The 3 W's. Walking, Wagging, Weeing!

Category: Nurses Club

Presenter:

Holly Smith
RVN

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About The Webinar

This is an affectionate term for when our patients are ready to go home! They may not be able to walk completely unsupported but will have good voluntary movement. I feel that it is good to think of the patient from the very beginning of their journey, from triage to discharge.
When we are presented with a non-ambulatory paraparetic or paraplegic dog in the back of the car, what do we do? How on earth to do I go about picking them up? Will they bite me? All sensible and common thoughts! If you can take another person with you, talk to the owner first to ascertain if they think their pet is painful. Did they get bitten when it first happened? Do you need a trolley? These may seem like obvious things, they can be overlooked with a distraught owner and frightened, painful dog presenting to the practice.
Once the patient is in the hospital, simple, basic tasks like temperature, pulse, respiration, and weight still need to be done. Once the vet has examined the dog and consent has been given from the owner more invasive procedures can be started. These would include intravenous catheter placement, blood samples and pain relief. At this point it is also a good time to assess how the patient is temperament wise (this will no doubt be effected by pain and fear) to see if you can carry out any other equally important tasks to improve the patients comfort. This could be as simple as bathing a soiled patient, expressing a full bladder, or comforting a scared animal.
Nursing the spinal patient isn’t as daunting as it may seem, if it is approached in a systematic manner, being aware of what complications may arise and ways in which to either treat or preventing them all together.

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