Pegasus Post: June 11, 2019

4 Tuesday June 11 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
News
PEGASUS POST
McMaster & Heap
Veterinary practice
MOOSE’S MISADVENTURE
Meet Mr Moose, a 7 week
old White Swiss Shepherd
who our vet Kirsty saw
on Saturday for anorexia,
straining to defecate and
vomiting for the past 24
hours. Moose had Giardia
as a wee puppy and
was treated whilst at the
breeders. On examination
Moose was alert and
interactive but extremely
painful on palpation of
the abdomen, hunching
and crying when touched.
Kirsty didn’t feel he was
constipated. He was very lean and dehydrated.
Being so young, Kirsty was concerned at
his level of pain so he was admitted for
Intravenous fluids, pain medications and xrays
to determine the cause of his pain.
Plain radiographs didn’t show much initially
so we went straight into contrast studies,
administering barium orally. The xrays looked
pretty and we had a hunch he either had an
intestinal foreign body, an intussusception
or severe gastroenteritis. The pain relief we
had administered
hadn’t really settled
him at all. His blood
testing revealed
an anemia and
an inflammatory
response.
After close
consultation
with the owners,
Kirsty felt it the
right option to
anaesthetise
Moose and have
a look inside to see what was going on. She
didn’t feel he was improving and that it
wouldn’t be right to wait another 24 hours.
On surgical examination, Moose
was diagnosed with a jejunojejunal
intussusception – this is where an inflamed
section of bowel has slipped inside another
segment of bowel (prolapse), effectively
obstructing and restricting the movement of
ingesta through.
This can happen
in any part of the
gastrointestinal
tract. It is more
common in
younger animals
and often occurs
in association with
a worm burden,
recent diarrhoea,
a foreign object
in the gut, intense
gastrointestinal
contractions or
recent bowel
surgery. Moose did
have Giardia as a
young puppy and
was treated for this.
Gastrointestinal intussusceptions are
serious with severe complications if not
corrected surgically. These can be electrolyte
imbalances, severe dehydration, death
(necrosis) of bowel tissue due to constriction
of the blood supply and severe toxaemia.
Clinically these dogs present with bloody
diarrhoea, straining to pass faeces, weight loss,
occasional vomiting and loss of appetite.
Luckily for “Moose” our vet Kirsty was onto it
late on a Saturday afternoon. Waiting another
24 hours for surgery
could have been
too late for Moose.
Kirsty easily reduced
the prolapsed
bowel and
checked the entire
gastrointestinal
tract for any other
abnormalities.
The bowel looked
essentially healthy.
Kirsty biopsied a
piece of bowel
tissue just in case there is an underlying cause
as it why this occurred. We are still awaiting
these results.
Moose has recovered very well from his big
ordeal. He needed to spend a few nights at
our After Hours clinic for around the clock
monitoring, basically due to him undergoing
major surgery at only 13 weeks of age. He was
discharged on pain medication, antibiotics
and gut protectants. We are
awaiting bowel biopsy and
fecal testing results to see if a
cause can be attributed to the
intussusception. He’s back on
his food, maintaining his weight
and healing well. He’s simply
adorable and very huggable.
Well done Kirsty for another
great surgical success. Steve
and I are very proud of our staff,
always going the extra mile
for their patients, regardless if
these patients are seen over a
weekend or late at night.
Dr Michele McMaster
MESSAGE: Aranui’s Arwen Valks wants to publish a book that could help people
with mental health struggles.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
Bid to self-publish book
to help anxiety,
depression sufferers
• By Matt Slaughter
ARWEN VALKS says
no one should have to go
through depression and
anxiety alone.
The Aranui resident has
been through this herself
and knows how hard
things can get.
Now, Mrs Valks wants to
publish Rupert’s Black Dog,
a book she has written
for young people who are
facing similar struggles, or
might do in the future
A Givealittle page she
started has already raised
$1656.
Mrs Valks wants to
raise $5000 at least, which
would publish about 250
books, but said the more
she raised the more people
the book would be able to
help.
She said the story followed
a young boy who
discovers his anxiety and
depression through talking
to a black dog and learns
how to deal with it and
share what he is feeling
with others.
Mrs Valks said she felt
the message of the book
would be of value to both
young people with mental
health problems and their
parents.
“There are way too many
precious, amazing, beautiful
little people who can’t
see that about themselves
and who get stuck in this
cloud and think their only
way out is to call time out
on themselves and it’s just
heartbreaking and it’s
completely unnecessary.”
Part of her inspiration
for writing the book was
the mental health struggles
she went through after the
birth of her 19-month-old
daughter Zuri.
Mrs Valks said if her experience
with anxiety and
depression since she was
a child, which had shaped
some of the themes of the
book, could help others she
would have done her job.
“If me going through
all of this and writing this
book makes things better
for half a dozen people,
then it’s worth it. “
Mrs Valks said she had
sent Rupert’s Black Dog to
some publishers, but nothing
had come of this yet.
Her decision to fundraise
and self-publish was
because she wanted to get
the book out and start
helping people as soon as
possible.
The dog in the story was
named after her friend
Rupert Hill-Hayr, who illustrated
the book for free.
The Givealittle page
for the book closes at the
end of this month and
Mrs Valks said every
contribution would help.
Open 7 days
Cnr Hoon Hay & Coppell place
phone 338 2534, Fax 339 8624
e. mcmasterandheap@yahoo.co.nz
www.mcmasterheap.co.nz
McMaster & Heap