Surgery days are always fun for me. I really enjoy surgery. Way back in veterinary school I used to think it was a bit daunting, but working for ten years in emergency medicine where I was the only doctor available at two a.m., I learned to love it. The years spent in the emergency room taught me how to think on my feet and react to whatever was thrown at me. It was there that I took out my first kidney, did my first gastric torsion (bloat) surgery, did my first foreign body removal and intestinal anastamosis (putting two ends of the bowel back together), and repaired all kinds of traumatic wounds.  Now that I am in general practice, surgeries are much more routine, but still enjoyable.

For the owner of the pet having surgery, the day is usually a bit more stressful. Owners worry about what is happening, how their beloved pet will react, and how much pain will be involved. So, let’s walk through the surgery day to help you feel better!

Pets need to be fasted for about 12 hours prior to surgery. The drugs used for anesthesia can make them vomit and we don’t want them to aspirate (inhale) any stomach contents. When your pet is admitted in the morning you will fill out a lot of paperwork to make sure we understand all your instructions. Questions about additional procedures (nail trim, shave mats, take off a couple skin tags) will be asked. It’s much easier to do some of those things while they are sleeping!

After the paperwork, your pet will have blood drawn for pre-operative testing if it hasn’t been done prior to surgery day. We need to know how the liver and kidneys are functioning so we can tailor the anesthesia to the pet’s condition.  We check clotting profiles to make sure there won’t be any bleeding issues. An EKG will be run and evaluated to make sure there are no heart problems that can be detected.  If your pet is having a tumor removed, we may xray the chest to make sure there has been no detectable spread of the tumor prior to surgery.  While the tests are being run, your pet will be made comfortable in a cage or holding area with blankets to snuggle.  Some even like to snuggle with large stuffed animals.

If everything checks out and your pet is safe to be anesthetized, an intravenous catheter will be placed and hooked up to a bag of intravenous fluids.  The fluids are run through a pump to make sure your pet receives the correct amount of fluids.  The fluids help maintain blood pressure in the correct range during surgery and replace fluids that your pet is not allowed to drink for 24 hours.  The catheter is also used to inject the medications that will induce anesthesia. Once the pet is sleeping, a tube is placed in the trachea (windpipe) and hooked to a gas anesthesia machine. We use pediatric gas anesthesia which is very safe and can easily be adjusted up or down to keep the pet at the right level of sleepiness. A blood pressure cuff, EKG monitor, and oxygen monitor are attached to monitor the vital signs of the pet. Pain medications are given by injection to keep the pet as pain-free as possible.

The area where the incision will be made is shaved, vacuumed, scrubbed with antibacterial soap, and sprayed with antibacterial spray. Surgery is performed by the doctor and the technician monitors the anesthesia, keeping close track of any changes in vital signs. Once surgery is completed, the animal is given oxygen through the endotracheal tube for a few minutes to help cleanse the system. After that, the pet is moved back to their blanket to wake up under the watchful eye of the doctor and technician. The tube is pulled from the throat once the pet is able to swallow and is breathing well on their own.  Usually, within an hour the pet is sitting up, standing, and wobbly on their feet.

Before being discharged in the evening, incisions are checked for swelling, redness, or bleeding. The incision area is cleaned and the pet is checked over for any signs of a problem. Pain medications are sent home with your pet to keep them as comfortable as possible during the healing phase after surgery.  Our goal is to make the procedure as pain-free and pleasant as we can.

Your job at home is to keep your pet as quiet as possible for a few days, using a leash when outside. We ask that you check the incision area and notify us if there is any swelling or redness or if your pet is licking the area. If your pet will not leave the area alone, an “E” collar (cone) will be fitted to your pet. Campho Phenique mouth medicine is available over the counter for people and can be painted around an incision in a pinch to keep the pet away from the area. You can also try putting a tee shirt on the animal if that will cover the incision. Do not try to bandage an area, as that may be damaging to the wound.  Call any time you have a question!

Sutures are usually removed 8 to 10 days after surgery. Biopsies usually take 5 to 7 days to come back.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I hate cold weather.  So, seeing the news reports of an October Nor’easter bringing snow before Halloween, naturally made me a bit crabby.  I finally had to turn on the heat in the house and add blankets to the beds.

