We Had a Pet Emergency…
By Howard Young Jun 01, 2008
Spending Saturday night in a Thousand Oaks Animal Hospital is something everyone should avoid. Not that we had much choice, but what could we do? Our Vet closes shop on Saturday around 1 PM and it’s well past that into the evening.
His recorded message, said “If this is truly a pet emergency, please call …”
It was obvious that Molly was in distress; her right eye swollen shut. We were outside most of the afternoon working in the backyard. Did she get something in it? Was she stung by an insect?
Is this truly an “emergency?” Thinking back, when Chloe was stung by an insect, it was simply Benadryl and baby aspirin. The problem I had was that I couldn’t remember the dose. And Molly didn’t have the allergic “swollen face” reaction like Chloe had.
Yes, this was an emergency. We drove Molly over the the Thousand Oaks Animal Hospital to have her examined. Of course, as soon as we get there, her eye opened up and I’m starting to get embarrassed for my over reaction, especially …
When all the dogs coming in we’re real emergencies. A dog fight here, a stabbing there. I’m starting to feel like I’m at the County Hospital.
It took about an hour for them to see Molly. The first thing they asked was “does she need to be muzzled?” Strange question coming from a Vet. Yes. Her eye is painful and you want to examine it. You want to take her rectal temperature? Yes, like you, she hates things getting inserted in it. (And she certainly hates dryer sheets getting pulled from it.)
She’s running a fever. Good that’s a start. Her body is fighting an infection. The Vet drops local anesthetic into both eyes. Says he’ll back in 5 minutes. Fifteen go by. He’s now looking at the paw of the stabbed German Shepard puppy which got in the way when it’s owner dropped a knife from the kitchen counter top.
He comes back with a technician. Apparently I’m not doing a very good job at holding Molly, cause she’s violently trying to escape my hold. The technician does a great job and the Vet finally tells us that he needs to put in one more set of drops in 15 minute intervals, and then put in a stain to examine her eyes for any scratches or debris.
Exactly what I needed to hear. They do the last set of drops, wait. Stain. Wait. Come back and examine Molly’s glowing yellow stained eyes. One more test… Tonometry to test the pressure and Molly goes off to the back room for the test and comes back 15 minutes later.
We wait around for another 45 minutes to check us out of the Hospital. The receptionist starts going over the Dr’s instructions for the medicine. except that the Vet never came back to tell us what was Molly’s problem. The Dr. is on the phone. Wait another 15.
Tentative diagnosis: anterior uveitis OD, idiopathic. He doesn’t know if it was blunt trauma or bacterial. He treats her for the inflammation, pain and an antibiotic; two different drops and one pill for pain and inflammation. Start treatment tonight.
After 4 hours, it’s nearly the next day by the time we get home from the Thousand Oaks Animal Hospital. We’re all tired, but Molly is really good and lets me put the drops in her eye. She didn’t need a muzzle after all.