- 4 weeks ago
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00:00This program is brought to you by Open Paddock, a more open pet food company.
00:07When pets face life-threatening emergencies...
00:09Sounds like the injury might have happened yesterday.
00:12So we've been called to see a dog named Alfie.
00:14Pusscat.
00:15Reggie.
00:15Saint.
00:15Max.
00:16Every second matters.
00:18But if we're going to try to get to Kenya to save her, we need to leave now.
00:22Welcome to ReadyVetGo, the vet paramedics.
00:25Australia's Veterinary Paramedic Service responding to critical pets at home.
00:30We need to get a candle in as well.
00:32Bringing pre-hospital care and emergency transport to pets and owners in crisis.
00:38And highlighting the amazing veterinary hospitals around Victoria.
00:43Redefining the standard of care and bridging the gap between home and hospital.
00:48Combining emergency vet medicine with the human ambulance.
00:51We follow everything from the light-hearted and quirky...
00:55Nudy calls.
00:57Nudy.
00:58Heartbreaking goodbyes.
00:59They've decided to progress with humane euthanasia.
01:03At-home pet emergencies.
01:05Critical care transport.
01:07And heartwarming recoveries.
01:09Very sprightly.
01:10Taking you where cameras have never been before.
01:14Into the complexity and the fight for survival.
01:17This is ReadyVetGo, the vet paramedics.
01:20An hour outside of Melbourne, the ReadyVetGo team have been called to a three-year-old French
01:30Mastiff, Mercy.
01:31She's being babysat, pet-sat last night with the owner's mother, I believe.
01:40And she started with a little bit of a limp and then has progressed to mostly not weight-bearing today.
01:46Any time someone requests us to come out to review a pet who's suddenly taking all of their weight
01:55off the limb is really concerning.
01:58Given that Mercy is only three years old, we are less suspicious of something really sinister occurring.
02:03It would be uncommon that a dog of this age would have a broken leg without some sort of really major event or mechanism.
02:10On arrival, Paul and Nick are relieved when they see Mercy walking on all four limbs.
02:15Quick look at your gums and check out your vitals first.
02:18And Ellie, has she been otherwise behaviourally?
02:22She appearing the same way.
02:23Despite Mercy being able to bear weight on her leg, it's not long before the team are able to see why owners Ellie and Alex were concerned.
02:32Even though there's relief seeing Mercy up and about, there's still a number of issues that could be causing Mercy to be feeling as uncomfortable as her owners Ellie and Alex have described.
02:41Presentations of limb lameness are often difficult to try and pinpoint at home.
02:46It could be literally anything.
02:47Play fighting.
02:48Grass seed.
02:49Bee sting.
02:50Dislocation.
02:51Toenail injury.
02:53Neck pain.
02:54Shoulder pain.
02:54Back pain.
02:55And the list goes on.
02:57But while Dr. Paul continues his assessment on Mercy, an emergency call comes through.
03:02Uncomfortable.
03:05Ready, Vico, this is Nick.
03:10Yeah.
03:11Yeah, what's going on?
03:14Kenya's owner Ken informs Nick that he is currently out of state and Ken's sister Ivy is in fact the person needing to get her into hospital.
03:23What my recommendation would be is try to get her, if someone can help, just move her onto a bed and then go.
03:29It's important when we triage that we do so in real time and advise the caller based on the best interest of the pet.
03:36It's realistically probably about an hour away, which is just not safe to wait.
03:40Being the only medical vet ambulance in Victoria that responds the same way as a human ambulance service, we have to cover a wide service area.
03:48We obviously don't have the same amount of resources, nor the lights and sirens, to get to all critical cases in a timely manner.
03:55While Nick advises the sister to get Kenya into hospital, he consults with Paul about what the best course of action is in this scenario.
04:03To interrupt, do you have any advice, an actively seizing dog for 10 minutes, hypo, it usually happens under hypoglycemic, but the dog's too big for this person to move.
04:13Um, they can put honey on their gums, they can try and apply like caro syrup or sugar syrup.
04:17The more that this dog is actively seizing, the more glucose it's using up, and the risk of death increases with every moment that passes.
04:26These situations are the most challenging.
04:28When we know someone is in need and needs our help soon, and we can't get there, it's not something that we can easily switch off.