When we awoke this morning, covered as usual with the six spaniels that sleep in our bed, we heard the sound of pounding rain. Hue was nice enough to tramp downstairs with the pack of spaniels, opening the back door for the herd to exit. They ran out, as usual, only to hit the brakes within five strides. Hue, being the wise one, had closed the door quickly enough to keep dogs outside.  He left them outside while he made coffee, then realized when he opened the door to let them in, they had gone no further than the steps by the door.  He nicely brought me coffee in bed, along with six wet spaniels who wanted to snuggle.   What a wonderful way to start the day – wet dog smell times six in your bed. 

So, after coffee and news, we headed back down to feed the crowd breakfast. Knowing they would have to go out at some point, I had the bright idea to dress them all in raincoats and put them out again after breakfast. It only took fifteen minutes to dress seven dogs. They were jumping and barking, thinking we were taking them somewhere for an outing. (Yes, we are crazy people who dress up our dogs and they have an incredible wardrobe!) 

Once they were dressed, we tried to send them back outside.  Apparently, dogs are pretty smart, because they wanted no part of it. (Later on I had the bright thought that perhaps adding boots so their feet wouldn’t get wet might help. Oh yeah, 28 boots to put on.) We had to physically pick them up and place them outside.  Now we have wet people. This is going well……

We glanced out the window after getting them all outside, and, here’s a shock….they were standing on the deck looking miserable.  So, still no toilet activities occurring. After five minutes, we gave up. Seven wet dogs came back in, shed their coats, and begged for treats.  Today is a good example of why we have no carpets. Only hardwood, tile and laminate. Going to be a long day of cleanup, but, really, who can blame them?

We are pleased to announce that Scanlon’s continual weight loss efforts have begun to pay off!  Scanlon came in today for his weekly weigh in, and read a whopping 102.6 pounds on the scale.  His owner has been doing a great job maintaining a very strict diet and has been making sure Scanlon gets plenty of exercise.

Scanlon’s current daily diet consists of 12 ounces of Stella and Chewy’s - 4 in the morning and 8 at night.  He is walked a minimum of two miles each day and rewarded with two healthy biscuits for his hard work! 

As many of you know, Hue and I work with Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue organization. We adopted 6 dogs through them, and finally decided we should pitch in with promotion, transportation, foster care, and veterinary care. It’s been a fun journey and we really enjoy working with the rescue. We’ve met a lot of nice people who really care about the dogs and finding them the perfect homes forever.  Two years ago, I also put in an application to assist with Cavalier Rescue USA. I never heard back from them, so I figured they didn’t need our help or didn’t like that we already worked with another group. Well……I guess I was wrong.

Hue and I arrived in Colorado for our vacation on Friday afternoon. Not an hour after we landed, I received a phone call from Cavalier Rescue. They had a dog in south Jersey that needed to be picked up immediately. AAHHHH! The dog had lots of medical issues, as did her owner, and she needed to get out quickly. Since we will not be home until late next Friday, I was a bit panicked. But Hue came up with a great idea. Why not call our friend Lisa who lives in our neighborhood and has a dog she rescued through Lucky Star? Knowing she would jump at the chance, I made a quick call. Lisa immediately said yes. Then, strangely, I did not hear from her for two days. Finally, she sent a text and asked me to call.

Lisa was terribly frustrated and saddened by the condition of the dog. The poor dog is OBESE, deaf, ten years old, has a mouthful of rotten teeth, has a loud heart murmur, was not crate trained (although she was house trained), and wouldn’t eat a thing. She was too fat to go up and down the few steps in Lisa’s house to get outside and couldn’t get in the car on her own. She was suffering confusion and depression being away from the only home she had ever known.  Lisa was in tears. We made arrangements for our pet sitter (Carly, one of our technicians) to take the dog to our house later in the day. Lisa felt like a failure and was so sad with the dog’s condition.

Luckily,……..later that afternoon Lisa sent a text saying things were going a bit better and she would like to continue to try to take care of Alley. I was elated (I think it’s great that Lisa is learning the joys as well as the sorrows that go with foster care). Within a day, Lisa had the dog at our office for an examination, labwork, and a referral to the cardiologist. She drove her Delaware to see the cardiologist and has her scheduled for dental care with us. She is getting her to eat some cooked chicken and yogurt and has agreed to throw away the awful Kibbles and Bits that came with her. We’re hoping Alley will start eating the raw diet that our dogs eat (and Lisa’s girl Lucy eats).

I am so grateful to Lisa for taking this on. I can’t wait to meet Alley and keep everyone posted on her journey. Thank you to anyone out there who has opened their heart to foster pets and adopt through rescues! It’s important work and takes special people to do.

