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!

police dogs, grass, and progress

Good morning! Boy I am sooo glad it cooled off a little. Last week was brutal with temps. in the 90's some days. I got to see my first thunderstorm, it was really cool but Petunia got all nervous and paced through the house. Dad said we should start her back on Composure, a natural supplement that takes "the edge off" as he said. Petunia said it really made her feel better last year when the big booms came!

Wow Canine Awareness Day at the West Lebanon Feed and Supply was soooo much fun. I got to meet the police dogs that work for the Vermont State Police and Lebanon Police. The were racked no that was "jacked", all fit and fierce. They showed us how they catch the bad guy, sniff out drugs, find missing people!

First there was this bad guy (he was just an actor!)

Then the police dog did his thing!

First he waited patiently.......

He never took his eye off his officer, then when the bad guy started attacking the officer, he sprung to action!!!

These guys are going to be at Small Animal Veterinary Emergency Services (S.A.V.E.S.) open house on June 26th so don't miss them.

Speaking of S.A.V.E.S. the emergency hospital is scheduled to open this coming week. I must really be helping alot because my mom keeps saying "Boy Ollie, you are SOOO much help"!

We have been painting all weekend. Everyone laughs when they look at me, guess I got a little close to the freshly painted walls.

The new xray system has been installed. The doors leading into surgery and xray are automatic so that if someone is carrying a patient the doors will open all by themselves!!!

Stay tuned til next week and could you do me a favor, many people have said that they clicked on my follow info. and it didn't seem to work. Can you give it a try for me? I love making new friends and want to make sure my site is working well. Ta ta for now!

ticks, dog shows, and open houses

One thing I have learned about Vermont, there's things that live in the grass! Mom calls them ticks, I call them ICK!

Wow, which line should I follow?

Lately when I go for walks I come back with these little flat crab looking guys that are attached to me and sucking my blood! Worse yet, dad says they could carry Lyme Disease which could make me really sick!

Wood Tick-not the most common carrier but you get the idea

So, you guessed it, I did a little webinar surfola! Lyme Disease is named after a town in Lyme Connecticut, where the disease was first discovered. Dogs are not the only things that can contract the disease, people do also! But the disease is very different between the two "species" (I have been learning alot of big words lately).

(this is a babe I met at the baseball game!)

When people are bitten by these little icks, a huge percentage (80) of them develop a rash or flu-like symptoms, then joint pain. A smaller percentage develop heart and brain issues. For humans, long-term, this is a very serious illness.

Dogs on the other hand don't show any signs for months or even years after being infected. Usually arthritis (aching joints), sometimes fever. Heart and neurologic issues are rare. Symptoms respond rapidly to antibiotics. The most serious long-term threat is "Glomerular Disease". This means your kidneys become damaged!

Petunia trying to look intelligent!

So dad says the ticks are out in force this year. Wet and cool weather is there favorite. He says you see the most ticks in the spring and fall because of their breeding seasons. Turns out in spring the female lays clumps of 2000 eggs. Small icky 6-legged larva hatch out and attach to a small host (usually a little mouse). If the mouse is carrying the Lyme Disease the larva becomes infected while it feeds on the mouse's (meeses) blood. The larva then hide out until the following spring, grow and become a "nymph"! These larger tick babies then can select a larger host such as a dog (this is making me itch all over!). They feed (ewwww) for 3-5 days, drop off and lay dormant until late summer and fall when they become adult!

My sis was in a play and I played in the brook while she danced.

The good thing is (if there could be one) the tick must be attached for at least 48 hours to the host (me) to transmit the disease. Why you ask?

As the tick is sucking your blood it keeps that blood from clotting by regurgitating (barfing as my brother says) assorted enzymes from it's gut. This is when the Lyme Disease is injected into the host (me). This does not happen for at least 48 hours so if you get the tick off quickly you wont get the disease!

Dad has been putting some stuff on me every month that either kills or causes the tick to drop off before 48 hours. You can get this at your vet office, there are many different names but they work pretty much the same. Look for Frontline, Vectra, or Revolution!

Moms still making Rhubarb Stuff!

So big news, the West Lebanon Feed and Supply store connected to Stonecliff Animal Clinic of New Hampshire is having their annual Canine Awareness Day this coming weekend (May 29th). It should be lots of fun with police dog demonstrations on how they catch the bad guys and sniff out drugs. These boys are the real McCoy!

If you miss them this time around, they will be at SAVES open house on June 26, 2010. That is turning out to be quite an event. Make sure you don't miss it, a great chance to strut your stuff at the fun dog shows, try your paw at the agility course, dress up and parade around! I will be there definitely! Stay tune for more about the open house next week.

That's me saying hi to everyone!

Walls are up at SAVES, things are moving very quickly now! They will be opening their doors to everyone starting on June 2, 2010!