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!

you are what you eat?

Is it true what they say, "you are what you eat"? What exactly does this mean? Originally this phrase  ( 1826-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante) was meant  as statement that the food you eat has a bearing on what your state of mind is. Not until later (1942 EEnglish nutritionist Victor Lindlahr published, What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet).  It is a common belief that if you eat badly you are much more susceptible to sickness. Now sometimes the line between healthy and not healthy is blurred by lots and lots of different views. For dogs some say the best diet is a brand name quality dog food that comes in a can or bag. But what about preservatives, I looked at my bag of food and it stays fresh (expiration date) for many, many months. Would my mom feed my human brothers and sisters food that stays fresh for years?

I Love Raw Eggs!

I love my food! Mom gets me Candidae, it is holistic, hypoallergenic and yummy. But if you read on the Internet with all the pet food recalls and such it makes you worry about the general health of the pet food industry! I know my mom and dad keep informed and with West Lebanon Feed and Supply next door to Stonecliff I have a never ending choice for dinner!
So this blog post is not for the squeamish! We are continuing to talk about things we pets will eat and not think twice about! One of the most common illness that the veterinary staff encounter at S.A.V.E.S. (Small Animal Veterinary Emergency Services in Lebanon, NH.) comes from our ability as pets to eat ANYTHING! Mom always says after a surgery to remove this or that from a pet's intestines, "can you imagine (she always emphasizes this word) swallowing this! So read on if you don't mind the site of gross stuff, remember, I warned you!

So we'll ease into this slowly, and please don't steal these photos from my mom. She doesn't know I am borrowing her food shots and she may get a little cranky if you take them and use them elsewhere since there copyrighted, what ever that means.
So last blog we talked about the evils of chocolate for us pets. Well I think we should all take a moment a think about all of the things we ingest in a day. This morning I ate horse poop, then cow poop, the squeaker to my new Christmas toy, part of my brother's sock, and some cat food! I am actually pretty proud of the score for the morning until I started thinking about my friends that I have met at the hospital.
A few days ago I met a dog that likes to eat sticks! Well so do I but I chew them up and spit them out! This guy swallows pieces of stick, like big pieces!

Well that took it's toll on this poor fellow. Unable to hold water or food down and a bad case of diarrhea, his people brought him into S.A.V.E.S. to find out what was wrong. Turns out a stick (pictured here) was lodged in his intestine. The only choice was to surgically remove the object and save the dogs life.

The surgeon (that's my dad!!) made an incision into the intestinal wall and removed the stick.

This poor fellow is going to be fine now. I hope he somehow realizes that dog food is for eating, sticks for chasing and the occasional chew. Not swallowing!

If you suspect your pet has an intestinal blockage timing is very important. If you pet is vomiting, not eating, and not passing stool or passing small amounts of watery diarrhea this may be a sign of an impaction or blockage. The longer the object remains in the bowel, the more damage can occur to the tissue. Don't wait, call your veterinarian right away.

 Leave you with something sweet. TaTa for now!