December 2007

Our Pet of the Month is 'Vesta' Mentis, one of our favourite patients. She is owned by George and Sophie and is also sister to an energetic boxer called 'Cassius'.

Vesta's parents came to see the vets at Happy Tails very worried. Vesta had been vomiting intermittently for the last 2-3 months and in recent times had become disinterested in food. Even on special prescription diets she was still vomiting.

An ultrasound revealed that an area of the stomach was thickened and abnormal, further testing and biopsies were carried out. The thickened area of the stomach explained Vesta's inappetance and the intermittent vomiting. The thickening had caused this area of the stomach lumen to become very narrow, inhibiting any large particles of food passing along to the rest of the digestive tract.

Vesta was referred to the specialist surgeons at North Shore Specialist Centre and the affected area was surgically removed. Histopathology of the affected area revealed a heavily inflamed Gastric Adenoma, possibly a result of underlying Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD).

Almost as soon as the surgery was over, Vesta's parents noticed a marked improvement; she was bright, happy and eating well. After multiple post surgery check ups and acupuncture (with Dr Alison), Vesta is recovering well and hasn't vomited. Mum and Dad describe her as a totally different cat.

May 2008

Chico is our special patient for May. He presented one evening as a stray that had been involved in a car accident. A good samaritan brought him into Happy Tails where the staff rushed him into the emergency treatment room.

Distressed and in shock, Chico was disorientated and losing a lot of blood. He was placed onto oxygen, intravenous fluids and given some pain relief straight away. His injuries were serious and extensive. He had deep bruising along his belly and his Left leg sustained several nasty open fractures with damage to his muscles and ligaments as well. His Right paw had also lost most of his skin from being dragged along the road and one of the toes was also broken.

Once stabilised Chico was placed under general anaesthetic and further investigation and tests were carried out. His blood tests revealed he was stable and had not become anaemic yet. X-rays of both legs confirmed a fractured left Tibia and Fibula as well as a dislocation at the hock joint. The second digit on the right leg was also fractured. Luckily x-rays of the rest of the body revealed no other serious injuries to the organs or lungs.

Chico was scanned for a microchip and we were able to locate his worried owner, Amy. Amy was contacted and she rushed down to see Chico. It was agreed and decided that the best prognosis for Chico, given the extent of his hind limb injuries, was to amputate the badly fractured and dislocated left leg. The 2nd toe on the Right foot would also be amputated and the skin from the removed leg would be used as a skin graft to repair the open wounds on the right paw.

Chico was a brave and affectionate patient in hospital. Despite his pain and injury he was happy to receive attention from all the girls at Happy Tails. Chico was scheduled for surgery the next day.

Chico’s surgery was perfomed by Dr Audrey with the help of Dr Susan. Together they worked for hours to removed the badly fractured leg and prepare the skin graft for the other foot. After a long surgery, the remaining right foot was bandaged to protect the skin grafting. Chico recovered very well and within a few hours was sitting in his cage and eating!

The very next day Chico appeared to be a completely different dog, he was relaxed, happy and eager to go for a walk! He was taken for a short walk around the hospital and he loved it! He was managing well to hop and balance his weight on his three legs. By the 3rd day Chico was playing ball, tug of war and enjoying his walks with the nurses. He became a favourite with all the staff and we were almost sad to send him home!

Residents of Dubbo, Sue and Carmel were on a holiday to North America .Their pretty and petite domestic short hair  female cat named Tilda was left in Sydney under the capable responsibility of carer and friend Margaret, a truly wonderful and kind hearted person- the perfect choice.

Just days after Sue and Carmel’s departure, the Dubbo cat, like most other felines was exploring her own holiday destination on the third floor balcony of her parent’s holiday apartment in Abbottsford. Unfortunately, one night she misjudged her steps and Tilda fell to the ground floor.

She was found the next morning and was presented to Happy tails Veterinary Hospital as a trauma patient. The veterinarian in attendance immediately went into emergency mode and stabilized Tilda with intravenous fluids, pain relief and antibiotics. X rays and diagnostics test were performed to check if there were any other complications both internally and neurologically. Within 48 hours Tilda bounced back to health and was sent home on rest and confinement.

However in the days that followed, Margaret noticed that Tilda was not her usual spirited self. She was quieter, not eating and began vomiting at home. Dr Alison Shen at Happy Tails re-assessed her and noticed that Tilda was dehydrating, weak and identified blood in her urine. Alison re-admitted Tilda into hospital for further diagnostic tests and monitoring.

In hospital Tilda showed symptoms of abdominal discomfort, fluid accumulation in the abdomen and an area of consolidation causing a bunching up like mass. An emergency surgical procedure called a laparotomy had to be performed by veterinarian Dr Jay Dulichan .This is an exploratory surgery in which the abdomen is opened up and the contents and organs of the abdomen is examined for any abnormality. A grave sight confronted Jay on the opening of the abdominal cavity. The abdomen was filling up with blood tinged fluid. There was a smell of decaying tissue. The surface layer of most organs had pin point hemorrhages and an adhesion had formed between the intestines, the pancreas and the surrounding tissues-which was the “bunching “we palpated earlier.

The organ of concern was the pancreas which was three times its normal size and its vital attachments to the surrounding tissue were questionable. The pancreas is an important organ as it produces insulin for glucose regulation in the body and it also secretes enzymes for aiding in digestion. If the pancreas was damaged then Tilda prognosis would be grave.

Dr Jay salvaged much of the tissue and organs and Tilda was on critical care monitoring and   frequent blood tests, electrolyte and fluid analysis. A feeding tube was inserted from the  side of her neck into her stomach to enable her to get food into her system. The list of probable causes were short listed and all available tests were pursued with some of the tests being performed out of NSW.

Critical care nursing was diligently followed by Happy Tails team of dedicated nurses compromising of Melissa, Emily, Chris and Debbie whose constant monitoring and care made Tilda comfortable and loved. Frequent night treatments and visits were performed by Dr Audrey Shen and Alison Shen.

Three days past surgery Tilda was still weak and was not making much progress. The fluid in her abdomen began filling up again and it was time to go into to theatre again for a re-assessment. Sue and Carmel were on a daily telephone contact with the staff at Happy Tails and they knew that second time round into theatre was not good news and hoped for the best. In theatre Jay noticed that an inflammatory process was occurring in the abdomen causing a lot of surrounding abdominal tissue (called omentum) to ‘die’ off , this had to be completely removed. The good news was that the pancreas was still surviving.

Tilda’s condition was critical and her chances of survival were poor.Tildas poor prognosis was discussed with Sue and Carmel. They unfortunately had to abandon their holiday in Hawaii and they took the next available flight to Sydney. Carmel’s parting words to Jay were “please pray for a miracle for Tilda.”

Hope, TLC and a lot of intensive supportive medical care was all we had at this stage. After much discussion between the Veterinarians at Happy Tails, it was decided that Tilda should start a trial course of strong anti-inflammatory- type treatment. Within 12 hours of the first treatment Dr Jay was surprisingly greeted the next morning by a bright and purring Tilda who meowed for food. She willingly ate her first meal in 9 days and seemed to know that her parents were on their way to fetch her.

On touch-down at Sydney International Airport, Sue and Carmen wasted no time and travelled immediately to Happy Tails Veterinary Hospital and were ecstatic to see an almost healthy looking Tilda.

Tilda made a full recovery and within 2 weeks she was completely off all her medications. Seven months have passed since and Tilda is enjoying the good life in Dubbo. Sue and Carmen regularly phones the vets and nurses at Happy tails to keep us updated. Margaret, her carer from the Central coast also makes it a point to say hello to us when she visits Sydney.