Practicum Day Four

Day 4 - It was much busier today. The morning was full with 2 cat spays, one mature dog spay with lumpectomy and a dental on a beagle. I floated between them all, spending most of my time with Lynn and the dental. Dr. Powell called me over to the sx patients to do cystos on the prepped (anesthetized) patients. I did a successful cysto on a yorkie and on one of the cats. Eventhough they were anesthetized it was still a confidence booster and a chance to hone my skills. I also expressed the bladders on the two cats and Dr. Powell showed me his technique which was very efficient.

I helped out Lynn with her dental on a 9yr old f/s beagle with "sewer mouth." This dog had some advanced periodontal disease. There were many extractions which Lynn did all but one. She saved one for me to do, a very loose canine which didn't require much elevating to get it out. The tooth was in poor shape and it looked like the root had abcessed. We left that empty pocket open to let the body work the bacteria out instead of suturing it in. I like helping Lynn with the dentals because I have an interest in dentistry. Lynn told me I could do the majority of a dental with her next week and I'm pretty excited.

We had a few interesting cases come in today. I was helping with a ultrasound guided cysto on a Bichon Frise when Dr. Tugui found a large mass in the dog's bladder on the ultrasound screen. He immediately wanted radiographs so Jocelyn and I took Pixi into radiology. We took a lateral view of her abdomen. Dr. Tugui saw it on the screen and told us we didn't need to take a VD. The urolith in the bladder was very apparent and she will need a cystotomy to remove it. Another case involved a f/s ragdoll with hindlimb ataxia. Dr. Tugui ordered radiographs and it showed decreased bone density that was especially apparent in the femurs. The doctor learned that this cat is on a raw food diet that consists of meat and really nothing else so he suspects she is suffering from mild hypocalcemia. He suggested a addition of calcium into her diet. I not sure what exactly he suggested to the owners. Our last case for the day was a 7yr old m/n DLH cat with leathargy and vomiting. Dr. Powell wanted blood chem, a cbc and a u/a done on this cat. I tried pulling blood twice from the jugular and was unsuccessful so I asked someone else to do it. They also were unsuccessful pulling blood from the cat's jugular so they collected from the femoral vein. Dr. Powell did the cysto and I ran everything through the machines. This all got done at the end of the day so I wasn't able to go over the results with Dr. Powell. The cat is staying with us overnight. So I'll know more ion the status of this cat tomorrow.