Today was a somewhat slow day at the hospital.We got a few ER patients in the morning, but not many over all. Most exciting stuff happened early in the morning or in the afternoon. In the morning we watched how you remove staples. We also welcomed a few cardiology patients. To take an ultrasound of the heart you have to place the animal on a special board and two people usually hold it in place. You then attach monitors to three of the feet. Sometimes you have to shave the area thats going to be viewed. The Doctor then puts there hand as well as the ultrasound equipment through the hole in the board against the patients chest. This allows them to see the heart and any problems that are in their. Any animal can have heart problems, but some breeds can be more susceptible. In the afternoon both a Pigeon and a Fox were brought in. The fox was injured and was the most interesting ER patient today. Apparently foxes have very thin skin, so it can be hard to shave them. Their fur is also very soft. Fur factories breed foxes for there pelts. If the fox doesn’t have the correct color, they throw it out. If a big gets stuck in the pigeon goop that people set out to stop pigeons from landing their it can become quite bad. When the goop dries it is impossible to get off of a bird. I also meet the people who took the goose last week. They stated that the goose was doing well. All of the patients I saw today ended up heading home either before or after I left. There were no surgeries today, but a lot of check ups on surgeries. I also learned about lepto today. Lepto is a bacterial disease that is passed through the excretion of waste. It can be very deadly causing kidney failure and eventual death if not treated. No dogs so far that we’ve seen have had it, but there are possible cases. Over all the day went by slightly slow, but we were able to help out with a lot of the patients. Many of them were very friendly and just wanted some attention.
