Day 15: Anal Gland Abscess, Diabetes, Thyroid Cancer, and Aspirating Pneumonia

                Today when I first arrived, I was able to help Dr. Todd and Jen with something I’ve never even though was possible before: Anal Gland Abscess.   Basically, an anal gland gets infected and impacted, which leads to a swollen, pus-filled area.  This formation will eventually burst in order to drain, and sometimes it bursts through the skin, which is what happened to the Terrier we had today.  The poor guy was in a lot of pain, and he was in even more pain when Dr. Todd started cleaning the opening and anal area.  Even though he was small, Jen and I both had to hold him for Dr. Todd because he was struggling and crying so much throughout the whole process.  However, after Dr. Todd expressed the anal glands and then rinsed the anal and abscess openings with saline solution, the terrier seemed to be in less pain than he was when he came in, and now that the abscess hole was cleaned it would be able to heal easier.  Abscess holes also quickly heal on their own, so the dog didn’t receive or need any bandages.   Right after the terrier, we had a lop rabbit named Oreo and a guinea pig named Pillow who were in for nail trimmings, which they really needed; their nails were extremely long, and Pillow’s were so long they were starting to corkscrew and curl around each other.  At the same time that Oreo’s and Pillow’s nails were being cut, Dr. Karen had a poodle that had a corneal ulcer.  She did the same procedure that Dr. Todd did yesterday (staining the eye with staining drops, numbing the eye with numbing drops, and gently taking a needle and lightly scraping the ulcer to draw the blood vessels to the ulcer so it would heal).  The Police department also brought in a stray parakeet, so we fixed him up a little place in one of the cages in cat ward, and he’ll be there until further notice.

The Terrier with the anal gland abscess.  The hole circled in pink is the anus, and the hole circled in blue is the abscess hole that was caused by the infected anal gland rupturing.

Oreo the rabbit.

Pillow the guinea pig.

It's not a perfectly clear picture, but Pillow's curled and corkscrewed nails can be seen.

Dr. Karen gently and lightly scraping the corneal ulcer with a needle, like Dr. Todd  did yesterday.

The stray parakeet.

                One of the major patients we had today was a Westie Terrier named Jolie.  She has diabetes in addition to thyroid cancer, and she was getting her blood glucose checked in addition to getting chemotherapy.  I held Jolie for Lauren while she drew some blood from the jugular, and Lauren had me feel her lymph nodes; they were huge!  After Lauren took the blood, she explained to me how they were doing a curve for the glucose readings.  The owner is supposed to feed the animal and then take the blood glucose reading right before giving the animal an insulin injection at 8:00 in the morning, and then bring their animal into the hospital to be monitored throughout the day.  Every two hours, their glucose levels will be checked by a tech or Veterinarian, and they will see how much insulin the animal needs as a result of their different glucose readings throughout the day.  I helped check the glucose readings of Jolie throughout the day, and she was also the first dog I put a muzzle on.  She was a little nippy (most likely because she was scared), but I was able to slip the muzzle on her without too much of a problem.

Jolie, the Westie who has diabetes and thyroid cancer.

Jolie, while she was having a blood glucose test done after I muzzled her.

The blood glucose monitor used at the Vet hospital.

                The last patient we had before I left today was a Great Dane named Zaba who had aspirating pneumonia.  She was vomiting a lot, and breathing pretty heavily.  She is ten-and-a-half years old, which is old for a great Dane; they usually only live to be eight-ten years old.  While Nancy and I took her to a corner of the recovery room to sit with her and calm her down, Nancy told me how Zaba had pyometra in 2008, which is an infection of the uterus where the uterus fills with pus.  This is a very serious illness, and since she had pyometra, her uterus and ovaries were removed (so essentially, she was spayed).  In addition, when she was spayed, her owner asked for her stomach to be tacked (sutured to the side linings of the skin tissue) at the same time in order to prevent her stomach from bloating (turning 180 degrees) anytime in the future.  Zaba was still resting in the corner when I left for the day, so I’ll have to check up on her and see what happened with her when I go in on Monday. 

Zaba, while she was resting in the corner of the recovery room with Nancy and me.

As a side note update, right when I was leaving one of the night techs, Megan, who had adopted one of the puppies that we had a couple weeks ago.  The puppy, named Bruce, is just as happy and energetic as he was when he went home with Megan, and he is very healthy and doing very well.

Bruce with his brother, Bruno, while they were still living and being taken care of at the hospital a couple of weeks ago.

Bruce now.  He has grown a little longer, but nothing else has changed and he's still as happy and energetic as he was before.