Joey’s Pet of the Week – Oscar and the Peach Seed

By Scott Lackenby | Dated May 17, 2016

Hey Gang!! How’s your week going? Hasn’t the weather been unseasonably glorious?!? I do enjoy a sunny day. We had some staff training this week in the Lab. I was a very good clinic cat and listened to all the info. I wonder if I get a certificate for that…

I’m sure you’re all wondering how the postcard saga is going. Well, I can happily report that I am taking one staff member of the naughty list, but will be adding an extra one to the naughty list. Luckily for Nurse Janie, I received a pretty awesome one from her. It does have a dog like creature on the front, but I’m willing to overlook that and just enjoy the postcard. So Nurse Janie, if you are reading this, (which of course you are, my blogs are amazing!!), you are officially off the naughty list. I have just realised that Nurse Jacqui, who has been studying overseas for almost 12months, still has not sent me a postcard. 12months and no postcard?!? Nurse Jacqui has now taken Nurse Janie’s position on my naughty list. Dr John is still at the top of the list. I really thought that he and I had a special bond. Apparently I was sorely mistaken….

Some slightly delayed news. One of our very good clients, Monique, won our Mother’s Day hamper!! Monique is an amazing fur-Mum and also Mum to an amazing 2legged kid, Jack, who is one of my fave little people. Congrats Monique!!

Speaking of Monique, her fur-baby Oscar is my super star this week. Oscar is a 14year old Cairn Terrier who came in to see Dr Scott Lackenby. Oscar had been vomiting, he had diarrhoea, he was farting, was off his food and was generally an unwell puppy. When Dr Scott examined Oscar, he was dehydrated but there was no pain when he felt his tummy. Dr Scott admitted Oscar and Nurse Ange started him on some IV fluids while Dr Scott ran some blood tests. When the results came back, we started treating Oscar for severe gastro enteritis.

After a few hours on fluids and special medication, Oscar was a little brighter but was still an unhappy dog. Oscar stayed in for the night on fluids and the next morning he seemed a little better again, but he was still a sick dog. Dr Sam Lackenby spoke to Monique, Oscar’s Mum and they decided that given his age, that the best option was for Oscar to have an ultrasound to rule out any nasties like cancer. The ultrasound showed that Oscar’s stomach wall was thickened and there was a small fluid build up but there was nothing else that looked overly suspicious. Given he was showing signs of improvement, it was decided to send Oscar home with some antibiotics and a bland diet.

Two days after going home, Oscar came back to see Dr Scott when he wasn’t eating again and he had started vomiting again. Oscar also wouldn’t take his medication. When Dr Scott re-examined Oscar, he was dehydrated again and was now sore when his tummy was palpated. Oscar was admitted again and re-stared on IV fluids. A second ultrasound was performed. Dr David Loneragan found there was more fluid in Oscar’s stomach now and there was some shadowing that made Dr David suspicious of a foreign body. Oscar would need surgery to look for and remove this foreign body. Given his age and how sick he was, we were concerned about putting Oscar through such a big surgery. But after a long discussion with his Mum, it was decided that Oscar was a tough old boy and we should go ahead with surgery.

The surgery revealed that Oscar did in fact have an obstruction, a peach seed in his duodenum, a part of his small intestine. The rest of Oscar’s intestines were checked were checked for abnormalities, and apart from some thickening of the stomach, nothing out of the ordinary was noted. It was a slow recovery from the surgery for Oscar, but given his age and how sick he was going into the procedure, this wasn’t a big surprise. Oscar was started on lots of antibiotics and pain medication. He spent two days in with us, but was much happier and was even wagging his tail the day after the surgery!

At home, Oscar is continuing to recover. He is being a good boy and is resting lots, eating his chicken and rice well and his wound looks good. He has become a little cheeky about taking his medication, which needs to be hidden in a small amount of cheese, but I think that Oscar is very cleverly holding out for cheese!! We are all so happy that Oscar is continuing to improve.

Well, better go. Maybe there’s a late delivery of postcards for me. Meows for now, love Joey xox