“Oh, I’m not going to let that happen,” Rich assured her. “When he’s really excited, I’ll bring him back to Dr. Nelson. I promise that there won’t be any real interaction.”
Ivan leaped to his feet, sensing that something good was about to happen. Paula placed Sadie on the floor, still unsure of her decision. Sadie pranced over to Ivan, laid down in front of him and batted her eyelashes. Ivan exhaled loudly and thumped his tail. He laid down, following her lead. Sadie licked his muzzle, then spun around until her rear end was inches from his nose. Paula placed a hand over her mouth in disbelief. Now it was her turn to blush.
Ivan rolled on his side. His eyes darted between Rich and Sadie. “It’s OK, Ivan,” Rich encouraged the first-time lover. Ivan rolled back onto his chest and explored Sadie’s rear end with his nose. Sadie lifted her tail to give him full access. Finally, he got the message and began to lick her rear end.
“I think it’s time now,” I said from behind the counter. I had been quietly watching the two dogs with my fingers crossed. “Please bring him in back, Rich.”
“Ivan, come,” Rich ordered. Ivan continued to lick Sadie, oblivious to his surroundings. “Ivan, come,” Rich repeated with the same outcome.
Paula bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Rich bent down, put his arms under Ivan and picked him up with a loud grunt. Ivan placed his head on Rich’s shoulder, still staring at Sadie. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She jumped to her feet and tried to follow. When she reached the end of her leash, she sat down.
“Yip, yip,” she cried. Paula laughed so hard that tears ran down her face.
As Rich and Ivan walked by the door to the cat exam room, I called for Kim, then directed Rich to place Ivan on the floor. When Kim emerged from the room, she handed me the artificial vagina. I knelt by his side without speaking for fear I would break the mood. I slid the device onto his engorged penis, hoping Ivan’s thoughts were still with Sadie. Five seconds later, semen filled the test tube. I sat back on my heels, holding the artificial vagina high in the air for Kim and Rich.
“Got it!” I quickly separated the rubber vagina from the test tube.
Rich petted Ivan with a proud expression on his face.
“Here you go, Kim.” She took the test tube from me, moved to the counter and began pipetting the contents into various tubes for culture and analysis. I scratched Ivan’s rump right in front of his tail to reward his good behavior.
“I’m so relieved this is over,” Rich said.
“Me too. But a blond cocker spaniel.” I paused to wink at Rich. “That’s a little embarrassing.”
Rich’s face turned a lovely shade of pink.
“I mean a big tough Doberman pinscher picking Sadie over Cookie. I would have never guessed that one.”
Rich started to giggle.
“Did he really earn the Schutzhund title or did you have to slip someone a little something under the table to help him pass?” I teased.
Rich’s giggles turned into full-blown belly laughs.
“You should have seen the look on the woman’s face when I asked her if Ivan could get friendly with her dog,” he managed to say between fits of laughter.
I started to laugh, thinking of Paula sitting in the lobby, waiting for Sadie’s prescription.
“And then,” he started to laugh again. “And then, when she realized that her perfect little angel had a thing for Ivan.” He stopped to laugh even harder. “I think she was happy that you called us back when you did.”
Both of us leaned against the counter, laughing helplessly. Whenever we tried to speak, we laughed instead.
“Paula is a really good sport,” I managed to say while wiping my eyes. “I’m glad Ivan fell for her dog because she is a big-time animal lover.”
“Please thank her for me,” Rich said. “In fact, I’d like to do something to show my appreciation.”
I thought for a minute. “Sadie is having two teeth extracted next week. She’ll be on a soft diet for two weeks. Why don’t you get her a box of doggy ice cream treats to enjoy after the dental procedure?”
“That’s a great idea,” Rich agreed. “I’ll drop some off next week.”
“Dr. Nelson, there are two more appointments waiting to see you,” Kim informed me. “Are there any other instructions for Sadie?” She slapped a prescription label on an orange pill bottle filled with antibiotics.
“No,” I answered. “Make sure she starts the pills right away. Paula should give her one in the morning before the dental.” Kim nodded and headed up front.
“I want you to stay here until Ivan’s erection subsides to make sure he doesn’t get frostbite,” I instructed Rich. He winced. “When his penis fits back inside the prepuce, you are free to go.”
“What do you think is worse, Dr. Nelson?” he quipped. “Never having sex or having sex once?”
“Goodbye, Rich,” I replied sternly. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
Chapter 22
Norwegian Elkhound
With the holidays over, pet emergencies dropped as Minnesotans settled in for the winter. Conversations turned from hoping for snow to wishing it would stop. The appointment book slots filled up with vaccinations for Christmas pups, problems with dry skin from the low winter humidity and urinary tract infections. Concerned owners noticed blood when their pets urinated on the snow.
I could not wait to try out my Christmas present, an ultrasound that I picked up from the liquidator.
“Hold still, Willy,” I commanded. The gray Norwegian elkhound stared up at me with dark brown eyes. She laid on her back on top of the treatment table. Kim held her back legs, and I held her front while Allie clipped her abdomen. Wads of her thick undercoat accumulated on the clipper blade as Allie pushed it through her dense coat.
“How big of an area do you want, Dr. Nelson?” she asked, cleaning the blade with a stiff wire brush.
“That looks pretty good,” I answered. “Maybe a little more on this end.” I pointed toward her back legs. “But stay on the midline.”
“Don’t worry,” Allie replied. “I’ll avoid her mammary glands.”
Behind Allie, Phyllis and Nate Dufner stood watching over their dog. The Dufners had been breeding Norwegian elkhounds for 20 years. Their love of the breed started when Nate gave Phyllis a puppy for her birthday. Five years later, they moved to the country to build a proper kennel to accommodate their growing collection of dogs. Phyllis and Nate bred their dogs for personality as well as conformation. As a result, their docile, affectionate and loyal dogs were in high demand. Potential buyers would have to pass an extensive interview to allow a Dufner pup to become part of their families.
Phyllis stood behind Allie, watching her every move. Another clinic gave one of her girls a bad case of clipper burn from shaving. She wasn’t going to let that happen again. Nate stood behind Phyllis, shifting his weight from his right leg to his left and back again. This was the first time he observed one of his girls having an ultrasound. Although Phyllis described the procedure in detail for him, he couldn’t wait to see the next generation of champions.
“Good?” Allie asked with the clipper buzzing in her hand.
I looked at the beautiful skin and nodded.
Allie set the clippers on the table next to Willy and tried to change places with me.
I cleared my throat as I stared at the clippers.
“Oops,” she said as she placed them in a drawer.
A month ago, one of our patients knocked a clipper off the table, knocking four teeth out of the blade. It was an expensive mistake.
“All right, Willy,” I said. “Let’s see what’s going on inside your belly.” I squeezed a handful of lube onto the clipped area. Most dogs jump when the cold lube hits their skin, but not Willy. She seemed to enjoy the cool sensation. I used the probe to spread the lube around her skin, then flipped the switch on the ultrasound. Black and white images danced across the monitor, looking like a bizarre art project to the untraine
d eye.
“There’s one,” I called out excitedly. Phyllis and Nate leaned forward to get a better view of the screen. I pointed at a round object that pulsed in a regular rhythm. “This is a pup’s heart,” I explained. “See it contract?”
They nodded in unison.
“Now I’ve moved the probe backward toward the pup’s tail. This is a cross-section of the abdominal organs with the beginnings of its spinal column here.” Smiles spread over Phyllis and Nate’s faces. “How far along is she?”
“Almost 40 days,” Phyllis replied. “We only bred her once because she refused to let the stud mount her after the first time.”
“Wow, it’s unusual for standing heat to last only one day,” I commented.
“Well, it was our fault,” Nate explained.
“Our fault,” Phyllis objected.
“OK, my fault,” Nate admitted, knowing he was busted. “Phyllis was out of town, and I didn’t watch her as closely as I should have. She was almost out of heat when I caught on.”
“Well, the good news is that it worked,” I quickly interjected to help out Nate.
