Today, we have a guest post from Dr. Rex Riggs, owner of Best Friends Veterinary Hospital in Powell, Ohio. He is a veterinarian, and an Advisory Board member of Embrace Pet Insurance. Dr. Riggs writes about orthopedic issues from a small animal practioner's perspective.
Dr. Riggs writes about three dog accidents he's seen in his clinic - from the unexpected to the excruciating. Don't worry though - all the dogs survive thanks to their excellent veterinary care.
Beware! These stories are not for the faint of heart. And whatever you do, do not look at the pictures at the bottom too closely if you are squeamish (really!) Don't say I didn't warn you.
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Dogs will do crazy things. They are unpredictable and just when you are sure they can’t hurt themselves, they will surely surprise you. I have included three such surprising events.
1. Surprise! Puppies really can eat - just not what you'd expect...
A lady with her small four year old daughter came in with their rambunctious 16 week old Golden Retriever puppy. The puppy seemed happy to be at the vet as he was running around inspecting all the corners of the exam room.
The little girl though had a concerned look on her face. I asked her why she brought her little puppy in to see me. She said that her puppy, Sadie, had just eaten one of her daddy’s golf balls. Being an avid golfer, I just happened to have a golf ball in my office (you have to practice your putting!). I showed the ball to the little girl and explained that Sadie was unable to swallow a ball that size. She insisted that she saw her do it. So to prove to her that her dog would be fine I decided to take an X-ray.
I was right. Sadie had not swallowed a golf ball… she had swallowed three golf balls! Just imagine swallowing one ball and thinking it was such a great idea that you would swallow 2 more! I showed the X-ray to Mom and $1800 later, I presented her with her husband’s three PINK golf balls.
2. A Family Dog Fight Turns Into Major Plastic Surgery for a Little Pug
Madison is an adorable little pug that has been visiting our practice for years. She is gentle little soul that would not hurt a fly. Unfortunately for her, her mom’s boyfriend’s Husky was not as congenial. Madison was attacked and had several bite wounds on her body.
Madison presented to us bloody and in shock. We admitted her and aggressively treated her shocky condition and she was hospitalized with us for a number of days. She was sent home on antibiotics and some good pain medication.
On the recheck exam though, I saw that Madison’s skin was so damaged that it was dying and sloughing off. She had lost about 50 % of her skin on her right leg and neck. Since she did not have enough skin to suture together the conventional way, we had to do a plastic surgical procedure called a rotating pedicle flap. This involved moving the skin from her belly, including the mammary glands, and rotating that skin around, while maintaining a good blood supply, and suturing it in to place.
This is a delicate long surgery but it was successful and Madison looks great today after the $3700 treatment. The only difference now is that she has two nipples on her knee!
[if you are interested, I have posted pictures of the procedure down below - don't look though if you faint at the sight of blood]
3. What Can Happen Throwing a Stick for Fun - Nothing Fun At All For Dolly the Lab Mix
Probably the strangest and most unusual accident happened with Dolly, a lab mix. Dolly is a happy fun loving dog who lives to chase balls and sticks. She would do this for hours upon hours with her owner, Sally.
On this particular day, Sally was throwing a 3 foot long stick. Dolly eagerly would run after the stick and retrieve and wait to chase it again. Sally launched the stick and Dolly happily took chase. Dolly put her head down to get the stick and froze. Sally called her and Dolly would not move.
Sally ran up to her but the stick was nowhere to be found. She tried to lift Dolly’s head when she noticed the tip of the stick in her mouth. The stick had landed on end and Dolly had impaled the stick down her throat.
Sally rushed her in to see us and when they arrived, Dolly was very calm, wagging her tail for me. We sedated her and realized that the stick had traveled down her esophagus, exited at the level of the shoulder traveled under the shoulder blade and ended outside of the ribs.
It was a dicey surgery but we were able to removed the stick with remarkably little trauma to the esophagus. A couple of weeks after the $2500 surgery, Dolly was again out running after…..a ball. Never again a stick.
Related Posts: other posts by Dr Riggs
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Perhaps a few lessons learned from these? I think so!
Dr. Rex Riggs grew up in Wadsworth, Ohio, near Akron. Dr Riggs is co-owner of Best Friends Veterinary Hospital in Powell, Ohio. He is also on the board of the North Central Region of Canine Companions of Independence, a board member of The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Society and Small Animal Practitioner Advancement Board at The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Riggs lives in Lewis Center with his wife Nancy, their two dogs Boo and Maggie, and two cats Franklin and Speeder. Outside of work, Dr. Riggs is an avid golfer and enjoys travel and photography.
