Friday, July 31, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Today we welcome one of our 2015 interns, Amelia Espina, DVM.
Amelia is a Gaithersburg native. She attended Wootton High
School (Go WHS Patriots!) in Rockville, MD. Amelia obtained a Bachelor’s degree
in Biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and a Doctorate of Veterinary
Medicine at Virginia Tech. In her free time, Amelia enjoys running, playing
volleyball, and baking delicious treats. She lives in Gaithersburg with her
husband and their four cats; Vera, Moby, Tater, and Snickers.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
I recently visited Pinckney
Island, South Carolina to photograph their nesting birds. Pinckney Island
National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
encompasses 4,053 acres with a 7.8 mile main hiking trail. It is located between
the mainland and Hilton Head Island and was established to provide a nature and
forest preserve for aesthetic and conservation purposes.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
(Post author: Lauren Pagonis, Registered Veterinary Technician at VCA VRA) Picabu is a four-year-old Singapura cat who originally came to VCA on February 12, to have a congenital
hiatal hernia repaired by Dr. Saylor. Her original surgery went well and Picabu
seemed to be on the mend, so she went home on February 13. Later in the week,
Picabu was not feeling well and was regurgitating. Her mom brought her back to our
hospital on February 18 to see Dr. Anne Stoneham. Picabu was diagnosed with
megaesophagus and esophagitis. Megaesophagus occurs when the esophageal muscles
lose their tone and are no longer able to function properly to facilitate food
moving into the stomach. Esophagitis is inflammation of the lining of the
esophagus. We are not sure what caused Picabu to develop these conditions. We
were unable to get Picabu’s esophagitis under control with medications alone,
so a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube was placed. A PEG tube is a
special feeding tube that goes directly into the stomach from outside the body
wall. In Picabu’s case, we could feed
her by bypassing her inflamed esophagus.
I recently received an update from Picabu’s mom
who stated that unless her sweater is being washed, Picabu wears it all the
time. It has helped her maintain a nearly normal cat life; she doesn’t need the
dreaded e-collar, or ill-fitting surgi sock T- shirt. I am in the process of
making Picabu a second sweater. This time her gift will be crocheted in green
to match her eyes. Picabu is such a special cat and it is wonderful for me to
be able to use my talents to allow her the comfort she so deserves.
Cats are notorious lickers and like to keep themselves clean.
Picabu was no exception to the rule. We kept both an e-collar and “surgi sock”
T-shirt on little Picabu. Due to her small size, the “T-shirt” did not fit very
well and after the addition of the e-collar, it was difficult for Picabu to
move around. Picabu needed something that would be a snug fit around her body
and cover the feeding tube so she could not lick or chew on it; she needed her
very own custom made crocheted sweater!
I have been crocheting since I was ten
years old. I have made sweaters in the past for my own pets, but Picabu’s
sweater had to be constructed with a ‘special’ design. It had to fit tightly
enough to keep the PEG tube against her body or the tube might pull on the
sutures and pinch. It also had to be long enough to cover the whole PEG tube so
Picabu could not lick or bite it. On Thursday February 26, my day off, I sat
with Picabu in my lap for three hours and made her a perfectly fitting pink
sweater.
Monday, July 20, 2015
July is National Lost Pet Prevention Month! It is incredibly important that your pet has a physical identification tag and a microchip! Having both of these items exponentially increases the chance of your pet being returned home to you! Check out this website for more helpful tips and information!http://www.lostpetprevention.com/
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