June Pet of the Month

Congratulations to Oreo, our June Pet of the Month! Oreo is a 1 year old

Labrador Retriever who has been coming to us for care since she was 8 weeks old. She had always been healthy, needing only to see the veterinarian for routine care until early May of this year. Her owners brought her in because they were concerned about a patch of skin irritation on her back that had been getting worse by the day and had started oozing.
 
When they brought her in, Oreo was very nervous and obviously painful. It was evident she had a large sore on her back, but since there was still hair covering the area Dr. Forbes got permission from Oreo’s owners to sedate Oreo, so she could relax while we took a closer look. Once asleep from her sedative Dr. Forbes gently shaved away the hair covering the sore on Oreo’s back. What she uncovered appeared to be a large burn that had severely damaged the skin severely and caused an infection. It was discovered that she had been spayed elsewhere 2 weeks prior and that Oreo was placed on a heating pad during surgery. This heating pad was supposed to be designed not to create hot spots, but unfortunately large heavy dogs are still at risk for a burn when placed on these pads.
 

In order to give the affected skin the best chance of healing Dr. Forbes removed the dead tissue and then placed a sterile wet to dry bandage over the area. This type of bandage is applied soaked in sterile saline and as it dries, the dead and dying tissue adheres to it so that it can be removed when the bandage is changed. This can be very painful, so Oreo was sedated for these bandage changes. Dr. Forbes also sent Oreo home with a course of antibiotics for the infection and pain medication to keep her comfortable. Over the course of several days this process was repeated until all of the remaining tissue was healthy tissue. It was determined at that time that surgical removal of the affected tissue and closure of the wound would allow Oreo to heal more quickly and more comfortably. Alternatively we could have continued the bandage changes until the wound healed on its own, however, this would have been weeks of discomfort, sedation and bandage changes. When Oreo came in to have her sutures removed two weeks later she looked fantastic! Not only did her incision heal perfectly, but she was feeling back to her normal self as well!
 
When our pets are anesthetized for surgical procedures is it important to provide an

external heat source to keep their body temperature normal. There have been many horror stories of dogs that have been burned like Oreo from various types of heating pads, so we NEVER use them here at Rock Bridge Animal Hospital. Instead we use the same Bair Hugger forced air heating blanket that human hospitals use to provide a safe source of warmth for our patients. (Not to mention the technicians who sometimes “share” a little of the warmth on a cold day)