Vet Cetera magazine 2015

During a follow-up visit,
Abby waits for an exam.
Doggy Dialysis
DERINDA BLAKENEY, APR / CVHS
PUPPY GETS SECOND CHANCE WITH TREATMENT AT OSU
Abby, an English golden
retriever puppy, became
deathly ill only 10 days after
she joined the Ashcraft family of
Edmond, Okla.
“I noticed that Abby wasn’t eating
and that she felt extremely warm,” says
Shasta Ashcraft. “We took Abby to
our normal vet, Britton Road Veterinary
Clinic in Oklahoma City. They
kept her through the day and monitored
her. Her values weren’t right,
and her kidney function didn’t look
good. They asked if I wanted to take
her home for the night since nobody
would be there with her 24/7. I was
out of town and wasn’t comfortable
with that so that evening, my
mom actually drove to Oklahoma
City, picked her up and brought her
to OSU.”
Dr. Lydia Gentry with the Veterinary
Medical Hospital’s emergency
service quickly found that Abby had
elevated kidney values, meaning her
kidneys were not working properly.
Abby was given IV fluids and some
antibiotics but by morning, her kidneys
had completely shut down.
“Abby was diagnosed with a bacterial
infection called leptospirosis,”
says Dr. Shane Lyon, assistant professor
of small animal internal medicine
at OSU’s Veterinary Medical
Hospital. “Leptospirosis is a bacteria
that is transmitted through the urine
of infected animals, particularly rats,
possums, raccoons, things like that
in the environment. When dogs are
exposed to the urine, this bacterial
infection infects their bloodstream
initially, then settles into their kidneys
and causes kidney damage.”
With her kidneys not working,
Abby’s body had no way to rid itself
of toxins. Her team of veterinary specialists
included Drs. Lyon and Kelly
Sesemann in small animal internal
medicine, Dr. Sabrina Reilly in anesthesia,
Drs. Mark Rochat and Brandy
Cichocki in small animal surgery,
several veterinary technicians and
assistants, and fourth-year veterinary
student Rebecca Dallam.
“We used a specific kind of dialysis
on Abby called peritoneal dialysis,”
says Lyon. “We surgically placed
a tube into her abdomen and infused
sterile product into her abdomen.
We allowed that to sit for a period
of time using her body to draw out
those toxins that should be removed
from the kidneys and then removed
that fluid from her abdomen. That
cycle was repeated every hour for the
first 24 hours.”
Abby undergoes dialysis while
wearing a stockinette bandage.
PHOTO / CVHS
16 Center for Veterinary Health Sciences