As everyone has probably guessed, I like animals. Animals are pretty cool. I enjoy them and I have a lot of respect for their place in our world. That being said, I also have a pretty healthy dose of wariness when it comes to certain animals who, on occasion, present less than benevolent faces to the world. Take bees, for instance. When I was in high school, I remember talking to my father on the phone one afternoon about a strange buzzing noise that I couldn't figure out the source of. "It's ... Read more »
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Canine Cuisine, Part Three: So, what should I feed my dog?
In Part 1 of the Canine Cuisine trilogy, Name that Food, I talked about how the name of the pet food itself gave you clues as to its content. In Part 2: Name that Ingredient, I went into detail about some of those baffling ingredient names you see on the back. In the last installment, I answer the omnipresent question of, "What should I feed my dog?" This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions I get asked as a veterinarian. I wish I could make it easy for you and just say, ... Read more »
We’ve got the blues
Yesterday, we had a sick little puppy in the hospital with vomiting and diarrhea. While he was in the back, getting rehydrated and filled up with anti-nausea meds, I was putting my head on my arms thinking, oh no, I'm getting sick. We were quite the pair, the two of us. While he was improving, I was declining. I envied him his quiet cage and his IV and I wondered if I crawled into a lower cage with a blanket and a hot water bottle how long it would take anyone to notice. It's amazing how ... Read more »
Helping hands (and rears)
About 2 years after I adopted Mulan, she had a TPLO surgery. This is a pretty invasive knee surgery, and as part of the requirement she was on cage rest for 6 weeks. She had a very difficult time getting up, and I had to assist her. We were pretty low tech in vet school, and whenever we needed to assist a pet in getting up we would use a towel looped around their abdomen. This is also what we do at work. It works fine, but getting the towel around a recumbent animal and then supporting 40, ... Read more »
Story of the day
"Room 2 is Freddie," says the tech. "He's been vomiting for a couple of days." I grab the chart of the door and take a peek as I go in the room. "Hi there, Mr....Krueger-" pause- "Freddie Krueger?" I look at the dog, a wrinkly shar pei. The owner grins proudly. "I was going to save that for my first born son, but I figured I'd use it on the dog." Good choice. ... Read more »
The Accidental Veterinarian: I
I want to know why, in a profession where 75 + % of the entering class is composed of women, all the veterinarian memoirs out there are written by men. Vet school memoirs are even more scarce. I find this simply unacceptable. All those doe eyed little girls out there want to know how it really happens, right? I've seen the class pictures plastered inside the dean's office going back a bajillion years, and I guarantee it isn't what it once was, back in the good old days. For a lot of ... Read more »
More news of the obvious
The CDC just released a report estimating 86,000 falls a year are caused by dogs and cats. I wonder if they do a similar report on the number of falls caused by roller skates, weak ankles, wet floors, and banana peels. The report seems to infer that the majority of injuries are to the elderly, caused by tripping over little dogs out on walks. Interesting, but I can't quite figure out what they want to happen. The benefits of having a pet are well documented. Are we going to place warning ... Read more »
True confession
I have a confession to make, and this one is hard. Skippy is no longer with me. This is painful. I feel like a failure, especially since I spend so much time talking about responsibility and how a pet is a lifetime commitment. I still believe that, which is why I also think you should be really careful about the hows and whens of bringing a new pet into the home, and that is where I really screwed up. I knew after Mulan died that I would eventually want another dog, and I had a specific kind ... Read more »
Working on the hyperlichenification process
I.e. trying to get a thicker skin. Today I went into a room to give a little dachshund puppy his vaccine boosters. This was a cute dog. Seriously cute. I had seen him once before, 3 weeks prior, for his first vaccination and he was healthy and adorable then, as he was today. I went in and gushed, trying to ignore the fact of the very stone faced owner glaring at me. Everyone has bad days and bad moods, right? She asked me a couple of questions that I started to answer, and she cut me off each ... Read more »
Cruelty Free made easier
I suppose this isn't directly related to my job, but I think the concept is one that is of interest to many of my 5 readers so I thought I would share this with you. Long before I became a veterinarian, I was a mini animal rights activist in training. I remember being 6 and hassling my mother mercilessly about her rabbit fur coat: "Eeeeeew mom, that is soooo ugly! Why are you wearing dead bunnies? We live in California! Yuck!" etc etc. She actually stopped wearing it because I hassled her so ... Read more »
