Mystery Dinner
Our staff party this year was a "Mystery Dinner"
cruise in Long Beach Harbor. Some of us even figured who dunnit,
while the rest of us didn't care who dunnit, we were there to have
fun.
Here we are before the fun ( and drinking)
begins
Dr.
P got pulled out of the audience to be part of the
play. Here he is memorizing the
script.
His
role was to propose to one of the actors. It turns
out she was hiding some important
secrets.....
The CAN-CAN girl was the
hit of the night (at least with all the guys)
Ian was speechless!
Jesus
couldn't get the smile off his face!
Dr. R
seemed to have the most fun with her!
Claudia
got a chance to show her CAN-CAN abilities
In the end, it
was Corey who figured out the murderer- NOT!
Dr. R and Dr. P
were just glad that nobody fell off the boat.
Pregnant Marmoset
It is amazing how similar this fetus looks to
a human baby.
If you don't know what a Marmoset is, follow the
yellow brick
road...
Butterfly Wing Injury
An interesting patient brought to our
wildlife
program recently was a butterfly.
Its wing injury prevented it from
flying
We fixed the wing with special tissue
glue.
After an appropriate amount of rest we filled up
his tank with high octane jet fuel....
......and sent him on his way.
Elk Heaven
On a recent vacation to visit
family in Colorado the Ridgeway's visited the small town of Estes
Park near Boulder. Just walking down the street they saw lots of
Elk and heard them bugeling. The elk in this area are protected
and wear identification ear tags. They even saw one female elk
with a satellite tracking collar around her neck.
Alaska Adventure
Dr. P went to Alaska this summer.
We have a slide
show on his trip.
Easy Reading
We added a new page recently on
heart
disease. It is a very detailed page,
and will require a little time on your part to get through it all.
Like all of our pages, if the detail is too much there is a
summary page for your reading pleasure.
Baby Hawk with Fractured Wing
Our Wildlife
Program took in a baby hawk with a
fractured wing
After
examining the chick we took a radiograph that revealed a
severely fractured humerus (upper arm).
A nice whiff of our gas and off we go to
surgery
Dr. Ridgeway performed the surgery during his
lunch hour
He put a pin in the bone, called an IM pin, for
stability
This
postoperative radiograph shows the placement of the
pin before its final adjustment
Recent Patients
We had an interesting character visit us this
week. We call him a "Pac Man" frog.
TB Test
One of our wildlife groups needed at TB test on a
Marmoset. If you look at the left eyelid you will see a reddish area
that is swollen. This is how we do the test. We look at it daily over
the next several days to see if there is a more extensive reaction,
an indication of TB (tuberculosis)
Laser
Seminar
Dr. P just came back from an advanced laser
seminar at the veterinary school at Davis. He will be sharing this
information with the other doctors this week.
You can learn more about laser surgery by visiting
our Laser
page.
Mountain
Bikers
Dr.
P and one of his friends took Dr. Baccaro (she's the
one on the left) mountain biking in Laguna Beach.
After her experience Dr. B was asked if she wants to
go again. Her answer was "I'll think about it"
Lab Seminar
On March 13th we hosted a lab seminar on reptiles
and birds. We invited technicians from other animal hospitals and
gave them a chance to get some hands-on experience obtaining blood.
We have a short Quicktime video in this section- it will take a few
minutes to download, depending on your connection. If you do not have
Quicktime you can get it from www.apple.com
Terri
and Dan are demonstrating the proper method to find
the beating heart of a snake.
Dr.
Petersen does it the easy way with our Doppler
blood pressure monitor. Double
click on the picture when it is finished downloading and you
will hear the beating heart. You need QuickTime from
www.apple.com to view it.
Dr. Ridgeway is giving instructions on how to
obtain blood from a snake.
Martin is supervising as we take blood from an
iguana.
Lisa
is showing the proper way to hold a tortoise prior to
obtaining the sample. Watch your fingers
Lisa....
Cassandra graduates another successful
student.
A job well done!
Alma and Wendy decided they would rather play with
the horse in back.
A special thank you to Squishee for his
assistance!
Kangaroo Visit
A
travelling circus brought us a kangaroo for a routine
exam this week. He was quite friendly, and loved to pose.
His cataracts were not posing any significant
problems.
Rooster
Brothers
Hard to find better look alikes than these
two!
Canadian Goose
Fracture
Wendy
is caring for one of our wildlife
patients recently. Its a
Canadian goose with a broken leg.
It had a fractured tibiotarsal bone
(equivalent to our shinbone). This is called a
midshaft transverse fracture.
