Today was one of the slowest days at the polyclinic. Within an hour of me being there we had only seen four or five cases. It began to get a bit more exciting when a cow had come in for a pregnancy test. After Dr. Ganesh Kumar gloved up he reached in and felt the uterus; she was indeed pregnant. Dr. Ganesh Kumar then instructed me to feel around to see if I could locate the cervix (no dice). Abi said that it is harder to find the cervix when the cow is pregnant. The next cow that was seen was being treated for low milk production. Calcium was administered through the jugular vein slowly. The cow getting the treatment was very aggravated and would not cooperate. To get the cow to relax the owner began sticking their fingers into the cows mouth in an attempt to get the cow to start grinding its teeth. Animals like cattle can accept pain more readily when they grind their teeth. The next case I saw today was a chicken having white diarrhea. I soon learned that this disease is very contagious and fatal. The chicken was treated with antibiotics even though Dr. Abi said the chicken was in very poor condition. Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen today was getting x-rays of a cow that the owner had said was going lame in the fore limb. After observation of the cow walking around which looked normal, the slope test was next. The slope test is exactly what is sounds like, a cow walks up and down a slope and if something is wrong it should exhibit some discomfort. The cow again, seemed normal. The owner insisted on an X-ray to be sure and trying to get a cow maneuvered just right for an x-ray is very difficult but we made it work. Upon examination of the x-ray the assistants and doctors usually ask me to sit down. Today the assistant said, "jasmine sit down" and Dr. Abi started laughing because he had basically called me a white delicate flower (which is how everyone here views me). The x-ray was normal and the owner finally went on his way. The last case at the polyclinic was a puppy coming for vaccinations. I administered the vaccine subcutaneously (under the skin) using the neck skin because it is often the most flexible. During down time at the clinic the doctors told me all the places I need to go while I am here in India and fingers crossed I can make it work!
X-raying the cow took several minutes of planning.
These are the 'surprise bags' today it held a puppy.
Last case at the polyclinic today.
As I walked into the private clinic today I saw a sight for sore eyes, a golden retriever. I had not seen one since I have been in India and it was really nice (one of my favorite dogs I've ever owned was a golden retriever). After the brief moment of nostalgia it was back to work! We had a kitten come in today and it was surprisingly cooperative. It wasn't until I realized it was cooperative because it had a bad case of feline panleukopenia. This disease is the equivalent of parvovirus for cats. It was treated the same way parvo is treated for dogs: antibiotics and lots of fluids. After the first round of fluids I could tell the cat had more energy because it started moving around quite a bit and even tried to bite one of the assistants. The other cases treated today were mostly derm related, a lot of dogs with dry skin or tick and fungal infections. One of the dogs before I left was being treated for glaucoma. The blood vessels in the eyes were highly agitated. I look forward to another day of cases tomorrow and fingers crossed there is a surgery!!
Blood vessel agitation in the lab with glaucoma
Cat being treated for feline panleukopenia.
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