Sunday, October 9, 2011
Fur Family #9: Shelby
Shelby was the first unwelcome pet to the "Tipton Over Ranch" but she stole our hearts fast. Our neighbors heard that I was a veterinarian so they decided a great housewarming gift would be a little Torby kitten. The night before we received her I was telling Matt that I would never own a tortishell or calico cat due to their outrageous personalities. A torby is a tortishell-tabby mix. AKA one dang cute kitten. She was just 5 weeks old and had a squeak for a meow. Unfortunately, she didn't make it past her 3 month birthday. One of our doggies had a fascination with her that ended up turning deadly. We learned a very hard lesson that large dogs and tiny kittens do not mix well. The problem was that Shelby could fit between every fence we ever put her behind so she went where she pleased. So this post is in remembrance of a little kitty that stole my heart and made me believe that torti's and calico's CAN make good cats. All we can do now is hope she is having lots of fun playing in heaven. We miss you Shelby!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Fur Family #1: Skye
I am going to write a little something about each of my kids at some point. Today we will start with Skye.
I adopted Skye (actually she adopted me) on the island while I was going to veterinary school. Her mom had been killed by a car and she was only a couple days old. I took her home assuming she would be a foster dog. I fed her every hour to two hours for weeks on end and swore I would never have real children. She developed ring worm and lost all her fur. I didn't sleep. She slept while I was in class and was awake when I wanted to sleep. We fell in love with each other.
Skye is an interesting character in my life. She is exceptionally smart. Too smart for her own good. She knows when she can not listen to us and when she has to listen. Most the time it is the former. She isn't very playful unless it is 6 in the morning and gets progressively more crabby as the day goes on. She greets you with smiles full of teeth and growls but tail wagging. She feels she deserves a spot on the bed and couch at all times. I don't think she knows she is a dog.
Skye is my absolute favorite. I know you shouldn't say that about your kids but I can with her. I tear up just thinking that she won't be by my side forever. Through thick and thin, she has never hesitated to be with me. I can yell and scream when I'm frustrated and she'll cuddle up right next to me. When my former fiance decided to attack me last September, Skye was right there trying to kill him. That was the only time I have kicked her because I didn't want her getting hurt. She is my comfort blanket. Sometimes I think I need her more than she needs me but then she looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell her that. And yes, I realize dogs don't know what you are saying but Skye has something special in her. She takes awhile to warm up to new people and to trust them but once she does, she won't let you down and will always greet you with a full smile. No matter how hard my day has been, I know I will have a smile waiting for me at home. I've also made a promise to Skye - when she passes away, I will go rescue another dog off of the streets of St. Kitts.
I adopted Skye (actually she adopted me) on the island while I was going to veterinary school. Her mom had been killed by a car and she was only a couple days old. I took her home assuming she would be a foster dog. I fed her every hour to two hours for weeks on end and swore I would never have real children. She developed ring worm and lost all her fur. I didn't sleep. She slept while I was in class and was awake when I wanted to sleep. We fell in love with each other.
Skye is an interesting character in my life. She is exceptionally smart. Too smart for her own good. She knows when she can not listen to us and when she has to listen. Most the time it is the former. She isn't very playful unless it is 6 in the morning and gets progressively more crabby as the day goes on. She greets you with smiles full of teeth and growls but tail wagging. She feels she deserves a spot on the bed and couch at all times. I don't think she knows she is a dog.
Skye is my absolute favorite. I know you shouldn't say that about your kids but I can with her. I tear up just thinking that she won't be by my side forever. Through thick and thin, she has never hesitated to be with me. I can yell and scream when I'm frustrated and she'll cuddle up right next to me. When my former fiance decided to attack me last September, Skye was right there trying to kill him. That was the only time I have kicked her because I didn't want her getting hurt. She is my comfort blanket. Sometimes I think I need her more than she needs me but then she looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell her that. And yes, I realize dogs don't know what you are saying but Skye has something special in her. She takes awhile to warm up to new people and to trust them but once she does, she won't let you down and will always greet you with a full smile. No matter how hard my day has been, I know I will have a smile waiting for me at home. I've also made a promise to Skye - when she passes away, I will go rescue another dog off of the streets of St. Kitts.
Crazy 3am calls
Last Friday night I had a call at 3:15am and it went like this:
Caller: Hi, is this the emergency doctor?
Me: Yes, this is Dr. Chanelle, how can I help you?
Caller: I just moved to town and my dog just got skunked out in my yard.
Me: Okay, is the dog doing alright?
Caller: Yes but I need you to come to the clinic and give her a bath.
Me: Uhhh, sorry but I don't bathe skunk dogs in the middle of the night. In fact, I don't ever bathe skunk dogs.
Caller: Well I can't sleep with her in the house unless you bathe her.
