Ice (again)

Are we all tired of winter? YES! Jacky went yesterday and today (and tomorrow) to Rochester for a farm show. Yesterday he said the roads were not good. Today people were telling us about all the wrecks they were seeing on I35. So I had Jacky take Gigi and I took the Accord for a change.
Appointment today. There were 2 draft horses in stalls in the barn, I found out they were boarding - for 2 nights. The owners were on the way from Wisconsin to Colorado and had to stop due to road conditions. They left today, even though the road conditions didn't seem that much better. Maybe they were better going south.
I spent part of the day treating 'Lewie' - and English Bulldog; Even in the best of times, Lewie is no beauty. His lower jaw protrudes from way out past his upper jaw. He's had several surgeries to repair his eyes - entropion; where the eyelids curl in towards the eye and eyelashes rub the surface of the eye. He's also allergic to everything under the sun. He gets monthly allergy shots for that.




 A couple of weeks ago, Mike amputated his tail because it was also dirty and getting caught on things. Lately he's been in every other day because he's developed a skin infection and none of the antibiotics are working. Today he came in covered with scabs and sores all over his body. He also had a temp of almost 105 where a normal dog temp is 101 to 102. Diagnoses? Staph skin infection - just like people get in the hospital.



I gave Lewie a medicated bath, scrubbing as many of the scabs off as I could. You need to do that so the treatment can get to the sores. While I was scrubbing, Beth came in and asked if maybe I should have gloves on. YES! Things had happened so fast since the appointment that I hadn't really thought about it. But, since it is so contagious to people too, I got gloves on right away and constantly washed my hands after that! Here's a picture of staph in people:


Nasty, isn't it! Poor Lewie feels awful. But we put lotion on his sores, gave him fluids, and gave him drugs. By this afternoon his temp was down to 103 and he even ate some and started his weird barking. Maybe he can go home tomorrow. If his sores don't get better, Jen wants to shave the whole dog - air circulation helps heal the skin. The owners were planning on going to Padre Island in Texas on Sunday with Lewie. Not sure that's going to happen.
Lunch and Learn about Equine Vaccinations today. Talker was a vet from Missouri. He had a nice southern accent and was an excellent speaker. Then a full afternoon of appointments. Since Jacky was in Rochester I had to run home and take care of the outside animals. It makes me tired! I suggested to Jacky to try to get home before dark and so he left early and was home by 7:45 instead of 9 or 10. Thankfully we all got everywhere safely today. It's the third coldest March on record - and the first day of spring!



I know, you're asking, why are there penguin pictures on this blog? It's because this is what spring looks like in Antarctica and it's where I want to go. I don't think the weather would be that different there than here this year!


The boys (kittens) got neutered today. They're all goofy and needy tonight. I wish they'd just curl up somewhere and sleep it off! Most of this blog I'm typing without being able to see the keyboard! Oops, just caught Sambo trying to eat a raw egg he must have stolen off the kitchen counter. Don't know how he got up there without falling down. And yes, he had opened the egg so I had to wipe up the yolk. I think it's time to put them in their cage and all of us go to bed!

Blizzard

What is it about Mondays that bring on the ice and snow??? For several weeks now it's been tricky driving in to work on this day of the week. Today was no exception. Snow started falling, and blowing, around 4:00 am. I'd like to say I wasn't awake to find out but Willie started barking in his crate. He's gotten in the bad habit of doing that almost every morning. I'm going to have to break down and buy a no-bark collar for him. The kids will appreciate it when they are home for Easter!
Anyway I've got GiGi who can get through anything ( as evidenced by the dirt road we drove on earlier in the week when it was all mud). Eventually we saw a car or two go by while watching from the kitchen window. I do like to have someone else's tracks to follow - just in case I can't tell where the road is. Here's the view going in to work...



Not too bad actually. You can see the fingers and blobs of snow on the road but the snow wasn't deep. Work was super slow. With the blizzard, no one was calling for appointments or surgeries or questions. No one was stopping in for stuff. We had only one doctor - Tom is still gone, Mike is in Montana on vaction, Jen doesn't work on Monday or Tuesdays. Dennis is it, and his knee has been giving him loads of pain, even though he had ACL surgery done a few weeks ago. Even the boarding dogs weren't getting picked up. So, after spending the morning cleaning out my drawer, I decided to go home, especially since the weather was supposed to get a lot worse in the afternoon. Here's my car when I went out to leave. Granted, I have had a lot more snow on my car at work, but not this year. There is quite a bit of ice and wet under the snow but look at the snow around the tires. It's been blowing in around the base of the car all morning.


