A & M Veterinarians search and rescue

[ann jusko]

A & M vet school arrived yesterday in Wimberly with their search and rescue dogs.

[Cowman52]

If you have never been to the A&M vet clinic, you have missed a tour that makes you wish you could be treated there.
You drive up with some bull or some other animal, and the care the animal is given regardless of the newness of the truck that made the delivery, and every vet student that you have contact with acts like your critter is the most important deal they have on their schedule that day. They take the time to talk and listen, and if things go south, you won't find a more sympathetic ear.

[millergrovesue]

If you have never been to the A&M vet clinic, you have missed a tour that makes you wish you could be treated there.
You drive up with some bull or some other animal, and the care the animal is given regardless of the newness of the truck that made the delivery, and every vet student that you have contact with acts like your critter is the most important deal they have on their schedule that day. They take the time to talk and listen, and if things go south, you won't find a more sympathetic ear.

That's the truth. I've had occasion to take a horse and a dog down there. I would have been happy staying in the stall they put my horse in. The care is the very best.

[ann jusko]

I'm glad to hear that. A situation arose for a woman on our Great Pyrenees forum. The lady is disabled, She has no family but she has a magnificient Great Pyrenees. She has a woman who lives with her and walks Deuce. So, the lady found a swelling on her pyr's neck and he obviously wasn't feeling well. The dog kept going to the car in his pacing. Finally it dawned on them he wanted to go to the vet. OMG! He was bitten by a brown recuse spider. If he survives, there is no way she can pay for the skin grafts that will be needed. She lives in Ft. Worth. The vet care has been with different vets at PetSmart or Petco and they see a different vet every time. No overnight facilities, so they've had to take him home with medications AND they have to pull the dead skin off, lavage the wound and then put medication on it. I suggested taking him to A&M but I don't know if they charge or if there's a place for them to stay. Any info someone can give me would be much appreciated. She did get her disability check the other day and used it to pay the vet. This is going to be on-going. We did set up a "gofundme" account but it's only for $2,500. Connie will need more than that. And of course, she used her rent money for the vets (since she doesn't see the same vet every time).

[millergrovesue]

I haven't taken an animal there in recent history but back when I took Daisy (probably 18 years ago) it was EXPENSIVE - about the same cost as a big city vet. Don't know if they offer a sliding fee these days but they didn't back then. As I recall she spent a week or so there with several followups.

[ann jusko]

I had my second cup of coffee and thought "Dummy, just call them!" I did. They do have an extended payment plan, but she does have $2,900 in the gofundme account. I'm sure there will be more. I want her to pay the rent first! The "regular" vet she's taking him to today, needs to call (I gave her the number) give the diagnosis and set up the appointment. Where she's been taking him, there is a different vet there every day and they have no overnight capability and no payment plan... I know he's going to need grafts. I'm hoping A&M can use cadaver skin because Duece isn't going to have much healthy skin left. This dog IS her world.

[millergrovesue]

Certainly understand the extreme affection. I was going to mention calling them. When I've done so, in the past, they have been very helpful. I hope it all works out for her and her buddy. So hard when our doggies are ill.

[crocmommy]

What are they doing taking a seriously ill dog to Petsmart, Ann? I would only consider taking my pets there for vacinnations. that's all. I love my vet I used in Irving and he's reasonable. But it's probably too far for your friends.

[crocmommy]

Ann, my mom found a reasonably priced vet in Plano who is also good....Dr Singh of Parker Road Animal Clinic. One of the most caring vets I've ever heard of.

[crocmommy]

Ann, my mom found a reasonably priced vet in Plano who is also good....Dr Singh of Parker Road Animal Clinic. One of the most caring vets I've ever heard of.

Never mind....I just noticed that she lives in Ft Worth. I might be able to help her find another vet if she ends up doing that.

[ann jusko]

Oh He77, they haven't been using disposable gloves, didn't know to bleach the bathtub they were using to lavage the wounds, and haven't bleached the towels that they've used under him to absorb the guck and plain water they've been using. I *think* we've got them at least a bit more sanitary. This dog is 156 lbs and they couldn't get him in the tub. He would snap at them. Not unexpected for a dog in so much pain. So, one of the RNs on the board suggested taking him outside and using a turkey baster to irrigate the wounds. He actually needs sterile saline to irrigate. We spent hours yesterday trying to help her. They will be taking him to a
"regular" vet today. The GoFundMe is now $3,700+ and contributions are still coming in. Pyr people are amazing. Not only do we love our dogs, we love each others' dogs!

There is a family in Wisconsin that is in the process of adopting a pyr with Down Syndrome. The family is amazing. Dad is a firefighter, Mom is a teacher and the kids are amazing, too. We've started a fund to pay for a special needs dog trainer who is supposed to be THE best in the US. All of us have fallen in love with this dog and his struggles. The family has had him since Dec 31. He's destroyed their house because of his separation anxiety. He actually, tore up the window casing after getting out of his crate (destroying that, too). Now he's in doggy day care, but it's not his first day care. This one was anxious to take on the challenge of working with him and so far, it's going pretty well. We're encouraging Trina to write a children's book about the adventures of Bumble.

[millergrovesue]

I thought I knew a lot about dogs but I didn't know they could have Down Syndrome. Is this specific to the breed?

[crocmommy]

They are better folks than me. I don't think I could handle all that.

The vet at Petsmart should have explained how important it is to keep everything sterile. But when they don't have to worry about seeing the dog again, I guess they're not as concerned.

[ann jusko]

Not that many people know about sterile technique. Certainly not people who haven't been trained in it. They're at risk if they even have a paper cut. You can't know what you don't know. Deuce hasn't ever been sick or hurt before so they took him there for shots and well check-ups. They did take him to a regular vet yesterday. He said the other vets had done more harm. He did 2.5 hours of surgery on him yesterday. They will take him back every day to have the team there clean the wounds and remove the necrotic skin. He upped the amount of pain killer and ran an IV of antibiotic. He'll have that daily, too. I'm just praying this works.

As for Down Syndrome...it's not breed specific. Most pups are "put down". Bumble wasn't but was given up to a Great Pyr rescue in Wisconsin. Trina and Jeff had fostered goldens with problems for years. They did a remarkable job and those dogs had been adopted. When the rescue heard about them, the first pyr they sent to them had to have his leg removed due to cancer. They fostered and then adopted him. We call that "foster failure". Heh! Now they'll have 3 pyrs, all foster failures. There are amazing people in this world who think they're just normal people. But they aren't!

[millergrovesue]

Makes sense that they would be put down. An honest breeder certainly couldn't sell a Down Syndrome puppy so it would just further clog the rescues with dogs that most likely won't be rescued. I'm betting most rescues wouldn't take such damaged dogs either. Sad.

[ann jusko]

They will take them but if there are other medical problems they usually do have them euthanized. I'm very glad that Trina and Jeff have Bumble, the research alone is very valuable. They didn't choose to Prozac him so gradually took him off it. Now Bumble is very popular at the fire station and in the new doggy day care. They send instagrams to Trina at school so she knows what's going on all the time. He's actually made friends there and gets along well.

I'm afraid some breeders throw them aside and don't let them get food. I could NOT do that. Life is precious and it doesn't matter whose life it is (to me).