skydivellama

Members
  • Content

    47
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never
  • Feedback

    0%

Community Reputation

0 Neutral

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    none at the moment :-(
  • License
    A
  • License Number
    43440
  • Licensing Organization
    USPA
  • Number of Jumps
    72
  • Years in Sport
    5
  • First Choice Discipline
    Formation Skydiving
  • First Choice Discipline Jump Total
    50
  1. I'm a vet and I help (or try to help) people with this decision on at least a weekly basis, sometimes daily (or several in one day - that can get rough). Sometimes it's easy - if the pet is in obvious pain (either crying, or with a bad injury that is clearly painful), can't eat, can't move, or has serious trouble breathing, I recommend we put them to sleep as soon as possible. Situations like yours, where the pet doesn't seem to be in actual pain, are by far the hardest. I ask my clients to think about whether their pet has "a reason to get up in the morning" - even if it's not really the morning since the pet is spending most of his or her time sleeping - but when they're not sleeping, do they have something to take pleasure in? The arrival home of a family member each day, enjoying a meal, sharing a cuddle? If the answer is yes, then I advise them that I think their pet still has some quality of life. On the other hand, if they spend their time awake just staring into space, not seeking out or responding to things or people they once loved, then it is time to let them go. Sorry to hear what you are going through with your cat, and I hope this is helpful. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  2. Hi there! Just wanted to chime in since I've dealt with this both as a dog owner and as a vet student (I'll be a vet in 4 months!) Our family Jack Russell Terrier when I was a teenager had a luxating patella; it was only ever his right one that luxated so I think we were lucky there. For two or three years it would only happen once every few months, but each time it did happen he would cry out in pain until it popped back in. When it started to happen more frequently he got the surgery. Sounds like you and your vet are in agreement about how he's doing so I'm sure you can make the right decision as to whether/when he needs surgery. We have some really excellent orthopedic surgeons at my vet school and they taught us a 4-grade system for luxating patella; they typically recommend surgery for anything above Grade 1, but the type of surgery they perform depends on the grade and other things like the age and size of the dog. If it's a low grade they may only do a soft-tissue correction while higher grades may require reshaping the bone; so the cost can vary a LOT depending on what type of surgery they need to do. With any joint disease you can get degenerative changes (osteoarthritis) occurring at a relatively young age. Feeding a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement may have some benefit in preventing that, but nothing can reverse osteoarthritis once it happens. Getting radiographs when he goes under to be neutered is a good idea, that way if he is already showing signs of osteoarthritis (hopefully he's not!) then you'll know it may be a good idea to do surgery sooner rather than later. You probably already know all this from the research you've done, just wanted to give a vet student's input! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  3. Here in New Zealand they don't refrigerate eggs. They are sold unrefrigerated in the grocery store and most people keep them that way. I found it very strange when I got here but I'm used to it now, doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it (though I've heard that if you DO refrigerate them at any point then you should keep them refrigerated, so I guess it wouldn't work in America). The shelf life is shorter I think but I do a lot of baking so I can go through a dozen in a week no problem. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  4. I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was 4 years old. I'll be a veterinarian in about 18 months.
  5. I did my April Fool's prank yesterday because I'm in New Zealand, so the 1st was yesterday here. I snuck over to my boyfriend's house while he was at work and moved a few things around, turned all his DVD's around so you can't see the titles, that sort of thing. I only did a few things but I TOLD him I had changed a bunch of stuff, which is driving him nuts trying to figure out what else has been moved. I also hid a severed pig's foot in his bed (I'm a vet student and had brought it home to practice skin sutures). "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  6. My best friend had a spontaneous pneumothorax last year, was in the hospital for 16 days and had the surgery (his was on the left side also). He's not a skydiver but I was with him when the surgeon was telling him what precautions to take, and he was told to avoid pressure-changing activities like skydiving and scuba for six months after the surgery. If you got the surgery it is VERY unlikely that you'll have it again on the same side (I assume you had the same procedure he did where they cause an inflammatory response that essentially glues your lung to the inside of your chest cavity). His surgeon did not think that skydiving would increase the chance of it happening again as long as he waited six months. If you've had spontaneous pneumothorax on one side, apparently your risk of having it on the other side is pretty high, but again this particular surgeon didn't think skydiving would increase that risk (I asked because I had been hoping to get my friend to do a tandem at some point). I suppose opinions vary but this is what we were told by the surgeon here in New Zealand. Good luck! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  7. (Vet student here) My first thought is that a urine sample would be the most helpful thing, as they could culture that to find out exactly what bug is causing the UTIs. Urine sample would also show if it's not actually an infection, many cats get symptoms similar to UTI that are of unknown cause but might be due to changes in urine composition or pH, which you might be able to counteract by changing his diet. Do any vets near you have an ultrasound machine? Finding the bladder is easy with one of those. I've also used plastic litter pellets-- you replace your regular litter with the plastic pellets, then when the kitty pees it doesn't get absorbed, and you can get a sample with a syringe. Ask your vet if they have those. Have either of the vets done bloodwork? Many conditions can predispose cats to UTIs and/or change the composition/pH of the urine; stuff like diabetes, renal failure etc. might show up in blood tests. Good luck! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  8. I mostly just lurk on here but I wanted to add my congratulations.. as a fellow vet student, I know how you feel! I'm in my third year (it's five years for me though, being in New Zealand) and I can attest that it is sometimes more stressful than I could have imagined, but it will all be worth it in the end. Cheers to you, I'm sure you'll be a great vet! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  9. I had just finished college, disappointed that I hadn't gotten into vet school in the states but figured I'd work for a few years and then try again. Had a job that I loved at an animal hospital in Alexandria, VA which was an awesome place to live. Then about four months after starting the job I went on a fun trip to New Zealand with my mom because we'd always wanted to see that country. Realized there was a vet school in New Zealand and that you could try to get in by going to school there for one semester and competing against 400-some people for one of the 100 spots in the vet program. That was in October 2005, by November I had a spot in the competitive semester which started the next February. It took about that long to get my visa. Not a very long time considering I moved about 9,000 miles without even being sure I would get into the vet school. I worked my ass off for the competitive semester, got into vet school and will be starting my 3rd year soon. New Zealand is awesome and there's a good chance I'll stay here permanently. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  10. I LOVE Christopher Moore, I've read all of his books except Lamb (which they don't have at the crappy library in my town in New Zealand, and books are way too expensive to buy here). My favorites are Fluke, Blooksucking Fiends, and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. Lust Lizard is probably my all-time favorite. You just can't beat a title like that. You're right, it's obvious that he has the greatest time writing these books. Hope you enjoy his others! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  11. I'm pretty sure the best way to diagnose osteosarcoma is with x-rays (maadmax please correct me if I'm wrong). I think you said in the original post that the x-rays were normal? Maybe the doctor can take some more x-rays from different angles to see if anything shows up that wasn't visible in the other rads? "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  12. Also not a vet, but a vet student (and not a very advanced one yet): Has the vet done an arthrocentesis (taking synovial fluid from the joint capsule itself) or just fluid from the swollen tissue? I don't know if there are any infections that would show up in the joint fluid but not the blood, but it's possible. It could also be that she had a partial tear of one of the ligaments or tendons in the area and is just having a very strong inflammatory response while her body tries to heal the tear. If that's the case she'll probably eventually form scar tissue and regain almost normal use of the joint. It does look like there's something more than that going on from the picture, though. Sorry I'm not much help but arthrocentesis might help with a diagnosis if they haven't done one yet. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  13. skydivellama

