Case of the Month (also published in the NY POST )

Dangerous Times for Paws!

Life in NYC can be rough, and sometimes life in the burbs can be just as dangerous. Here we have a tale of two dogs who came by their injuries in ways you may never think about. But the whole purpose of these newsletters it to inform you, and hopefully the next time you find yourself in the sort of situation these two dogs were in, you may think twice and save your own pet from unneccessary pain and injury

OBAZ and the burning paws

Obaz was taking a nice leisurly stroll back to Riverside Animal Hospital to get his teeth rechecked by our doctors. On the road here, they passed a restaurant whose employees were scrubbing down the street outside it's entrance. They tried to walk around where the kitchen workers were cleaning, but Obaz stepped in a puddle of the collected fluid that they were using on the sidewalk.

Shortly afterwards, Obaz's human companions noticed that Obaz was licking incessantly at his feet. Fortunately, they were on their way to the hospital already, so they simply stepped on it and ran Obaz over to us in their arms. Howard Eisenberg, our practice manager, has had a career in the restaurant business before coming to us, and suspected what might have happened. He called the restaurant while the doctors were soaking the feet in a disinfectant and learned that they restaurant was cleaning the streets with a solution of LYE. Lye is used for making soap or degreasing equipment. Lye is very caustic and can cause serious injury or even death if swallowed and can cause blindness if splashed into the eyes.

Once we realized we were dealing with a Lye burn, we switched our solutions from a disinfecting solution to a vinegar solution to neutralize the acidity of the lye. Nonetheless, the paws suffered burns and damage. Obaz was sent home with antibiotic cremes for the paws as well as oral antibiotics. We're happy to say that Obaz is now healing nicely and we expect a full recovery.

The Dangers of Moving Stairs

Lucia, a 6year old Maltese, thought it would be great returning to NYC after a vacation to Puerto Rico with her companion and guardian Claudia. Two weeks in the sun and beach was enough and she was looking foward to returning to her regular haunts and parks in the city. The flight was uneventful, even though Lucia thought that traveling arrangements for a dog like her couldv'e been a bit more luxurious.

Right off the plane, Claudia took Lucia out of the carrier, and let Lucia walk alongside her. They picked up their bags, and were on the last escalator to exit the airport. Lucia had been on many escalators and knew what they were about. But this time something terrible happened. When it was time to get off the escalator, Lucia tried to lift her foot to get off and realized that her toe was stuck in the grooves of the escalator. The escalator kept right on going, dragging Lucia's rear paw into the mechanism of the escalator stairs. Two toes were mangled and and one of the toes was shorn off by the escalator. It was in the middle of the night at JFK airport and it was deserted. Claudia was quick witted enough to get Lucia's paw out of the escalator before any more damage occured. Lucia was screaming and bleeding profusely. Claudia pulled out one of her own T-shirts from her baggage and applied pressure to try to stop the bleeding.

Luckily, she was able to stop the bleeding, and a few hours later was able to bring the dog to Dr. Greene at RVG. Dr. Greene gave some sedation and pain relief, and took Xrays of the paw. We found that half of one toe was torn off and another toe was damaged. Under full anesthesia, Dr. Greene was able to close the wounds, repair the ligaments and tendons, but had to remove the last bone in the toe because the damaged bone was crushed beyond repair.. The other toe was saved . Recovery went well, albeit slowly. Although the splint and bandage had to stay on about six weeks, and quite a bit of nursing care was required, they seemed like the least of the problems that Lucia encountered on her return to NYC. Now it's just a bad memory, as everything has healed up and Lucia is walking normally.

The lesson to be learned here is simple, as we're sure Claudia and Lucia would tell you. Don't let your dog ride the escalator. Take an elevator, or carry your buddy if you can.

Sincerely,

Steven Kasanofsky, D.V.M., C.V.A.
Phillip Raclyn, D.V.M., C.V.A.

Directors,
Riverside Animal Hospital
Riverside Veterinary Group
Yorktown Animal Hospital

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