Max Going Home!!!

Jack

 Jack has been sick and hospitalized for the last 4 days.  He is going home today.

"Pepper" -- Our Most Photographed patient

Most Fashionable Mother-Daughter Pair (note the matching earrings and bracelet)

 When his companion of 12 years, “Raska”, was brought to San Pedro Animal Hospital for medical care last Thursday the San Pedro Animal Foundation stepped in to cover the costs.

 Raska suffers from poor vision and arthritis, among other things, and she has been through a lot of stress since her owner’s death.  Friends have stepped in to take care of her but she has had to adapt to new environments and new caregivers.

  The San Pedro Animal Hospital diagnosed and treated her for a condition called “Dry Eye” and conjunctivitis.  With time her vision may improve if the proper treatment is continued.  She was also treated for a skin infection, ear infections, and ticks.  She was given a thorough flea and tick bath as well as a soothing oatmeal bath.  Her nails were trimmed, her ears were cleaned, a monthly flea and tick preventative applied, she was dewormed, and given her monthly heartworm preventative.

She has a lot of medications to take but she should be much more comfortable now, thanks to those who have donated to the San Pedro Animal Foundation.

We send our sympathies to Tom’s family at this sad time and offer out best wishes to his loyal friend, Raska.

  In memory of Peter’s mother my family has donated 500 Belize dollars to the San Pedro Animal Foundation. 

Sarah was an avid animal-lover her entire life.  It was said that I was the only girlfriend of Peter’s she ever liked because I am a vet.  Of all of Peter’s accomplishments, it seemed that the one she was happiest about was the San Pedro Animal Hospital.  After it was built she made her first ever visit to Belize.  As you can see from the above photo, she greatly enjoyed her time in San Pedro.

We are discussing what would be the best project to undertake in her memory.  We would like to do something other than spay and neuter for a change.  Something to increase the quality of life for our canine companions of lesser means, who perhaps  do not spend their days riding around in golf carts.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know.

Obviously Peter inherited his love of dogs and cats from his mother.  In more ways than one, the San Pedro Animal Hospital and the San Pedro Animal Foundation owe their existence to Sarah Lawrence.

We miss you, Sarah.

  Our deepest sympathies to Jeff and Vivian and the crew at Rojo Lounge.  Their dog Havana passed away this morning in San Pedro Animal Hospital after a 72 hour battle against the toxin she was poisoned with.

Havana was a rescue puppy adopted from Saga Humane Society six years ago.  She spent her life as a beloved member of her family at Azul Resort, guarding her home outside every night.

She presented at San Pedro Animal Hospital on Wednesday with the signs of a mild to moderate neurotoxicity.  She was shaking uncontrollably and unsteady on her feet.  She was treated for two days in the hospital on IV fluids and medications, and showing improvement, she went home on Friday.  Unfortunately, on Sat am she returned with more severe symptoms.  As it turns out, the insecticide we suspect she was poisoned with causes degeneration of nerves in the brain and the rest of the body over time, causing progressive neurologic dysfunction.  In her case, her seizures became so severe that she developed a condition we refer to as “status”.   In this condition the patient never wakes up between seizures.  We treated her seizures all night last night, hoping that she would finally improve and awaken.  Unfortunately, this never happened and her condition continued to deteriorate.  This morning at 6am we had to concede that we had lost the battle against the neurotoxin, and Havana was put to rest.

I learned a lot from my treatment of Havana.  This was a new set of progressive symptoms in a poisoning victim, and it took time to work it out, but with research it appears that there are many possible insecticides that could have been used.  They are in the class of “cholinesterase inhibitors”.  This probably doesn’t mean much to the average person, but to veterinarians and doctors it explains a lot.  There is a special antidote to these type of toxins, which I have never seen or used before in the United States or Belize, but I remember learning about it way back in Toxicology class in veterinary school.  It is my hope that I will be able to acquire it on my next trip to America, and that San Pedro Animal Hospital will be prepared with it for the next incident of canine poisoning here in Belize.

Sometimes I feel that I am in a personal war against these nameless, faceless criminals, who periodically attack the canine members of our families with these poisonous substances.  This time the perpetrator won.  But next time I will be ready again for another fight, and the outcome may be different.  More often than not I have been able to save the victims that arrive at my clinic, but it is the ones that we do not save that stay with me. 

This is the fourth dog the Azul Resort has lost this year, joining Siska and Carey who died of old age, and Gabby who died of kidney failure.  I hear that there will be a funeral today for Havana on their beautiful beach front property.  Words will be said.  Flowers and sand will go with Havana into her grave in the beautiful pet cemetary they are building.

A special thank you to Dr. Dan, a local family physician, who assisted us last night by supplying us with additional emergency medications.

Rest in peace, Havana.

   Princess was brought to us in a cardboard box by a boy on his bicycle so that we could treat her skin.  She is from the San Mateo area, the area where we have collected most of our charity cases.  San Mateo is the poorest area of San Pedro.  Princess is five months old and has never seen a vet before, so she has never been dewormed or had any vaccinations.

 When presented with a skin problem of this severity in Belize it is typically mange, but there are two types of mange.  One is contagious to other dogs and humans, but it is easy to treat.  It is called “scabies”.  The other is not contagious to other animals or people but it is more difficult to treat.  It is called “demodex”.  The only way to tell the two apart is with a skin test called a “skin scraping”.  Cells are taken off the skin and examined under a microscope.  In Princess’s case, a multitude of live demodex mites were observed.

Demodex is usually a disease of puppies who are suffering from other chronic diseases, such as parasitism or chronic ehrlichia infection (the cause of tick fever).  In her case, she also had pale gums and a heart murmer, indicative of hookworm anemia.  Hookworms are extremely prevalent in Belize in puppies.  For this reason all puppies should be properly dewormed by a veterinarian multiple times.

 Princess’s owner paid for her examination, the skin scraping, and the treatment for demodectic mange.  The San Pedro Animal Foundation picked up the tab for the deworming and the antibiotic for her secondary bacterial skin infection.  She will need to return for a recheck in 2 weeks which the foundation will also cover. 

With proper long-term treatment over the next weeks to months Princess has a good chance of becoming a healthy happy puppy. 

 Thank you for supporting the San Pedro Animal Foundation.

Two puppies spayed and neutered courtesy of the San Pedro Animal Foundation

Two of my patients this morning got me thinking about our little hospital – where we came from and where we are now. 

What about now?

Remember an xray film is a 2-D representation of a 3-D object.  If your pet needs xrays, always let your vet take 2 views!!!