Vet Shadowing

Day 1- June 21, 2011

                Today was so cool! I got to vet shadow with my dog’s vet, Dr. Dan W. Hasenour. I got to help out, sit in on 2 surgeries (& get them explained to me the whole time), and listen to diagnosis’s on 5 patients!

5 patients:

                The first patients were 2 sister kittens, who came in for shots and a checkup. They are getting spayed in October.

                A dog that belonged to the kitten’s owner came in because he was sneezing and snorting all night. Diagnosis: because of Bordatella Shot (Nasal Shot) that was given to him a few days earlier.

                Later, a Chihuahua came in, who had a false pregnancy a few weeks ago.  After her false pregnancy she was spayed. She had to come in and get her sutures checked. Dr. Hasenour had to put suture glue on her because she had licked a few sutures out. Complications when being spayed: When they opened her up, to spay her, her uterus was so large it had grown into her stomach and spleen.  Diagnosis of why: She, in the past, had too many litters (between 5 and 8).

                A little bit later a Pointer (bird dog) came in. The Pointer’s skin looked/felt like leather. Its skin had flakes of skin and nastiness falling off everywhere. Diagnosis: Yeast infection (Yellow wax all in ears and a Yeast smell, plus other indications), the dog could possibly have mange mites (too tiny to sometimes easily spot), so we gave the dog a disincentive bath (this would kill any mange mites).

                In the boarding room there was a dog with her “boy friend” and her 2 tiny puppies. Her puppies were 1 week old. We got their belongings together and a little later their owner came and picked them up. The puppies were so cute! Breed: Looked like a min pin.

2 Surgeries:

                The first surgery took place around 9:15am (45 minutes after I arrived). It was a large mixed breed puppy. She had to be spayed… It was so cool to watch! He talked me through the surgery step-by-step the whole time! It was amazing how he cut open the stomach and the uterus and popped the ovaries out of the ovarian joint! The cool part is I got to hear it pop! My dad was surprised that I never passed out!

                The second surgery was around 11am. The dog was a Schnoodle named Angel. Her Patella (Knee Cap) kept popping out of place towards the inside of her body (By her belly). So Dr. Hasenour went in and tightened the joint (the joint had gotten stretched), which would cause the Patella to move less and help it to stop popping out of place.  Her case was not as bad as some, Sometimes you have to saw into the bone and make a groove for the Patella. Before Dr. Hasenour could do the surgery he had to draw some blood from Angel. He spun the blood around in a machine to separate the serum and the red blood cells. He then put the serum in another machine which would then tell him information about certain internal organs. He drew some more blood and put it in a different machine and tested it. All these tests told him if the dog’s body was okay for surgery. And it was…

X-Rays:

                Dr. Hasenour also showed and explained to me the X-Ray machine, X-Ray/Film developer, and explained to me each X-Ray slide.

The first X-ray I saw was of a dog that had gotten shot by a gun. His femur was broken. Dr. Hasenour put in a stake/rod to help it grow and heal correctly. He could not find the bullet in the dog’s leg (which showed up on the X-Ray), but he said it wouldn’t hurt the dog. When Doc. had first showed me the X-Ray, he asked me what the object floating in the leg was, and I said a bullet. What do you know, I was correct!

The second X-Ray I saw was of a 3 month old puppy that jumped out of the car window. The jump/fall shattered and splintered a few bones in his hind leg (in the Pelvic area). Dr. Hasenour put in some stakes/rods (temporarily). When the dog matures, Dr. Hasenour may have to do more surgery and reposition the stakes/rods. Breed: German Sheppard

Journaling:

                This was my very very first time Vet Shadowing and I had the best time! Everything was so cool and interesting. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

THE END (for today)

Day 2- June 23, 2011

                I went and Vet Shadowed at Dr. Hasenour’s again today. Today was much less busy than Yesterday though, but I had just as much fun.

Starting Out the Day- Touring:

                When I first got to the vets office, Crystal took me on a tour of the whole building, since Dr. Hasenour wasn’t there yet and our first patient was around 10. It was really cool. She explained to me all of the machinery (how it worked and what it did), medications, and utensils (scissors, spatulas, sutures, needles, syringes, etc.). I also got to go into the boarding room and see/talk to all the dogs and cats. The cool part was that they were boarding an Australian Cattle Dog!

Patients:

                The first two patients of the day were two little male mixed breed dogs, who lived together.  The first little dog was Benji. We cut his nails and checked him for heart worms. The heart worm test showed up negative. The other dog, Charlie, had just been adopted by Benji’s family. Charlie is 2.5 years old. We checked him for heart worms (negative), cut his nails, examined him for any other problems, and gave him some needed shots. The really cool part though is that I got to assist Dr. Hasenour and hold the two dogs on the table (Crystal was doing paperwork in the back) just like a real vet assistant (I felt special).

                The next appointment did not show up.

                Our third patient that came was a 6 month old male puppy (not neutered).  The owners brought him in because he was urinating quite often and in the house when he seemed really nervous or excited.  The owners suspected a kidney or bladder problem. Dr. Hasenour took a urine sample. His urine was very concentrated. The test though, showed no signs of any problems. After talking to the owners Dr. Hasenour found out that the dog was also having bowel movements in the house. This then told Dr. Hasenour that the dog is just not potty trained well and gets excited sometimes and wets or when he needs to go just goes. He also suggested getting the dog neutered. Later, Dr. Hasenour told me that sometimes knowing a dog’s behavior and actions is more beneficial than knowing medicines.

Journaling:

                Today was really cool. I wish I was able to go back again tomorrow, but they are having a day off.  I had a really great time and learned a lot! I now know I for sure want to be a Veterinarian! I’m so glad I got to Vet Shadow; it was all so much fun!

THE END (for today)