04:36In saying that, it's important that we also focus on Mercy, and make sure that we're covering everything that she needs as well.
04:43With the team being over an hour away from Kenya, the safest thing for Kenya is to be taken into hospital by any means possible.
04:51All we can do is hope that our experience and support over the phone gives them enough confidence to be able to handle this really complex situation on their own.
05:06Three-year-old French Mastiff, Mercy, has developed a sudden onset of pain in her front paw.
05:13The team's initial concerns that this could be a fracture are alleviated by Mercy's ability to put her weight on her leg.
05:21However, it doesn't rule out all concerns.
05:24We have to cover a wide range of reasons of why this could be suddenly occurring without an obvious explanation.
05:30Our role as a vet paramedic service is to try to determine the urgency and reasons for escalating this problem into a hospital.
05:38Conducting a comprehensive assessment outside of the hospital setting, without all of the nice tools and equipment that we can use in a clinic, is paramount to ensuring that I'm confident with Mercy being able to stay safely at home.
05:50I'm really pleased with how her shoulder is, her left shoulder, her left elbow, a little bit of like decreased range of motion there.
05:57So she didn't really care for me to flex it.
06:00It was more, she was a little bit curious about me moving things around this region.
06:05So that's probably the hot spot I've found so far.
06:08Yeah, look, the good thing is, guys, I don't feel anything crunchy, dislocated, abnormal, asymmetrical.
06:15Her left wrist and that third, would be her third digit, that sort of middle toe, is the one that is most, maybe reactive.
06:27Like, she's not keen on me flexing it, extending it.
06:29With Mercy's vital signs being stable, the treatment options are put to the owners.
06:35You know, I feel like she's probably going to be a bit more heightened of us handling it.
06:40I'd leave it be.
06:40You can feel like it's a lot of things that I've got for a while.
06:43Yeah, she's okay.
06:44Yeah, she's okay.
06:46We're going to give her some medicine to help her out there.
06:49You're going to make her give her some medicine, make her leg feel better.
06:52Ideally, try and keep her from, you know, running the yard and being a maniac.
06:58Yeah, I don't know what she's normally like, but yeah, just limiting the activity as much as you can.
07:02A lot of the time, pet owners just want peace of mind that things are not critical in that moment.
07:07So, even though Mercy is still in pain, we can help to manage that at home until Mercy's regular vet clinic opens up again tomorrow.
07:16It means that we can try to keep Mercy as comfortable as possible and still get the answers we need,
07:21whilst giving Ellie and Alex some parameters on if they should either reach back out to us or head into hospital today.
07:28Yeah, so we're all right.
07:29The boy's assessed and she's got a sore leg, but with some monitoring, she'll be all right.
07:35And if they need it, we'll call and get them back.
07:37While the plan to manage Mercy's limping at home are getting wrapped up,
07:41call from the owner of the dog that is having a seizure, Kenya, has called back.
07:47Ready, Veko, this is Nick.
07:48We get another call from Ken, whose sister has been looking after his older dog, Kenya, while he is away.
07:54Even though this could be the post-dictal phase after a seizure, it could also be seizure activity within itself,
08:02where Kenya's not behaving the way that she normally would.
08:04It means that Kenya could be in a really dangerous situation at home.
08:09And it's our preference that Kenya would be taken into hospital straight away.
08:13We have to think quick on our feet in these situations and consider the whole scenario in its entirety.
08:18We have to weigh up the risks to the patient, the risks to the people around the patient,
08:23and the reality of the situation.
08:25It's extremely easy to say that they're only 30 minutes away from a hospital,
08:30but that's only if they're in the car right now and ready to go.
08:33They still need to move this pet, who could be confused and aggressive.
08:37That doesn't take into consideration driving into hospital with an extremely stressful situation,
08:42which poses even more complexities.
08:44By the time they've coordinated all of these factors,
08:48we could have already been on our way and nearly at the patient
08:51before they even start driving to the hospital.
08:54Ultimately, the decision is up to the owners if they want us to come,
08:57but if we're going to try to get to Kenya to save her, we need to leave now.
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09:26It is a long, intense 45 minutes to get to Kenya.
09:30Any seizure requires a time-critical response.
09:34There is no time to waste when it comes to intervention.
09:36The carer, Ivy, simply could not move Kenya in this state.
