Monday, November 19, 2018

K-Laser Success Story #31 (Cat Bite Wound)

For our newest post - this cat is an indoor/outdoor adventurer.

It must have gotten in a fight with another cat - and developed a very large abscess in its armpit. I removed a large amount of puss via sterile syringe. No obvious bite marks could be made out at the time. Radiographs were negative for any fractures. Antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory was given. It returned 2 days later with 2 large open wounds - ultimately the original penetrating wounds did open with the puss drainage. That is when we started laser therapy.

From first picture to final picture - October 29 - November 14 (5 Laser Sessions)
 
The puss filled pocket is large white blob to the right of the chest 

Laser #1 October 29th - The penetrating wound spots significantly ruptured open.

Laser #2- November 1

Laser #3 November 5
 
 
Laser #4 - November 8th

 
 
Laser #5 - November 14

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

K- Laser Success Story #30 (AMAZING!)

This most recent success story was a doozy! 

The patient was a dog that had a large skin mass in its groin that had to be removed. Due to its location and the amount of skin that had to be removed- the closure suture line had more than normal tension, and it was in an area of motion due to the leg. Ultimately, there was some dehiscence (opening of incision during healing). The closure was already pushing the limits the first time - going in and removing more to be able to close again was not advisable. So what to do??  K-Laser Therapy!!

The original surgery was May 1st, the first day of dehiscence was May 7th- when laser therapy was started. Once again - we did about 10 lasers over the next 6 weeks, along with just antibiotics and a t-shirt to avoid licking. The dog was happy, we were happy, and best the owners were very satisfied! 


May 1st - pre-surgery



 
May 7 - 1st day of dehiscence - STARTED LASER THERAPY
 
 
May 14th 

 
 
May 16th

 
 
May 18th
 
 
May 24th
 
 
May 29th

June 4th
 
 
June 13th


June 21 Final Laser


June 29 Follow UP to see COMPLETE CLOSURE AND RESOLUTION










Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Heartworms, Fleas, and Ticks OH MY!

2018 is shaping up to be a record year for the amount of fleas, ticks, and heartworms present in our area.

HEARTWORMS- Spread by mosquitos - wherever mosquitos are.
-Fort Wayne is TOP 10 in the country for emerging heartworm infection.
-http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-diseases-conditions-a-z/heartworm-disease-dogs

-Prevention is key! We offer 3 options for heartworm prevention:
       1) Sentinel/Interceptor Plus
           -Once per month, year round pills.
           -Kills the baby heartworm before it can become an adult
     2) Proheart 6
           -One injection that lasts for 6 months!
                 +Doesn't allow heartworm infection to proceed
                 +Need to have a heartworm check in past year
     3) Revolution
           -Topical that is absorbed into the bloodstream
                  +Kills baby heartworms before becoming adults.

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TICKS- We have 4 kinds of ACTIVE ticks in our area.
-Spreads disease to humans and pets alike.
-Can live for up to 7 years  😨 Inside and Out
-Can spread disease in as little as 3 hours from attachment
       +Ehrlichia and Anaplasma
       +Lyme Disease in 24-36 hours
       +Bartonella and Babesia (effects Red Blood Cells)
-Lyme Disease tick thrives in the winter! Just has to be over 35* to be active above the snow line

http://www.petsandparasites.org/dog-owners/ticks/  .

-Once again - PREVENTION is key:
         1)Simparica
                +30 day pill - kills all fleas and ticks
                     -Prevents disease spread!
                     -Most cost effective
         2) Bravecto
                 +90 day pill - kills fleas and ticks
                     -Only kills Lone Star Tick effectively for 60 days
         **Revolution only kills 1 type of tick in dogs
         **Sentinel DOES NOT COVER TICKS
         **OTC topical Tick preventatives leave your pet open
             disease transfer

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FLEAS-Fleas can live year round inside your home
-The adult flea is only the tip of the iceberg for flea issues
-Flea eggs, maggots, and junior stages make up the main problem
-Can take up to 4 months for eggs to become adults
        +Why you need to treat for 3-4 months to ensure success
-Adult fleas can lay 40-60 eggs PER FLEA PER DAY!

http://www.petsandparasites.org/dog-owners/fleas/  .

