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She's turning into a regular.
Jan. 10th, 2011 11:09 pmAnd this is not a good thing. I've had yet another visit from this fine specimen of reputable breeding. Don't worry, I was assured at least 6 times during today's conversation that she is not a puppy mill. Perhaps, to overuse a saying made trite by overuse, the lady doth protest too much?
Early afternoon (no, don't rush in first thing in the morning) appointment for a bitch that's been in labor since some time this weekend. Had 3 dead pups at home. Currently leaking bloody, foul-smelling fluid and still straining. Smells like rot. Has at least one puppy in the abdomen, and one in the vaginal canal that I can feel. Owner wants to know if I can remove the puppies with forceps.
No. No, this is c-section territory here, sorry.
So before I can even get into a discussion of sections and/or offer blood work or to spay the dog while sectioning her, owner vehemently declares that she does NOT want the dog spayed. Right. Fine. I lay mental odds of about 50% that I will "have" to call her during surgery and say that leaving the uterus means the dog will probably die.
When I get into the surgery, I discover why the dog was not able to have pups normally: she has extensive adhesion of the bladder to her uterus. The bladder itself is massively overfull (under no circumstances should one's urinary bladder be larger than one's head!). I open the uterus, remove 2 dead and decaying pups, flush everything with sterile saline and leave a whopping dose of antibiotics in the abdomen, but do not have sufficient reason to tell the owner the dog will die if I don't take the uterus right now.
When owner returned for the dog (half an hour before I told her to expect the dog to be done) I started explaining the dog's problems and that this is the most likely cause of her difficulties whelping. I'm about half way through this when she interrupts me with "well, I'm only going to breed her once more." I state in no uncertain terms that I would strongly recommend NOT re-breeding this dog, ever, at all. I explain that it is very likely that she will have problems whelping EVERY time because the issue she has will NOT go away, and in fact, will likely become worse following this surgery. Adhesions are quite common when tissue has been disrupted, adhesion between bladder and uterus is a relatively common sequela to c-section because of the normal contact between the surfaces of the two organs, and this dog is apparently prone to developing adhesions, because she's already got them with no prior surgical history. It is, in my mind, a very clear cut case of "breeding this particular dog is not a good plan." Owner repeatedly asks, despite my unequivocal statements on the topic, whether it would be okay to breed the dog, if she, say, waits a year. Or only breeds her once more. She explains that the dog is "just so pretty" and she "only wants one pup from her".
I ask her if she wants one pup enough to justify a significant risk that she will end up not only with another batch of dead puppies, but this dog dead too. Apparently, she does, because her stated plan prior to leaving was to try "just one more time" but to schedule the dog for a c-section instead of trying to let her whelp on her own. Which I suppose is the best option I can scrabble for if she insists on the idiocy of breeding a dog with a known physical impairment of uterine function. sigh.
