Someone posted that I should post Dr. Espinheiras apology, so here are 3 emails I received. I have not heard from him since January 3. I do not accept his apology. Perhaps a bigger, more evolved person could do so but I am not that person. Hotstuff is now dead because of what Dr. Espinheira did to him. He screwed up bad and Hotstuff had to wear it. His words do not erase the damage and the heartbreak, nor the confusion and suffering of Hotstuff. He can take his apology and shove it. God bless my beloved Hotstuff. Dear Cassandra, I just wanted to let you know that I am really sorry about what happened to Hotstuff and I think about it every day. In all the years that I have been a veterinarian, I have never had something like this happen. I wish I could go back in time and fix my terrible mistake, but unfortunately, that is not possible. I want to do everything in my power to ensure that Hotstuff’s quality of life is as good as it can be - he deserves that. To prevent this from ever happening again, I am going to introduce a protocol in my operating theatre adapted from wrong-site surgery protocols in human medicine. This will involve marking the site of surgery prior to general anesthesia, and a short “time-out” prior to starting the operation to verify with everyone in the surgical suite the patient name, disease, surgery and surgical site. This has shown to be an effective means of decreasing the prevalence of such mistakes in humans and I hope that I can carry this forth into veterinary medicine. As an educator, I will also use this catastrophic experience to help educate future veterinarians on ways to avoid this mistake. I hope that I may be able to ensure that generations of veterinarians to come do not repeat this error. I have been doing a lot of research into training of deaf and blind dogs and how to help them adapt to their environment. In my earlier email I mentioned that I do not have any specific resources prepared, but I will prepare one for owners of deaf and blind dogs that need information in the future. I have also sent an email to an animal behaviorist to see if there is any other useful resources that we can use to help our little guy. Please keep me posted on how Hotstuff is doing, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help facilitate his recovery. Thank you, Filipe Dear Cassandra, I have tried to reach you a few times by phone and email, I am hoping that you are receiving my emails. I hope that Hotstuff is adjusting to his blindness. I can only imagine how hard this is for you. I know that you love Hotstuff very much and will do the very best you can to help your loyal friend. I spoke with a very well respected animal behaviorist about Hotstuff and unfortunately he did not have too many new ideas short of what I have already sent you in the links included in the previous email. He did suggest a head halter - however, given Hotstuff’s neck issues - we should be careful with that - a halter is probably safer for him. I have also done some research into animal behaviorists near you that may be able to help with Hotstuff’s rehabilitation. I do not know any of these Doctors personally, however, I would recommend using a board certified behaviorist. The closest one to you is Dr. Curtis at the University of Florida (which I know is still quite some distance from your home). If you would like me to arrange a consult with her - please let me know. The other training aid that we could try is the “Muffin’s Halo”. I do not have any personal experience working with the Halo. The clients that I have with blind pets have not used this device either so I cannot speak to it’s efficacy. Let me know if you would like to try one of these devices. Please know that I am really sorry about all this and I will do everything in my power to ensure this never happens again. I also want to let you know that I would like to help you make Hotstuff’s quality of life as good as it can be. I do not want to continue contacting you if you do not wish me to do so. Please let me know how he is doing. Filipe Dear Cassandra, I am sorry to hear that it is taking longer for Hotstuff to learn how to live with his blindness and near deafness. As I mentioned earlier on, I do not have much experience with dogs that are blind and deaf at the same time, however from all the resources that I found while looking into how to improve Hotstuff’s quality of life, and from all my experience with blind dogs, I think it is possible to make things better. I understand that this is very stressful for both of you, and at times you may feel lost in regards to how to make things to work. Nevertheless, it is very important to show him that you are with him and that you are going to continue training him, as you have been, with positivity and positive reinforcement. You mentioned that whenever he smells food and can’t find it, he will just stand there and bark rather than searching around for it. How do you act in these situations? How long do you wait until you pass the food to him? One thing that is important is to be careful not to reinforce his barking whenever he wants you to bring him some food. I am also very concerned about his weak hindlimbs. Most dogs that have become blind will regain confidence with time. I would recommend you keep working using the food as a positive reinforcement to get him to walk. Maybe try to extend the distance that he has to walk before rewarding him, a little each day. As training him to walk longer distances will take some time, I would definitely recommend physical therapy for Hotstuff. When I was a general practitioner, I had several dogs that had arthritis improve their gait after we started walking them on an underwater treadmill. Some of them just loved walking in the water! I remember a 16 year old mid-sized dog that was on oral NSAIDs, chondroprotectants (is he on these already?) and special diets for joint disease, however he was unable to walk to the point that the owner was at a loss. At that time we started 2-3 sessions/ week on a water treadmill and the owner felt that his dog’s mobility had significantly improved. Maybe this is something to consider starting again. We have a really wonderful integrative medicine/rehabilitation specialist at LSU - Dr. Koh. He uses a combination of rehabilitation techniques (including the underwater treadmill) and traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture etc.) to help with mobility. He has really had an impact on a lot of dogs lives and would be a wonderful resource in regards to getting Hotstuff up and moving again. Dr. Koh is very gentle and kind and would be a great fit for Hotstuff. I think he could potentially use acupuncture to reduce anxiety and improve Hotstuff’s mobility - and would prescribe other rehabilitation techniques as necessary - including exercises you could do with him at home. I would definitely recommend making an appointment to see him - he has worked miracles on many large dogs with mobility issues. I know that Hotstuff means the world to you and I think about him every single day. I wish I could delete that surgery day from my life, but unfortunately I will have to live with it. My main goal is to do everything I possibly can to allow Hotstuff to adjust to his blindness and continue to enjoy his daily routines. I know that Hotstuff is an unique dog and he is very fortunate to have you taking care of him- he is still with us due to all your love and dedication to such a nice little fellow. I am very hopeful that you will be able to train him back to the point that he is able continue with his routine as previously. The challenge is to make this transition period as short as we possibly can. Potentially an animal behaviorist could help with this. Please keep me posted on how your little guy is doing and whether you decide to see Dr. Koh. Feel free to email me whenever you have questions or concerns and I will do my very best to address them. Filipe
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:00:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015