Jenny is a 10 year young female Yorkshire Terrier
weighing 5
lbs 13 ozs. She is being fostered in Texas.
Jenny is the sweetest little girl. She follows me around
everywhere, wanting pets and attention. Jenny has 6 mammary
tumors that will need to come off. She has lots of hair
loss, especially on her legs, her hair is also very straw
like, but I think once she gets some good food in her, it
will soften up and be beautiful. Her teeth are in terrible
shape. Jenny is up to date on shots, no worms and heart
worm negative.
Even though she wants attention, she stiffens when you pick
her up and looks away with that "no ones home" look. It
just breaks my heart when they do that.
Today I noticed that Jenny was straining to pee and when Jan
got here, she thought so too, so we talked to Debra and she
said to take her back in. The vet felt what he thought was
a stone so he did an x-ray and sure enough there it was.
She has already found her way to the beds and loves to nap
in them. She will be going in sometime soon for her spay,
dental, mammary tumor removal and the stone taken out. I
don't know if all this will be done at the same time or if
it will be different surgeries.
Surgery Report from our Foster
moms.
Jackie and I went to be with Jenny for her spay and bladder stone removal.
We hoped to get a picture of the stone when surgery was over.
Dr Janet Hardwick came out front to see us before she started and asked if
we would like to watch the whole surgery!! Jackie jumped at the chance,
but having fainted in a dentist office years ago, I was not too sure, but
not wanting to be a wimp, I said that I would try, knowing I could either
stay and watch, turn my head, sit down quickly, or worst case
scenario--pass out and be the next patient to be revived.
When we got to the surgery room, Jenny had already been given a shot of
morphine before the surgery started and was very drowsy. The vet techs
started her iv, then anesthetized, and she was underway. They did the
usually shaving, scrubbing, etc and Dr Hardwick began with the spay. The
incision was rather small and using a special "hook" tool, she pulled the
uterus and ovaries out through the cut. They were clamped and tied off,
then removed. Not too bloody at all--Jackie was amazed, as I was at how
tiny the uterus was in diameter--about the size of a drinking straw.
That being done, Dr H. lengthened her incision towards the bladder. She
covered all around the incision with sterile gauze pads, reached in and
lifted the bladder out of Jenny's abdomen. It was about the size of a
walnut and had translucent blood vessels all over the surface. Dr H then
put suture material thru the sides of the bladder and left the clamps
hanging on it to keep it in place while she worked. She then picked the
best place to open it up and made her incision. She said bladders usually
collapse like a balloon when they are cut, but Jenny's didn't because the
walls were thickened from the stone irritating it, and the stone was
holding it in shape. She popped the stone out and Jackie and I were amazed
at its size. It was a full inch in length, about the shape of the first
digit of my little finger. The Dr irrigated the bladder well to be sure
she got all the pieces out and began stitching the bladder back up. There
were two different levels of stitching, each closing the bladder levels at
different angles to be sure she got a good "seal". Fluid was injected into
the bladder and checked for fluid leaking before she put it back inside
Jenny's abdomen. She checked out Jenny's colon and said they seemed fine,
not impacted (since she has was not pooping much considering how much she
was eating) The stone most likely has been pressing against her colon as
well. All that was left was to close the incision, again with two
different layers of stitches. The inner layer will dissolve, the outside
ones will be removed in two weeks. I know I won't worry so much about any
dog busting open after surgery, since I have seen how securely they are
stitched. I will certainly be extra gentle in handling her, as she was
poked, prodded, flipped and flopped, not to mention cut and stitched.
Truly Amazing!!!
I looked at the clock and it was 1-1/2 hours later. Time had flown, and
Jackie and I were still standing. Jenny's vitals were still looking good,
so she was
carried to the area where the dentals are done. That is another whole
story, but it will have to wait for later--
Many, many thanks to Dr Janet Hardwick for letting us share this awesome
experience with you all. Thank you PMR for making it all possible for this
sweet
little one.
Dr Hardwick called and she already
has the stone analysis back. She called it "struvite" or triple phosphate.
Jenny will need to eat c/d Science Diet food from now on to keep the
stones from reforming.
Right now she said I can try anything to get her eating. I will go get a
couple of cans of c/d to get her started. It also comes in a dry form.
Jan Smith
PMR Foster Mom
