Pymble Vets and Chocolate Pudding – Joey’s Pet of the Week

By Scott Lackenby | Dated July 24, 2014

Hey everyone!! How has your week been? All good here in the Gordon and Pymble Vet area. We’ve been busy getting ready for Dental Month, which is next month. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know what we have planned. Next month we will also be taking part in the RSPCA’s cupcake day, but I’ll tell you more about that in the coming weeks.

My super star this week is the gorgeous Miss Chocolate Pudding, a 7 month old Burmese. Chocolate Pudding came in to be desexed by Dr Helen. Chocolate Pudding’s Mum mentioned on admission that she is a noisy breather and sometimes it sounds like she is having trouble catching her breath. Chocolate Pudding had also had a bit of a head tilt since she was 4 weeks old and is very clumsy.

We always perform a thorough health check on ALL animals before having an anaesthetic, and given her issues, this was extra important for Chocolate Pudding. Apart from a small amount of discharge from her eyes, which was likely a mild case of cat flu, Chocolate Pudding’s exam was all normal so Dr Helen went ahead with the desexing procedure. The procedure was a routine but in recovery, Chocolate Pudding got into some trouble.

When animals have an anaesthetic, we put a tube down their throat to help them breathe. When we took out Chocolate Pudding’s breathing tube, she turned blue and her breathing became very laboured. When Dr Helen looked in Chocolate Pudding’s throat, her airway had closed over. Dr Helen squirted a special drug down CP’s throat to relax it so she could put in another breathing tube.

Once the tube was in and she was back on oxygen, CP’s colour became nice and pink again. It took quite some time before we were able to remove the breathing tube from CP. 90 mins after she was extubated again, CP again had trouble breathing and her lungs sounded crackly. Dr Helen sedated CP to keep her calm and gave her an injection to help reduce her lung secretions and she put CP on nasal oxygen. CP was not a fan of the nasal oxygen tubing and removed it several times! Luckily her breathing and oxygen levels were both normal .

Dr Helen thinks CP’s problems were a result of her having narrow airways complicated by possible cat flu. The following day, CP was basically her normal cheeky self but she had a bit of a cough. When CP came back to have her stitches removed, she was still coughing so Dr Helen started her on a course of antibiotics. But as you’ll see from the pics in my album, Chocolate Pudding is now back to her inquisitive and mischievous self! Speaking of mischief, I’d better go. We had the floors cleaned last night so I need to make sure that everything is back where it should be. Meows for now, love Joey xoxo