Pet care: Out of bed to tend to a dog’s intestines

First in a series.

Early in my career my veterinary clinic had a feed store as a next-door neighbor. Being a backyard poultry farmer, I visited often for chicks (baby chickens) and lay pellets. I lived the life of North Valley chic, just without the chic.

This was the pre-emergency clinic era; veterinarians handled calls at all hours, day or night. If you had an associate doctor you could rotate nights and weekends. At my place, I was it.

It was a weeknight around 10:30. I was just snuggling into bed after a long day when my pager beeped on the cramped bedside table right next to my head. (Remember pagers?) An 11-year-old miniature poodle had survived an argument with a German shepherd. The female voice was distraught, jabbering. She told me that her little dog, “John,” had intestines hanging outside his abdomen. Desperately hoping she was mistaken I replied, “I’ll meet you in 10 minutes.”

My client, an elderly lady, arrived before I did. I hustled ahead of her to unlock the front door and switch on the lights. My first look at John, cradled in her arms, revealed that his person had not exaggerated.

Heat dissipates fast from exposed intestines. A quick exam revealed that John was already shocky, his body temperature trending down. Having already called my excellent veterinary nurse, Amos, I wrapped that pupster in our hot water circulating blanket, applied a tourniquet to a front leg to raise a vein, and started IV fluids and rapid acting corticosteroids. As soon as Amos busted through the door he began clipping, scrubbing and gently bathing our patient’s intestines. With the little guy’s vital signs improving I led his nervous wreck owner to a seat in reception for a CliffsNotes version of our plan.

There could be no guarantee of success but because she had acted fast her dog had a decent chance of survival. I sent her home to wait for my post-operative report. With anesthesia underway I scrubbed, gowned, gloved and headed for surgery.

Next week: The geek next door.

• For help with behavior problems, you can sign up for a Zoom group conference on my website, drjeffnichol.com.