vernonhillsvet / Interesting Cases

INTERESTING CASES

"Dela's" Story

"Dela" is a 13-year-old greyhound who presented to the hospital a few weeks ago for vomiting and sudden deterioration of her health. Dela was so sick that she had to be carried into the hospital. X-rays were taken, and a large mass on her spleen was seen. Her owners were faced with the difficult decision as to whether to have the mass removed. They decided to have the procedure done, and Dela was admitted to the hospital and immediately taken to surgery.

Dela's spleen was overtaken by a very large tumor, which was bleeding into her belly. She had lost almost a liter of blood from the tumor. This is a relatively common presentation for a splenic mass, and these tumors can be fatal if they continue to bleed.

Dr. Cheung carefully removed Dela's spleen, and she recovered well from surgery. The VHAH doctors and staff were very excited to see her two weeks post-op, recovered and back to eating her favorite chicken and rice!

A GUINEA PIG ENUCLEATION

“Moppie’s” family was concerned that their beloved guinea pig’s eye looked funny. “Moppie” wasn’t just a guinea pig—she was a part of the family, so the owners took her in to see Dr. Cheung at Vernon Hills Animal Hospital.

“This most certainly was a non-visual eye, and a painful one at that” Dr. Cheung stated. “I knew immediately that the eye would have to be removed. This is called an enucleation”.

She spoke with a colleague of hers, a board certified ophthalmologist, and got great tips on pain control, both pre-and post-operatively. For surgeries such as “Moppie’s”, multiple forms of pain control are necessary to keep the patient comfortable. “Moppie” received a local anesthetic block during the surgery, as well as a pain injection post-op. She was also sent home with pain medication.

Using the latest techniques to anesthetize exotic pets, “Moppie” had successful surgery to remove her eye, and recovered well. In fact, within 30 minutes after surgery she was actually eating. The day after surgery the owner reported that “Moppie” was eating greens “like a pig”!

At her recheck, “Moppie’s” sutures were removed. As you can see from the picture, the incision healed nicely. Once the hair grows back, it won’t be easy to see that she is missing an eye. “Moppie’s” family is very pleased with her recovery. They say that she is a much happier pig now than she was before the surgery.

FLEAS

There are many causes of itching in dogs and cats; fleas are but one of those causes. Fleas are small dark brown bugs that run through the fur. They have long jumping legs and can leap great distances when placed on a hard surface like a table. The best way to find fleas on your pet is to run a flea comb through their hair. The teeth of the comb are close together and the fleas don't fit between them, so they are lifted out and can be seen.
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The arrow (right) points to a flea next to the flea comb that caught it.

Below are closeups of fleas. You can see that they are bugs with moving legs. In life they jump and leap.

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Live fleas can be hard to find in some cases, but fleas can be diagnosed by the presence of "flea dirt" in the hair coat. Fleas bite and suck blood. Their droppings are small granules of black, digested blood that look like ground pepper. This so-called "flea dirt" is found in the fur next to the skin, as opposed to being on the tips of the hair like regular dirt. The best place to find it is the rump, right over the hips. Flea dirt can be differentiated from regular dirt by placing it on a wet, white paper towel and smearing it. True flea dirt makes a reddish brown smear. This is an extreme example of flea dirt from a heavy infestation, and it was collected with a flea comb.

SO YOU WANT A LONG-HAIRED DOG?

Here's a Malamute with a fairly typical shedding of the coat that is seen every spring. Note that the black garbage bag, garbage can, and floor are all full of big handfuls of hair, and yet the dog's coat isn't even slightly thin. We hope the owner has a good vacuum cleaner!

TOENAIL PROBLEMS CAUSED BY OWNER INATTENTION

One of the responsibilities of owning a dog is to perform basic grooming including toenail clipping when needed. Some dogs have long fur that covers the nails and some owners forget to check those nails on a regular basis. All three of these dogs presented for limping. The dog on the left had one nail grown so long it formed a corkscrew shape, got snagged in the carpet and was pulled partially off, causing bleeding and pain. The same thing happened to the dog in the middle. This nail had to be removed and measured 1 5/8 inches along the outer curve. That owner was shocked how long the nails were! The dog on the right had an overgrown dewclaw. This is the first toe that is like a human thumb. It is a little way up the leg and as such the nail doesn't rub on the ground and grows longer than the other nails. This one grew in a circle and grew right into the pad causing a hole. The sad thing is that this wasn't the first time this happened in this dog. Be sure you cut your dog's nails regularly, or have a groomer do it if you can't.

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	VERNON HILLS ANIMAL HOSPITAL Caring for your pet as tenderly as you do. 1260 S. Butterfield Road Mundelein, IL 60060 PHONE: 847-367-4070 FAX: 847-367-0374 VHAH@comcast.net