Dr.
Petersen did his magic and
put a pin in the bone called an intramedullary pin.
The pin will stay in for up to 2
months. The goose just has to be a little careful when
he goes through the metal dectector at the airport
when he flies back to Canada.
Five days after surgery he was
walking around the hospital giving orders to
everyone.
Job Shadow
Some of
the students from our local schools came in recently to
follow our doctors as they cared for sick pets. This student
is learning how to read a radiograph.
Wildlife Award
Dr. Ridgeway and the staff received
recognition for all their efforts in helping the wildife in our
area.
Red Tail Hawk Eye
Problem
Our
Wildlife Program received a red tailed hawk with an injured
right eye this week. It seemed to be in good shape, but we
did not want to release it back to the wild until we were
sure it would survive well on its own. Billie Scheaffer, by
far our best wildlife volunteer, met Dr. Palazzolo at Dr.
Paul Jackson's office in Newport Beach. Dr. Jackson is an
animal eye specialist, and generously donated his time to
our Wildlife Program by giving the hawk a thorough
ophthalmic exam using his expertise and specialized
equipment. This picture shows Dr. Jackson using an
instrument to check for glaucoma.
After the exam Dr. Jackson explained the
problem. There was probably some penetrating foreign object
(plant material, prey animal's nail, etc) that penetrated
the eye and injured the lens. Even though the lens was still
present, it was only working at marginal capacity.
Fortunately, this hawk has done well with minimal vision in
its right eye.
Foot Radiograph
This
is a radiograph of a dog with a mild, chronic discharge
near its toenail. Dr. R sent a sample of the discharge to
the lab and found out it was a cancer called
Squamous
Cell Carcinoma (SCC). We took
an x-ray of the foot- the arrow points to the cancerous
area. You can see how the bone has been destroyed, and it
is surrounded by swollen tissue.
This is a picture, through the
bandage, right after we amputated the cancerous toe. This
dog is doing fine--he certainly feels much better. You
can learn more about Squamous
Cell Carcinoma, especially in
cats.
Overgrown Rat
Teeth
This poor little rat had such overgrown teeth
that it was literally stunted from a lack of nutrition.
A quick sedative and we were able to start the
process of trimming them back to normal
Rabbit Blood
Sample
Ever
wonder how we obtain a blood sample from a rabbit? This is
the front leg of a rabbit, with the hair spayed gently with
rubbing alcohol. It is much easier to see the blue vein
running horizontally when the skin is wet, although, many
times we cannot see the veins of the animals we obtain blood
from, we can only feel them.
We use a very small needle (25-27 gauge) to
gently aspirate a small amount of blood.
These are the
tubes we send to the lab for analysis. Each one holds 1-2
cc's. For comparison purposes, a teaspoon holds 5 cc's.
On this small amount of blood our lab can perform an
extensive number of tests.
We have a nice section on
Rabbit
Diseases.
Gall
Bladder Stone
This
ultrasound picture depicts a stone (calculi) in the gall
bladder of a cat. The stone is labeled "calc" in the
picture, and it is 1.1 cm in size
We have an extensive page on
liver
disease that will show you more
pictures like these.
Baby Bird Stomach
This
picture shows the crop (not the stomach) of a very young
bird. The crop is the storage organ of a bird just before
the stomach. As you can see, they know how to fill it up!
If these babies are not fed in the right amount, and at
the right temperature, they can get diseases in this
organ.
Don't forget, we have an
Avian
Section to learn more about
bird diseases.
Goose Abdominal Distention
This
is Fred the goose getting fluid removed from his abdomen.
We knew he had a problem because he was not acting
normally, his abdomen was distended, and his radiograph
showed fluid in his abdomen.
This closeup reveals what the fluid
looked like. We removed the equivalent of 500 cc from
Fred, which is an extensive amount. Unfortunately, this
is probably a sign of severe disease, possibly the liver
disease.
Sugar Glider Neuter
This cute
little guy (he's cute because he is sedated!) is a sugar
glider from one of the wildlife
organizations we donate our time
to (Wildlife on Wheels- WOW). You will see their van in
front of our hospital on occasion.
He came in for a neuter, so neuter we
did. This picture shows Dr. Ridgeway using the
laser
to very gently neuter him (his boy parts were very small).
He woke up as ornery as ever and went home fine that night.
Aquarium Award
One
of our nurses, Lisa Welch, received an award from the
Long Beach Aquarium for volunteering her expertise. Yea
Lisa!