Now here's the road on the way home:



As you can see, the road is getting worse - more snow blowing across and it's melting and freezing again on the surface. At least the visibility is still ok, although by the time Jacky came home at 6, you couldn't see much at all. Thankfully I was home!

Spent the afternoon doing more slides and transferring a VHS to DVD. Also looking outside once in a while to admire the blizzard. It's always nice to be home when there's a storm going on. When the children were home I always worried about them driving in the storms. Today though, Jacky was in the truck and, while I still worry a little, it's not like with the kids. Here's the view outside:



This picture is deceptively calm. It is protected  though and doesn't allow you to hear the wind howling.




This one gives a little better idea - you can see the snow being blown around! Funny - none of the animals wanted to be outside today!

Ice

Today started out with lots and lots of ice on the road from all the snow blowing across yesterday. You really had to pay attention driving. These pictures from the drive to work this morning give you an idea. I'd say there was at least a solid inch of ice on Co Rd 31 to Clarks Grove. It was also incredibly bumpy, which is certainly better than glare ice!



I stopped the car on a little bit of dry pavement to take this close up of the road:



The key to driving on ice, as all Minnesotans should know, is to go slow, don't accelerate, don't brake, and be very careful turning corners (in other words, go straight!). By noon, the roads were all melted and dry pavement! Very glad we had a sunny day today.
BTW here's the picture of Jen's truck from Monday. It wouldn't start today!


Slow at work today - appointment but there weren't very many. When your two doctors are called out on emergencies, all appointments are rescheduled. One emergency today was a cow OB - or rather a cow having trouble calving. This is getting pretty common this time of year and the doctors don't really like it when the temp is still pretty cold. The client called and said the calf looked too big. I called Mike, who had just ordered a salad for lunch and hadn't eaten yet. He went out to that one. Unfortunately the calf was already dead and the cow had to be euthanized. It happens - the cow was a feedlot cow and wasn't supposed to get bred anyway. Jen got called by Megan on Jen's lunch (same time) for a downed alpaca. Her truck wasn't working so we had to scramble to call Dennis on his day off to use his truck - Jen had to rush back to Dennis's to get his truck and back down south to Hayward. By then the alpaca was standing and acting fairly normal. Megan and I had to call all the early afternoon appointments to reschedule people. They were all pretty good about it.
I still didn't leave until 6:00 though because I had to redo a Thyroid test that had an error the first time. It was the last appointment of the day so I ran over time. Then a car drove up and the driver started knocking on the door and window. When I answered it, I found a client who had just run over her own dog. An elderly lab we know, he had been rolled by her SUV. We got him inside the clinic (he walked in himself) and I waited for Mike to come back since he had just arrived home in Glenville. Sometimes that's the way the day goes....
 Jacky is setting up for a farm show which starts tomorrow in Owatonna. He was able to take care of all the outside chores though - such a sweetheart! Tomorrow though I am going to have to come home at lunch for the dogs and then take care of the outside after work.
I took a picture of the two kittens and the two dachshunds tonight. They were waiting for me to come back to the sofa. I don't know where they though I would fit though!

Dogs, dogs, dogs

Work was work - lots of boarders went home (Yay!), I had some lab work to do - quick stain some blood smears, get blood spun and made ready to ship out tomorrow, a little of this and that. Mostly we were concerned with all the snow that fell. Officially Albert Lea got 6 inches but there was definitely more than that on the unplowed road this morning. Gigi  managed ok - I drove in the only other tracks on the road and there must have been a good 8 - 10 inches plus. Luckily the plow had done one side of the road so I was able to drive on the wrong side of the road to get to work. Jacky had to take the truck since the snow was so deep.
I took pictures of Jen's truck which had been sitting outside since Friday. One side was all ice because of the truck being plugged in. Dennis explained it to me - the truck is plugged in for the vet box which holds vaccines and drugs. It has to be cold in summer and warmer in winter (so things don't freeze) but that causes the snow to melt and run down the side of the truck, which then freezes. Flick'r is not letting me upload my pictures right now so I'll have to post them tomorrow. Technology, Humph!