I stared at the screen, remembering the long hours spent in embryology learning the stages of development. We started with chicks to learn the basics, then moved onto a fetal pig. Our professor offered a six-pack of beer to any student who could find a fetal anomaly in his/her specimen. The only winner was a guy who wanted to be a swine practitioner. Go figure!
I was about to reposition the probe when a new image appeared on the screen. The image had two dark colored areas spaced evenly apart with a boney prominence in between. The prominence projected outward toward the probe with a soft tissue structure at the end. I instantly recognized the image as a tiny face. The pup was looking right at the probe.
“Wow, I’ve never had that happen before,” I muttered aloud without thinking.
“What happened?” Phyllis asked in a concerned voice.
“This is the face of a puppy,” I explained. I pointed at the face on the monitor with my finger. “Here are the eyes, and there’s the nose.”
“Wow!” Allie exclaimed. “That’s so cool.”
Nate and Phyllis stared at the image, struggling to appreciate what Allie, Kim and I saw.
I outlined the face for them again, starting with the skull. By the time I finished they were smiling, too.
“I’ve never had a pup look at the probe before,” I repeated. “I can’t wait to see what kind of personality this little one has. I’m predicting it will be a real character.”
I moved the probe to a new location and started scanning again. Another heart came into view, the valves moving with each beat. Cardiac activity is used to monitor fetal health. By the looks of these two hearts, Willy’s pups appeared to be strong and healthy. I continued to move the probe until I covered her entire abdomen.
“Well, how many can we expect, Dr. Nelson?” Phyllis asked.
“At least four,” I said, wiping off the probe with a soft cloth. “But I can’t say for certain because it’s hard to keep the pups straight. They all look the same at this age.”
Kim giggled.
“I would recommend taking X-rays later on to get an accurate count. You can bring her back any time after 48 days when the fetal skeletons have mineralized.”
I folded a towel in half before wiping off Willy’s abdomen. Her pupils weren’t dilated as much as when we first started, but she still seemed nervous. Kim and Allie rolled her onto her side and lifted her off the table. When her feet hit the floor, Willy ran from person to person, wagging her tail in big, arcing loops. She folded her ears back against her head, opened her mouth and tried to lick everyone. Nate crouched down until his face was even with Willy’s. He pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear. Willy reached her head back to lick his face.
“Daddy’s girl,” Phyllis remarked. “Since before she opened her eyes, she’s always been daddy’s little girl.” Nate nodded before standing.
“Does she need anything special now?” he asked.
“No, the biggest mistake people make during pregnancy is overfeeding. Her body condition looks great now, so keep up the same amount of food. When we get closer, I’ll have you start mixing in puppy food to increase the calories and a little cottage cheese for calcium. Until then, treat her like a normal dog.”
“What about exercise?” he continued.
“Let Willy determine what’s comfortable for her. Being in good shape will make the delivery easier for her.” I paused. “But I don’t want her running a marathon, nothing extreme.”
“Will do, Dr. Nelson,” Nate said, snapping a leash to her collar. “We’ll see you soon for an X-ray.” Nate escorted Willy outside while Phyllis paid the bill at the counter.
Behind her, Paula waited with Sadie on her lap in the same chair by the window. Sadie loved to chew on her toys. Paula’s ex-husband gave her bones even though Paula disapproved. Sadie chewed the bones into small pieces that passed through her gastrointestinal system without a problem. But the hard chewing damaged her teeth, fracturing two premolars.
Besides giving Sadie bones, Paula’s ex had another disturbing problem. Paula’s other dog, Maggie, the vizsla, had epilepsy. Two years ago, Paula called the girls in from the backyard for dinner. Maggie ran to the door and waited for Sadie to enter first, like she always did. While she stood on the step, her body started to sway. She slumped to the ground and began to thrash. Her legs moved like she was on a bicycle. White foam poured from her mouth. She even urinated on the welcome mat. Paula rushed her to the emergency clinic for treatment.
