Veterinary Internship: Day 24: Blood Draws, Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Anemia, Allergies, Wet Tail, and Fecal Samples

Today, some new patients we were housing in the recovery room were a Husky-Lab mix named Grace, a Charles Cavalier King Spaniel named Biscuit, a Terrier named Norma, and a Domestic Short-Hair named Figaro. Diego is also still here; however, he was sort of walking/hopping when I came in today (doing his best to try and walk), which was wonderful to see; he has been recovering so quickly and efficiently! He’s been doing so well, he was actually able to go home today, and his owners are going to continue to keep an eye on him and make sure he’s still doing okay while at home. Grace ate a huge amount of 500-mg ibuprofen, and she had been given Toxiban (activated charcoal) to treat the toxicity of the ibuprofen by absorbing it. All day poor Grace was having black vomit and diarrhea, but it was good that at least she was getting the ibuprofen out of her system. Jen and Lauren also taught me how to correctly draw blood today, and they let me draw blood from Grace. That is (of course) another first for me, and I was really happy they thought I was ready to learn how to properly draw blood now. Jen said that I was holding the needle a little awkwardly, but overall I did a fine job for my first time. I’m going to practice holding and moving a syringe when we don’t have anything going on so drawing blood will start feeling more natural to me. Biscuit has DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) and is vomiting, so he is receiving Cerenia (to help stop the vomiting), insulin, Metronidazole (to help get his digestive system back on track), and Cefazolin (to help fight off any bacteria in his body). Norma is boarding at the hospital for medical reasons, and she's being observed because her owner says that she has been having seizures. Figaro was checked in because he has anemia (deficiency of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin in the blood), hypokalemia (deficiency of potassium in the blood), and lethargy (lack of energy). He had been in the hospital all night, and was receiving blood transfusions; whatever he had received had helped him a lot, because when I saw him in the morning he was walking, stretching, and moving around a lot in his cage.

Grace, the Husky-Lab mix.

Biscuit, the Charles Cavalier King Spaniel.

Norma, the Terrier.

Figaro, the Domestic Short-Hair.

We also had a couple of appointments today, most of which were, again, simply nail trims and/or wellness tests. However, we had a Cocker Spaniel and a hamster come in for appointments today with health problems. The Cocker Spaniel had some sort of allergy, which caused his ear to get callused and inflamed. His ear got so callused and inflamed that it became boney, and Dr. Roberta said that the only way to fix this is to surgically remove the ear canal. He will be receiving the surgery in August, and for now he is coming in for routine cleanings, and getting the medication TrizEDTA (antifungal and antibacterial flush) massaged into his ear until his surgery. The hamster came in basically dead; he had a severe case of wet tail, which is severe diarrhea that causes constant dehydration and wetness of the tail. It’s a disease of unknown origin, and a disease that can cause death if not treated quickly. Unfortunately for this hamster, its owners decided to get him help too late. Dr. Lou talked to his owners, and then gave him some euthanasia solution so he could pass peacefully and painlessly.

The Cocker Spaniel's callused ear.

The hamster with severe wet tail.

Dr. Roberta and Pat taught me how to perform/carry out a fecal sample today. First, you take a bit of fecal matter and mash it up/mix it with a solution of Sheather’s Sugar Flotation Solution in a cup, and then once the fecal material is pretty much completely mashed, it’s drained through a strainer into another cup so any solid pieces left are left out of the fecal/sugar solution. The solution in the second cup is poured into a test tube, and the gap between the solution and the tube opening is filled with more of the Sugar Flotation Solution, all the way to the top. A square slide cover is placed on top of the tube (this is why the solution is filled to the top; so the slide cover will stick to it), and it’s then placed into a centrifuge and spun at a high speed for about 6 minutes (the high speed of the centrifge causes the cover slip to stay on the tube). As it’s spun, dirt and other unwanted material sink to the bottom, while any egg materials (such as the eggs of parasites) float to the top. Something else that some of the doctors like to do is after they complete this process, they will go back to the bag of fecal material and stain a slide with a sample of the fecal material and saline solution. This allows the doctors to check and see if the dog has giardia, which is an intestinal parasite.