Long Beach Dog Walk September 23,
2001
On Sunday the Friends of the Long Beach
Animal Shelter had their 2nd annual dog walk
There were several
dignitaries on hand - the "Frasier" dog, the "As Good as
it Gets" dog, the Ice Dogs mascot, the L.B. Aquarium
mascot, and the mayor!
Sandra and Cassandra set
up a nice booth for our hospital. They answered lots of
questions, gave out lots of Capstar, and put up with Dr.
P taking pictures!
Dr. P embarassed Sandra by making her
take a picture with the Ice Dogs mascot!
Barium Series
One of
our dog patients had a chronic vomiting problem. This
radiograph
was taken immediately after barium was given orally. You can
see how it has filled the stomach and has made its way into
the small intestines. Did you notice the small microchip
also?
Magic Mountain
Our
staff and their friends recently spent a very relaxing
Sunday (not!) at Magic Mountain. No wonder why they were
so tired at work the next day!
California Desert Tortoise egg
This
is a picture of a developing egg from a desert tortoise.
We will let you know when it hatches!
We have a section on diseases
of reptiles you might want to
visit.
Visitors
This
week we welcomed one of our local schools on a field
trip. Thank God their teachers were with them!
Wildlife
Our
Wildlife
Program was busy this week. We
had several injured pelicans brought to us along with
this baby hummingbird.
We also had a baby sparrow that was
stuck in a glue trap.
As it turns out we got the glue off
without any major damage.
Behavior Section
We recently added a large section on
behavior
training in puppies. If you just got a
puppy this is must reading for the summer.
Long Beach Aquarium Sea Lion
On
Sunday May 20th Dr.
P and our current
extern, Leo, went to the
Aquarium to help with a California Sea Lion. She had
problems with her eyes, flippers, and nasal
passages.
She had to be anesthetized before we
could do anything with her. She was kept in a warm water
blanket to maintain normal body temperature.
Several specialists were called in to
help. This is a humanoid ophthalmologist, Dr. Art Giebel,
examining her eye with the aid of our veterinary
ophthalmologist, Dr. Paul Jackson.
She has several problems with her
eyes, the worst of which was a lens that had moved out of
its normal position, making vision virtually
impossible.
While the eye specialists were working
on her eyes, Dr. P was using the laser to help heal her
flipper lesions. We have a detailed section on
laser
surgery.
Tortoise Transfusion
On
May 10th Dr. R gave a tortoise a blood transfusion. We
have a detailed section on tortoise
diseases.
Rabbit Fracture
This
rabbit caught his leg in his cage and thrashed so much he
broke his radius and ulna.
We put a splint on it and it should
heal just fine, as long as he stays quiet! We have a
detailed section on rabbit
diseases.
AIDS Walk
On
Sunday May 6th several of our staff
members participated in the
Long Beach AIDS walk
Peregrine Falcon
The Long Beach
Animal Control brought a male Peregrine falcon to us as part
of our Wildlife
Program. It was found on Cerritos
street.
We know its history from its leg
bands. This bird was hatched at Fashion Island in Newport
Beach last year. Maybe his mother likes to shop at
Neiman-Marcus!
Baby Barn Owl
The
wildlife program also received a female Barn owl with 5
babies. This one is only a few days old!
Guess the Species
Can
you tell what animal this radiograph is from? We'll give
you a hint- they are great pets for kids. Send us an
e-mail if you want to know if you got it right.
Mouse
This
little meeser was from one of our local grade schools. He
was so tiny he easily fit into our hands. Its not a good
idea to put an owl and a mouse on the same web page
though!
Heartworm
We
treated a dog for Heartworm recently. The drug we use is
very potent and can cause side effects if not used
carefully. This stresses the importance of prevention
over treatment.
Heartworms are spread by
mosquitoes. The heavy rains we had this past winter will
bring a bumper crop of mosquitoes this summer. To prevent
our local dogs from being infected we are having a
special on heartworm testing and treatment in the months
of April and May. Here is a copy of the letter we mailed
out to all our dog owning clients:
Dear LBAH Client,
For the past decade the doctors of the
Long Beach Animal Hospital have been tracking the occurrence
of heartworm in Southern California. Even though this
disease occurs throughout the country, the incidence of
heartworm in our native dogs during this time has been
minimal. The situation has changed to the point you need to
be aware of this disease. Numerous local veterinarians are
diagnosing heartworm in their patients, and with the advent
of the rain we had in February, there will be more
mosquitoes than usual. Since mosquitoes spread heartworm we
expect the number of cases to increase.
