living on the edge

Today I hear is the first day of spring. Exactly a year ago I arrived in Vermont a small scared puppy. I cried a lot at night in the beginning, Petunia growled all the time when I came near her, and I almost drown in our pond!
Today I weigh 80 pounds, I snore instead of cry at night, Petunia LOVES me, and yesterday I accidentally almost drown my mom in our pond! Some advise, don't run up behind someone while they are standing by a half frozen pond and bump them..... not a good idea.
On the menu at S.A.V.E.S. this week was some pretty odd things. The first was Violet, a very (did I say very) pretty boxer. I wish we had met under different circumstances, I know she would have fallen for me. Instead Violet arrived with a strange appetite for razor blades.

Disposable Razor Blade

Violet was having a hard time keeping anything down, she wasn't eating and really felt awful. She came to S.A.V.E.S. because her veterinarian diagnosed  a foreign body in her stomach. Violet had eaten a disposable razor blade and it was stuck in her stomach. The first attempt to remove the object was performed by endoscopy. Endoscopy involves running a very small camera down into the stomach, locating the object and then retrieving it via the same equipment's "grabber" tool. Violet's razor did not want to come out in this manner.

Removing the Razor Blade

The next step was to surgically remove the blade. My dad took Violet to surgery and performed a gastrotomy. Once the stomach was located he made a small incision into her stomach wall and retrieved the razor blade.

Surgical Monitoring

It was pretty cool, I get to watch all the surgeries through the observation glass, someday I think I want to be a surgeon like my dad. My mom monitored the anesthesia with all sorts of machines that beeped and made funny sounds. Air kept filling the blood pressure cuff with a whoosh, the heart monitor showed every heartbeat on the screen, and another monitor showed how much oxygen was circulating in her bloodstream Really cool stuff. The table is even heated! Who would figure!

Violet Recovers From Surgery

After surgery Violet recovered in the recovery stall with Carm (that's what I call her but her real name is Carmelita) one of the nurses at S.A.V.E.S. She had lots of blankets and a big heating pad full of warm air. The nurses stay with the patients until they are fully recovered.

Violet My Love

Violet is home now and probably the only way I will ever get to see her again is if she decides to eat another razor. I know it sounds awful but I kind of hope she does so I can talk to her again! She was so pretty!

Appetite for Lingerie

This poor guy swallowed a bra! It also had to be removed with surgery! Think I will stick to my canned and dry food! Tata for now!

first aid, life-saving tips

Would you know what to do if your best friend was hurt? Did you know many common emergencies can turn deadly without the proper immediate care?

On  Sunday March 6th 4:00 pm – 8:00pm and Sunday April 17th 10:00 am – 2:00 pm  S.A.V.E.S. is very pleased to announce a Red Cross endorsed first aid and CPR course will be held at the Canine Club (training area adjacent to the S.A.V.E.S. emergency hospital). Michelle Grimes, owner of K-9 Insights and authorized American Red Cross Pet First Aid Instructor (and a really nice technician at Stonecliff Animal Clinic in West Lebanon) will be holding this really informative class.

Purpose: To teach individuals basic first aid techniques for dogs and cats due to common illness, injury, or a life-threatening condition.


Course Objectives: Participants should be able to:

 Explain how and when to call for emergency assistance for an injured pet

 Understand how to find out what is "normal" for their pet

 Identify signals of breathing emergencies, including choking, and demonstrate how to provide care

 Identify signals of cardiac arrest and demonstrate how to provide care

 Identify life-threatening bleeding and demonstrate how bleeding can be controlled

 Identify signals of various injuries and demonstrate how to care for them

 Identify signals of sudden illness, poisoning, seizures, heat & cold emergencies. Describe how to care for them

 Describe when and how to move an injured pet

 Describe components of a good "pet friendly" first aid kit

Additional information about this class can be found at Michelle's website K-9 Insights . Each participant will receive a certificate from the Red Cross and a manual (you choose either dog or cat) titled American Red Cross Pet First Aid. Be safe, be prepared!

And last but of course not least I am running a contest for this week! The first person to email me at info@savespet.com ,  put "Oli" in the subject line of your email with the correct answer will receive a fabulous prize! Hint: the answer can be found in my blog:
Who was the first to show up at S.A.V.E.S open house when the hospital tours began? Good Luck and Tata for now!

brush, brush, brush

I have come to the conclusion that humans are never satisfied with what they have. Last summer all I heard was "it's toooo hot", now all I hear is "it's tooooo cold". Give me a break, it is what it is people. The power of positive thinking is starting to drain my brain, stop complaining. Maybe we dogs would be a bunch of complainers if we could communicate better with all of you. Instinct tells us to suck it up and deal with it. We do that, day in and day out we deal with our suffering until we can't deal anymore and our people begin to notice something is wrong. This is both a saving grace (I would shoot myself if Petunia complained all day about her backache!) but also a death sentence. By the time we can't hide our pain and suffering any longer and our parents bring us to the veterinarian, a lot of irreversible damage has been done.

So the bottom line, if your reading this, you are hopefully getting the message that regular visits to your pet's doctor can help him live the longest and healthiest and happiest life possible. My dad always says "catch it early and manage it easily", or something like that....
So you might not know that SAVES is also where many pets have routine surgeries done. They also come there to have their teeth cleaned. I use to think dogs and cats having their teeth cleaned was like my sister going to have a "mani-pedi", unnecessary and a waste of my parents money. Boy am I wrong (not about my sister).



Before Dental

Dental disease is the number one killer of dogs and cats! Dental disease can lead to heart disease, kidney disease all sorts of really serious diseases! Think about it, what if you didn't brush ever (my little brother can relate completely!). Your breath would stink, your teeth would rot, def. not a babe magnet at that point.

After Dental

Check out the pet site Pets need dental care, too for lots of very interesting facts like did you know 80% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of oral disease by the age of 3! Bacteria, saliva and food combine to create plaque (the brown crusty stuff on this pups teeth in the first photo) on your teeth. This builds up over time leading to gum irritation (gingivitis) and eventually tooth loss. The inflammation and infection along with bacteria getting into the bloodstream can lead to damage of organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys. Dental disease is really serious stuff!

 So what do you do about this? Brush and brush and brush! At first it is a little strange, I thought it was a game my sister was playing but biting the brush was not part of it. Always use toothpaste formulated for pets, you can pick it up at your veterinarian and many times they have free samples (human toothpaste can be poisonous to us). Use a lot of patience at first, I didn't like her toughing my mouth at all but now it is kind of fun.

And the toothpaste tastes yummy!

Brush, brush, brush and stop by SAVES, February is National Dental Month and all dental procedures are discounted 10%. I know all the babes out there are gonna love my pearly whites!
Tata for now