, so we have to do something.  Tuesday seemed to be a great day for Ramsey. He was able to get out of his cage and walk to his room and get into bed.  Wednesday and today have not been good for Ramsey.  He's a bit down in spirits but that's to be expected from chemotherapy. He has an upper respiratory infection as well so he can't smell his food so he doesn't want to eat. He continues to collect more fluid on his abdomen, so hopefully the chemo will take affect soon and cut down on the amount of fluid collecting. 
Although he may be feeling the effects of chemo, we aren't giving up the fight. He continues to purr and tick his tail. Hopefully in a few days we can get the congestion under control and he can eat on his own again.  His next scheduled chemo treatment is Tuesday. Stay tuned for further updates.

Ramsey Singing The Blues

Update on Ramsey. Multiple tests came back inconclusive- all labs suggested surgery.  Yesterday was the day for the big surgery. Ramsey went under the knife to see if anything could be done.  Low and behold we opened him and his intestines were angry.  Unfortunately the big "C" word becomes higher on the list.  Biopsies were collected and were sent to lab for confirmation.  

I know this sounds morbid but we are hoping for Lymphoma verses Pancreatic Cancer.  If caught in time Lymphoma has a better success rate verses Pancreatic Cancer. 
- Singin' the Blues, Ramsey

Ramsey's under the weather :(

One time or another, most of you have probably met our clinic cat, Ramsey. He is our little cross-eyed, "fanged" Siamese mix that likes to hang out at the front desk (usually grooming himself in inappropriate areas, while you're trying to check out ). As we were leaving the clinic last Friday, eager to begin our big 3 day holiday weekend, we noticed that Ramsey had not touched his breakfast from that morning. We begin to talk among ourselves, and everyone noted that they hadn't seen Ramsey out and about through the clinic that day, but he had been snuggled up in his kitty bed most of the day. Our clinic kitties had recently had a food change, so we concurred that maybe he had a sore tummy from this. We left for the day, all agreeing to pay special attention to Ramsey when we were in for our weekend duties.

Dr. Carl was the first one in Saturday. Ramsey had once again, not eaten, and was still acting puny. She started him on a medication for a queasy stomach. Sunday was DeAnna's day to check in our our kitties. When she arrived, she noticed that Ramey seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. He was given a few hundred milliliters of fluids and more medication. He was also started on a canned food, designed for cats having GI problems. DeAnna was able to coax him to eat a small amount of this. Monday, was my day to stop in. Based on DeAnna's description from the day before, Ramsey seemed to be feeling a little bit better however he did not appear to have eaten any food over night. I repeated his fluids and medication.

Tuesday morning, we were back open for business. With more staff on hand, we were able to collect a blood sample to send in to our lab for testing. We had results back that evening, and the results were unremarkable. We proceeded to take some radiographs, which revealed a large amount of fluid in his abdomen. At this time, the scary "C" word started creeping into Dr. Carl's mind, but we needed to know more.

Yesterday, DeAnna took Ramsey to Rood and Riddle to have an ultrasound performed. No tumors or abnormal masses were seen. The only thing significant was, once again, a large amount of fluid in his abdomen. We then proceeded to "tap" the fluid to take a peak at it under the microscope. What we saw was not pretty. Large amounts of abnormal, irregular cells were present, the scary "C" word was looking more like a possibility.

Today, we did another "tap" on Ramsey's abdomen and submitted the fluid to Antech (our lab) for analysis by a pathologist. So at this point, we are sitting and waiting for the results. On the upside, Ramsey does seem to be feeling a little bit better today, and has even eaten a few bites of food. Ramsey, or Bammers as we all affectionately call him, is a special part of our clinic! We will be fighting for this little guys health and hopefully have him around much longer! We will keep everyone updated on his health as we learn more! 

-Tabitha

Look at us! We're blogging :)

Welcome to our Blog!!! We try to stay up-to-date on the latest "techno" stuff, so we've decided to become Bloggers!!! If you are a client here, you know that we have lots to say, lol!!! This Blog gives us a venue to express ourselves! Periodically, different staff members will log on to discuss whatever is on their mind! We always have great stories to share: sometimes touching, sometimes funny, sometimes sad... :(

We hope you find our Blog informative and entertaining!!! If you are not already following us on Facebook and Twitter, look us up!!! Until Later...Tabitha, LVT