Their Tails Kept Wagging

Fe Anam Avis, Stephen Birchard

Description

Inspiring True Stories of Pets Who Survived Against All Odds - Discover That Love, Forgiveness, and Hope Will Always Prevail!

There's nothing quite like the bond of a human and their pet.

Which is why our hearts ache when we see our furry friends in pain.

As a Vet, Stephen Birchard often treats animals with severe medical problems. Whether it's intense injuries or dire illnesses, he's seen them all, and nothing hurts more than to see an animal suffer.

Luckily, that's where the sad part ends.

In this book, you'll find a collection of personal stories of Dr. Stephen's encounters with animals who have the odds stacked against them. But, their will to survive will always prevail.

These pets have helped shape him into the professional he is today, and he hopes that by sharing these stories, they can inspire you as well.

Be inspired and moved to tears with each chapterhrough the hear as you read about the impossible conditions affecting these animals and how Dr. Stephen helped them overcome.

In each story, he details the animals' medical issues, procedures they must go through, and their life after treatment.

Follow the stories of:

Rip, the young athletic Labrador who overcame serious surgical complications.

Hershey, the fighter who conquered severe infection.

Charlie, who underwent multiple surgeries and rehab.

Josie, who survived an arrow through her heart.

Billy Bob, the service dog cancer survivor.

Jack, who pulled through a major operation that other doctors thought impossible.

Bob, Dr. Stephen's personal dog, who battled cancer and beat the odds.

Maximus, the severely burned young cat.

Bruiser, the vet school surgery course lab dog who gave his life to help Stephen become a doctor.

And Tigger, the young cat who survived a major accident and returned to normal life.

Take these stories to heart and see that through love, loyalty, and forgiveness we can overcome anything!

Sujets

• Pets
• Dogs

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456638870
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

Their Tails Kept Wagging
Pets Show Us How Hope, Forgiveness, and Love Prevail
 
 
 
 
 
By : Stephen Birchard
Co-author : Fe Anam Avis
Copyright 2022 Stephen Birchard,
All rights reserved.
 
Published by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-3887-0 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-3887-0 (Ebook)
 
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This book is dedicated to Bruiser.
When you read his story, you’ll understand why.
Acknowledgments
“You’ve always been fascinated with wound healing in animals, why don’t you write a book about it?” A simple question from my friend and co-author Fe Anam Avis that led to this book. Little did we know what would come of it: a book more about our relationships with animals than the biology of wounds and how they heal. Ultimately, the two are intertwined, and what we discover is that healing involves both the body and the soul. Fe’s idea allowed me to relive and tell stories of courageous animals who faced life-threatening disease. I can’t thank him enough for suggesting the idea, brainstorming the concept, reviewing the rough draft, and adding his intelligence to the content.
Editor Diane Stockwell with The Editorial Department did more than suggest revisions and correct technical mistakes; she brought the manuscript back to life. After writing the rough draft and making some revisions, the book lost its momentum, and its author needed encouragement from an expert. Diane did just that. When severely ill animals take significant steps in their recovery, we say they are “turning the corner.” Diane helped our book do that. Brian Klems, also an editor, reviewed a sample of the book and provided some outstanding ideas to improve the manuscript.
Many thanks to Bo Bennett and his team at eBookit.com for transforming my manuscript into a book. From formatting to publishing and marketing, his services were outstanding.
My small group of manuscript readers included Pat Davis, Ginney Abblett, and KC Jorgenson, my dedicated and talented veterinary technician at MedVet Toledo. Thanks to all of you for your reviews and suggestions. KC also was part of the medical team that spent countless hours nursing Maximus Quintus back to health. Her skilled management of Maximus’s multiple anesthetic episodes was essential to his recovery.
A special thanks to the owners of Rip, Hershey, Josie, Billy Bob, Jack, and Maximus for allowing me to contact them, sometimes many years after their pet’s medical ordeal, to complete the stories of their cherished companion. In some cases, their loved one had passed away, but they were still willing to reflect on their lives and give me an even clearer picture of their loving relationship with them.
Others that deserve thanks for their assistance were Bobbi Englebeck and Amy Zimmerman for their help with patient information.
All the doctors, veterinary technicians, and veterinary students who provided medical care for these animals were essential to their stories and to their recovery. The techs and students were the ones who kept the patients clean with bathing and grooming, did daily physical exams on them, obtained samples of various bodily fluids, fed them, petted them, and carried them outside for valuable time in the sunshine. I wish I could thank them all personally because their nursing care was invaluable.
To my advisor, colleague, and valued friend, Dr. Ron Bright, thank you for making me a surgeon. My surgical career, and thus this book, were made possible by you.
Finally, thank you to the primary surgeon on Jack and Maximus, loving owner of Bob, a trusted colleague and intimate friend, and the one who doled out hugs as Bruiser’s chapter brought me to tears. Dr. Becky Ball, you helped me make decisions on an array of book details, allowed me to include you in the stories, and made me a part of your life. You are a fantastic doctor, mother, and wife. I am a lucky man.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1: Rip
Chapter 2: Hershey
Chapter 3: Charlie
Chapter 4: Josie
Chapter 5: Billy Bob
Chapter 6: Jack
Chapter 7: Bob
Chapter 8: Maximus
Chapter 9: Bruiser
Chapter 10: Tigger
Chapter 11: Trust the Wagging Tail
Epilogue
References
About the Authors
 
