VETERINARY SPECIALISTS AUCKLAND

Veterinary Specialists Auckland

5 days ago

Meet Tuan Tuan 🐶. A much loved Bichon Frise who came to see the A&E team at our Sylvia Park hospital late one evening.

Tuan Tuan is normally a bright and active dog, but on this day she was feeling under the weather. It started with a mild cough in the morning but by late evening had become heavier and much more discomforting.
Tuan Tuan's owners called the VSA&E team to get some advice - during the call the coughing was so bad our nurse could hear it through the phone.

Arriving at our hospital, Tuan Tuan's breathing was definitely abnormal. During sedation to have some x rays taken of her chest her condition became worse, so we put a tube in to help her breathe and ran some blood tests.
Her owners did not think she had eaten any toxins, but we had treated her for eating rat bait only a month prior and since arriving in the hospital, she had also developed some swelling where the injection had been given. Sure enough, her clotting times were off the scale, confirming a likely diagnosis of rat bait toxicity.

Tuan Tuan’s battle was only just beginning. She was given the antidote straight away but it takes several hours to take effect, so she also needed a plasma transfusion, which provided enough clotting factors to help tide her over until the antidote started to work. By doing this we were able to minimise the damage from any ongoing bleeding, but we still had to deal with the symptoms from the extensive bleeding into her lungs that had already occurred. Things were very touch and go for Tuan Tuan overnight and into the next day.

With our A&E service now open 24 hours, we were able to monitor and continue to look after Tuan Tuan during these critical stages. Tuan Tuan still needed a breathing tube and oxygen supplementation because her lungs had suffered so much bleeding. We were also able to organise an ultrasound for her right there beside her bed with one of our specialist veterinary radiologists and give the owner some real-time information about her progress.

As the day progressed, we continued with nursing care for Tuan Tuan – gently coupaging her chest to help her loosen and resorb the blood, massaging her limbs and circulating the breathing tube so it didn’t get blocked. It was a race against time to see if her body could process the blood in her lungs before she got too exhausted.

Late in the evening, our emergency vet noticed some signs that her breathing had begun to ease. We were able to remove her breathing tube and gradually reduce her oxygen support throughout the early hours.

At last, the moment our team and her owners had all been waiting for arrived. A very small, but ultimately mighty tail wag that got everyone excited. Tuan Tuan’s owners who had never given up hope were over the moon and incredibly happy to have her home less than 24 hours later. Today, Tuan Tuan is back to being the happy and bright wee dog her owners adore.

If you hear your pet coughing, and you notice it getting worse, give your vet a call. And if it's after hours or on weekends, we are here to offer advice, support and emergency care, just like we did for Tuan Tuan ☺ ... See MoreSee Less

Veterinary Specialists Auckland

1 month ago

☑️From today, our dedicated A&E service will be open at Sylvia Park 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 👨‍⚕️👩‍⚕️

☑️During normal business hours, your regular vet will be able to attend to the majority of your pets’ needs. At A&E we don’t provide routine or preventative vet care, and we don’t do vaccinations.
But if their day is just too busy to fit everything in, and they need to refer an emergency case to us, we are now open 24 hours a day to provide you and your pets the very best care.

☑️And as always, if you have an after-hours emergency, we are just a phone call away.

☑️We hope you never have to see us… but if you ever do, our expert team is always here, and we look forward to caring for you and your pets 😊 ... See MoreSee Less

Veterinary Specialists Auckland

2 months ago

Happy Queens Birthday Everyone!

Our A&E team 👩‍⚕️🧑‍⚕️are working hard over the whole weekend to provide emergency 🤒🤕🤧veterinary care for your furry family members 🐶🐱🐰.

Feel free to call us at any time on 09 3205645 if you need some advice or to see one of our emergency veterinary team! ... See MoreSee Less