We are now a couple of weeks ‘in’ using telemedicine and adapting to working in a very different way. We would like to thank not only all our team for rising to the challenge but also to our clients who have shown great understanding, working with us to ensure we are able to continue to deliver the best possible healthcare to your pets, whilst safeguarding our team and you too.
2 months ago Kyoto, a Japanese Spitz, arrived in the UK after being rehomed from Singapore. Initially all seemed fine and he adapted very well to his new life. Last week his new owner noticed he didn’t seem quite right, spending periods of time standing in the garden looking uncomfortable. His owner called our Storrington hospital for advice and Kyoto was given an appointment via a video call, using our telemedicine facility.
Vet Olivia took a full history and also was able to ‘see’ Kyoto during the video call. It became obvious quite quickly that we would need to see Kyoto at the practice as he wasn’t looking very well at all.
Following our strict guidelines to ensure face to face contact with owners is kept to a minimum, Kyoto was physically examined at the practice. He appeared very painful in his abdomen and was quickly admitted to our 24 hour hospital for radiographs, and investigations to see what was causing such discomfort.
The radiographs revealed these unusual looking ‘bright white’ objects. These are bladder stones – or what we call ‘uroliths’. Bladder stones start as microscopic crystals that aggregate to form stones of various sizes. There are several types of these stones and they can reach up to 4 inches in diameter if left untreated. Some breeds of dog are more susceptible to developing stones but they can also be caused by chronic urinary tract infections, genetics and certain type of diet. Symptoms of stones include blood in urine and straining to pass urine.
Kyoto needed surgery to remove these and this was performed later on in the same day. Multiple stones were removed from Kyoto and after just over 24 hours from initial phone calls and an overnight stay in our RCVS accredited hospital, Kyoto was discharged back to his family the following day.
We hope by reading this you will be reassured that our triage system of telemedicine appointments is working really well. If our vets feel your pet should still be seen then we will advise you of the steps to take.
Kyoto is recovering well at home now and hopefully none the worse for his ‘Covid-19 lockdown’ experience!