Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The Reason

Mondays are notoriously chaotic at veterinary clinics.  Yesterday was no exception with an afternoon chock full of appointments and an emergency surgery going on in the back.  Naturally that's when the hysterical client walked in, covered in blood and begging us to save her puppy which she had accidentally run over with her car.  And not just any puppy.  This particular puppy had shown up at their house shortly after her husband had passed away and she believes that he had sent her this dog.  No pressure there right?

I was really worried what we would find when we got to the parking lot but there in the car was an obviously injured but still tail-wagging puppy.  I breathed an internal sigh of relief and we carried the pup inside to assess the damage.

She was bleeding from her nose and mouth, her gums were gray, breathing was shallow and harsh sounding and there was some loss of function to her front leg  But she seemed relatively alert and not overly distressed.  All the while I was going over the puppy the owner kept asking if she would live.  I assured her I thought she would be ok but we needed to start treating her and getting some x-rays. 

We started her on fluids for the shock and got some pain medications, light sedatives and a few other medications on board.  In no time she was more relaxed and breathing easier and her gums were getting pinker.  Radiographs (x-rays) showed significant lung bruising but no broken bones.  Bloodwork showed a mild amount of blood loss.  Although she has some nerve damage in her leg that may or may not fully resolve she was a pretty lucky girl. 

This morning she was walking (with a little difficulty) begging for tummy rubs and wolfing down food.  Her mom is so happy and grateful and relieved and tomorrow she gets to go home to continue recovering

Stories like that is why we are in this profession.  It's the reason we can get past all the rude, unhappy, non bill-paying clients who never follow our advice anyway. 

10 comments:

Paint Girl said...

Glad the puppy is going to be okay! Love happy endings to stories like that!!

Sara said...

Oh, I'm crying. What a wonderful story. Your grandmother is going to love this post when you give her your next blogbook.

What a rewarding day for you.

Heather said...

I'm happy the puppy is going to be okay! Talk about pressure to save its life though - yikes :)

Diana said...

OMG, I needed a good, happy positive ending story today. THANKS!!!! Im so glad it worked out!

Chris and Ricky said...

Thank goodness the puppy will be ok - so glad you were able to save him!

LauraK said...

Oh my goodness, I can't imagine the terror of running over a puppy! So glad that you were able to help her out and let that little puppy live out the rest of her life happily. Great story, thanks for sharing!

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

WOW what a lucky puppy, a lucky owner, and how neat it must be to be able to be a part of all that and to be able to have the knowledge to impact lives when it is a story like that.

Rob said...

I think vets do a great job, I know to some people a dog is just a dog but to its owner its as important as a child more often than not. Anyway well done, I'm sure you are a hero to many people.

tervnmal said...

That's wonderful! And definitely rewarding for you, knowing you could brought joy to someone else's life, esp. when you have to deal with so many idiots from day to day.

Sarah said...

What a sweet story!