Hidden value

It's been slow around the office. Weird, because it was really busy the first two weeks of January, when you think people would stay at home to ponder their big Christmas bills. It was feast then, famine now.

We have started a senior pet program at least. We sent clients letters telling them of the offer - an exam, bloodwork, chest Xrays, and urinalysis at a discounted price for January and February. A few days after collecting the samples, we sit down with the owners and present them with a folder of the results of our findings.

Business-wise, its a good time to run a promotion like this. But we honestly don't do it just for the income. The workup at least gives us a baseline for aging pets. For a lot of them, it's a good preanesthetic work-up, as most of them need to return for a professional dental cleaning.

I also have uncovered serious hidden problems. Its common to find early kidney failure in a geriatric cat. We can recommend a simple diet change that will significantly extend their life.

Once, I worked up a old golden retriever who had no complaints. His bloodwork came back normal except for a screaming high thyroid level. This is really bizarre - dogs often get hypothyroidism (too low of thyroid level), but almost never high thyroid level.

I asked the owners to bring the dog back. On re-examination, I felt a mass in his right thyroid gland, in the neck just next to the larynx. I had missed it on my first exam because of his thick, exuberant golden coat. The bloodtest helped me locate the tumor.

I removed the entire tumorous gland surgically. The pathology report was a carcinoma, a really aggressive tumor. With the labwork I caught it early before it had spread.

We often treat sick patients, and help them get better. Often I really feel like I am just aiding the body in the healing process. The immune system itself often does the real work. However, I know I saved this dog's life. It's a marvelous feeling, especially since the dog is awesome, beautiful, and as devoted to his owners as they are to him. All this happened a few months after I lost my own beautiful golden, Montana, to a brain tumor.

Guess who came to see me today for a senior workup? Yep, that same gorgeous dog. His owners know the value of testing a normal-looking senior pet. Seeing him still looking so good gives me that happy feeling all over again.