Probably the most rewarding aspect of our job is helping animals recover from life threatening illnesses or injuries and seeing the reunion with their families. It reassures us to know that the service we provide often makes the difference between a long and happy life and tragic loss.
Recently we have had two very satisfying cases.
Braddick is a two year old male castrate English Bulldog who was found unconscious and not breathing at the bottom of the family pool.
Drowning can be a common cause of death for thirsty pets, particularly if the exit steps are not paw-friendly.
The family were lucky to spot their sniffily Bulldog friend and despite their obvious panic and distress, got him out of the pool and performed emergency CPR. Well done! By the time they arrived at Animal A & E, in their soaked clothes, Braddick was conscious and breathing.
Braddick was alive but critically ill. He was in severe shock, 5 degrees colder in core body temperature than he should have been and his oxygen levels were 40% lower than normal. Our machines could not find any blood pressure at all. His body and lungs were shutting down.
Immediate treatment involved placing a catheter in his vein (difficult without blood pressure!) and giving special fluids. This rapidly improved his circulation and blood pressure so his vital organs could receive enough blood. We have several tricks for warming patients that are dangerously cold and this was another of our priorities. Braddick required constant medication to keep his blood pressure normal and several antibiotics were started in order to prevent infection from the pool water in his lungs.
Braddick was also placed on the ventilator, which is a machine that forces air down a tube into the airways and breathes mechanically for the patient. Tight control of his breathing in this way was critical to prevent further damage to his lungs and allow them to recover. It also meant we were able to raise his oxygen levels thus preventing damage to other internal organs. Complications of the drowning could have been pneumonia and permanent scarring of his lungs. Braddick was kept in an induced coma so he would tolerate the ventilator for 18 hours. On recovery, we placed a nasal tube to provide additional oxygen support.
Luck and good management meant that Braddick woke up without complications and has made a full recovery following his near death experience.
Leroy and Rocket
Leroy and Rocket escaped from their family home recently and were both hit by a car. Motor vehicle trauma is a common reason for presentation to the Animal Accident and Emergency and it can be very distressing for pet and owner alike. Leroy escaped serious injury but Rocket (the chocolate Labrador) was in shock, barely responsive and unable to walk. He was taken to the Lost Dog's Home in North Melbourne for treatment and his owners were able to be tracked down through his microchip. The owners elected to transfer Rocket to the Animal Accident and Emergency for further care as we are a 24 hour care facility.
Despite being on a drip and receiving fluid therapy, Rocket's blood pressure was still dangerously low. A colloid type fluid was given and this raised his blood pressure to 120 (normal for a dog). Rocket had very laboured and noisy breathing and bruising to his lungs was suspected. A nasal oxygen catheter was placed that delivered medical oxygen directly up his nose. This meant that the lungs had less work to do to oxygenate the blood and the lungs were under less stress and able to recover.
Rocket remained painful and unable to walk. We upgraded his pain relief to our strongest medication and gave it to him in a constant rate infusion. This is an additional line to his regular intravenous fluids that is delivered through a machine pump that gives an exactly measured dose continuously so Rocket was contantly receiving pain releif.
The attending vet could feel fluid in his abdomen and she used the ultrasound to locate it. A sample of the fluid was obtained using a needle and syringe and it contained a lot of blood, indicating internal bleeding from trauma to an organ or blood vessel. Although the source of the bleeding was not able to be located using the ultrasound, we used serial blood testing to ensure that the bleeding was not ongoing. We use the PCV or packed cell volume test very commonly at Animal Accident and Emergency. It measures the percentage of red blood cells in his blood and we also check the protein levels of the blood. If the red blood cell and protein levels were dropping it would indicate ongoing bleeding and a blood transfusion or emergency surgery may have been required. Rocket's PCV remained stable.
The biggest concern with Rocket was his heart. Despite pain releif his heart rate stayed very high. Probes were attached to the skin of his legs and we monitored his ECG which is a measure of the electrical activity in the heart. An arrhythmia was detected that was most likely due to poor oxygen supply to his heart following the accident or secondary to damage to his spleen. To create a normal rhythm to the heart, we used a constant rate infusion of a anti-arrhythmic drug for 24 hours until it resolved.
Rocket was lucky to escape more serious injury. Despite being bruised and sore, there were no broken bones and the damage to his lungs and internal organs will heal with rest. The most enjoyable part of Rocket's stay was when Leroy came to visit. He was very excited to see his friend and jumped straight in the cage with him like he wasn't going to let him out of his sight again. This sent smiles around the clinic and we had to break out the camera.