Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPkH9NPles
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were the sensational dance duo of the thirties who still explode on the screen with their talent and grace. The Fred and Ginger of this story have no less grace and still untapped talent, (they are only 4 months old). They have a story to match their names and this blog will attempt to do that over the next few months.
Their mother was a puppy mill rescue who, along with a group of Japanese Chins rescued at that time, were all pregnant. Many of the puppies were born with deformities of the heart or bones. As many reading this already know, my wife and I have our own pet Chin, Bette Davis, who we adopted through Marilyn's Voice Rescue. She was also a puppy mill dog with a deformed leg. After I corrected her deformity, she regained use of her leg and now runs like a gazelle. We were looking to adopt a little girl for her and, after speaking with the rescue organizer, decided I would repair her brother, too, and help place him. Of course, by the time my daughter and I made the trip back from Indiana, where we picked them up, we had already decided we would be keeping the siblings together.
They both have a condition known as, "Patellar Luxation", common to Chins and many other small breed dogs. I have performed countless of these repairs and developed a 4 part technique that has served my patients well with excellent surgical results and legs that are better than new. The condition is graded 1-4 with 4 being the most severe. Like Bette had before, both Ginger and Fred have grade 4+ luxation, the worst. Like Bette, I have confidence they will do well and so I will be posting their surgery and follow up here on the blog and on the hospital facebook page. Keep posted. Surgery is scheduled for Monday, June 15th.
Reiki, Japanese for “universal energy”, is a healing technique in which gentle but powerful energy is channeled through a caregiver into a patient. Reiki energy has been shown to help illness, anxiety, and depression in both people and animals, and promotes a general sense of relaxation and well being.
For animal patients, Reiki has been shown to help heal illness or injury, as well as anxiety and behavior problems. It often calms stressed animals and can be used as an adjunct to any medical treatment.
Dr. West is certified in Reiki and offers this healing technique for dogs and cats. Call the Wickliffe office at 440.516.0000 for more details about the initial consultation and subsequent sessions.
A Reiki treatment for an animal patient can consist of touching the patient or beaming energy across the room. Some animals tolerate being touched, and some are more comfortable with freedom to move around. Either way, the Reiki energy is going where it needs to go.
Some animals seek out the Reiki practitioner, and some animals stay away from the source of the energy. Animals are said to be more sensitive to the Reiki energy than people, in many instances, and some will avoid the practitioner initially. Because animals are so sensitive to the energy, they can have remarkable benefits from Reiki treatments.
It is important to understand that the benefits of Reiki treatments are not always readily apparent to us. Sometimes multiple treatments are necessary to aid with a specific problem. There are never any ill effects from Reiki, though. It is always a healing energy that will do no harm to the patient.
Meso, a 17 lb dog, presented with urinary problems. She was straining and painful upon urination, and she had increased frequency and urgency to urinate. A urinalysis showed a urinary tract infection, but symptoms did not resolve with antibiotics. A radiograph was taken, which showed an enormous bladder stone. Surgery was performed to remove the stone. She felt much better after surgery. Some stones occur secondarily to chronic infection. Any symptoms of urinary tract infection should be addressed right away.
In May, I examined a kitty that had been adopted from the shelter and had been spayed there. Her new parents were observing behavior that was suspicious of hormonal/heat behavior. She was being extremely vocal, extremely affectionate, and was keeping them up at night with her crying. I ran a vaginal cytology that was suggestive of estrus, or "heat". I also ran a blood estrogen level, which was inconclusive. When these episodes persisted, I decided to do an exploratory surgery. I was very happy that we made that decision, because I found a remnant of an ovary that had been left behind. Even a small piece of an ovary can produce enough hormones to mimic a heat cycle. Since I removed this remnant, the kitty has been fine, and her parents have been able to sleep.
This is a radiograph of the jaw of a dog who came in for a routine teeth cleaning. The year before the dog had had a molar extracted. Upon examination this dog had a swelling and tenderness at the area where the tooth had been extracted but nothing that had been noticed by the owner. X-rays show two distinct tooth root fragments. The root tips had fractured from the tooth when it had been extracted. Teeth should always be extracted intact as root tips can and will cause chronic pain and infection as it did in this case. These tips were surgically extracted and a picture of them is shown below.
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