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Hospital ‘Tails’, hosted by Timmy, the
Alpha office cat We see a lot of patients here every week. Mostly for first-time or annual checkups. But some of our cases are quite unusual. In fact, I’m always surprised at how much trouble pets can get into even with the best of owners. Let me tell you what happened this week. Shasta
This is "Shasta". She is shown here with her friend Amy (on the right) and Dr. Rumetsch and technician Penny. No, she doesn't have a white beard. That's cotton from her bandage. She was helping us bandage her hind leg. Her story is a long one -- beginning with an auto accident on New Year's Eve. Her back was broken. However, with the help of excellent orthopedic surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania's Veterinary Hospital and lots and lots of loving care in the Intensive Care Unit she came back home to her family. Months of loving care by Amy and her family helped her back on the road to recovery. The following New Year's Eve she was back at the Veterinary Hospital -- for a reunion party hosted by the ICU nurses for "Shasta" and many other fortunate dogs and cats and their families. Note to Amy: Though you are at college out there in Arizona, we thought you would like to see your beloved friend -- courtesy of the Internet.
BRABO Snips, and SNAILS, and Puppy Dog Tails Brabo, a very curious Schipperke, just has to get his nose into everything and has to taste it. Well, he managed to sneak under some netting in the garden -- where his owners had looked away for 2 minutes -- and snacked on some snail bait. Well, he was caught in the act and his owners rushed to call our Alpha doctors on a Saturday night. Brabo was feeling the effects of the snail bait, a little glassy-eyed and jittery. After all it is poisonous and can be deadly. So, our doctors treated him and stabilized him. Then they called the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital and made arrangements to get him admitted. It was just a precaution. Brabo could be monitored with special equipment that would show any additional effects of the poison. The next day, his owners picked up a very quiet, sleepy puppy. With good emergency treatment and good specialized care, Brabo was on his way to his next adventure. MAGGIE ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL Maggie is a beautiful black-and-white, long-haired setter/spaniel mix about 7 years old. Her owner was moving to an apartment after his divorce and wasn’t allowed to take Maggie with him. He tried to find a good home for her but had no luck. The only solution seemed to be to put her to sleep. He brought her to Alpha. The doctors and staff just could not put her to sleep. So, with the owner’s permission they kept her and tried to find her a new home. For weeks Maggie stayed at the hospital and kept the staff company. One of the staff, Virginia, became very fond of Maggie. However, she wasn’t sure she should have a second dog since she also had a little baby at home. But she kept her eye on Maggie. Finally, one night, Dr. Barnsteiner called and left a message on her answering machine. "Virginia, just plan on taking Maggie", he said. That was all the encouragement she needed to take Maggie home. One of the first things Maggie did was to eat an entire pineapple-upside-down cake Virginia had baked for her husband’s birthday. After eating the cake and some of the children’s socks, she settled into her new home along with a Labrador Retriever named Katie. Now she’s got a whole new family and a great new life. Check in next week for another ‘Hospital Tail’ from Timmy. |
