Only cats and dogs in the vets today. This morning I was watching surgeries, a dog had a growth removed from his nose, tom cat neuter + cat spay (both were rescue cats had ringworm) and one the the vet nurses cans had its right hind limb removed - there was swelling around the joint and the x-rays and the bone didn't have a clear edge and the vet thought the femur was going to collapse. It was really interesting to watch, the sciatic nerve had to be cut, then the bloody supply, a hack saw was used to cut through the femur.
The cut is made quite high up, so that the animal knows there is no leg there and so that they don't try and use a stump of the leg.
Once the bone was removed and Andy was taking a sample, the bone collapsed in his hand so it was good that they removed it in time and that it didn't collapse under the weight of the cat.

In the afternoon I sat in on consults with Brian, one of the other vets.

Day 2

Second day at the vets this week.
This morning I saw a tom cat castration, 2 dog eye surgeries - one dog had a lump on its lower eye lid that needed to be removed and sent for biopsy, the other had a lump on its eyelid that needed to be removed on one eye, and the other eye had an ucler and the eplithelium wasn't forming right and not binding to the surface of the eye. So they used a flourescent dye to stain the eye, they used a scalpel to scrape away the epithelial layer, then a fine needle to create a grid on the surface of the eye to help it heal and bind together. Next the guinea pig was in from the consultation yesterday and it had its growth removed, some investigative surgery on a dog and a ferrel cat spay was done - the cat was still in the trap and the vet nurses had to use grabbers to get it out.

Back at the vets

I've been at the vets in Bourneville today.
Surgeries this morning, then I sat in on consults this afternoon with Andy one of the vets.
There were cat dentals, and one had 2 teeth removed.
There was a tom cat thats been in for a week with bladder problems that hasn't been passing water, so they performed a perineal utherotstomy - a cut is made around the cats penis and using forceps, slowly forcing away the tissue to get to the muscle, then carrying on another few cm's. The muscle is cut, and as the catheter is left in the urethra, a cut is made down the urethra, catheter removed, and once the urethra is wide enough to pass water, it is sutured to the skin to form an opening wider than the penis for the cat to pass water. The end of the penis is removed, and the urethra sutured all the way around the skin - it was really delicate surgery to watch.

This afternoon was routine vaccinations, booster vaccinations and post op check ups.