I had an interesting day today. This was one of those days when you remember why being a vet can be sort of cool. It was supposed to be a quiet, no surgery day. Instead it went like this:

Recheck 6 month old puppy I saw 9 days ago for vomiting. X-rays at the time showed him to be full to the gills of kitty litter. He did well for a while and then got worse. X-rays today sparked an involuntary, “What the hell is that?” Never a good sign. Emergency exploratory follows to remove the top of a doll’s bottle from the small intestine and some possible plastic pieces that had perforated the intestine. Dog is so far doing fine. The lid is about 2 inches in diameter. I would have bet good money that it never could have gotten out of the stomach.

The afternoon brought in a box turtle and the world’s sweetest chameleon in addition to dogs and cats. Then I had to deal with a staff member’s pot bellied pig who has dropped 14 lbs since last Friday. Not good. Trying to get blood from a pig is never easy. I got enough to rule out diabetes and hopefully enough for the lab to see if it is kidney disease. He was getting fluids and injections and junk food and dextrose solution to raise his blood sugar. The owner is going to Hawaii next week. She was all worried about what to do with him while she was gone. I’m thinking that he’s not going to live that long. So I said that if he lives until next week he can come to my house. I’m thinking that might mean that pig is going to live just to spite me. If I’m treating a pig in my house next week (and he is a house pig – there’s no putting him in the barn), I’ll be cussing myself for giving in to crying staff members!