09:41Even though we would want to get her to any vet
09:44as soon as possible in her situation,
09:46we were the first resource that could possibly get to them ASAP.
09:50Being the only paramedic response service for pets in Victoria
09:53means that our resources are spread thin.
09:56We just have to advise as best as we can
09:58and respond as timely as possible.
10:00There are times when we get these calls
10:02and we're responding to other critical pets
10:04and we simply don't make it in time.
10:06We just hope that that isn't the case for Kenya.
10:09The owners have reassured the team
10:10that Kenya has become more alert.
10:12She has begun drinking water
10:14after giving her some honey to improve her sugar levels,
10:17providing some relief to the team.
10:19But when the team arrive,
10:22things have again taken a turn for the worse.
10:24When we turn up,
10:26I see Ivy in the doorway rushing me in.
10:28I walk in,
10:30I have one look in the bathroom where Kenya is
10:32and she's on the ground seizing again.
10:38She's coming here.
10:40Yeah.
10:43I'm just going to get that one more.
10:44Sorry, Ivy, just to confirm,
10:46when was the, yes, glucose will be great.
10:48Immediately, our priorities are
10:50to start getting as much information as possible,
10:53not only from the people who care for Kenya,
10:55but from Kenya herself.
10:57Our first and foremost goal
10:58is to get intravenous access,
11:00to stop this seizure,
11:02to provide oxygen support to Kenya
11:04and to get her stabilized
11:06before we can do anything further.
11:08That includes getting all of her vital signs
11:10and determining what is out of normal
11:12and if there is anything that we can do
11:13to try and reverse the state that Kenya is in
11:16to prevent any further deterioration.
11:18Did they mention anything about
11:24potentially we can get her into hospital?
11:26Is that something that they
11:27would potentially be keen for us to do?
11:31Well, we do need to do an assessment on her first.
11:33We need to get a couple of things done.
11:35So it's going to take us about five to ten minutes
11:36to get that sorted.
11:38Our brains rely almost entirely on glucose.
11:42So when blood sugar levels drop too low,
11:45the brain stops functioning properly.
11:47Which can cause abnormal electrical activity.
11:51If low blood sugar is the cause of the seizure,
11:54the team need to restore glucose
11:55before any further damage occurs
11:57and Kenya deteriorates even further.
12:00We're not only trying to treat Kenya in this moment,
12:03but we're also getting the history
12:05and checking her vital signs
12:06to determine her current presentation.
12:09We're doing this in a home environment
12:10when this would usually be done
12:12in a clinic or a hospital
12:13and not only that,
12:14it's in the bathroom of all places.
12:18We need to get a cannula in as well.
12:20While I'm getting a cannula in
12:22to give medication to stop this seizure,
12:24Nick's set up the bag in the bath.
12:27He's jumping around me in this bathroom
12:28to get blood sugar,
12:30check blood pressures,
12:31provide oxygen support.
12:33Stabilising her immediately
12:35is the only priority right now
12:36and we have to do it
12:37in an extremely tight environment
12:39with an actively seizuring dog.
12:41It's not the easiest of tasks to do.
12:45Just getting her cannula set up
12:48so we can administer
12:50either intravenous glucose
12:52or an anti-seizure medication.
13:01All right, my dear.
13:07Just getting her
13:08some anti-seizure medication.
13:10What was her owner's name?
13:12This is Margaret.
13:13Margaret, okay.
13:14Yeah.
13:15Hi there, Margaret.
13:15This is Paul with ReadyBitGo.
13:17I'm here with Kenya.
13:18So we've gotten her
13:20an IV cannula placed
13:22and we've given her
13:22a dose of Valium.
13:24Sorry, mate.
13:25It's up here.
13:26My second is...
13:26Yeah, hi there.
13:27And what was your name?
13:28My name's Ken.
13:29The owner, Ken, informs me
13:31that Kenya has recently
13:32been having unmanaged blood sugars
13:34related to her diabetes.
13:36Her regular vet
13:37has been investigating the cause
13:38and has prescribed
13:39regular insulin
13:40to try and balance
13:41Kenya's blood sugar levels.
13:43What happened last week
13:44and that vet said
13:45we had to lower her insulin
13:47from this time
13:4815 milligrams
13:49to 12 or 13.