The older I get, the less I know. Or at least that’s how it seems sometimes. For those of us who were raised before computers were invented, the change to technology dependence can be difficult.  In order to handle the technology component of veterinary medicine, I have come to rely on younger, computer savvy, technology loving employees.

Remember when VCR’s came out and our parents lived with the constantly blinking clock because they couldn’t figure out how to set it? Well, that’s how I feel every day. I have finally figured out how to send and receive email, as long as there are no problems.  I resisted MySpace, hired someone else to design and host my website, and refused to go “paperless” in my practice. Every time the computer system goes down at work, I scream for someone, anyone, to figure out what’s wrong. I resisted using the online appointment book that came with our software, still don’t use the inventory system, and haven’t been able to figure out how to connect to the lab to download results.

After having my personal email hacked and abused, I have been leery about the internet. The biggest thing I have learned is “never write anything in a computer that you wouldn’t want your mother to read”.   But I finally gave in last year and made a personal Facebook account. Then someone said I needed a Facebook account for my office.  Of course, once you have an account, you need to post things on it. Then you need to start “tweeting”, as well. (Isn’t that what real birds do??) I’m pretty sure I became a veterinarian to practice medicine, not post, tweet, and blog. (I’m pretty sure those words have been added to the dictionary now.)  However, I really enjoy the blogging part of this. I will tell you, I have no idea how what I write gets posted on the website or Facebook. I rely on my techno-geek son for that. Which brings me to the point of this whole blog.

The other night at a family dinner, my 22-year-old son, Andrew, told me “you just need to embrace technology. If everyone would embrace technology, things would be so much easier. Everyone would just use their Smartphones for instant updates and we wouldn’t have to waste time with phone calls and speaking in person.” Now, I may be technologically challenged, but I challenge the Smartphone to diagnose and treat animal illnesses or do surgery. Perhaps before I die the tri-quarter used by Dr. Spock on Star Trek will become a reality and my services will no longer be needed. However, until then, I think I’ll let the techno-geeks take care of us techno-phobes.  

I REALLY, REALLY HATE COLD WEATHER

This is a pretty funny statement coming from the person who just scheduled a one week vacation in the mountains of Colorado, two hours west of Denver.  We happen to own a timeshare in Florida and need to use our last week or lose it before the end of the year.  When I called and asked for any beach location anywhere, anytime, I was told there were none. At the time it was 80 degrees in Denver, so I thought it might be nice to go hiking and play outdoor ranger for a week. As soon as I scheduled the trip, it started snowing in Denver (yes, literally a 50 degree drop in temperature overnight).

So, on November 11^th, we’re off to cold, cold Colorado. I gave up skiing 23 years ago when I was pregnant for my son and it was 60 below zero at the top of Killington. Hue gave up after his first skiing trip, during which he shattered his ankle, at about the same time in life. I used to love ice skating, but really, who can afford to break an ankle or hurt their back at my age? Then there’s cross country skiing, snowshoes, sledding, and hiking in the snow. All sound very cold and I heard there are wild animals that will eat starving cold people that get lost in the woods.

So, plan B. This involves some movies, a fireplace, books, laptops, and great food and drink. Sleeping in with no spaniels barking to go out at 6 a.m. (although we will definitely miss them).  Definitely some blog writing and possibly, just possibly, working on that book I keep threatening to write. Clients ask all the time where they can find all the information I tell them.  The good news, most of it has probably been written down somewhere. The bad news, you’d have to find dozens of different books and pick and choose what you wanted to use from all the information, then condense it to something usable.  I guess after almost 30 years of practice, I may have gained some useful experience to pass on. So, if you have questions you want answered or ideas for things you want to hear about, let me know. You might just be surprised in the future. 

This old adage has been around for a long time. Over the decades, American consumers have come to rely more and more on processed, pre-prepared food products. These products are loaded with salt and preservatives and chemicals, with most of the nutritional value in the ingredients being destroyed in processing.  Between the cooking and processing at the food plant, storage at the grocery store, then storage in your home cupboard or freezer, some food products are well over a year old by the time they are eaten! We rush and grab on the go, eating fast foods that are processed, fried, loaded with fat, and covered in salt. No wonder we have become an obese nation of people that rely on medications to keep our blood pressure close to normal. We keep cardiologists in business with our eating habits!

