Friday

Friday started off with no appointments and quickly escalated from there. We changed the bandage on the colt with the fence injury and the wound looked like it was healing nicely except for one small corner of the cut. Dr. Fillerup was pleased with how it looked. The owners of the dog Griz that we had put to sleep recently brought in their cat who has been progressively losing weight. Euthanasia was discussed but Zoey was so active and happy to be around people that they decided to wait a little longer and see how he does. Tests were sent out to the lab to confirm Dr. Fillerup's suspicion of either GI lymphoma or FIP. A large Rottweiler/St. Bernard cross with a bad ear came in. We sedated her and cleaned her ear out, finding lots of debris in the canal. Dr. Fillerup then went back to his house to finish packing, as he was headed to a conceal to carry course in Nevada with two of his sons over the weekend. Have I mentioned that he has 11 kids? Anyway, while he was out, a Lhasa apso came in for constipation and not eating for the past two days and "walking funny in the hind end". The cute little mop of a dog was very good for his physical exam but some of my findings worried me. He was pale. VERY pale. And he had a heart murmur, which is usually something I have trouble identifying. When Dr. Fillerup returned to look at him, he also thought he looked a little jaundiced and was concerned about something in the abdomen which I was unable to recognize. I drew blood from the little guy while Dr. Fillerup went and did some Coggins tests on a few horses. We performed a heartworm test, which was thankfully negative. We then did the rest of our bloodwork which showed that Domino was anemic and had a very low platelet count. As I swirled the tube of blood, you could see clumps of it sticking to the side, which was very abnormal. Thrombocytopenia in these types of breeds is not uncommon, but I was unsure how successful treatment was when it seemed as though most of the dogs at school with autoimmune blood disorders crashed and burned quickly. We treated Domino with some fluids, an antibiotic, and a hefty dose of steroids to quiet his immune system, in the hopes that it would stop destroying his blood cells. Finally, Dr. Fillerup was able to get out the door to leave for his trip, and I helped Marcie clean up the clinic before she too left. Clare arrived from southern Wyoming a few hours later. We drove around town a bit and then got a bite to eat before heading back to the clinic for the night to plan our hike for the next day. It was so good to see her!