Thursday, February 25, 2010

Romeo! Romeo! Stand up and walk my Romeo!!


On January 27 Laurel , our receptionist, called me late in the afternoon very upset because her 12 year old Yorkshire Terrier, Romeo, was attacked by two dogs. While Laurel was sweeping off her porch Romeo was in the yard sniffing around when a large Husky and a Bull Mastiff came into her yard and began to attack this eight pound dog. She rushed him to the clinic and we started emergency treatment on him. He had several puncture wounds to the thorax, was bleeding from the nose, his respirations were very quick and shallow; he could not walk or even sit up. Radiographs revealed he had a traumatic spinal cord injury. We were not even sure he was going to make it through the night. But the strength of an eight pound dog should never be underestimated! Romeo is still with us, and today he took his first steps! They were not but a few; they were awkward and clumsy and completely motivated by a McDonald's french fry but they were undoubtedly steps!

Romeo's injuries were severe and it is still not known if he is going to make a complete recovery. His progress has not come without tough times. In the beginning he was in a lot of pain. He would urinate and defecate on himself, and had to be fed a slurry with a syringe. Laurel has devoted countless, sleepless nights to his care and at times has wanted to give up. She even went as far as to have a coffin custom made for him. He currently spends his days at our office underneath her desk. If she gets out of his sight, he begins to get a little noisy and attracts a lot of attention to himself. As a result most people who come in the office hear his barking, so naturally they inquire about his story. We all have been touched by the outpouring of concern for Romeo and genuine interest in his progress from our clients and we thank ya'll for the kind words and prayers.

Romeo still has a long way to go, but today our hope has been renewed.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010


This is the new and improved Jenkins. Today we gave Jenkins a haircut and a good bath. It was amazing how obedient this little guy was. He just sat on our table and let us trim his whole body, around his face and and ears. He was a jewel. You would have thought he was enjoying it! As you can see from his post haircut picture he really does look more like a Poodle. So maybe he is full blooded. We also tested him for heartworms and he was negative!! Jenkins is ready for a new home!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Found Dog


We have a new homeless dog here at our office. He was brought in on Thursday February 18 because he just walked into Jenkins Supermarket unattended. I guess he smelled their ribs and rotisserie chickens cooking. The lady who picked him up lives in the neighborhood near the supermarket; she says no one in her neighborhood has a dog that looks like him. Unfortunately he did not have a collar, a microchip or any other kind of identification. He is an intact male dog with very strong Poodle characteristics. He is not a full blooded Poodle as he is a little longer and thicker bodied than a typical Poodle, but definitely has the hair coat of a Poodle. He is not very old...maybe about 2 years. For now we are calling him Jenkins...like the dog in the book called Winn Dixie. If anyone knows who he belongs to or would like to foster him, please let us know.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The real Rocky


Our newest medical success story is Rocky. Rocky came to us one Friday morning with a distended abdomen for several weeks and the complaint of just not doing well. Routine blood work did not give us any clues as to what might be ailing Rocky, so we moved on to an abdominal x-ray where we found a large space occupying mass. This mass was so large it filled about 3/4 of his abdominal cavity and was pressing on his intestines causing him to have difficult bowel movements. Not knowing the type of mass and given his age (which was 12), his prognosis was guarded. The next step would be to take Rocky to surgery and to remove, if possible, but at the very least take a sample for a biopsy in order to come to a definitive diagnosis .

This news, of course, was upsetting to the owners of Rocky and was a decision which needed to be made by the whole family; in the end they decided for him to have surgery. Rocky came back to us the next week. Once inside,what we found was a spleen 3 to 4 times its normal size. It was discolored, engorged with blood and very friable, meaning it felt delicate...so delicate that I was afraid it was going to fall apart in my hands. It was a tedious surgery ligating all the many vessels supplying the mass, but after what seemed to be hours we placed the last suture and Rocky began to wake up. Just out of curiosity we placed the removed mass on our scales and were shocked to find it weighed 3.2 pounds!! That is quite a sizable mass for a 12 pound dog! Three days later he went home feeling much better.

Ten days after his discharge, Rocky returned to have sutures removed and for a re-check. His owners state he is a different dog. Biopsy results revealed that Rocky's mass wa a splenic hematoma. No cancerous cells were found. So things are looking good for the Rocky!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Kitty that needs a new home



Meet Winston. Winston is an 8 month old male, neutered and declawed Persian cat. He was purchased from a local pet store 6 months ago and was brought to us throughout all of his vaccine series. At five months he was neutered and declawed.
Unfortunately, his owner recently called us and asked if we could find him a home because they no longer could take care of him. Having known Winston since he was a young kitten we felt the need to make sure he went to a loving home.
Currently he resides with us at Leesburg Animal Hospital. Winston is a very loving kitty who purrs all the time and likes to paw at us through his pen. We have no doubt he will easily fit into a new home and and bring nothing but smiles and joy. Please come by and visit Winston; he will quickly win you over.