A Second Chance For Budi

The Beginning
    We first met Budi in early February when she came to the clinic with her 6 week old puppies. Budi was very skinny and was still nursing the puppies. We found out that she had just been moved to Prior Lake from a home in northern Minnesota. Despite all of this she walked in as a very happy dog, wiggling her little stump of a tail and her whole body - she was really interested in meeting people.  We checked her out and told her new caretakers to increase her food. We hoped to see her with a few more pounds on her body at her recheck appointment in a few weeks. The next time we saw Budi she had injuries to her ear and neck that were a week old. She had been attacked by a couple of dogs that were out roaming free. Budi was a little more timid, but allowed our staff to clip and clean her wounds and get her stitched up.  She was a good girl!
   Then, on March 22nd we saw Budi again. Her caretaker wasn't very happy with her and asked that she be euthanized. She was a very scared dog, barely crawling into the clinic. We were shocked at the change. She had put on about ten pounds but her confident, happy demeanor was gone. We took her in and got her settled in a kennel. Then we started the path to finding her true owner to see how she would like to handle the situation. The next day the owner called and stated that she could not take Budi back and did not want to have her euthanized. She had recently seen her and was shocked to see that the happy confident dog she had last seen about 45 days ago was now a timid and very fearful dog. The owner shed a few tears and asked that we do what we could to help Budi. She then officially surrendered Budi to our Practice Manager, Kathy Hennen.
   Oh boy, now what?  We definitely are not in the business of rescuing dogs. As much as we would like to be able to this, we just aren't set up for it. We leave that to the professionals. There are so many wonderful organizations that do such a good job of this. But.....this seemed like a really special, unique situation.
   As Kathy hung up the phone, she turned to see two staff members waiting for the good news - we could save Budi!  Deb, our groomer, offered to give Budi a bath and Haley offered to help.  The bath was a little scary for Budi but she was a trooper, she didn't even bat an eye when Deb trimmed her nails. Afterwards Deb put a pretty bandana around her neck. We gave her a good meal and tucked her into her kennel for the night - it had been a long couple of days for Budi. We all hoped that the next day we would see her tail wag.

(Check back for more of the story!)

Did you know that a dog’s sense of smell is on average 10,000 to 100,000 times superior to that of humans? Dogs have over 200 million scent receptors in their noses versus humans who have only 5 million. If you were to unfold and spread out the membranes from a dog’s nose, they would be larger than the dog itself.
Scientists have recently discovered that dogs can actually smell the presence of autism in children. A 2006 study found that dogs could also positively identify breast and lung cancer with 99 percent accuracy. It’s not clear whether it’s smell or some other sense that Seizure Alert dogs use to alert their humans of an oncoming epileptic seizure. Whatever the reason, we're glad our canine companions have such a keen sense of smell!

Did you know that fleas can survive in the cold winter weather? We recommend keeping your pet on a year round flea and tick preventative as well as a year round heartworm preventative, to ensure that your pet remains happy and healthy throughout the entire year.

Happy Endings start with a Microchip!

Zeus is thankful for his HomeAgain Microchip!

Zeus is reunited!  He traveled from Eagan to Shakopee
over the last 8 months!

One of our long time clients found a beautiful gray cat hanging around the horse barn she visits in Shakopee. This cat was wearing a collar that had gotten too tight and the cat appeared to very hungry and in need of some good 'ole human companionship. So she took the cat home, took the tight collar off and offered some food to this cat who was very grateful and began to eat right away. The next day she called us and scheduled an appointment to get the cat checked out and to find out if perhaps the cat had been spayed or neutered - not an easy thing to try and figure out on a long haired cat like this.  When Diane told us that this cat was a stray, the first thing we did was to scan it for a microchip. We were ecstatic to find out that this cat did indeed have a microchip - some family must be sick with worry about where there beloved kitty was!  Erin was able to obtain the owners information and called right away but she only got a voice mail message on the other end.  In the middle of leaving a message a man picked up on the line and frantically asked her to repeat the information she was leaving. He was so excited!  This indeed was their cat and he had been missing since last July - over 8 months ago he had slipped away accidentally and their family had been heartbroken ever since.  Many times they had discussed getting another cat but in the end they always held out hope that somehow they would find Zeus again. Shortly after Erin hung up the phone a little girl called and asked "Is it true that you found my kitty?"  Erin said, "We sure did!" and smiled as she listened to the celebration that was going on in the background! We gave Zeus a nice warm place to sleep, fresh water, a fresh litter box and a hearty meal and rested comfortably overnight with us. The next morning at 7:00 a.m. the owner was waiting at our door and was so very happy to be reunited with Zeus!  Yes there is a moral to this story - microchip your pet!  This family never thought they would lose their cat, they are so grateful for the microchip!  It takes just moments to implant a microchip - the pet thinks it is another vaccine. We are hear to help you if you make the decision to get your pet a microchip!