The same problem has occurred over the years in the pet food industry, in the interest of easy feeding that requires little or no preparation. Pet food companies in the past have used the left-over products from the human food industry to fill the bag or can of pet food. Low-calorie, diet pet foods are filled with rice hulls, powdered cellulose, soybean mill run (hulls), and other undigestible products that add bulk, but no nutrition. And we pay a lot of money for stuff that is basically trash.

Poor nutrition for pets has resulted in an explosion of health problems that were rarely seen when pets were fed fresh farm products. Remember the old farm dogs that were fed leftover veggies, fruits, and meat scraps? They didn’t suffer from diabetes, Cushing’s disease, bladder stones, heart disease, degenerative joint disease, autoimmune disease, and many other diseases we see today. They had glossy coats and lots of energy. 

Not only do we feed diets that may not be as great as the advertising would have us believe, we also feed lots of treats and snacks because we love our pets so much. Have you ever read the ingredient labels on those snacks? Again, lots of wheat, corn, soy, dyes, “flavorings”, and additives can be found in low quality products. If you are going to feed treats, look for wholesome fresh ingredients and products, or feed fresh fruits and veggies. Killing your pets with kindness by adding lots of extra calories is not the way to go!

If you have questions about the food you are feeding your pet, or want suggestions for good treats, feel free to contact us. We love helping folks find the right ingredients for their pets!

When I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian, many moons ago, I never really thought about owning my own practice (or two). In veterinary school they taught us a ton about all the different species of animals, but there was never any mention of how to run a business. Hey, we all just wanted to help animals be healthy.

So, here I am, 27 years later, trying to run a business.  It was easy being a practice owner at first, because I was a minority partner and my partner handled all the business aspects of the practice. When I bought the entire practice in 2007, I had no clue what I was doing. I just paid the bills and tried to keep the staff and clients happy, having no idea there were so many government agencies, insurances of twenty different types, rules and regulations to follow, etc, etc, etc. By 2008, I realized I had no clue what I was doing from a business standpoint. Rude awakening.

As luck would have it, I was approached by a management consultant (do these guys have some inside track that tells them who needs help or do they just get lucky?). I was so shell-shocked at all the redtape involved with running the business, I figured I had better hire them. We still use the same consultants and they have helped us over lots of hurdles. I discovered I needed a new accountant, as well, when I found out how many different taxes and fees have to be paid to different governmental agencies. It sure is better to plan ahead than to be hit with a big bill and no way to take care of it.

So, two weekends ago, I decided to take Kathy (my Office Manager) to hear another business manager speak about running the perfect practice. We are always trying to improve our service and hoped he would have some new explosive piece of advice for us. Sadly, he didn’t have anything new that our first consultants had not already taught us. It was more a sales pitch for his incredibly expensive training in pain management for chiropractors. Now I see why he’s worth millions – charge people a ton of money to sit through lectures and follow that with another ton of money to learn his techniques through a ten-course series, each costing thousands, followed by advanced courses for thousands more. Unfortunately, these kinds of seminars occur way too often. Sort of reminded me of listening to a time share pitch (and how many of us got sucked into those?).

Anyway, what I did learn, is that our most important asset is our clients. We love our clients and want to take incredible care of them, and their pets. I am going to make a huge effort to really offer stellar service and the first thing we are going to tackle is waiting times. I realize everyone has too much to do and can’t afford to spend hours in our office. So next time you have to wait, let me know. Help us fix anything that bothers you. Help us to offer better service.

And, yes, we do want you to send your friends with their pets. Help us turn them on to a different kind of veterinary medicine, where it’s more about good food and good health, and less about pills and vaccinations and chemicals. 

 - Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM, Owner and Head Veterinarian at Clayton/Churchtown Vet

Scanlon stopped in for his weekly weigh-in. We are happy to announce that he’s shed another 1.5 pounds!

Frequent exercise has yielded great results for Scalon, but this week he also exhibited some soreness and limping. A jump in activity for an obese animal should be closely monitored by a veterinarian. Think of it like a human beginning a weight loss regiment. Unused muscles and joints are prone to soreness and injury. The difference is a human has control of his own pace, while a dog can’t tell you when he or she needs to stop or is in serious pain.

For very obese dogs, like Scanlon two months ago, try low impact exercises like walking or swimming. Gradually add more distance as your pet gets acclimated. 

If you have any more questions about weight loss and your pets, don’t hesitate to call or email our clinic!

Dr. Morgan checks Scanlon’s progress. Another positive week for the big guy!

Scanlon looks anxious as he gets weighed. No reason to worry Scanny, you’ll be able to fit in that harness soon!

Very cool!