Sick pets who are taken to a veterinarian often receive fluids. Fluids can work wonders and I think one of the rules of thumb in veterinary medicine is, “When in doubt, give fluids.” Don’t hold me to that as I am only married to a veterinarian. What I am telling you is based upon 21 years of hearing her tell stories and not part of a professional lecture.
All veterinarians give fluids in a variety of situations, but my wife is the queen of fluid therapy. I learned that early in our marriage when one of my old friends from Birmingham, Alabama called asking for help. Kurt Hertrich was a breeder and trainer of Schutzhund dogs. Some of his dogs sold for as much as an entry level Mercedes Benz automobile. Kurt had a litter of puppies who were doing badly. He had been taking them to his regular vet, but one or two had already died and he was afraid of losing the rest. JoAnne had impressed him along the way and he wanted to know if she would do what she could if he drove the surviving puppies to Alpharetta and left them with her.
Kurt’s vet had administered fluids, but after her examination, JoAnne concluded that the puppies were dehydrated and needed fluids. Not another puppy died and all were soon thriving.
Kurt brought the sickly puppies to JoAnne in a cardboard box that fit on the front seat of his car. They had grown so much while at Loving Hands Animal Clinic that we had to loan him several carriers to get them home again. Kurt was shocked at the turn around. JoAnne explained there was a big difference between sticking a needle into an animal to administer some fluids and calculating the appropriate volume based upon weight, size, condition, and other factors. She did the math, pumped the correct volume, and saved every puppy.
Recently, I posted a picture on Facebook of a patient from the clinic who spent the night at our house with the caption that the puppy felt much better after spending the night on fluids in our bathroom. A friend said, “Spending the night on fl
uids in our bathroom” – now that is something to contemplate. I replied, “You don’t have a fluid pump in your bathroom?”
When you live with the queen of fluid therapy, you have a fluid pump in your house so you don’t have to lug one home with the patient when they need to spend the night.
Aside from just wanting to tell you a cool story and brag on my wife, there is a moral to this story: The answer to many problems is often simple. But the simple answer may require math and a good effort to implement it fully.
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