Day 13: Chugapoo

Today was a VERY busy one at the vet clinic! In fact, I didn't think I would get to see such a wide range of things in one day. I was surprised how few "regular" appointments there were--almost all the patients today had some problem that they needed to be diagnosed. The very first patient (Max) actually had Heartworm! It's not common around here in the winter because it is transmitted by mosquitos, but he was a rescue dog from Texas. I got to see first-hand an example of the heartworm resistance that I talked about in the south. He got a shot a month ago to kill off the weak worms, and now he is back for two shots two days in a row to kill off the rest. Max also had Whipworms, but that can be pretty common in dogs.

The fourth dog that came in (Ozzie) had diabetes, and I got to see a test to determine his blood sugar. I also got to see a dog with an ear infection, a pit bull who was having weekly seizures, a cat who had asthma, and a different cat who was having respiratory problems.

One of the highlights of my day was when Dr. Beth and I went to examine this month-old puppy (Dixie) who was a pug, chihuahua, and miniature poodle mix--apparently they're called chugapoos. This little puppy was SO small and cute! She was so little that I could cup her in my hands. She was healthy except that she had Coccidia, which is very common in puppies; I was able to look at the eggs through the microscope.    

Missy was a terrier that had a hole in her eye because of a fight she had with another dog, so I got to see Dr. Beth put neon drops in her eye and examine it under a black light. She also had a heart murmur, which I got to hear; it sounded a lot like a washing machine! There was no clear beat to it.

It was such a busy morning that I didn't get off for lunch until 1:20 when I was supposed to get off at 12:00! Good thing they have a "two-hour" lunch period...after lunch I got to see Callie, a French pit bull, be treated with chemotherapy for Lymphoma. I never thought I would be seeing dogs with cancer, or even Heartworm for that matter! After that, Dr. Beth taught me how to draw up a vaccine into a syringe, so I drew up a rabies vaccine for a dog named Elroy. I hope I did it right! Later I drew an oral vaccine that involved liquid and powder, so I drew up the liquid, syringed it into the powder, mixed the two, then drew up the mixture.

The afternoon slowly got more and more depressing. First we had a dog that was diagnosed with lung cancer. We did an X-ray on her, and it showed signs of cancer, although there is a small chance it could be a really bad infection, but it is highly likely that it is lung cancer. They originally brought her in because she was having weird breathing patterns then had what appeared to be a seizure. I did not come back in the room when Dr. Beth was telling them the X-ray results; the parents were pretty emotional. After that, someone brought a cat in who had to be euthanized, so I was also not allowed to be in the room for that. I've noticed that vets have to be very emotionally strong; I'm not sure I could handle putting animals down.

My work day ended at 6:00. Tomorrow I will be working with Dr. Bart, and he has surgeries scheduled for the morning, so that should be fun to watch! In fact, one of the cats that came in today is coming back tomorrow for a dental and is getting a canine pulled.

Dixie the Chugapoo 

X-ray of the dog with lung cancer 

All of the medications!