skydivellama

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

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

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

I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was 4 years old. I'll be a veterinarian in about 18 months.

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

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

(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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I so wish I could give you more information to go on, but I honestly have no idea about recovery times for this sort of thing. I can say that it still might have been bacterial even if the antibiotics don't seem to have had much effect-- they may have killed the infection and thus prevented it from causing even worse damage. No matter what caused the initial damage it will probably take a long time to see much recovery. As for how long, or how much recovery is possible, I'm afraid I have no idea. Obviously you should check this with your vet, but my instincts would be to keep her quiet and not allow her to keep circling-- I would imagine the circling tires her out physically which is not what she needs at this point, and she's probably well aware that something is wrong and gets frustrated not being able to move like she's used to. I feel that if you can keep her mainly lying down and still so that the world seems normal, she'll be in a better state of mind which is definitely better for recovery. Of course she'll have to get up sometimes if only so you can see how she's progressing, but I would try to limit that. I wish I could tell you something more... "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

I'm a vet student, not a vet, so I probably don't have anything to add that your vet wouldn't have checked on. The two general things I can think of that would cause this sort of thing are damage to the vestibular system (which is in the inner ear) or damage to one or more cranial nerves (which could include damage outside of the brain or in the brain itself). Has your vet done a full neurological exam? This involves a number of simple tests for different reflexes, etc. to see which nervous pathways are affected. I don't know what sort of treatment options there would be for an inner ear problem, but the fact that she has nystagmus makes me think it's probably her nervous system and not her ear. For a nervous system problem, encephalitis could certainly be a cause, as could some sort of head trauma or even an abnormal growth/tumor. Really the only way to check for encephalitis that I can think of would be a spinal tap, which is a pretty major procedure for a dog since she would have to be anesthetized. Also I'm not sure what good it would do since I think most encephalitis is viral and there's not really any way to treat that, she just has to fight off the infection. Likewise with a tumor, the only real way to diagnose that would be with a CT scan or something, which most vets aren't equipped to do and would be incredibly expensive. Your vet is almost certainly right that your puppy will have a slow recovery; the brain and nervous system do often have the ability to repair themselves or form new pathways after some sort of damage, but it takes a long time. I would keep her as quiet as possible and just be patient, and talk to your vet about doing more diagnostic tests if she doesn't improve. I'm sorry this probably hasn't been very helpful, I'm at a frustrating stage in my vet education where I feel like I'm starting to understand what causes certain problems, but I don't yet know anything about how to fix them! Please let me know if you have any specific questions you want me to ask my neurophysiology professor. I know how worried you must be and I really hope Delilah gets better over time. Mini Schnauzers are such wonderful dogs. You and she are both in my thoughts. ETA: Just saw your second post and wanted to add, try not to feel guilty having to stick her with a needle to give her the fluids, you are helping her immensely by doing so! Good luck to you and her. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

Not a vet yet, but a vet student. As I'm sure all the pet owners on here will agreee, definitely take him to the vet! Chances are he just ate something that disagreed with him and will get it out of his system (good job with the electrolytes to keep him going until it clears up, but he might not be absorbing much from it if he's still not keeping anything down), but there are a lot more serious possibilities like some large object stuck somewhere that will need to be removed surgically. Even if you do just have to let it work itself out they can give him some IV fluids to replace what he's losing. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

You're all wrong, that's me in the picture. I just collapsed the slider with my teeth. Steering was a bit tricky I must admit. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

I'll throw in one that starts from the southern hemisphere. I'd be smack in the middle of Spain! Just outside of someplace called San Martin de Valdeiglesias, west of Madrid. Cool! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

This is lame, but ever since I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie in 2001 I've wanted to live in New Zealand. I've also wanted to be a veterinarian since I was four years old (according to my mother). Today, I am in New Zealand and my final exams for my first semester of vet school start tomorrow! Two dreams at once! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

Hi all, I don't post much but I have learned that this is THE place to get information on absolutely everything. If skydivers don't know it, it isn't worth knowing! Anyway, I'm a vet student with my first big anatomy test coming up, and I was wondering if anyone can point me to any good online resources for studying anatomy -- veterinary anatomy of course; human anatomy, though very interesting, isn't much help to me for these purposes.

Edited because I just realized I might be advertising. I'll send you a PM. As far as what area to stay, Duck is my favorite place in the world; I lived there for a couple of years and still go back several times a year. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

Actually, according to the Washington Post it really does work; I couldn't believe it either! They have a couple of articles about it. You prepare it a certain way (no stuffing, don't tie the legs together) and roast at 475 degrees. Just can't find the specific directions. "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst

Does anyone have the Safeway supermarket directions for roasting a 20-lb turkey in 2 hours? I left my copy of their pamphlet at home and apparently it's only available in Safeway stores (no Safeway where I am now). I tried Google and couldn't get it. If anyone has the directions and could post/PM them, I would be eternally grateful! Happy Thanksgiving all! "Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air." -Carolyn Parkhurst