W L
PETS CORNER
TWO DOLLYS AND AN OLLIE
by Dugie Gemmill , Parkside Veterinary Practice
The Dollys and Ollie in question are recent canine patients of mine . Less interesting perhaps than being the names given to an obscure hand of cards in a complicated version of whist or gin rummy , or the name of an odd monetary gamble at a Peaky Blinders run racecourse ( a Dolly could be half a pony ). Nonetheless the three pooches in question were undoubtedly all lovely and worthy of note . For the purpose of my narrative , I shall refer to the ladies as Wee Dolly and Muckle Dolly ( the reasons shall become clear ), and unsurprisingly Ollie shall be referred to as just Ollie .
As well as my full-time job as vet and clinical director at Parkside Vets here on the Wirral , I regularly travel to other practices ( on my days off !) to perform laparoscopic and sometimes orthopaedic surgery . One such visit was to Hexham in Northumberland to a practice owned and run by one of my oldest friends . After a very early start and an arduous drive north in the first inklings of Storm Arwen I was to make a rendezvous with Muckle Dolly . Muckle is Scots for big . Actually , muckle is Scots for very big ! Muckle Dolly is a St Bernard cross standard Poodle and weighing in at a lean and muscular 62kg , she was indeed very big ! I was to perform a laparoscopic spay combined with a gastropexy . A gastropexy is a preventative procedure to suture and hold the stomach to the wall of the abdomen , to prevent a potentially fatal condition in large and giant breed dogs , called a gastric torsion ( where the stomach bloats and twists ). Dolly weighed more than at least two of the nurses in the practice and was nearly too long for the operating table . The ops went well , and she was up and about very quickly . Her physical size was matched by the size of her warm heart and the huge cuddles she was happy to give to all comers !
Wee Dolly and her perfectly matched brother Ollie are two gorgeous Llasa Apso ’ s . For comparison ( Wee Dolly + Ollie ) x 5 = Muckle Dolly . The pair are adorably inseparable and so they visited us on the same day for neutering . Dolly also underwent laparoscopic
surgery . The pair left the surgery in the evening happy and bouncy having stolen the hearts of everyone in the practice . Dolly will be a treasured memory for Emily ( one of our vets ) forever – Emily is a superb young vet , and a budding super-surgeon - she scrubbed in to assist me in a laparoscopic op for the first time . Within the team at Parkside , all of us , whether vets , nurse or receptionists are always striving to learn and improve . Perhaps it is my age but being able to pass on knowledge and skills , to help develop the next generation of veterinary surgeons is a real joy .
One of the challenges of veterinary practice is the variety of our patients – the different species , and the range of sizes within each species – truly All Creatures Great and Small ! Within canine laparoscopic surgery there are surgeons who restrict the procedure from either very small , or very large patients . However , at Parkside we have performed laparoscopic spays on dogs from two to sixty kilogrammes in weight . Perhaps one day I will encounter one too large but until then I feel the limitations are skill and will , not the size of the patient .
The winter solstice and Christmas rapidly approach , heralded by storms , wind , and rain . We do not know which letter of the Greek alphabet will be the next to virally disrupt our lives . The Houses of Parliament are debating when a “ cheese and wine ” becomes a party , and whether party games are or are not consistent with social distancing ! One thing I do know is that a cuddle in mid-winter is good for the soul , whether from a dog ( muckle or wee ) cat , your partner , children , parents or with even just a cushion or a hot-water bottle ! Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année á tous !
Dugie is a graduate of Glasgow University and has worked at Parkside Veterinary Practice since 1990 and has been the Clinical Director for the last ten years . He has a keen interest in laparoscopic and orthopaedic surgery .
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