-Again PREVENTION is KEY:
          1)Sentinel - is a flea BIRTH CONTROL
                -It DOES NOT KILL ADULTS
                -Prevents infestations from happening
          2)Simparica - Kills all fleas and quickly
          3)Bravecto -  Kills all fleas
          4)Revolution - Kills all flea life stages (not as quickly)
          **Fleas are becoming RESISTANT to topical Frontline
              type products - DONT WAST YOUR MONEY
          **Flea baths only last as long as the pet is in the bath tub
          **Flea collars are innefective
          **MUST TREAT ALL PETS in the home to end an active
              infestation
                              

Monday, March 19, 2018

K-Laser Success Story #29 (Hit by car)

Sorry it has taken me a while to compile and publish a new success story. There are so many success stories that we have on a weekly basis that are just hard to be able to show on a blog setting.

This special dog has got to be one of the sweetest, most easy going patients I have had. She got out of her front yard and ran into the street right in front of a car. She is only 14 lbs and could have easily been crushed to death. Instead, she presented to me in mild shock and had no use of her back end. She had feeling and some motor response but was painful and unable to hold any pressure.
She had an obvious palpable fracture involving her right pelvic limb and had road rash on her groin area and front leg.

X-rays revealed a complete fracture of her right femur, right tibia, left pubic ramus (pelvis), and right fibula. She was stabilized overnight with fluid therapy, antibiotics, pain medication, and the first laser light therapy. Surgery the next day, once anesthetized, I palpated instability in the left upper femur as well. In surgery a pin wa placed with cerclage wire to stabilize the right femur (due to the natural curvature of he distal femur- complete placement depth of the distalnpin was not ideal, but sufficient).   I did not place a pin in the right tibia as there was relatively good stability, the back legs were going to be splinted and we were going to have strict cage rest. On the left femur- I found in surgery that the greater trochanter (where the major leg muscle attaches to pull the lower leg forward) had sheared odd completely. I reattached it to the femur with wire. A complete hind end bandage with splints was applied to keep minimal motion and stability and she went home in good spirits.

Over the next couple of weeks, she returned for diarrhea and severe perirectal swelling from the pelvic fracture. She also managed to chew through the bandaging on the left foot and chew on her middle two toes extensively. We partially rebamdaged her, lasered her pelvis, toes, and upper femur, and cleaned regurlarly. About 2.5 weeks postop she had developed a dehiscence on the pin leg and a sore/fleshy tissue on the left femur incision. Staples were placed to close the pin leg gap and laser was started specifically on those incisions also as more complete bandage changes were instituted. She had found a day to get her ecollar off and chew on her toes again midway through, but by the 3 week mark she was standing and slightly getting around again. Only a soft bandage was placed for the remaining 2 weeks. By the 5 week postop mark she was doing great. The bandage was removed  and she was mobile! 5 week X-rays showed excellent healing in all fracture areas and the wounds were doing awesome.

Surgery January 31 - Last pictures and X-rays- March 6

35 DAYS TOTAL - 10 total lasers.


DAY 1- Right femoral fracture, tibial fracture, Left pelvic fracture, femoral tuberosity fracture



Body cast going home
 
Post operative radiograph.
 
February 9th- She decided to start chewing on her left foot -  :-0

 
3 days later - has some good granulation starting

 When I removed the complete cast at 2.5 weeks and she had some dehiscence at the left surgical site.  
 
 The right leg had excellent granulation at a mild dehiscence.
 
The toes were looking great 1 week later! February 16th

 
Good granulation on Feb 19th (3 days from last picture)

 
Toes almost healed February 19th (3 more days from last toes!!)
 
February 19th follow up radiographs- can see a Left fibular fracture

 
 Standing on her own!!! (February 19th-just under 3 weeks from injury)
 
 She got her e-collar off and started chewing again :-(  (February 21)
 
Good granulation on February 21st
 
2 weeks later - Almost healed again (March 6th)
Left leg
 
Right Leg
 
March 6th right leg granulation
 
March 6 left leg granulation (staples gone)



 
Excellent bone healing from laser/rest on tibia, pelvis, left fibula.
 
 The right femoral IM pin has held and there is definite bony callous developing

 
Here she is 35 days post hit by car - able to walk around again!!