13:51Yeah.
13:51And that takes
13:52two weeks to adjust correctly
13:54because she lost weight.
13:55And just to clarify,
13:56so her normal dose
13:57of insulin right now
13:58should be 15 units
14:00twice a day?
14:01One, three, 13 units.
14:02One, three, 13 units.
14:04Okay, no worries.
14:05And are there any other meds
14:08that she should be taking
14:09or is it just the insulin?
14:10Okay.
14:10Just the insulin.
14:11All right.
14:12No worries, Ken.
14:12All right.
14:13Okay, thank you very much.
14:14Leave it with us
14:14and we'll ring you back
14:15maybe from our phone
14:16and someone will call you
14:18and we'll touch base.
14:19Just give us maybe
14:2020 minutes or so, okay?
14:22All right.
14:23Thanks, Ken.
14:24Bye-bye.
14:26Considering the history,
14:27it is a very reasonable chance
14:29that the cause
14:30of Kenya's presentation today
14:32would be due to low blood sugar.
14:34If we take this blood sugar reading
14:36and it is low,
14:36we can thankfully
14:37quickly administer glucose
14:39via her IV catheter.
14:41and hopefully,
14:42with the restoration
14:42of her normal blood sugar,
14:44we'll see some improvement
14:45in her normal body function
14:47and a resolution
14:48of those seizure episodes.
14:50But when the team
14:51get the blood sugar level rating back,
14:53the results
14:54are not what they were expecting.
14:56All right.
14:58That's 7.4.
14:59That's normal.
15:00Excellent.
15:01With this normal blood sugar measurement,
15:03it puts another layer
15:04of complexity
15:05on Kenya's
15:06already dangerous situation
15:08because we're just not sure
15:09what the exact cause could be.
15:18The ReadyVetGo team
15:20are attending
15:21to 15-year-old
15:22labradoodle Kenya
15:23who has had multiple
15:25and prolonged seizures
15:26at home.
15:27So now that we've got
15:28the anti-seizure medication
15:29on board,
15:30we're able to take
15:31Kenya's blood sugar reading.
15:33But when the team
15:34get the reading
15:34for the blood sugar level,
15:36the results
15:37are not what they predicted.
15:39Considering Kenya's
15:40most recent history
15:41and with her presentation today,
15:43it would be
15:43extremely reasonable
15:44to say that a low blood sugar
15:46is high on the list
15:47for this cause of seizures.
15:49A normal blood sugar rating
15:50should be between
15:514 and 8.
15:52While keeping Kenya's
15:53blood sugar within
15:54a normal range
15:55is important,
15:56the fact that she's
15:57actively seizuring
15:58forces us to re-evaluate.
16:00Could this seizure
16:01or even the first one
16:02have been caused
16:03by low blood sugar?
16:05Or has the damage
16:06progressed to the
16:06point where
16:07brain swelling
16:08is now the trigger?
16:10Does she have
16:10an underlying condition
16:12separate to her diabetes
16:13that's at play?
16:15Alternatively,
16:15we could be facing
16:16an entirely different scenario
16:17that we just don't
16:19have the answers for yet.
16:20Right now,
16:21the only thing
16:21that we know for sure
16:22is that Kenya's owner
16:23has some decisions
16:24to make regarding
16:25what our next steps
16:26of care will be.
16:27Even though we've
16:27stabilised Kenya,
16:29we are only buying
16:30time at this point.
16:31We've gotten her
16:32an IV cannula placed
16:34and we've given her
16:35a dose of Valium
16:36and that's meant
16:37to stop her seizure
16:38so she's settled
16:38since then.
16:40She's becoming
16:40really agitated.
16:42We have checked
16:44her blood sugar
16:45and I don't think
16:47that low blood sugar
16:48is the cause
16:48because her blood sugar
16:49just now was normal.
16:51It was 7.4
16:52which is really good.
16:53Yeah, and look,
16:55my fear is just
16:57she's not probably
16:58in a safe position
16:59to be left at home
17:01in her current state
17:02and that's always
17:03what we say.
17:03We come in
17:04and we say,
17:05you know,
17:05three options.
17:06One option is
17:06can we treat pets
17:07at home,
17:08make sure that they're
17:08stable and in a safe
17:10position,
17:11which she's not
17:12at this stage.