    LURKERS

    I'm a lurker! OK, I'll post something. Did you know that every female marsupial has two vaginas? They teach us some cool stuff in vet school. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  14. The yellow liquid is just what throw-up looks like if there's no food in the stomach. She's probably just got some little stomach bug, I wouldn't worry too much as long as she seems normal otherwise. If it's still going on tomorrow or if she has other symptoms you should probably call a vet. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst
  15. Hi, still don't have anything to add on recovery times, but I can explain some of the vocabulary if that would be helpful to you. "Lesion" is a very broad term that refers to any sort of damage to or loss of function of a tissue; the word doesn't specify anything about what caused the damage, just that damage has occured for some reason (infection, trauma, cancer, anything). The cranial nerves are the 12 pairs of nerves that come directly out of the brain and exit through openings in the skull; they each have very specific functions, mostly in the head and neck region. The nerve near the inner ear is the eight cranial nerve, aka the vestibulocochlear nerve, which as Maadmax says controls balance. According to one of my textbooks damage to this nerve can also cause nystagmus (not sure why). The third cranial nerve that you've been hearing about controls voluntary eye movement so can also cause nystagmus when damaged, but I can't see how that would cause her other movement symptoms. I hope that's helpful to you. It's good to hear she seems to be getting stronger and I hope the anti-inflammatories help! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst