Tag: Dr. Emily

I’m going to take a moment to brag about Emily, my wife and love of my life. She is a wonderful and caring person who pours her heart into everything she does, whether it’s her family or her work. Emily loves being a veterinarian; she loves helping animals in need, and she does her absolute best with every case she takes on. There are numerous examples of Emily trying as hard possible to save a life. She has saved countless animals, both farm animals and pets, from a huge array of issues, everything from trouble birthing to trouble breathing. She brought a pig home for the weekend to make sure he got the best care possible (I will never forget Winston). We have four pets in our house right now, and three of them Emily saved from being euthanized. In this post I’m going to tell you the incredible story of how Dr. Emily saved Merlin, Penelope, and Catina.

Merlin is our three legged Saint Bernard. He will be 8 years this coming Valentines Day, and we have had him for all but three days of his life. Merlin’s first hours of life were rough ones. His mother (for an unknown reason) killed most of the puppies in Merlin’s litter. There was only one puppy that was unharmed, most of the puppies died, and Merlin had his leg severely mangled. Merlin’s original owner rushed him to the vet to try and save the leg, and, as luck would have it, that vet was Dr. Emily. Emily tried to save the leg, but the limb was too far gone. After a day it was completely clear that Merlin’s leg needed to be amputated. The owner did not think she could handle dealing with a two day old puppy that had to be bottle fed, and kept away from his mother. The owner elected to euthanize, but Emily couldn’t do it. This puppy still had a lot of life in him, he wasn’t dying, he just needed a lot of work and a lot of love. I’m sure the original owner was ecstatic when Emily offered to adopt Merlin, she didn’t want to put the pup down, she just couldn’t take care of him. The owner gave all rights to Emily, and, just like that, Emily and I had a Saint Bernard. I believe Emily preformed the amputation that day (she said it was like operating on a chicken wing) and Merlin came home at three days old.

Merlin spent the first week or so living in a box (you’ll see this is a common theme for our pets for some reason). Merlin needed to be fed every few hours, and we had to wipe his bottom with a warm clothe to stimulate him to pee and poop. He was good training for Emily and me, we got him in February of 2012 and India was born in September of the same year. As Merlin grew, he had to find a new place to sleep, the box wasn’t cutting in after a few weeks, and he eventually found the bath tub. South Carolina is hot for a Saint Bernard, but the bath tub was nice and cool, plus, we could leave the bathroom door cracked and the room would cool down even more. As Merlin grew, it became clear that he couldn’t walk normally. Unlike most three legged dogs, he had never originally learned how to walk. He wouldn’t stand on his back leg, but instead pulled himself around using a quickly developing upper body. To this day, he doesn’t have much muscle on his rear leg. Emily saw this issue, and, instead of giving up and excepting that this is how Merlin would live, took him to another veterinarian who was a chiropractor and rehabilitation specialist who adjusted him and rented us a cart that supported his hind end with wheels. He hated that cart, but Emily worked tirelessly with Merlin, getting him to put more and more weight on his back leg, and learning how to walk. It took a solid year, but Merlin learned to walk, he can get up on all three legs and get around pretty well (he actually runs after the deer for short bursts). Most people that meet him, don’t realize he’s three legged.

At first, Merlin wasn’t given a chance at life, but now, because of Emily and her great heart, he has lived way past what anyone expected (Emily’s first boss told her Merlin wouldn’t make it to 3 years old). Merlin is about to turn eight, and he’s slowed down but he hasn’t shown any sign of stopping. Emily loves Merlin, and Merlin loves her right back (it’s obvious that Merlin cares for Emily way more than he does for me).

Penelope is the second of our three pets that owes her life to Emily. Penelope came into Pol Vet as an emergency. A good Samaritan, brought her after finding her in the ditch on cold Michigan morning. Emily was the Doctor available and rushed to see the kitten. Penelope’s body temperature was dangerously low and she was already on the way out. The good Samaritan gave up any claim on the kitten and left. Emily could have put the kitten down, and no one would have faulted her, but that’s just not Emily. Emily has a big heart and a great love, and she saved that kitten. It was very intensive and all the staff at the clinic did all they could for the kitten. Warming blankets were put all around her, a heating pad was next to her, anything to get her temperature up. At one point while trying to warm Penelope back to a good body temperature, her heart actually stopped. That kitten died for a few minutes. Emily, through drugs and chest compressions, brought Penelope back from the dead. Penelope came home with Emily that night for close monitoring. I called the kids over to see the kitten, and that’s all it took. Emily blames me for us adopting Penelope. She says that I showed the kids a kitten and you can’t take a kitten away after the kids see it, but I know Emily really just loved Penelope and she was looking for any excuse to adopt her.

Penelope, of course, survived her brush with death and hypothermia, she is, however, an odd cat. She’s not one for petting, she’ll playfully (and sometimes not quite so playfully) attack the hand that dares pet her. One of Penelope’s favorite games is to attack the feet of anyone that walks around the corner she is lurking behind. Penelope will, from time to time, get on the back of the couch and start licking any head she can reach. Social grooming is good, right? Penelope has worked her way into all of our hearts, and she is with us today, because Emily is so loving and caring that she couldn’t take the simple way out, but, instead, worked tirelessly to save Penelope’s life.

The third pet that Emily saved and gave a home to is our loving cat Catina. India named her Catina after a song she learned in kindergarten, “C” is for Catina Cat. Much like Penelope, a good Samaritan found a sickly kitten and brought her to Pol Vet. The good Samaritan didn’t want to keep the sick kitten but she couldn’t just let it suffer. Catina came into the clinic with a horrible upper respiratory infection. Her eyes had ulcerated and were crusted shut. Catina couldn’t have been more than six weeks old, and, for her eyes to be that bad, she must have suffered with that infection for most of her life. Catina stayed at the clinic for couple of weeks. Emily was treating her eyes, giving her antibiotics for the infection, and pain medication. Catina was terrified by everything. She hated the treatment, she hated us, and she was miserable. We kept her at the clinic because that is what she knew, and she seemed somewhat comfortable in her kennel, surrounded by her blankets. Emily would take her out and handle/play with her every chance she could. It was very important to give her positive attention to try and get her to trust us, and Catina slowly learned to trust Emily.

Unfortunately, Catina’s eyes never improved, and they had to be removed. The enucleation went well, Emily performed it of course, but Catina’s trust in us took a hit. After the surgery, Emily took Catina home, and Catina lived in a shallow walled box in our closet. While we were home, Emily would disappear from time to time, and I would find her in our room sitting by the closet door talking to Catina. It took weeks of talking to Catina and lots of bloody scratches and bites before the kitten would even let Emily touch her. Slowly, and through Emily’s great and loving effort, Catina began to trust Emily and then the rest of the family. Emily was the bridge that brought Catina into a life of love and happiness. For the first months of her life Catina had only known pain, but Emily gave her love.

Catina now rules the upstairs part of our house. This blind cat runs around the entire upstairs chasing toys and playing with the kids. We find her jumping on the beds and exploring all sorts of nooks and crannies. Catina is starting to brave the stairs (she’s come down about half way) and, when she does finally come all the way down, Catina and Merlin will properly meet for the first time. Because of his leg, Merlin can’t climb the stairs, and we kept Catina away from the dog to limit her stress when we brought her home. Catina is now this fearless cat that is confident and brave enough to explore and run around the house even though she is blind. And she can do all of this because Emily gave her that confidence and trust to do so.