This is not about Sophia Yin. I feel the need to say that before launching into a discussion about suicide and depression in the animal community, because the horrible news that she took her own life and the ripples it is causing in the veterinary world is the reason I'm talking about it today. But it's not about her or her situation, which none of us will ever really know; Dr. Yin's legacy is the work she did during her life, and it should remain that way. This is not about one ... Read more »
Blog
Then there was that time at the bordello with Dr. Lorie
This has been an almost unbearably terrible week for those in the veterinary profession, and those who love animals. First the awful news that Dr. Sophia Yin had passed away, and then not one day later, we learned of the passing of another tremendous voice and educator, Dr. Lorie Huston. Like many of you I considered Dr. Huston a friend. She was extremely well regarded for her work online as the Voice of Pet Care with the Pet Healthcare Gazette, her many contributions to various ... Read more »
Thank you, Dr. Yin
When I was in school, I accumulated a lot of textbooks. Books from the titans, the Nelsons and the Feldmans and the Fossums. I stood in line at the bookstore with these heavy tomes weighing me down, and noticed every other person in line with a tiny mahogany text balanced on top of their piles. "What's that?" I asked. "The Nerdbook," they said. "I heard you can't make it through vet school without it." They were right. I spent many hours in rounds with my Nerdbook balanced on my ... Read more »
3 ways to save money on pet care
If you were awake at 7:50 this morning and happen to have been watching San Diego 6, you'd have seen me trying with varied success to get a very sweet and nervous Saint Bernard to eat some treats. You know what they say about pets and kids. But that's OK, because Gabana was still a precious prop to our perhaps less entertaining but still very important topic, saving money on pet care. Here's the tips I shared: 1. Don't skimp on preventive care. Pop quiz: what is more expensive- Regular ... Read more »
An Open Letter to My Veterinary Colleagues
Please share far and wide because we only have until Monday to get our voices heard. Dear veterinarians, I imagine you have noticed things have changed a bit for us in the last ten years or so. A decade ago, you could look in the "Help Wanted" section on VIN or AVMA classifieds and have your pick of positions. This is good, since most of us carried modest student debt we needed to pay off. Being a new grad was exhilarating, a little nerve-wracking, but thrilling. Now? The ... Read more »
Guess I don’t love all the animals
My first year of practice, I was talking to an owner in an exam room when I saw her eyes go wide and she yelled, "SPIDER!" I looked down and saw a large arachnid crawling across the table towards her poodle. Without missing a beat, I grabbed a large drug compendium and put an end to the assault. The lady looked up, cocked her head, and said, "I guess you don't love all the animals, then." I felt terrible, actually. My grandmother would not have approved. She would capture daddy longlegs in ... Read more »
Who do you remember?
I remember this about September 11, 2001: I felt very lonely. It was my senior year of veterinary school. My husband, who had only been my husband for about 2 months, was far away in San Diego. My mother was the one who called me, waking me up to tell me to turn on the news. She was alone too, as my father was on a rare business trip in Texas, one he ended up having to drive home from. We held the phones to our ears together until there was nothing more to do, so I said, well, I guess I ought ... Read more »
I take back everything I’ve said about writing being fun and easy
There is nothing that will make you gain an appreciation for a creative process more than attempting to do it yourself. You know, like those people who scoff at the museum and say, "A kid could do that!" and then go home and paint something absolutely horrid. Or those people who look on Pinterest or food blogs for new recipes. This is how I feel about writing a book. "I write a blog," I said. "I have a command of basic English," I said. This will be a piece of cake. James Patterson ... Read more »
The best day of the year is here!
It's National Dog Day, a day to celebrate the love and bond we share with our canine companions. It's hard to top. What could possibly be better than National Dog Day? Having your birthday fall on National Dog Day. Especially if you've always proclaimed that dogs are pretty much the best thing ever. It is also, in a strange twist of fate that I cannot tell if it is coincidental or not, is also National hot dog day, which is a fact I'm not as excited about so I will choose ... Read more »
Pet insurance- the good, the bad, the somewhere in between
I admit I am biased about pet insurance. I like it, mostly. Clients who had it were, in my experience, much more likely to approve necessary treatments. That dog with a case of happy tail who wagged it so hard and so fast he got a nasty deep infection that ended up necessitating a partial tail amputation? Insured. Hit by car? Insured. From my perspective, it allowed owners to focus on the pet's immediate needs and get them taken care of. I also liked it because I didn't have to do anything to ... Read more »
