Stacey was an overweight, seven-year-old beagle who belonged to Mr. Archibald McCracken. In addition to Stacey, Mr. McCracken’s family included two other beagles (Lacey and Gracie). They were litter mates Mr. McCracken adopted as puppies when Stacey was five years old. I think it would be safe to say that Stacey rued the day that Lacey and Gracie came to live with her. They had a great deal of energy, and at her age Stacey would have preferred to have a more sedate lifestyle. In fact, I think she would have much preferred being an only child if she had a choice in the matter.
Mr. McCracken, who liked being called Archie, was a high school English teacher and field hockey coach at a private girls school in Wellesley. He looked and dressed exactly as you would picture a teacher in a movie about an exclusive, private prep school in New England. From his personality and demeanor you could sense he was put on this earth to be a teacher and mentor.
A Mini Cooper and three beagles
He was about six and a half feet tall, wore a tweed sport jacket with elbow patches, a knit, squared-off tie, wing-tip brown shoes; all topped off with a plaid English riding cap. He had a voice that carried throughout the hospital and a laugh just as loud. He was about 55 years old and a confirmed bachelor who drove a Mini Cooper, which nicely accommodated his three beagles, though it was hard to imagine how it fit his large frame. I think the word that describes him best is jolly.
He never really talked about himself outside of some traveling he had done, but one day in the Boston Globe Metro section, I saw an article that mentioned his popularity as a teacher and a coach with several field hockey championships.
I’m not sure why he came all the way from Brighton, where he lived, to Lancaster, but I felt flattered that he would come all that way for veterinary care. He was one of those clients that veterinarians love. When presented with a diagnosis and/or treatment plan, he would say, “You’re the doc; do what you need to do.” He was a client I always looked forward to seeing. He loved his dogs and he was truly a nice man.
One day in February, Archie brought Stacey in (I could hear Lacey and Gracie howling from the parking lot as only beagles can howl) because he had noticed her straining to urinate and only producing a few drops of blood-tinged urine.
A three- by two-and-a-half-inch bladder stone that was extracted from a beagle’s bladder. (Courtesy photo)
Diagnosis and treatment
Clients notice bloody urine quite easily when the ground is covered with snow. When a dog presents with a history like Stacey’s, veterinarians consider several possibilities. The most common causes are a urinary tract infection, bladder cancer, and bladder and/or urethral stones. When I examined Stacey, I could feel a firm mass in her abdomen. I was thinking it was a bladder stone, but I had never palpated one that large. We took a radiograph, and sure enough there was a very large stone in her urinary bladder. I operated on her the next morning and removed a three- by two-and-a-half-inch stone (pictured).
Stacey had a smooth recovery, and the next morning I took her out for a short walk. She urinated a good full stream and looked up at me with those big brown beagle eyes as if to say, “I don’t know what you did, but thank you.”
Archie kept the stone to use as a paperweight and conversation piece for his students but returned it to me after a year. I’ve kept it ever since.
East Bare Hill Road resident Fred Karotkin is a veterinarian.