I've been reading a book on my kindle about dog rescue. It really describes some of things that go on around here. While I'm sitting here, I have the newest dog, Zoey, curled up on my lap pushing against the lap top. She has to be a little separate from other animals because they make her a little nervous - especially the big cat Totoro. He is extremely pushy and needy and doesn't get the hint when you push back. Uli is alongside me under the blanket. Right now his whole goal is to be warm while he sleeps (I guess I get him up too early). Teddi the chihuahua was also on my lap but the laptop was bugging him so he moved to the top of the  sofa. Teddi tends to lick me a lot when I get home. Zoey was taking her turn at it too and I think I have the cleanest face in the county. Trixie, the corgi, doesn't like to be touched by other animals so she always picks a place across the room. She likes to lie on the hardwood floor which looks uncomfortable. But the minute a dog or cat strolls by her the growling starts. Every day I have to shush her. Gertie bops around visiting everyone. Usually at this time she visits them to wash their ears. All the dogs and the kittens allow this - even Trixie surprisingly enough. Casey is sprawled out on the floor. She can't hear and can't see very well but still manages ok. Ever since I had Mike take out the tumor on her shoulder, she's a little slower, but a dog of 14 years is going to be! That leg looks to me to turn in slightly but since Mike had to cut a lot of muscle, I'm not surprised. The kitten brothers are curled up on the sofa next to me. They spent the day outside and are always quite worn out in the evening. Soon they will have to visit the vet to get neutered but they are really the nicest kittens I've ever had. Bottle-fed, they show their affection by gently biting me on the chin or neck. Jacky doesn't appreciate it when they leap onto his shoulders from the kitchen table uninvited but, as long as you know they're coming, I think it's fine.
Back to the pack - Willie is spread out in the middle of the floor. He's come a long way from the days when he wouldn't come out from behind the kitchen table. It took years for him to get comfortable enough to relax in the same room as us. He still hates it when someone touches him when he's sleeping - animal or people. Mostly he just growls and jumps up to move but it seems he still doesn't completely let his guard down after years of living here. Bryn is also sleeping, but against the sofa. She likes to have something against her back.. Usually she can't settle down at night - always herding cats. Sometimes she even falls asleep sitting there staring at the cats. Tonight though she is relaxing for a while. She also doesn't socialize with the other dogs much - unless it's to chase them outside. Then it's only certain dogs and  the little dogs that chase her run the risk of being attacked by Bryn when she gets fed up with the yapping and chasing.So far Teddi has lost the tip of his ear and I've stopped attacks on Trixie, Willie (or him on her), Zoey, and Candy. Our routine involves letting the dogs out in two groups to minimize this. It doesn't always work - sometimes she is just too wound up.
Candy is curled up in the dog bed next to me. She is my introvert supreme. It took a year for her to stop hiding under the furniture when I first brought her home. She's happiest when outside, running around. Coming from a puppy mill, she didn't have any chance to learn how to run until she came here. Even today Candy will come to say hello but then prefers to leave the room for the rest of the pack. She can be difficult for me to get close to but Anna and Oma love her but her quiet ways. She just really needs a less chaotic household! Magic is curled up in the other room. She prefers to also be away from the main activity - unless
Anna is here. Sometimes she will come and stand by me. Just stand, staring into the floor. Sometimes for hours. When Anna's home, Magic is quite active and vocal but not as much when it's just us. She will wooo for me when really happy and always gives me a big greeting.
That leaves Traeh who's standing beside me right now. Traeh is starting to show signs again of her Degenerative Myolopathy disease. She also sleeps a lot but that may be because she can't stay standing for any length of time anymore. She still enjoys the outside but inside she finds a comfy bed unless there's food to beg for.
Sometimes I think what it must be like to have just one or two dogs like a normal person. But I love having a pack of dogs of which I am their leader. I love rescuing dogs and making a difference in their lives. I now have friends who are like me and rescue what dogs they can. We all know we can't rescue every dog or cat or horse. But it's a pull, a calling, that can't be ignored. It's just so sad there are so many out there that need help.

