I love my job:)

I love my job:) I'm working 12-14 hour days, examining, admitting and determining treatments for 70+ new patients each day, rechecking the bulk of my 50+ existing cases each day, answering the phone and talking to the public when we don't have a front desk volunteer, examining nursery animals as they become ill and dealing with whatever curve balls come my way. I'm constantly multitasking and doing things i've never done before.

For instance, here is one story for tonight.

This American Toad presented very sick–she was very lethargic and her whole body was swollen. When amphibians (frogs and toads in particular) get a swollen body, it’s termed “edema disease” which can be caused by a long list of diseases–kidney disease, liver disease, electrolyte imbalances, and pretty much anything that can make an amphibian sick can cause edema disease.

A radiograph (pictured) showed a large amount of a mineral substance (likely sand/grit/stones) in her stomach (the white blob in the middle of the xray).

This grit was obstructing her stomach, not allowing anything to pass. The only way to get it out is surgery. This toad was so sick that she would likely die during surgery, but she would definitely die if we didn’t get the obstruction out of her stomach soon.So she went to surgery. By cutting through her skin and muscle layers, I was able to see the stomach, cut it open, pull the grit out and sew her back up. She survived surgery but is still very sick and may die despite our best efforts.We aren’t sure why she got the obstruction. Toads live in an environment where sand and grit are abundant–why did she eat so much to get obstructed? She was kept as a pet (wild animals never make good pets) so there is the possibility that having a limited environment and diet, she accidentally ate sand looking for food, or her insects were covered in a large amount of dirt–or perhaps she has some gastrointestinal disease that caused her stomach motility to slow, allowing small amounts of sand to accumulate over time–we’ll never know what exactly caused it. We’re just hoping we got it out in time and she’ll pull through.