So then the conversation moved along to 2 other dogs she has. Which she wants debarked, because (she repeatedly explains to me) she's had to separate from her husband because the dogs were barking so much that they were driving him nuts and he was hitting them. And it's not like their in a kennel or anything, she's not a puppy mill. These are dogs she's had since they were 6 weeks old, and they sleep in her bedroom--after all, she's not a puppy mill. I explain that I have never done a debark, and that on dogs as small as these, the risks of the dog dying are so great even in the hands of a surgeon adept at this procedure that nobody I know will do it. She asks if it's because I "don't believe in it." I say no, it's because I don't want to do a surgery that's going to kill your dog. She then asks if anyone else here will do it. I say no. About this time, Dr M walks through the room, and she yells at him across the lobby to ask if he will debark her dogs. He looks at the dog she's carrying (not the dog under discussion, but he doesn't know this...this is totally a blindside question) and says absolutely not on a dog that small. She then proceeds to explain that she means her other dogs, which are "very large--8 and 9 pounds!" Now, I don't know in what world an 8 pound dog is "very large" but it is not in this one. He again tells her no, and then wisely flees (er, walks from the room in a dignified manner). Leaving me in the targets again... Well, can't you do it with a laser? she demands. I explain that while someone somewhere could possibly do so, I have neither the knowledge, nor the laser. She rounds back about to me "not believing in it". She explains that she's training the dogs, and it's not like she's a puppy mill, she's trying! but she absolutely will not use a bark collar, because they make such horrible sores on the dogs' necks. I tell her (in as many words; I'm out of patience and she is so dense that I feel I need to be using a larger hammer to get through to her) that if the collars make sores on the dog, she is doing it wrong. She tries to muster some sort of argument, and I run her puny illogic about the collar not working if the prongs slip to the side of the neck down with my statement that all of my dogs wear Invisible Fence collars daily and have for years, and that I have used electric training/shock collars on several dogs for various reasons, and not a single one of them has developed sores or complications from use of said collars. If the collars are resulting in sores, the owner is at fault. The collar is either too tight, or left on too long with too long prongs, or placed over a fold of skin. There are no bark collars sold which should shock hard enough to create burns, but I welcomed her to try shocking herself with her collar to verify that it was not malfunctioning. And then we're back around to why I won't just debark them. I refrain from smacking her and saying "look, lady, this has not a damn thing to do with my personal beliefs on elective surgical alterations, it's about not killing my patients and if you are so dense as to not grasp that concept maybe I should practice my debarking surgeries on YOU". I instead explain in loving detail how the tissue around a surgery site swells following surgery, and the consequences of such swelling in a very small trachea, and repeat that I do not perform surgeries that I am almost certain will kill the patient. I then offer her the numbers of several trainers (so very, very sorry if she calls you,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kresentia!) and the number to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where she may or may not find someone willing to do a laser de-barking. I honestly have no clue if they would do that or not, but I somehow don't find it likely that a woman who is too cheap to run blood work on a dog is going to pay the prices attached to a referral for something like that.
And guess it's good she showed up half an hour early, because by the time we get done with all that shit, the dog's awake enough to send home. Yay. Get the bloody Hell out of my clinic, you crazy bat.
Early afternoon (no, don't rush in first thing in the morning) appointment for a bitch that's been in labor since some time this weekend. Had 3 dead pups at home. Currently leaking bloody, foul-smelling fluid and still straining. Smells like rot. Has at least one puppy in the abdomen, and one in the vaginal canal that I can feel. Owner wants to know if I can remove the puppies with forceps.
No. No, this is c-section territory here, sorry.
So before I can even get into a discussion of sections and/or offer blood work or to spay the dog while sectioning her, owner vehemently declares that she does NOT want the dog spayed. Right. Fine. I lay mental odds of about 50% that I will "have" to call her during surgery and say that leaving the uterus means the dog will probably die.
When I get into the surgery, I discover why the dog was not able to have pups normally: she has extensive adhesion of the bladder to her uterus. The bladder itself is massively overfull (under no circumstances should one's urinary bladder be larger than one's head!). I open the uterus, remove 2 dead and decaying pups, flush everything with sterile saline and leave a whopping dose of antibiotics in the abdomen, but do not have sufficient reason to tell the owner the dog will die if I don't take the uterus right now.
When owner returned for the dog (half an hour before I told her to expect the dog to be done) I started explaining the dog's problems and that this is the most likely cause of her difficulties whelping. I'm about half way through this when she interrupts me with "well, I'm only going to breed her once more." I state in no uncertain terms that I would strongly recommend NOT re-breeding this dog, ever, at all. I explain that it is very likely that she will have problems whelping EVERY time because the issue she has will NOT go away, and in fact, will likely become worse following this surgery. Adhesions are quite common when tissue has been disrupted, adhesion between bladder and uterus is a relatively common sequela to c-section because of the normal contact between the surfaces of the two organs, and this dog is apparently prone to developing adhesions, because she's already got them with no prior surgical history. It is, in my mind, a very clear cut case of "breeding this particular dog is not a good plan." Owner repeatedly asks, despite my unequivocal statements on the topic, whether it would be okay to breed the dog, if she, say, waits a year. Or only breeds her once more. She explains that the dog is "just so pretty" and she "only wants one pup from her".