17:14The second option
17:15would be getting her
17:15into a hospital
17:16and that's something
17:17that we can either
17:18facilitate for you guys
17:20and transport her
17:21into the ambulance,
17:22in via the ambulance.
17:24You know,
17:25there is the third option
17:26of end-of-life care,
17:28right?
17:28So that means
17:29not pursuing treatment
17:30or having that discussion
17:31with you guys
17:32about what her quality
17:34of life has been
17:34and those sorts
17:35of hard discussions.
17:37Yeah, and we're keen
17:37to get her into hospital
17:38and treat her.
17:39If that's what you'd like
17:40for us to do,
17:41then we absolutely
17:41would do that
17:42and I think that
17:42that's a fair choice.
17:44It's better for us
17:44to get some more information
17:46about this situation
17:47rather than make a
17:48brash decision
17:49about yay or nay.
17:50Does that make sense?
17:52Yes, because in all
17:53life, if it is a nay,
17:54even if she goes
17:55to the hospital
17:55and it's a nay,
17:56I'd like to be there
17:57for the last time.
17:58No, of course, of course.
17:59And, look, yeah,
18:01I know it's a very
18:01emotional situation.
18:03It's a pretty big event
18:04that she's had today
18:05and any pet in a situation,
18:07we would get into hospital
18:08and give them
18:08at least 24 or 48 hours
18:10to see how normal
18:11they get back to.
18:13But if we take her
18:13to the hospital,
18:14she may pass away
18:15without...
18:16It's a lot of things
18:17that are what-ifs.
18:18Yeah, yeah.
18:18Um, what I probably
18:21need to do, Ken,
18:21is I'm going to just
18:23probably hang up
18:24the phone for a moment
18:25so I can do an assessment
18:26on her and make sure
18:27that we've got her situated.
18:28She's, if you can imagine,
18:30laying more comfortably
18:31on the ground here
18:31in the bathroom.
18:32She's relaxed.
18:33She's not fitting
18:34the way that she was
18:34when we first walked in.
18:36While Paul discusses
18:37the options with owner Ken,
18:39Nick continues to monitor
18:41and stabilise Kenya.
18:42I just want to get
18:43another blood sugar reading.
18:45When there's someone...
18:46When a pet is this unstable,
18:49it's really important
18:49that we just keep assessing
18:50over and over and over again
18:52and just seeing what changes,
18:54if there are any changes.
18:55If we can get her...
18:56get her in the hospital
18:57and get her back home
18:58and then she lives
18:59months or years from now,
19:00that would be our preference.
19:02It's 6.5.
19:11So her blood sugar is normal
19:12and Paul's given her some sedation
19:16to stop those seizures.
19:18We're just trying to make sure
19:19that we keep her oxygenated
19:20as well as we possibly can.
19:23She's been presenting
19:24really well otherwise,
19:26so the owner really wants
19:27to make sure if we're
19:28ticking everything off
19:29and making sure we're...
19:30Seeing if we can reverse
19:31any of this,
19:32which is the biggest goal.
19:34Kenya's owners have
19:35a time-critical decision to make
19:37as Kenya fights for her life.
19:40As part of our weekly feature,
19:41we're here at Mary-Anne's house.
19:42Mary-Anne is the founder
19:43of All for Paws Dog Rescue,
19:46a home fostering organisation.
19:48Mary-Anne has just received
19:49a litter of puppies
19:51and a lactating mother,
19:52so we're going to try to help out
19:53with some Divertilact,
19:55which will help with
19:55the mother's nutrition,
19:57the puppy's nutrition,
19:58and as well getting them ready
19:59for when they're ready
19:59to be on the kibble.
20:01Foster programs like
20:02All for Paws rely entirely
20:03on the goodwill of people
20:04in the community,
20:05and we just want to play
20:05a small part in that.
20:10Next time on ReadyVet Go,
20:13Kenya's owners have
20:13a time-critical decision
20:15to make
20:15as Kenya fights for her life,
20:18and the team get a call
20:19about Reggie,
20:21a 14-year-old staffy mix
20:23who is having difficulty breathing,
20:25and 7-year-old Archie
20:27needs critical care transport
20:29as his life hangs in the balance
20:31after a snake bite at home.
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