Today marks the first day of classes for second year students and to celebrate there was a communion service held at 6:30 am. I actually woke up early and dragged myself out of bed to enjoy the service which was actually in English! After we went to a wonderful breakfast and spoke to Dr. Relton about our trip to Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a tourist destination full of beaches and the French (pictures to come). After breakfast I headed off to the polyclinic. This first case we saw today was a pug named Jack. He was not urinating at all and had a distended abdomen. After an ultrasound there seemed to be stones in his bladder (which was very full). The next step was taking an x-ray. To know for sure if the structures are stones they will appear on the x-ray as opaque blotches. As we were walking to the x-ray room the doctors told me to observe Jack's arched back indicating that he has quite a bit of discomfort and wants to urinate but can't because of the obstruction. To relieve Jack, a catheter was inserted. This is the first time I watched this procedure so it was very interesting! First the penis was squeezed out of the prepuce and the catheter was lubed up. The catheter was then inserted and pushed all the way into the body and eventually reaching the bladder. Once the bladder is reached, urine will start to fill the tube and emptying out. After about fifteen minutes Jack was looking much better!! After the urine finished coming out of the tube, the bladder was flushed with some fluids to get the stones closer to the penis. After this Sahana (intern/super sweet doctor) explained to me the priniciples of ultrasound which was much appreciated.
This is Jack before catheter insertion.
The next several cases were parvo cases. One of the cases in particular is very close to my heart. They are two German Shepard puppies (Roger and Ronnie) and during my first day at the polyclinic I helped cast Ronnie's forelimb. Unfortunately both puppies were diagnosed with parvo late last week but have been coming for treatment everyday this week so their outlook is good. I gave some subcutaneous injections today and also took a dogs temperature (I'm moving up in the world!). Another fun case that came in today was an ox. The ox was not castrated which was my first clue that it wasn't used for pulling carts. The doctors told me that it was used for bull fighting. Bull fighting in India is different than in Spain. For one they do not kill the animal but instead they chase it around a field and several men try to restrain it. They keep the testicles on the ox to make sure it stays angry and therefore harder to catch. The last case I saw today at the polyclinic was a bulldog with a crazy large tumor on its back. We took blood and are waiting for the results to see if its fit for surgery and if its metastasized. If the tumor metastasized there is no point in doing surgery.
My first vaccine of the day went to this sweet guy!
Ronnie awaiting his turn for treatment.
I held the little black pup and let it kiss my face. The doctors were scared it would bite me and infect me but I just could not resist! Plus I am vaccinated !
The Ox used for bull fighting you can see the anger in its eyes.
This guys name is Nano and his buddy on his back is the tumor.
During my break today I went and got coffee. The coffee here is amazing and I will do my best to get the recipe so we all can enjoy it! After coffee it was time to go to the clinic. As I walked in I saw the same golden retriever I saw yesterday and let it sniff my hand before I pet it again. Little did I know this guy is very temperamental and I was seconds away from getting bit. Very important lesson learned today, no matter how well you think you know a dog (history, breed, etc) they still need to be treated with caution. The first case in the private clinic was a Dachshund with elephant skin. Elephant is a yeast infection of the skin caused by fungus. It was prescribed some ointments (for the dry skin and discomfort) and anti-fungal medicine. The rest of the patients were more of the same vaccines, skin problems, ear cleanings. Today I learned the difference between a bacteria infection of the skin and a fungal infection. Both infections look different under a microscope and will have different shapes. A fungal infection sample is usually taken by a piece of tape and a bacteria infection can be taken by a skin scraping. My personal goal for tomorrow is to write down every diagnosis and treatment. I feel like I have some of the basics now I want to work on detail!!
This is a bacterial infection.
No comments:
Post a Comment