I ask her if she wants one pup enough to justify a significant risk that she will end up not only with another batch of dead puppies, but this dog dead too. Apparently, she does, because her stated plan prior to leaving was to try "just one more time" but to schedule the dog for a c-section instead of trying to let her whelp on her own. Which I suppose is the best option I can scrabble for if she insists on the idiocy of breeding a dog with a known physical impairment of uterine function. sigh.
So then the conversation moved along to 2 other dogs she has. Which she wants debarked, because (she repeatedly explains to me) she's had to separate from her husband because the dogs were barking so much that they were driving him nuts and he was hitting them. And it's not like their in a kennel or anything, she's not a puppy mill. These are dogs she's had since they were 6 weeks old, and they sleep in her bedroom--after all, she's not a puppy mill. I explain that I have never done a debark, and that on dogs as small as these, the risks of the dog dying are so great even in the hands of a surgeon adept at this procedure that nobody I know will do it. She asks if it's because I "don't believe in it." I say no, it's because I don't want to do a surgery that's going to kill your dog. She then asks if anyone else here will do it. I say no. About this time, Dr M walks through the room, and she yells at him across the lobby to ask if he will debark her dogs. He looks at the dog she's carrying (not the dog under discussion, but he doesn't know this...this is totally a blindside question) and says absolutely not on a dog that small. She then proceeds to explain that she means her other dogs, which are "very large--8 and 9 pounds!" Now, I don't know in what world an 8 pound dog is "very large" but it is not in this one. He again tells her no, and then wisely flees (er, walks from the room in a dignified manner). Leaving me in the targets again... Well, can't you do it with a laser? she demands. I explain that while someone somewhere could possibly do so, I have neither the knowledge, nor the laser. She rounds back about to me "not believing in it". She explains that she's training the dogs, and it's not like she's a puppy mill, she's trying! but she absolutely will not use a bark collar, because they make such horrible sores on the dogs' necks. I tell her (in as many words; I'm out of patience and she is so dense that I feel I need to be using a larger hammer to get through to her) that if the collars make sores on the dog, she is doing it wrong. She tries to muster some sort of argument, and I run her puny illogic about the collar not working if the prongs slip to the side of the neck down with my statement that all of my dogs wear Invisible Fence collars daily and have for years, and that I have used electric training/shock collars on several dogs for various reasons, and not a single one of them has developed sores or complications from use of said collars. If the collars are resulting in sores, the owner is at fault. The collar is either too tight, or left on too long with too long prongs, or placed over a fold of skin. There are no bark collars sold which should shock hard enough to create burns, but I welcomed her to try shocking herself with her collar to verify that it was not malfunctioning. And then we're back around to why I won't just debark them. I refrain from smacking her and saying "look, lady, this has not a damn thing to do with my personal beliefs on elective surgical alterations, it's about not killing my patients and if you are so dense as to not grasp that concept maybe I should practice my debarking surgeries on YOU". I instead explain in loving detail how the tissue around a surgery site swells following surgery, and the consequences of such swelling in a very small trachea, and repeat that I do not perform surgeries that I am almost certain will kill the patient. I then offer her the numbers of several trainers (so very, very sorry if she calls you,
kresentia!) and the number to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where she may or may not find someone willing to do a laser de-barking. I honestly have no clue if they would do that or not, but I somehow don't find it likely that a woman who is too cheap to run blood work on a dog is going to pay the prices attached to a referral for something like that.And guess it's good she showed up half an hour early, because by the time we get done with all that shit, the dog's awake enough to send home. Yay. Get the bloody Hell out of my clinic, you crazy bat.
