Lockdown Internal Medicine Service Succeeding At Davies
4 years ago 
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The Internal Medicine Service at Davies Veterinary Specialists has been keeping busy during lockdown, conducting remote consultations, virtual re-examinations, and treating urgent and emergency cases. Now as the teams are seeing more patients on site they are reflecting on how well the practice operated over the past few months.
Eva Buresova, Clinician in Internal Medicine at the small animal veterinary referral hospital in Hertfordshire explains: “Despite a very different working environment, operating under the government guidelines, we are very much getting back to business as usual at Davies. Throughout lockdown we’ve been seeing routine cases via video consultations and urgent cases and emergencies on site.
Daisy, a six-year-old Labradoodle is under the referral care of Davies for the treatment of Addison’s disease and eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy (inflammatory lung disease). She suffered an acute episode of diarrhoea, vomiting and lethargy at the beginning of lockdown and was admitted to her local veterinary practice. Specialists at Davies were on hand to provide phone advice to help the practice manage Daisy’s complex health problems.
“The episode was due to a relapse of Addison’s disease,” explained Eva. “But Daisy is a complicated case suffering of multiple conditions. This time also her pancreatic and liver enzymes were elevated, and thyroid hormones were abnormal. We adjusted her medication and she had a follow-up blood test. She is now back to her bright and happy self, but we are keeping in touch to monitor the situation.”
Daisy’s owner Flick Thorley continued: “Daisy came into our life via the Doodle Trust last year after our other Doodle Trust rescue dog sadly died. We were able to take on Daisy as we had previous experience of caring for a sick dog long term. Because Daisy has multiple medical problems, I wanted to consult with the medical specialist at Davies who already knew her so we could get Daisy back on track and restore her quality of life as quickly as possible. I am in the vulnerable group for COVID-19 and need to avoid any unnecessary contact so the remote service was reassuring on all counts. Eva could see her, and the video consultation was so much better than just a phone call.”
Internal Medicine Specialist Theresa McCann evaluated Maggie, a nine-year-old German Pointer, via remote consultation for vomiting and diarrhoea. The signs had worsened and on the day of the remote consultation, the dog had become lethargic and blood had been found in her vomit and stools. Theresa was concerned that Maggie may have a bleeding ulcer or tumour and therefore she was seen the same day on site. An ultrasound scan and an endoscopy didn’t reveal either of these sinister diseases; instead the dog was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), commenced a course of steroids and diet and her clinical signs are now completely controlled.
Maggie’s owner Amanda Cockerill said: “After countless trips to the vets with our Maggie, who has always suffered with what we thought was an over sensitive stomach and digestive system, we were referred to Davies. The initial video consultation was very thorough, and while she was in hospital we were kept fully informed about her progress, the tests and the costs. We now have our old puppy back and could not be happier. I know that if Maggie had not been treated by Davies and received the care she did, she would not be with us right now. Thank you, all of you, especially Eva.”
“While lockdown has presented us with many new challenges it is of paramount importance that we continue to provide the best possible service for pets,” said Eva. “Being available virtually means we can support primary practices and clients to prioritise and treat patients as quickly and efficiently as possible, while minimising risks to pet owners and veterinary teams during the pandemic.”
Based on new government guidelines Davies Veterinary Specialists is now fully open and seeing all cases referred to us while following COVID-19 social distancing rules. We continue to offer remote video-consultations for clients in vulnerable group and others that cannot come in person. Initial evaluation via remote consultation is then followed by admission for procedures if needed.
To find out more visit https://vetspecialists.co.uk/services/internal-medicine/
or call Davies on 01582 883950.
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