Wednesday

Busy, busy day. Seems to be the pattern doesn't it? Megan was gone since her daughter is getting married on Saturday (actually she's already married but they're having the church ceremony). Therefore, I had to be appointment today. Pooh! I hate being appointment!! That's 4 days within the past week!
Well, the first appointment was kind of fun (although not for the animal). It was a chicken!!!!! Yep, a couple brought in a hen wrapped up in a towel - for limping. Before the doctor got there, I examined the bird and thought she had "bumblefoot" - a foot condition where manure builds up and causes inflammation and infection on the feet.I wanted to check that there was no string or twine wrapped around a toe, since feedsacks are abundant in barns. The couple was what was interesting. The woman was all concerned for this hen - one of 12 that the grandchildren just love. This hen had no name (the grandchildren got tired of thinking of names - plus the hens were all the same breed and looked the same). The man however came in with a big grin on his face. He couldn't believe he was bringing a chicken to the vet!
Tom examined the hen and found a large abscess that he opened up. The woman couldn't watch but the man held onto the hen and watched everything. He was going to try to treat another chicken who was limping at home. Henny Penny was an excellent patient and I wish the dogs and cats that came in were as well behaved!

This is the type of chicken we saw - a Red Star hen, a breed for laying eggs.

This is exactly what her foot looked like! (the round lump in the middle is not normal)

We also had a dog come in for a C-Section. Yes, we do those on dogs too. This Golden Retriever went into labor on Monday, had 2 dead puppies yesterday and x-rays from another vet yesterday that showed 2 more puppies. For whatever reason, they brought her to us today. Once Jen was able to put her under, she found the 2 puppies but they were also dead. Not a happy outcome, but it saved the dog's life. The toxins build up if the puppies don't come out. I guess, just like with some people, the puppies couldn't get through the birth canal so they couldn't have been born naturally. The people will spay the dog when she is better since she probably can never have puppies. The dog is so fat though that Jen said she would not spay the dog until she lost some weight.

Mike had a calf come in with what they thought was an umbilical hernia. I didn't get to help but when Mike sedated the calf and got a good look, he found an abscess instead. Hopefully the calf will do ok - it's worth $2000  according to the owner. They raise show dairy cattle. Here's a similar calf for you to see. There was a lot of mooing in the barn when she woke up! That went along with the bleating of the goat there to be castrated....