Saturday

Rain, rain, rain. It's been a long time Minnesota since we've seen rain! Unfortunately I had to be at work by 6:45 and it took too long to wipe 44 dog feet (yes, I did say 44!). So I clocked in at 6:56...Hey, I had 4 minutes to spare! Fortunately it was pretty slow this morning - not too many calls or appointments. I was front desk so I mostly handled boarders, phone, and appointments. Things went pretty smoothly until 11:30 when Tracy walked in with a baggie full of dog poop. Yes this is a fairly common occurrence. We take that lovely sample and run a flotation on it to check for worm eggs (or 'ova' if you please) as well as coccidia. We also do a 'smear' which is just what it sounds like - smear a small amount of fecal matter on a slide with a drop or two of saline and look under high power with the microscope. As you recall, I talked about Giardia last time. We also look for campylobacoter, which I might have mentioned before.
Tracy is very active in dog rescue, and volunteers for Midwest Animal Rescue ( or MARS). I got little Uli and Teddi from her (and she's tried several other dogs which I did NOT take!). This sample was from a border collie, Jack, that had been returned to her after 2 different foster homes. He was a dog who needed a firm hand and did not get into the right foster home for him. He attacked a dog in one foster and bit another foster. This is not unusual, but it was talked about putting the dog down. Tracy has dog rules, like I do, and Jack does well in her house. I am absolutely sure Bryn would have turned out that way if she had not ended up with me. Anyway....Jack had diarrhea and couldn't hold it. In a household with 17 dogs (yes mother, more than me!), Tracy couldn't risk all her dogs getting sick.
I took the sample and the smear showed campylobactor right away.


Obviously this is a monster size campy and I am looking on a slide with loads of bacteria vibrating around (all poop has bacteria). The key to identifying campy is looking for a twisty thing, like that above, that is corkscrewing all over the slide. Try to find something like that in the slide below..
All I really look for is the fast moving corkscrew action. I also look for the slower but larger Giardia organism but those are less abundant so we use a snap test to find those.






With Tracy, once I found the positive campy, Mike wanted me to run this Giardia test. But the kit needs 30 minutes to warm up and I couldn't wait until Monday   because 1) Tracy needed to start meds and 2) the poop wouldn't be any good anymore. After waiting the appropriate time, the snap test itself took only about 10 minutes. The result was positive for Giardia too. Now Tracy has all 17 dogs at risk for bloody diarrhea - no fun. So the next 30 + minutes was getting all the medicine ready for her - 3 kinds of liquid and 2 kinds of pills. This is when dog rescuers rethink whether they want to volunteer any more!
Met Jacky for lunch at Subway and then on to the feed store  for mucho dog and cat food, then to Wal Mart for mucho people food, then to the gas station for mucho car food.
By the time I finally got home, Anna and Jacky had been there for a while. Anna got to come home for the night for puppy snuggles and pony hugs. Jacky and I had just finished lunch when we each got a call from Anna. she had arrived home to find the house empty, the door locked, the garage door locked, and her with no house key or garage door opener! Her friends had given her a ride so she didn't have a car (they had to leave her there).Jacky decided to let me do the shopping and he went home to rescue Anna (who was passing the time in the horse barn...)
Supper tonight was Frito Chili Pie since its one of Anna's favorites. Yum! We haven't had it since January. We also watched Star Trek movie. Jacky laughed at some of the funny parts when he wasn't snoring! I think I need to put him to bed. Good Night!

Not the End of the Week

It's Friday folks! But for me, I still have tomorrow before my work week is over. Can't complain - I had Monday afternoon and Tuesday off. Started off the day just helping to answer phone, and go in a few appointments. There's always someone who comes in and needs a tech to talk to (a person to listen to them!). It's fine when there's enough people to answer the phones etc...but some (especially older people) come in just wanting someone to talk to about what's going on in their lives.I think I do pretty well and am a good listener. Some of my fellow techs aren't very good - because they want to talk about themselves only.
I've been taking quite a few pictures on the way to work. Beside the sometimes nice sunrises, there is often fog or freezing fog, or hoarfrost that disappears quickly as the morning goes on. Often by 8 or 9! These were taken in the past week...

Nice fog! This is the area know as the 'turkey trees' where (obviously) wild turkeys used to be seen, and close to where I sometimes see deer.


This was taken the same day. If you look close you can see the snowline.



Here is one of our trees in the front yard covered with hoarfrost. The picture didn't transfer well though.


Finally this was taken yesterday morning. Looks pretty...bleak, right? The sun does glow nicely off the snow though. Pam compared my pictures to the ocean, with the wave action seen in the wind blown snow...

