World Veterinary Day: Thank You To Our Amazing FiveSibes Vets!
Today is World Veterinary Day, and my FiveSibes were blessed to have a wonderful team of veterinarians. Dr. Arnold Rugg and Dr Beth Alden were my FiveSibes caring veterinarians since their birth. They cared for them as if they were their own.
I fondly recall when we brought the three Pupsters Wolfgang, Chloe, and Bandit in to the office for their first check-up...oh, the joy on Dr. Rugg's face seeing our three Siberian Husky pups, and knowing we had Harley and Gibson at home...Five Huskies! Oh, the joy!
When Gibson began having seizures shortly after his third birthday (you can read some of my excerpts from Gibson's epilepsy journal HERE), Dr. Rugg was absolutely amazing with his knowledge of seizures in dogs and epilepsy and was the lead vet for Gibson' care. Gibson was eventually diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Dr. Rugg was so knowledgeable, so on top of it, I never needed to take Gibson to a neurologist. Through the medication and supplement regimen, Gibson's seizures eventually were managed, and he lived the last seven years of his life seizure free!
See below for my podcast "The Sibe Vibe" where Dr. Rugg was my guest and spoke in depth on caring for dogs with Canine Epilepsy.
When our Chloe was just four, she blew out both of her CCLs and tore a meniscus while attempting to jump up on the bed. That was a worrisome check-up. Dr. Rugg was concerned and very somber delivering us the news. It's an expensive surgery for one leg, but this was for both of her legs. We were very fortunate at the time we were in a financial position to get her in with a renowned area police dog surgeon who did a wonderful job with Chloe's legs - we had carried her into the hospital, and two days later, with a support harness, she walked out! Then...over the following two years, Chloe's brother Wolfie tore each of his! Back to the surgeon and once again, we happily had a Sibe quite literally back on his feet. (Why did they both, and Gibson tear CCLs? It happens, but in this case, I believe it was as a result of poor breeding).
Then there was the time Wolfie had a suspicious lump on his leg. When he went in for surgery to have it removed, WHOA, what did Dr. Rugg discover? Another strange growth that resembled a baby's foot! Even he had never seen anything like that before in his career! To fully understand this case, you can read about it (and see the photos) HERE.
My FiveSibes enjoyed visits to the vet's! My Gibson though was the one who really loved going there. We lived quite close, and whenever I used to go on a walk with Gibson, he would always lead the way—directly to Dr. Rugg's vet hospital! He would get kisses from all the vet techs and he really was treated like a K9 star there!
Now, when I say Dr. Rugg always went above and beyond, it's an understatement. There was another time when Gibson became suddenly and rapidly ill due to Bromide Toxicity caused by a change in the formulation of his Potassium Bromide capsules made by the compounding pharmacy without any notice to the vets or public. That change in the capsule set off a horrific chain reaction where Gibson quickly became ataxic and lethargic. Once again, Dr. Rugg knew exactly what to do. He immediately detoxed him and absolutely saved his life. You can read all about this scary time in a previous post HERE.
Dr. Rugg also began Gibson on cold laser treatments to help his weak legs (from his epi-meds), and was always available to discuss treatments and therapies and listen to all of my "Dr. Rugg, do you think we could do this/add this supplement/try this vitamin?" conversations!
Then, there was the time when I rushed Gibson to the ER vet after hours, and when he did not get the emergency treatment he desperately needed and was lying on a stretcher with a 107 degree fever, and dying while the ER vet was studying his unusual acting blood on a slide under a microscope. I was losing Gibson. Dr. Rugg answered my call at 2:30 AM to consult with the ER vet to treat Gibson's symptoms while they ran tests to see what was happening. He then opened the office an hour earlier and we transferred Gibson to his care, where he came back from death's door once again. Gibson had a bleeding spleen, and in order to get him stronger for the surgery, he was treated at home with IVs, where the amazing vet techs came to do.
Dr. Rugg also had the difficult task of informing me that once in for the splenectomy, Gibson had an orange sized tumor that was hidden behind behind the spleen (which is why the ER vet could not figure out where his bleeding was coming from) and the cancer was throughout his belly. We had already had the discussion where if once he was in there and it didn't look good for Gibson, we'd would let him go peacefully while under anesthesia...and that is what we did. Let me tell you, when I went in to pick up my boy's ashes, there wasn't a dry eye in the office. They loved my Gibson as much as he loved them.
Dr. Alden, who worked in Dr. Rugg's practice and heads the Vet Tech program at our local university, treated our FiveSibes many times, too! When I woke up one night and discovered Harley's face covered in blood, I don't remember my feet hitting the ground when I went to her. She had been on antibiotics for a dewclaw infection, but now there was a bloodied lump there. Once back at the vet's, Dr. Alden discovered it was a tumor that was beginning to eat into the bone. She performed a successful surgery, all the while assuring me that I shouldn't go where my mind was going!
Another case was when Bandit had a weird giant brown hard lump between her teeth in the gums. Dr. Alden treated her and removed a chunk of wood! Bandit had been chewing on a branch and a chunk broke off and wedged itself in. When I picked up Bandit, she handed me a tube with the chunk in it. Unbelievable! I still have that chunk!
Dr. Alden had also graced our home on house calls that included check-ups and cold laser therapy to several of our Huskies.
As our Huskies grew into senior dogs and needed more at-home care, both Dr. Rugg and Dr. Alden, and a few of the vet techs, would alternately come over for their health check-ups. Dr. Alden also had to do the tough part of helping two of our FiveSibes—Chloe and Harley—peacefully pass at home when their time to journey to the Rainbow Bridge had come.
The last two surviving FiveSibes were Wolfie and Bandit, and they moved with us out of the area. My first concern was getting excellent vet care for them after having the best. After some research, I found a local mobile vet, Dr. Lisa, who was wonderful with them, and what an experience having the dogs treated on a fully operational vet office on wheels! She invited my grandson into the mobile unit and he was able to watch Wolfie get weighed, check out, and treated! What a wonderful experience for a young boy! You can read about it in a previous post HERE.
When Bandit was diagnosed with an oral tumor, Dr. Lisa referred Bandit to a wonderful local surgeon, who successfully removed the tumor. While it was all nerve-wracking for me since I was in unfamiliar territory and so used to over a decade of care from my dogs' previous wonderful team of Drs. Rugg and Alden, but Dr. Lisa really helped settle my nerves and assured me that Wolfie and Bandit were in good hands. And they were.
I'd also like to also acknowledge an amazing vet neurologist that while I have not had her personally treat my FiveSibes, I am proud to have her as a wonderful resource for Canine Epilepsy—Dr. Karen Muñana, professor of neurology, author of over 70 works of veterinary neurology, and member of the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force who is the head of the Companion Animal Epilepsy Research Lab located at the North Carolina State University-College of Veterinary Medicine. I have been thrilled to work with her, and continued to do so, on many of my #LiveGibStrong campaigns where she has shared important research, information, and clinical trails for dogs with seizures.
You can tune in below to when Dr. Muñana was on my "The Sibe Vibe" podcast aired on Dog Works Radio, where we discussed Canine Epilepsy, along with Julie Nettifee, RVT, MS, VTS (Neurology) and the American Humane 2020 Veterinary Nurse Hero.
What a true statement! How often are we the scared, nervous, anxious pet caregiver that not only do veterinarians help our pets, but they also go a great distance in calming our nerves.
So, today, be sure to give a big "Thank You" to your pets' vets!
Excellent vet care is a blessing. We are very happy with our vet, her philosophy of care exactly matches ours and I dread the day she decides to retire.
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