Evelyn's Story

Evelyn's VMC story started almost three years ago. Since Evelyn was a puppy she had always been a picky eater. Within a few years she developed occasional vomiting of yellow bile. When she was almost six the vomiting became more frequent, along with bloody diarrhea. I decided to bring her down to the U to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment options.

From the very beginning I was impressed with the care and attention to detail that was provided at the VMC. Evelyn was diagnosed with protein-losing nephropathy in June 2010, which was a complete shock and presumptive inflammatory bowel disease. Our first veterinarian was Dr. Orcutt who was absolutely amazing! She was realistic yet very positive about the situation. That first summer was spent stabilizing Evelyn's values with new medications, starting a renal diet and lowering her blood pressure.

Shortly after starting treatments Evelyn began improving. She had more energy and was eating better. She was pretty stable for over a year with her vomiting almost being nonexistent. She then started to be more picky about eating her prescription food. I made an appointment with Dr. Churchill to talk about a homemade diet. She formulated a diet that was kidney friendly and incorporated Evelyn's love of chicken, rice and vegetables. She also took the time to explain how Evelyn could be waking up in the morning nauseous and that she may need rotating options of food to offset her associating that food with feeling nauseous.

Everything had been going well until this last month. After an abdominal ultrasound Evelyn was diagnosed with gallstones. A few weeks later she developed an infection and jaundice. Dr. Gorman was thorough and provided all the options available so I could make an informed decision about Evelyn's care. It was ultimately too much to ask Evelyn to fight through anymore. She was a trooper through everything! I never felt like I was forcing her medications into her and she would actually come down to the kitchen at the appropriate times looking for them. She had the absolute sweetest personality and it was because of the care she received at the U that she had such a great quality of life these last few years.

My favorite memory of Evelyn's time at the U would be when a vet student stated how she knew she wanted to get Evelyn's case because Dr. Orcutt had put little purple hearts around Evelyn's name on the appointment list. I could tell everyone wanted the best for Evelyn and she wasn't just another case.

Thanks to Dr. Orcutt, Dr. Bisignano, Dr. Gorman, Dr. Churchill and all the vet techs who cared for Evelyn!