Heartworm is a parasite that literally
causes worms in the heart, leading to heart failure.
Unfortunately, the treatment for heartworm involves the
injection of a potent medication that can make a dog ill.
Dead heartworms can cause an inflammatory reaction that can
also make a dog very ill. Prevention is obviously better
than treating. To learn more about heartworm please go to
the following web site:
www.heartwormsociety.org/
Prevention is easily accomplished with
oral medications that are given monthly. The medication we
use is called Sentinel, by Novartis. Sentinel also control
fleas and internal parasites, so you are helping your pet
with other common problems. Our web site at
www.lbah.com/intpar.htm has parasite
information.
Before any dog is started on Sentinel
it must test negative for heartworm. During the months of
April and May our laboratory is performing this test for
only $12.50, a 50% discount, courtesy of Novartis,. Novartis
also offers a 100% guarantee- if you are not completely
satisfied with any Novartis Animal Health Product, Novartis
will solve the problem, replace the product, or refund your
full purchase price. Please take advantage of this offer and
call our office for an appointment to have one of our nurses
perform your dogs heartworm test before May 31st.
Bone
Tumor X-ray
This
radiograph is from an older cat with a limping problem.
Many outdoor cats with this type of problem have
fractures, dislocations, or fight wounds as the cause. In
this case we found a tumor, most likely caused by a tumor
of the bone called osteosarcoma.
Hypoglycemia
This 3 month old pup
came in on an emergency this week in a comatose state. We
immediately instituted IV
fluids and ran a blood glucose
(sugar) test. It came back so low it did not register on the
machine. We corrected the problem with IV dextrose, and within
5 minutes (picture below) he was feeling much better. It turns
out he had Coccidia parasites, which could have been an
initiating cause of the problem. All pups should be wormed and
checked for internal parasites. Our Worms
page has more details.
Turtle Shell Damage
Its the time of year when the
hibernating reptiles are waking up from their long nap. They
are quite vulnerable now, especially to dog attacks. Please
supervise you animals when they are left alone so we don't
encounter this type of damage.
Tribute
Luther Sheaffer, the husband
of one of our most ardent supporters, Billy, passed away
recently. His tribute in the Press Telegram is a heartwarming
story of how they met and fell in love.
Doppler Blood Pressure
We have a new piece
of equipment to check blood
pressure. This is very important in
older pets, especially cats with kidney
and thyroid
disease.
Frog Fracture
This little one broke his leg. You can see
his temporary splint on his rear leg.
His radiograph illustrates his fractured tibia
(shinbone).
Look ma, I swallowed a needle!
Hard to believe this cute little guy could
actually swallow a needle.
Well here
it is, plain as day on the radiograph just after after
ingestion. In many dogs a needle of this size can pass
harmlessly, especially when fed a meal of bulky type food.
We can follow the progress of the needle with x-rays and
intervene if there is a problem
When we
took a radiograph from a different view it was obvious just
how large the needle was, and that surgery was a better
option, especially since it was still in the stomach. In
addition, there was the potential for string to be attached
to the needle, which is an immediate reason to remove the
needle. String can cause serious trauma to the intestines as
it passes, so we want to remove it before it leaves the
stomach.
So, off we went to surgery. After a few
minutes of palpating the stomach the needle was localized.
This close-up of the actual surgery shows Dr.
P literally poking the needle
through the stomach wall without having to make an
incision.
Once the needle is sticking our far
enough he can grab it and pull it all of the way
out.
The string behind the needle was knotted
in a ball, so a tiny incision was made in the stomach to
allow just enough room to remove the knot. You can see the
needle at the left. The hemostat at the left is putting
tension on the string so Dr. P can pull it though the
stomach incision.
Pot Bellied Pig
This
is a picture of Cassandra our nurse and Bailey, a
Vietnamese Pot-Bellied pig. Bailey is here to make sure
he is ready for his neuter next week.
Our nurse Terry is taking a
blood
sample from Bailey prior to
his surgery.
This is the
action end of Bailey!
Bailey gets neutered-
check out the action!
Baby Desert Tortoise
Dr.
Ridgeway put a feeding
tube in a baby desert tortoise
that was ill and not eating well. We have a page on
feeding tubes to help you understand their use.
Sea Turtle Radiograph
The
Long Beach Aquarium needed to take a radiograph of one of
their sea turtles. Our nurse Terry is taking the x-ray.
The turtle weighs almost 100 pounds, so this is no easy
job (then why is Terri smiling so much?).