Me: Then put her outside and go back to sleep. Pick up some Skunk-Off tomorrow morning when I'm at the clinic.
Caller: You sure you can't bathe her tonight?
Me: Goodnight.
New college kids moving to town just creates all kinds of chaos. I'm turning into a local because I hate when they come back to town.
Caller: Hi, is this the emergency doctor?
Me: Yes, this is Dr. Chanelle, how can I help you?
Caller: I just moved to town and my dog just got skunked out in my yard.
Me: Okay, is the dog doing alright?
Caller: Yes but I need you to come to the clinic and give her a bath.
Me: Uhhh, sorry but I don't bathe skunk dogs in the middle of the night. In fact, I don't ever bathe skunk dogs.
Caller: Well I can't sleep with her in the house unless you bathe her.
Me: Then put her outside and go back to sleep. Pick up some Skunk-Off tomorrow morning when I'm at the clinic.
Caller: You sure you can't bathe her tonight?
Me: Goodnight.
New college kids moving to town just creates all kinds of chaos. I'm turning into a local because I hate when they come back to town.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Interesting Case Week 2
This call came in after going into the clinic 4 times Labor Day morning already:
Caller (11am): I've been camping in **** and all of a sudden my dog is lethargic and won't get up!!! (she was screaming at me)
Me: Okay, is she having any trouble breathing?
Caller: I don't know, how do I tell?
Me: Is she breathing?
Caller: Of course she is, she's staring at me, why aren't you helping me?
Me: Did she get into any kind of poisons or foods?
Caller: No of course not, we've had our eye on her the whole time.
Me: Okay, just bring her down to the clinic and we will check her out
After about 25 minutes and many phone calls for directions, they finally get there. The dog is urinating all over herself, eyes dilated, swaying, and very lethargic. I do my initial exam, she is bradycardic (slow heart rate) and lethargic but otherwise doing alright.
Me: Is there ANY way that she could have had marijuana?
Clients (looking at eachother): That's bad for dogs?
Me: *blank stare* Yes it is very bad for dogs since they are much smaller than us
Clients: Oh.... well... maybe, you know, maybe one of our neighboring campsites had some and she got into it.
Me: Look, I don't care if you had marijuana, I just need to know if your dog ate it so we can treat her
Clients: I think you should just treat her like she ate it
Me: Okay.
Clients: Why is she licking the table so much?
Me: She is stoned out of her mind.
End of story, the dog was perfectly fine but please people, keep your pot away from your animals, they don't do well with it!
Caller (11am): I've been camping in **** and all of a sudden my dog is lethargic and won't get up!!! (she was screaming at me)
Me: Okay, is she having any trouble breathing?
Caller: I don't know, how do I tell?
Me: Is she breathing?
Caller: Of course she is, she's staring at me, why aren't you helping me?
Me: Did she get into any kind of poisons or foods?
Caller: No of course not, we've had our eye on her the whole time.
Me: Okay, just bring her down to the clinic and we will check her out
After about 25 minutes and many phone calls for directions, they finally get there. The dog is urinating all over herself, eyes dilated, swaying, and very lethargic. I do my initial exam, she is bradycardic (slow heart rate) and lethargic but otherwise doing alright.
Me: Is there ANY way that she could have had marijuana?
Clients (looking at eachother): That's bad for dogs?
Me: *blank stare* Yes it is very bad for dogs since they are much smaller than us
Clients: Oh.... well... maybe, you know, maybe one of our neighboring campsites had some and she got into it.
Me: Look, I don't care if you had marijuana, I just need to know if your dog ate it so we can treat her
Clients: I think you should just treat her like she ate it
Me: Okay.
Clients: Why is she licking the table so much?
Me: She is stoned out of her mind.
End of story, the dog was perfectly fine but please people, keep your pot away from your animals, they don't do well with it!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Cardiologist Update
Cardiologist appointment number 1,587. Well not really, just seems like I've been to the cardiologist WAY too much for being 25 years old. Newest update and the general consensus of many specialists - try a class III anti-arrhythmic. These are extremely dangerous drugs when you first start them so you have to be hospitalized for at least 72 hours. So I will have a thrilling three days at Overlake Hospital soon. I am not looking forward to this. Look forward to lots of blog updates since I will be out of my mind with boredom. Hopefully Matt and I can have a private room at Overlake so we can watch movies and talk without tons of chaos around us!
Life Lesson #2
If you choose to buy an English Bulldog, please, please do NOT go on a two mile run in 100 degree weather. This results in lots of panic and a dog that cannot breathe. Thanks.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Life Lesson #1
Please don’t travel with a cat and dog that do NOT know one another while they are free in the car. This is just asking for trouble. Results in evisceration, broken legs, and tears when the cat has to be euthanized. Emergency call Friday night 8/26.
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