As for animals today...I've had all I want of the boarding dogs for Spring Break. You never saw such badly mannered creatures. Cooper and Thor knocked all their food all over the floor when I tried to get them out for lunch. I can barely keep my feet while holding onto their leashes. Then there's Beckett, a schnauzer mix who is a non stop high-pitched barker and panter. Buttons, the 4# yorkie, cannot hold her pottiness so there's always cleanup (although she's so cute I don't care). When I go to pick her up, she turns away from me and backs into my legs so I can pick her up! Her owner says she never taught her that...Charley the wirehaired pointer is getting a little better about pulling but the kennel help do not even try to make them behave. There's Max A., Jake, Sammy, Sydney, Chester, Tug, Charley, Charley (yes, there's 2), Calvin, Max H., Lexi, Beckett, Isaac, Buttons, Dakota, Swiffer, Bruno, Thor, Cooper, Oreo, Samantha....I really hope that's it. Presley and Ruby come in tomorrow but 3 leave. Can't wait until Monday when they all go home!!!
Better go. Made chicken in the crock pot and I still have to put up the leftovers. I added butter, minced garlic, and white wine. Simple, but it's quite yummy! Then to bed since I have to leave by 6:30. Possible freezing rain tomorrow morning...yay....

Appointment Day

Well, I know I haven't checked in in a while. We've had a snowstorm as well as an extremely full boarding kennel with no one to take care of them. It just means lots of hours spent at the clinic the last few days.
The sno.w ( about 8 inches?) is really quite lovely. Jacky has had fun pushing snow around with his plow and has made it easy to get around, and out, for me. Thank you! I can still remember the years we didn't have a plow....it was awful!
One good think about the snow, it seems to have brought the deer out. I know, you people who live in the suburbs often see more deer than we who live in the country! Part of the problem is the lack of cover in the middle of the corn fields. Although that also provides food! The other is the hunting that goes on here every fall. The suburbs are safer for deer because of the no hunting around people policy. Anyway, I watched seven deer on the way to work this morning ( me, not the deer) and 5 or so on the way home. I believe it was the same herd, going out to eat this morning and going back to their safe night spot this afternoon.


I came across this picture that I wanted to share. Our snow isn't that deep - good thing!!!


Ok, better get to work. I got to open up today. Yea! By 7:40 I was tired of answering the phone and half the clinic workers were there. I felt I had been at work two hours already. Holly came back today from Florida so that helps a lot. She usually is up at the front desk answering the phone and when she's gone, it can be hard for me to get my other work done.
Appointments today included a springer spaniel that got 'poisoned' by his owner. He was given a bath with a flea shampoo but the owner used a half a bottle (of strong flea control) and then didn't rinse it off with clean water. The poor dog became toxic and couldn't even stand. When I came back from lunch I immediately had to bath the dog in an allergen shampoo and rinse him well. His heart was pounding and making his whole sides throb. I'd never seen anything like it. Diarrhea made him stink and then I made him wet.... Oh well. Duke was doing a little better when I left. Mike had put a catheter in to give him fluids all night.


There were also nails to trim, shots to give, a dachshund with the same perianal tumor that Toby had. "Coco" will have surgery on that tomorrow. I had to tell Mike he couldn't keep any more appointments for surgery because I had no more kennels to put them in! Megan had made a surgery appointment for 'Daisy'. When I found out it was a Great Dane, I had to scramble to find a kennel to put her in (she only fits in the extra large kennel and I had one boarder in that kennel with two dogs sharing it tomorrow (different owner, different dogs). I know people just don't think of that when clients call to schedule surgeries - even though I warned everyone I had no empty kennels. Daisy has a place to sleep tonight and tomorrow...we'll deal with it tomorrow!

We see more and more Great Danes with natural ears. they look like a totally different breed - and I like it! I really don't like the ear cropping practice - and there's no reason to do it other than cosmetic..

Had to turn down client Joel Busch's request to board his dogs tomorrow. His one dog was diagnosed with Giardia yesterday which is a bacterial infection that causes bloody diarrhea. I didn't know it when he first called so I took the reservation. Then Emily told me about the Giardia and  Mike told me no, the whole kennel would be exposed. So I had to call Joel and apologize and tell him I couldn't help him. I always hated talking to people on the phone and now I have to do it all the time!!!! (I still hate it) The bad thing was they were going to a family funeral and all his family would also be at the funeral and couldn't watch the dogs. I so want to help people like this, but sometimes I just can't. Georgia Kalis gave me a gift card for taking care of her dog Hunter and Mike gave me a gift card for working all weekend in the kennel and clinic. I guess some people do notice - that helps a lot. Mavis will be coming to stay for a few days while her father has his bladder removed from cancer. Glad I can help the family a tiny bit.

Giardia

What the artist sees...

What I see under the microscope except its moving really fast!!!

I better close up for now. Tomorrow I have to be there at 7:00 again. I have two dog spays ( Daisy and Winnie, a pekenese mix, the dachshund neuter and injection with Regression into the tumors, and a cat declaw, neuter. Also lots of boarding stuff, which will continue until Monday... Night!