Smokey is a chinchilla who came to me with a history of tooth problems which made it uncomfortable to eat. Eventually, the roots of the affected teeth grew into the sinus and caused a large abscess to form over the cheek of this poor fellow. Antibiotics were prescribed but the definitive treatment is to remove the affected teeth. Above are pictures of Smokey after waking up from his dental surgery and a picture of the teeth removed.
This little pug came to my office for evaluation of breathing problems. It's one thing for a pug to snore and snort as all dogs with pushed in noses, (so called, "brachycephalic", breeds), do. Some though, like this dog, gag, regurgitate or vomit from the gagging and can even lose the ability to breathe altogether...not good. The reason for the problem is because of several factors peculiar to the breed. First, their noses are squished to the point of being little slits instead of nostrils. Because of this, they create a lot of negative pressure in their throat which causes all the tissue in the throat to collapse in on itself. Second, because there is so much redundant tissue in the soft palate, the negative pressure causes the palate to literally go down the windpipe or trachea, which blocks the airway and makes the dog gag. Reverse sneezing, gagging, vomiting, etc... are all techniques a dog uses to eliminate this negative pressure. If the signs are mild or infrequent, it's not a big deal. I had a pug who did it occasionally when he got real excited. If the dog is frequently vomiting or gagging however, my advice is to perform a few nip and tuck surgeries to correct the problem. When done properly, it's a same day surgery and the dog gets a boost in quality of life. So this little fellow had been gagging frequently and it was decided to widen the nostrils, (bilateral alar fold excision),and remove the excess soft palate that was becoming entrapped in the dogs windpipe, (soft palate reduction). This procedure should not be done by the inexperienced as it can cause swelling and the dog can literally choke to death if the tissues are not handled delicately. He made it through both procedures with no problems and came in for suture removal this past week. Owner reports the gagging has stopped and the little guy is very happy. He still snores and snorts but that is what a pug is supposed to do and not related to these problems but to the fact that these brachycephalic dogs just have a lot of tissue in their pharynx and throat. It is one of the qualities I always found endearing in my pug, (and other pug, boston and bulldog owners do too, since they actually ask if their dog will still snore after surgery. It becomes part of their personality). I highly recommend this procedure for brachy's in which the condition affects the quality of life or threatens life as it can in advanced, untreated cases, (the negative pressure causes further elongation of the palate over time). Oh yeah, this pic is immediately post-op the alar-fold excision and you can see that what were previously little slits now look like normal nostrils, (for a dog), and he still looks amazingly cute!!
This little cutie was my first surgery on opening day in Wickliffe. He had fallen and broken his elbow. He is so sweet and cute which made him even more pitiful to see him in pain. He also looked so much like my little boy, Sam. He had broken the outside part of his upper arm bone, right at the elbow, so, in addition to a fracture, he had a dislocated elbow. We reduced the fracture, put the elbow back in it's proper position and then placed internal screws to keep things in place. Upon waking up, the little dog was already looking more comfortable and wanted to try some of my lunch. Since small dogs like Yorkies, Chihuahuas and the like are prone to hypoglycemia I wanted him to eat as soon as possible after recovery so I shared some of my sardines with him, a high omega 3 and high protein treat which will help his healing as well as offering him a tasty treat.
I had a call from a very upset client who had come home to a messy scene. His two dogs had gone exploring while the owners were at work and had come upon a glass bowl of hummus on a table. They knocked the bowl over, smashing it into a thousand shards of glass but that did not detract from the hummus according to these guys. They lapped up the tasty treat and the owner was concerned because, as he said, "there is not enough glass here to put together a bowl, not even close". We x-rayed the two dogs and, while one had only a couple small pieces of glass in her stomach which I knew would pass without incident, the other dog had a large amount of glass in the stomach and some of the pieces were quite large. We immediately took the dog to surgery where we removed just under a pound of sharp glass shards. The owner prepared to cancel his vacation because he was so worried about his dogs but I assured him that, once the glass was gone, I was confident he could recover and convalesce without worry. "This kind of thing happens a lot more than you'd think", I told him. The dog recovered uneventfully and is resting comfortably at The Barkeley Spa while her parents were able to go on their ski trip after all.
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