Thursday 1 December 2016

Dog c- section

This week, a dog came into the practice. She had been in labour for 12 hours. She was quite old and had been impregnated accidentally by a larger dog. It was thought that the dog had Singleton Syndrome where only one abnormally large puppy is formed.

As soon as the dog arrived and the relevant consent forms had been signed she was taken into the back room for surgery preparations. She needed an IV fluids drip before she could be operated on. To insert the IV drip the dog’s forearm was shaved in a small area between the elbow and the paw. I held the dog and raised the Cephalic vein for the needle to go in. Once the operating room was prepared and the vet and nurse were ready the dog was anaesthetised. It was important to have the dog anaesthetised for as little time as possible because of the potential harm this can cause the puppy.

The dog was transported to the operating room where she was laid on her back on a heat pack. After the midline abdomen was clean and shaved the vet made his incision. The uterus took up a lot of the abdomen space and was found quickly. The uterus was cut open and the puppy was taken out.
My job was to gently flick the puppy upside down to remove the amniotic fluid from its airways and then rub its sides vigorously to resuscitate it. The vet proceeded to peel out the placenta so that it would not cause an infection. When the vet checked the uterus he found that there was a second, unexpected puppy, which the nurse resuscitated.


The uterus was stitched up once, and then a second time to close over the stitches and make sure there was a strong seal. After the uterus, the abdomen muscles, and the fat layer were stitched together the skin was stitched and cleaned before the dog was returned to her kennel with her two puppies.
Cataracts and bone cancer-

Two dogs with Cataracts came into the practice on my first day of work experience.

Cataracts can occur in older dogs and can also be a result of trauma to the eye, but the most common cause is genetic. Some dogs may be born with cataracts, or develop them at a young age.  A dog with cataracts has cloudy lenses in the eyes. The lenses are used to refract light and focus it on the retina.  Having cataracts does not usually make the dog completely blind, but it does impair the vision, and can cause a glaucoma.

What is a glaucoma?
A glaucoma can result from severe cataracts, and can be very painful. It is a condition in which pressure is placed on the eye causing poor drainage of fluid from the eye. It may cause damage to the optic nerve if left untreated. Other symptoms include:
  •         Rapid or persistent blinking of the eye
  •      The eyeball sinking back into the eye socket
  •         A red, irritated looking eye
  •         Wide, dilated pupil and no response to light
  •         Blindness

One cure for Cataracts is surgery. Cloudy lenses are replaced with synthetic lenses. This is normally an ideal solution. However, the cloudy lens could be obscuring a damaged retina. In this case, replacing the lens will not improve the eyesight as the dog will already be blind. It is suggested that before any surgery, the dog is brought to an optic specialist so that the retina can be looked at before the lens becomes too cloudy and obstructive. This could avoid unnecessary surgery.



The dog’s left eye is normal, the right has cataracts.