Cats and dogs find anti-freeze quite tasty and if they come across a spill, they will lick it. Keep new and used antifreeze in sealed containers, away from pets. If a cat walks through a puddle of antifreeze, then licks his paws, he can ingest enough antifreeze to become gravely ill or even die. If you suspect your pet has ingested anti-freeze, please call us immediately.

 

Keirdan-Pet of the Month

Keirden Ehrenberger is a 6 year old male German Shepherd.  He has been a patient at River Valley since his owners Steve and Mary adopted him in December 2008.

On February 2^nd Mary came home from work to find Keirden acting strangely.  He proceeded to have a grand mal seizure.  Mary brought him in to River Valley immediately, and Dr. Laurie Miller examined him.  He was recovering from his seizure, but slowly.  On physical exam he was uncoordinated, was having trouble seeing, and was disoriented.  Blood tests were performed in the clinic and were within normal limits.  Mary took Keirden home to monitor him closely for any more seizures or other signs of illness.

Over the next few days Keirden remained seizure free, but still was acting abnormally.  He would pace in circles, and easily trip over things.  Steve brought him back to River Valley on February 7^th for a medical progress exam with Dr. Miller.  On physical exam she found he still had neurologic abnormalities, and recommended a referral to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center for a neurology consult.

At the U the veterinary neurologists performed an MRI.  It showed that Keirden had a brain tumor that had caused the seizure and neurologic abnormalities.   Treatment options for the brain tumor included surgical removal or radiation.  The Ehrenbergers decided to go ahead with surgery.

Surgery was performed at the U of M on February 23^rd.  As much of the tumor was removed as possible, and submitted for histopathologic analysis.  This showed it was a meningioma, which is a tumor that grows from the lining of the brain called the meninges.  A postoperative MRI showed some traces of tumor still left in Keirden’s brain.   Keirden recovered well from his brain surgery and was discharged on February 25^th.   He has had some small seizures post-operatively that are being controlled with medication.

Because of the tumor cells still present, additional therapy was recommended.  The tumor that was removed was frozen, and killed tumor cells are being grown in culture to make a vaccine.  In a few weeks Keirden will be given injections of the vaccine from these killed tumor cells.  This will stimulate his immune system to eradicate the trace tumor cells left in his brain.

Keirden is an amazing dog owned by wonderful people.   He is a great example of the advances and strides that have been made in veterinary medicine.   Within 3 weeks of his initial seizure he had a brain tumor diagnosed, surgically removed, and was back home recovering with his family! 

Does it seem like your dog is out of breath after a walk up the stairs? Is your cat taking up a lot more space on the top of the couch than it used to? Overweight pets may seem like they are happy, but an extra five pounds can be harmful to their health. They can suffer from heart, lung and joint problems. We recommend a sensible diet along with regular exercise and a trip to our hospital to determine if and how much weight your pet needs to lose.

And our weekly winner of an RVVS Duffel bag is Raider and his owner Troy - Congratulations!

Our March winner of a Home Again Microchip - Symba and his owner Pam! Congratulations!

As the weather turns colder, we need to remember our senior pets. Cold weather can affect bad joints and cause arthritic flare ups. Even a quick trip to the bathroom could cause some injury if they have to go down some icy stairs. Please be mindful of your senior pet during this season.

Equine Client Education Seminar

River Valley Veterinary Service will be hosting an Equine Client Education Seminar next month. We look forward to seeing our equine lovers there!