Working at a veterinary hospital in the kennels, I must say I receive little information on what is happening with patients. And even rarer still do I get to see a case from start to finish, but today I (mostly) did. A golden retriever came in, she wasn't old and nothing was obviously wrong with her except she couldn't really stand, like she was too tired to even get up. She ended up dying while they were in the process of diagnosing her (x-rays, bloodwork, etc.) After that, the owners elected to do a necropsy, which I heard that the doctor on duty didn't like to perform, not because it was uncomfortable or anything, but simply because she felt as if she rarely found answers when she performed them. And so it was. After opening her up and examining her, nothing was found. I was extremely curious so this was a letdown, but this is the first time I had seen the inside of a dog so I was rather intrigued about the necropsy process.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Heart of Gold
Working at a veterinary hospital in the kennels, I must say I receive little information on what is happening with patients. And even rarer still do I get to see a case from start to finish, but today I (mostly) did. A golden retriever came in, she wasn't old and nothing was obviously wrong with her except she couldn't really stand, like she was too tired to even get up. She ended up dying while they were in the process of diagnosing her (x-rays, bloodwork, etc.) After that, the owners elected to do a necropsy, which I heard that the doctor on duty didn't like to perform, not because it was uncomfortable or anything, but simply because she felt as if she rarely found answers when she performed them. And so it was. After opening her up and examining her, nothing was found. I was extremely curious so this was a letdown, but this is the first time I had seen the inside of a dog so I was rather intrigued about the necropsy process.
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Awesome! I got to see a partial necropsy once on a foal that went septic, and a full one on a binturong (a South American creature). They were both very fascinating and definitely gave us cause of death. I realize this isn't always the case though...
ReplyDelete~Melissa
Just googled binturong, that would be so cool to see (alive or not)!
DeleteCheck out Carolina Tiger Rescue- I spent a couple weeks down there this summer and it was an experience like no other :) They do multiple week internships as well as summer-long internships.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty common in my experience with golden retrievers. I've known of quite a few that just died for no apparent reason, and necropsy didn't find anything. Very morosely interesting and heart wrenching. I'm never getting a purebred golden, that reason being one. I'd love more anatomy photos, just nothing too wide angled and sad. :)
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