pet connection

Internal medicine specialists deal with problems other than cancer, of course. Sam, a 1.5-year-old Great Dane, was brought to the University of Montreal’s neurology service for neck pain and an abnormal gait. She was suspected to have wobbler disease and at one point was in so much pain that her owner, Sylvain Gadoua, was within an hour of euthanizing her. Just before they left for her last ride to the vet, she picked up a toy and acted as if she wanted to play, and he decided to try further to find help for her.

Andrea Finnen, a neurology candidate at the University of Montreal, diagnosed Sam with discospondylitis. The young Great Dane was hospitalized for eight days and treated with antibiotics. More confinement at home followed, but she is now active and comfortable, despite a slightly wobbly gait.

My notes are not as detailed on Sam or the next case because I had some weird formatting issues with my new toy, a netbook (what a surprise), and lost some of my notes. C’est la vie.

Dixie, a Rottweiler, was diagnosed with two esophageal strictures, which were affecting her ability to take in nutrition. Balloon dilation of the esophagus is the usual treatment, but six attempts brought no success. The strictures returned within a week of each procedure. Then Dixie’s veterinarian, Lisa Carioto, a small-animal internist at the University of Montreal, tried placing two biodegradable esophageal stents to keep the esophagus open and prevent it from restricturing. That didn’t work, either. Last fall, Dr. Carioto placed a permanent stent. That was the ticket.

Dixie’s owner told her story in French, and I was able to pick up only three words: manger, mervilleux and famille (eat, marvelous and family). I think that probably says it all about the success of the procedure, and even if it didn’t, it was obvious just looking at this sweetie-pie Rottie that she’s now active, happy and able to eat (no, she wasn’t fat). She’ll probably require certain medications for the rest of her life, but otherwise she has great quality of life.

It’s 1 a.m. and I have to finally get up early tomorrow, so I’ll save Forrest Gumpy and the Chase Away K9 Cancer campaign for later.

Au revoir.

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