Southern View: February 28, 2017

4 Tuesday February 28 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
SOUTHERN VIEW
McMaster & Heap
Veterinary practice
Miracles do happen….
Misty is a 14 year old Rough Coated
Collie ( lassie dog) lovingly owned by
my parents. She’s never been a hugely
energetic dog but has the gentlest,
sweetest nature. She has had the odd
health issue and is currently taking
ongoing medication for arthritis of
multiple joints. She’s not a complainer
though and will still slowly walk around
my parents farm, her favourite pastime
being flushing out rabbits and doing
cattle work with my dad. Shes always
enjoyed a visit from Lola.
Very sadly late last year, Misty was
accidentally run over. My devastated
parents flew to the clinic where Steve
and our nurses immediately took
charge. Luckily they live very close. She
was remarkably alive and seemed in
minimal shock, not like my poor mum
and dad. Our nurses were fabulous – it
was like triage in a hospital ER room.
Whilst she was checked over for shock,
bleeding and fractures, the nurses were
placing an IV line in her, were pulling
bloods to check her internal organs and
organizing shock and pain medications.
I had to consult as it was a usual busy
Saturday clinic. I can tell you its very
hard to carry on as normal, when a dog
you know and love is at risk of dying
and I couldn’t be there to support my
mum and dad. I’m very thankful to my
husband Steve for arriving when he did
and taking full control of the situation.
Within 30 minutes of arriving Misty
actually looked improved. She wasn’t
wanting to stand, but her vital organs
were all confirmed fine from her
blood tests and her heart and lungs
sounded fine. She was on IV fluids and
we wanted to give her a little time on
fluids before we had to sedate and
xray her abdomen, chest and bones.
She was an incredible little patient,
never whimpering nor complaining
once. Miraculously Misty had broken
no bones – I was worried her pelvis or
worse her lower lumbar spine could
have fractured.
Misty was discharged later that night
into my parents care on a variety of
medications to ensure she was pain
Open 7 days
Cnr Hoon Hay & Coppell place
phone 338 2534, Fax 339 8624
e. mcmasterandheap@yahoo.co.nz
www.mcmasterheap.co.nz
free and comfortable. She certainly
wasn’t out of the woods but was better
than any of us could have believed.
She could walk, just, and was eating
and had urinated. Misty continued to
improve slowly over the coming days
becoming stronger and more mobile
but my dad had noticed what looked
like crusty scabs under her dense coat.
We discovered many of these blackened
areas and after shaving her back end it
became obvious that a large area of her
skin was “dying”, due to vascular ( blood
vessel) damage suffered at the time of
the accident.
Over the next 4 months a massive effort
was undertaken by my mum and dad
and Misty herself, to help heal these
very extensive skin wounds, comparable
to what you would see in burns victims.
The area of skin that sloughed off
initially was about 30cm by 20cm. The
wound has had to be cleaned, kept
moist and protected by bandaging for
the past 4 months. She was monitored
24/7 and kept inside a lot to protect
the bandages from slipping. Keeping
flies away was also a difficult task. She
has been so brave allowing us all to
clean and dress it for her but finally the
healing is nearly complete.
There were times when my mum wasn’t
sure we were getting anywhere and
whether we were doing the right thing
by her. She is an elderly dog and her
ongoing care required by my parents
was huge. But that aside, I could see
Misty wanted to push through and keep
going – she wasn’t ready to depart this
world. Plus she was so dearly loved by
my parents. It also helped that my mum
was a registered nurse so could easily
cope with large wounds and their care.
Give an animal time, have patience and
faith and show lots of love and miracles
can happen. Every day I thank the
higher powers that I am the one chosen
to care for all the animals.
-Dr Michele McMaster
McMaster & Heap
Your Local Views
Petrol tax for road repairs
and the benefits of diversity
City
councillor
Phil
Clearwater
has his say
on the use
of petrol tax to help
fix the city’s roads
and the importance
of diversity in the
community
Many streets and roads
in Christchurch still
require a lot more work to
bring them up to standard.
I have always had the
view that central Government
should be returning
some of the tax-take on
petrol to help fix Christchurch’s
streets.
I have never said or
supported any proposal
to have any additional tax
on petrol to help pay for
Christchurch’s earthquake
recovery. Christchurch
people have enough burdens
already and I would
not support this.
I have said that the city
has a special case for further
Government funding from
some of the petrol tax Government
already collects.
$32
WOF
ALL CAR
SERVICING
Convenient central city
repairs and parking
Fixing our streets and
infrastructure will take
more time than people
envisaged, but we need to
complete this as soon as it
is feasible, and some of the
present petrol tax could be
used to help achieve this.
On Waitangi Day at
Tuahiwi Marae, our mayor
led a citizenship ceremony
welcoming new citizens
from 17 countries. Recently,
the city council signed
off our multi-cultural
strategy, which aims for
Christchurch to be inclusive
of our new migrants.
Every New Zealand citizen
must feel they can call
our country their home
and feel they belong here.
Particularly to help with
the rebuild, we have had
a large increase in the
number of migrants and
a significant number live
in the suburbs of south
Christchurch.
The world is divided
as to how we treat new
migrants, but I believe
we must find practical
ways to make them feel
welcome, as Christchurch
needs their skills and they
are an important part of
our communities.
Also, we have to
remember that, at some
stage in our history, all of
our forebears immigrated
to New Zealand from
overseas.
Six years after the
earthquakes, Christchurch
is really coming alive again
and people from many
nations will help our city
thrive.
Here’s to everyone
having a great year in
Christchurch.
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