Category: Veterinary tips

Maintenance Fluids

Previously, we discussed the components of a fluid therapy plan and talked about hydration deficits. This week I want to touch on maintenance fluids. Maintenance rates are typically calculated using the following formulae: ml/day = 80 × bodyweight (kg)0.75 (cats) ml/day = 132 ×bodyweight (kg)0.75 (dogs) or ml/day = 30 × bodyweight (kg) + 70 These formulae

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GDV Diagnosis: All Hands on Deck

Gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) is a true veterinary emergency and while it can be daunting to be presented with a sick dog with suspected GDV, the most important thing to remember is this patient will succumb to this condition without your intervention. First, a little pathophysiology: GDV is a broad term

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Dystocia Part 2 – Surgical or Medical Management

Part two of this series will cover when medical management is suitable or when surgical intervention is required. To start with, a few things indicate an immediate caesarean section is required: Signs of fetal distress (for example, bradycardia) Maternal exhaustion and more than four fetuses remaining Systemically unwell bitch/queen Fetal

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Dystocia Part 1 – Labour Stages & Diagnostics

Now most female canine patients are spayed; it comes as no surprise reproductive emergencies are not as common. One area of confusion seems to be not knowing how to determine a true dystocia emergency from the process of normal partuirition, especially when having discussion over the phone with an owner

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Abdominal Radiography – Tips For Image Interpretation

Abdominal radiographs can be daunting, but here are six tips to help you get the most information from your studies and some tips on interpreting those images. Patient preparation Have the patient prepared as best as possible, have them dry as wet hair shows up on x-rays and appropriately sedated, or

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Perfusion Deficits and Fluid Resuscitation: A More In-depth Look

Previously we discussed the four basic components of a fluid therapy plan – perfusion deficit, hydration deficit, maintenance requirements and ongoing losses. Let’s consider perfusion deficits. As an emergency clinician, correcting perfusion deficits is a crucial part of stabilising a patient. So what is a perfusion deficit? It either refers to a

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Intoxications: Phone Conversations Part 2

Building on from last week’s blog on telephone advise, this is what I advise that owners can do at home if they have been exposed to a toxin. The main routes of exposure are ocular, dermal and gastrointestinal. Ocular Acids and alkalis cause the most severe effects as they can

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Intoxications: Phone Conversations

We frequently field phone calls from owners who are concerned about their pets being intoxicated or having access to a toxic compound. These are the list of questions I ask always owners: What is your pet doing? The main reason I ask this question first is to determine if the

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Icteric Serum

The final discolouration of the serum we are going to cover is icteric serum. Icteric serum is caused by the presence of excess bilirubin in the blood stream as a result of increased production (pre-hepatic) or inappropriate excretion (hepatic and post-hepatic). The most common causes of pre-hepatic icterus is haemolytic

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