Preface
“For life is a seamless web. It connects us not merely with one another, but with all that is sentient—with all that shares its miracle of birth and feeling and death.”
–Abe Fortas 1
I had repaired hundreds of diaphragmatic hernias on dogs and cats, but I was nervous about this one. It was a chronic hernia, present for over a year, and we didn’t know what had caused it. The diaphragm is the thin sheet of muscle that separates the belly from the chest cavity. It was torn, allowing the liver, spleen, and intestines to slide out of the abdomen and move into the chest, putting pressure on the lungs. The patient, Little Orphan Annie, was a skinny, scruffy, affectionate little cat. Her owner found her in a parking lot when she was just ten weeks old. She was frail, dehydrated, and malnourished. He nursed her back to health and decided to keep her as a member of his family. But he noticed that her breathing had always been abnormal, like she was fighting to get enough air, and it was getting worse. Since there was no known history of trauma, her veterinarian was concerned that she could have pneumonia or possibly a congenital disability of her heart and lungs. Radiographs of Orphan Annie’s chest showed the diaphragmatic hernia. Most of her intestines and liver had moved into her chest cavity, impinging on the lungs and making it hard for her to breathe. She needed an operation to fix the damage, but it would be tricky.
Her anesthesia began well; she was on a ventilator to help her breathe, receiving gas anesthesia, and her vital signs were stable. After opening her abdomen, we saw a large hole in the diaphragm and scar tissue between the lungs and the herniated organs. There were also adhesions between the pericardium—the thin sac surrounding the heart—and the liver. I released the scar tissue by cutting it with scissors, careful not to injure the delicate lungs and heart. All the organs trespassing in the chest had to be gently pulled back to where they belonged in the belly. All went fine until I manipulated the liver. It was mushy and discolored, purplish instead of the typical dark brown. When I carefully tried to pull it to its usual location, it started bleeding.
“Dr. Birchard, her blood pressure is dropping!” KC, the veterinary technician performing anesthesia, was visibly concerned. “Increase her intravenous fluid rate and give her a unit of cat blood,” I said, trying to stay calm. She hurriedly set up the transfusion as I continued to coax the bleeding liver back home in the abdomen where it belonged. But the more I manipulated it, the faster it bled. The tension in the room was palpable. Annie could not afford to lose much blood; she was not in good health. If we didn’t stop the bleeding, she would go into shock and die. Hemorrhage was coming from several different areas of the liver. All I could do was put pressure on it with surgical sponges and hope it would stop. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my composure.
After a few minutes which seemed like hours, the liver started looking better. My finger pressure, combined with Annie’s blood clotting abilities, allowed the bleeding to slow down. Her blood pressure and other vital signs began to improve. I gingerly put the liver back where it belonged, praying that the bleeding would not start again, and repaired the hole in the diaphragm with stitches. I looked at the liver again, and the bleeding had stopped. Thank goodness for that. I closed the abdominal incision, and we moved her into the Intensive Care Unit, where she slowly recovered from the anesthesia.
I called Little Orphan Annie’s owner and told him she had made it through the surgery and was stable for now, but she was not out of the woods yet. Complications after surgery like this are common and can be severe. Her chances of survival were no better than 50/50. We would monitor her carefully for the next twenty-four hours. I didn’t sleep well that night.
Patients like Little Orphan Annie are the reason I became a veterinary surgeon. I felt called to help animals overcome injury or disease, even as a child. I have always loved animals and am fascinated by their ability to recover from many health problems. The normal physiology of the animal body is fantastic, but its ability to heal damaged parts is even more remarkable. In the face of debilitating injury or disease, the animal’s body mobilizes its natural restorative processes to heal the wounds.
In some cases, the damage is too severe, and the animal, overwhelmed by the trauma, loses the battle for survival. But given expert medical assistance combined with an inherent will to survive, animals can defy the odds even while facing life-threatening illnesses. In my forty-four years as a veterinarian, I have been privileged to witness many patients successfully manage the treacherous journey back to health after developing a critical illness. This book is about them, how their fight for survival affected me, and how veterinarians become emotionally attached to patients like Little Orphan Annie.
Severe injury or illness can affect a dog, cat, or other pet in several ways. For example, they can be hit by a car, attacked by another animal, or burned in a house fire. They can fall victim to accidents, abuse, diseases of internal organs, or cancer. Each animal in this book had a different medical condition, but they all healed by the same process. I find this process wondrous in its complexity and be