News-Record.com

From her first internship, all Wendi Wells wanted to do was work in emergency animal medicine. She works the night shift at an emergency veterinary clinic. Wells treats police dogs for heat exhaustion and helps guinea pigs give birth, along with aiding the occasional wild animal and lots of sick puppies. Staff writer Sonja Elmquist talked to Wells about Good Samaritan euthanasia and the curative power of vomit.

Q. What’s your favorite animal?

A. One that doesn’t bite.

I have more favorite emergencies than a favorite animal. Parvo is a perfect model. (A dog is) really sick, going to die without you, and it’s going to be a very long drawn-out thing but ... with care, 95 percent of cases recover.

Q. What types of things do pets swallow?

A. Tons of things. I’ve seen dogs swallow nuts and bolts, an open pocket knife, razor blades. Rocks are a pretty big one. Sewing needles for cats. A lot you wouldn’t think would be foreign bodies like chicken bones and ham bones. Tennis balls, golf balls. Socks, underwear. Marijuana.

The hard part of marijuana is they come in with the munchies, and their eyes will be all dilated. This is difficult because you don’t want to ask, “Did your dog have access to marijuana?” People don’t want to admit that they’re smoking marijuana.We’re really successful in getting them to vomit things.

Q. Do you have a pet?

A. Fish. I have an African cichlid tank. I have three dogs and three cats. We used to have seven cats.

Q. What should people do if they find an injured animal?

A. If you call and say you found a bunny, we’re going to tell you to put it back. If they bring them in and they’re injured, we’ll do basic care on wildlife.Hit by cars or stray animals is another story. Unfortunately, we’re not set up to house a bunch of stray animals. If they’re gravely injured, if they’re imminently going to die or they’ve got wounds that are beyond a normal person’s financial means, we recommend euthanasia. And we call it a Good Samaritan euthanasia — there’s no charge to the person who brings it in.

Q. What’s the hardest part of your job?

A. One of the hardest parts about our job in emergency is the money. People come in the door, and the first thing we have to tell them is, “Wow, this is going to cost you about three grand.”

You have to convey that while you’re still showing compassion for the pet, compassion for the owner, but you also know you have to collect the money because this is a business. We have all this fancy equipment, but we have that because we charge for service.

Q. How much sickness do you see that comes from animals eating people food?

A. I would guess about a fourth of our emergencies are “dietary indiscretion.” Pancreatitis is the biggest thing we see. I’ve seen dogs in the hospital dying from it.That and obesity. We see animals come in that their back looks like a coffee table.

Q. Are there any animals you don’t like?

A. There’s no animals I don’t like, but I don’t have a very strong comfort level with exotics. I don’t mind doing ferrets. I do a little bit of rabbit medicine, a little snake. I’ll do an iguana. I did a C-section on a guinea pig one time. I amputated a goose’s wing for wildlife. It had been shot. It kept stepping on its wing.

Q. What emergencies do you handle that are preventable?

A. Grooming your own dog at home with scissors instead of clippers. (Owners) cut their dogs all the time. They cut their ears. They cut their skin. Lacerations like that — which are so stupid and are so unnecessary — because people don’t pay attention.

Don’t cut your dog’s nails at home if you don’t have clotting powder. But invariably they come in and we have to charge them $60 for a toenail.

Get your dogs vaccinated. People don’t vaccinate their pets, and then they have to come in and euthanize because they can’t afford to treat.

Q. Have you seen a miracle where an animal shouldn’t have lived but did?

A. For me, no. Because on an emergency basis we ... either lose it and they hate you, or you save it and you go on.

I think the miracles for me are the ones that pass away quietly. ... For me, it’s the miracle of death more than the miracle of life.

Q. Many people consider pets to be members of the family, equal to human members. How do you help people decide to say goodbye?

A. I ask them. “I need to know where you are on this emotionally.” It’s not about Precious anymore. It’s about you and whether you are ready to let go. What I tell people is even if you had a million dollars, it would not likely change the outcome with Precious.

Euthanasia is one of the greatest gifts. ... I don’t get thank-you cards for saving lives. I get them for taking it.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com