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Tag: Snakes

  • How to approach the bleeding patient, part 1

    How to approach the bleeding patient, part 1

    My patient is bleeding – what do I do?

    A bleeding patient can be overwhelming but there are only a few pieces of equipment that you need and a step-by-step approach.

    1. Ask yourself the question:

    “Is my patient bleeding due to local issue (trauma, for example) or from a system coagulopathy?”

    If a local issue is suspected like trauma, then treat as required. If unsure, treat the trauma anyway and then put your Sherlock Holmes hat on and let’s get started…

    2. Assess the history

    Important history questions:

    Recent trauma?

    This will help determine of the bleed was spontaneous or precipitated by injury

    Is rodenticide used on the property?

    Pro tip: Don’t ask if there is access to rat bait as a lot of owners don’t believe their dog can get to it and will say no.

    Does your pet live in an enclosed yard or apartment building?

    Snakes can cause coagulopathies, and are a common in some areas. However, it if the pet lives in an enclosed yard or inside an apartment building then snake bites are less likely, unless they are walked or have a property near bushland

    History of previous successful surgeries?

    Yes? Unlikely congenital

    Current medications?

    Some medications can cause a thrombocytopaenia although rare to be severe enough to cause spontaneous bleeding.

    3. Consider the signalment

    Amazingly the signalment can give us a good idea as well.

    • Young dog: Due to their inquisitive nature, snake bites or rodenticide are more likely.
    • Very young: Congenital should be considered, although they can be just as inquisitive.
    • Older patients: Tend to behave themselves and therefore are more likely to get acquired diseases.
    • Doberman: Prone to primary platelet factor disease, Von Willebrands.
    • Devon Rex: Prone to secondary coagulation disease
    • Greyhounds: Excessive breakdown of formed clots, fibrinolysis syndrome.

    You may already have a likely diagnosis in your mind, or have a narrowed differential list just from these history questions and considering the signalment.

    In part two we will cover the physical exam and primary vs secondary coagulopathies.

  • Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

    Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

    According to PDSA [PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report 2022], rabbits are the third most popular pet in the UK behind dogs and cats. With an estimated 1.1 million pet rabbits in the country, that’s about about a tenth of the population of pet dogs and cats, which hover around the 9 to 10 million mark.

    So, if the pet ratio of dogs/cats:rabbits is 10:1, why isn’t this reflected in our teaching? Despite rabbit populations being endemic to the UK for more than a thousand years, they always seem to get lumped with guinea pigs and the cold-blooded pets like lizards and corn snakes when it comes to textbooks or university curriculums.

    I can confidently say my education on rabbit physiology and medicine has been dramatically less than 10% of what I’ve received for small animal medicine. Perhaps this is why many vets, especially new or recent graduates, feel more confident handing off any rabbit patients to the resident “expert” of the practice or even referring to an exotics specialist, rather than seeing it themselves.

    Accessibility

    It’s a sad truth that the less convenient education and health care are to access, the less people will reach for them. By extension, the less veterinary practices that advertise care for rabbits (and other exotics), the less rabbits are likely to be registered at a practice and receive regular preventive care.

    For example, as a native to the land of Kent, I only know of two or three practices that would call themselves “exotic specialists” and I know that, for a lot of rabbit owners, traveling half way across the county to visit one of these few practices would not be practical or plausible. Perhaps this is why, according to PDSA reports, at least 11% of pet rabbits receive no preventive health care, including vaccinations.

    rabbit
    Rabbits are a social species that has evolved to live in groups, not alone.

    Education

    The value of a veterinary consultation is not simply to talk through clinical signs or address a flea outbreak in the home, it’s a chance for owners to discuss management issues or to ask for general advice. When rabbits aren’t brought in for routine consultations, then discussions about their diet, husbandry and behavioural needs don’t get to be had.

    Some vets are already worried that the development of an annual rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) booster rather than biannual is going to dramatically reduce rabbit welfare by halving the number of times these pets receive a clinical exam.

    Welfare

    Of course, like all “exotics”, there’s the argument to be made as to whether these animals are suitable pets in the first place. Personally, I feel that this is a moot point for the time being.

    The fact that more than 50% of pet rabbits are housed by themselves with no companionship speaks volumes about the lack of knowledge the general public possesses on how to care for these animals. However, with more than a million of them currently out there, they’re not going away anytime soon.

    The best we can do as professionals is educate our clients so welfare can be maximised as much as possible… and that starts with educating ourselves. I hope that in the near future the landscape of the veterinary degree can shift to better reflect the current demand for exotic vets – or at least rabbit vets.

  • Hypothermic snakes

    Snake
    Image: Thomas Picard

    Reptiles, being cold blooded, are dependent on the environment to provide sufficient heat. If they get cold, their metabolism can become so sluggish that they cannot defend themselves, not even against a mouse.

    Careless owners of small snakes have been known to toss a live mouse in with the snake and then not supervise. If the snake is cold, the mouse can eat the snake alive and the snake cannot retaliate.

    If the snake survives such an attack, it may have such a fear of mice that it will no longer eat. It can take a year of tube feeding before the snake gains the confidence to face another mouse.

    Be warned!