After a full workup, Maggie was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Idiopathic means the cause cannot be determined. I always think of it as we’re still idiots because we haven’t discovered it yet. Her veterinarian started Maggie on phenobarbital to control her seizures. She did well on a low dose twice a day. Paula went to the clinic on the first of the month to get a 30-day supply. A year ago, she noticed the pills weren’t lasting through the entire month. The first time it happened, she thought the clinic miscounted because 10 were missing. But then it happened again, so she asked her husband about it. He denied knowing anything about it.
The next month, the pills lasted to the end of the month, so Paula forgot about it until she came home from work to find Maggie in a full-blown seizure on the floor. A blood test revealed no phenobarbital in Maggie’s blood. That’s when Paula realized her husband was taking the medicine instead of giving it to Maggie. She moved out immediately and finalized the divorce four months later.
“Hello, Paula,” Kim said as she knelt to pet Sadie. “Are you ready to get rid of those nasty teeth?”
“She’s ready, but I’m a nervous wreck,” Paula replied.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Kim promised. She scooped the cocker spaniel into her arms and hugged her tight. Paula started to get up from the chair when Kim motioned for her to stay seated. “If you stay seated, Sadie won’t think you’re leaving,” she explained. Kim leaned down to let Paula hug Sadie one more time, then whisked her into the back.
Kim and Allie worked quickly to prepare Sadie for her procedure. After a quick “pokey butt,” they set an intravenous catheter for fluids and set up the dental equipment. By the time I finished the morning appointments, Sadie was ready to go. We anesthetized her, placed a trach tube down her throat and packed the back of her mouth with gauze to keep fluid from getting into her lungs.
Dogs have a large tooth on both sides of their upper jaws called the carnassial tooth. Not to be confused with the canine teeth, this monster is used for chewing on bones and other really tough materials. Dogs wedge the bone into the corner of their mouth and then bite down using their premolars and molars. Sometimes the force created is enough to cause a slab fracture of the outer aspect of the tooth’s surface. The piece peels off like a slice of bread, leaving the pulp cavity exposed. Because these fractures are located toward the back of the mouth, few people catch the problem until it
’s severe. Infection develops in and around the tooth, causing abscesses around the roots. Sometimes the infection becomes so bad that it actually forms a lump on the side of the dog’s face below the eye. It is a very painful condition!
Allie rolled Sadie onto her right side so I could work on the left carnassial tooth. After donning a mask, gloves and protective eyewear, I used a probe to examine all of her teeth. I ran the tip of the long narrow probe along her gumline, feeling for pockets below the surface.
When I got to the carnassial tooth, I threaded the tip behind the fractured piece of bone and lifted it off the tooth. Sadie’s jaw quivered even though she was under anesthesia. I quickly inserted a needle into an area above the tooth and injected a topical anesthetic to relieve the pain. Two minutes later, I lifted the flap of bone again with no response from Sadie.
“Let’s get this nasty tooth out of here,” I said. I peeled back the gingival (gum) tissue into a flap before starting the extraction. The carnassial tooth has three roots with hooks at the ends, making it the most challenging tooth to remove. With the bone of Sadie’s jaw exposed, I drilled the tooth into three sections, one for each root. Kim handed me an elevator to wedge in and around the roots. I gently inserted the instrument into the seam between the root and the jaw’s periosteal bone. The procedure reminded me of using a knife to free a cake from the pan.
When I finished the third root, a big hole was all that remained of the tooth. After flushing the area thoroughly, I sutured a flap of gingival tissue over the area. Kim cleaned and polished the teeth on that side before we flipped Sadie over. The next side went even better than the first because the infection had destroyed much of the periodontal ligament that holds the carnassial tooth in placed. I removed the tooth with minimal drilling, leaving Kim plenty of time to clean and polish the right side of Sadie’s mouth before her body temperature dropped too low from the anesthetic.
When Sadie was in recovery, I called Paula. “Hello, Paula, this is Dr. Nelson with an update on Sadie,” I said into the phone.
“Is she all right?” Paula asked. “I didn’t expect your call for another hour.”
Coated With Fur: A Blind Cat's Love Page 24