Dogs and peanut butter go together like, well, people and peanut butter. Peanut butter is a well-loved product. Remember that Got Milk commercial with the dog with the peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth? (I couldn’t find it, but this one is almost as good.) I used to use it to glue Mulan’s pills to her palate. It’s like doggy manna. Given its status as Most Favored Flavor, it’s hard to find a dog treat out there that doesn’t come in a peanut butter ... Read more »
Blog
For the gulper in your life
In my day, we didn’t have all these fancy schmancy dog bowls with their non-tip shapes and their fancy stalagmites sticking up out of them. We used plain, tippable, flimsy plastic bowls and we liked it! If your dog ate too fast, too bad! Seriously though, modern ingenuity never ceases to astound me. What appears on first glance to be a large Duplo is in fact a very cleverly designed bowl designed to reduce the risk of bloat by slowing down a dog’s ingestion of food. Although bloat ... Read more »
Say cheese!
Sometimes, in the wee hours of the morning, I lay curled in my bed and dream of Geroge Clooney -er, I mean my husband- whispering sweet nothings into my ear. I turn my head to him and smile. “Wow,” I say as I lean in, “Did you eat sardines last night?” He just stares at me, breathing heavily, until I open my eyes and realize it’s Emmett blowing dog-breath into my face. There are myriad causes of icky breath, but the most common cause is icky teeth. Most of us know ... Read more »
r u listening?
Not one, not two, but three separate clients were texting while I was trying to talk to them today. Face in phone, tap-tap-tapping as I was trying to explain A) otitis, B) hypothyroidism, and C) vaccine reactions. I tried to give these people the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they were just transcribing what I was saying to someone on the other end, but I’m a little doubtful this was actually the case. It’s bad enough when people are yelling into their phone when I’m in the ... Read more »
Lend me your ear
Today I gave a dog a rabies vaccine. It took an hour and 10 minutes. Pearly was a slightly chubby labrador with some dental disease. She was genial and healthy, and there wasn’t a whole lot to do in terms of the examination. Her owner was a new client, a very sweet older gentleman. A WWII veteran, 87 years old. His joints might be creaky and his step a little slow, but man, there was nothing wrong with his lungs. He talked my receptionist’s ear off. He talked my tech’s ear ... Read more »
A Love Letter to Mulan
I knew buying Marley and Me for the airplane trip was a bad idea. It was inevitable that I was going to read the book at some point, of course- I’m drawn to dog memoirs like flies to garbage- but maybe the timing was just a little off. It’s not like I didn’t know what was coming, after all. Death is part of the package deal, right? That is the Great Dog Story Arc- playful puppy arrives, mischief abounds, dog saves the day, at least one close brush with death, reflection on ... Read more »
California: Making up budget deficits in increasingly stupid ways
This may not be relevant to those of you outside California yet, but with the economy in the dumps it probably will be soon enough. California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger is attempting to introduce a sales tax on veterinary services as a part of the current budget proposal. Also on the block for sales tax? Furniture and appliance repair, and golf. NOT on the proposal? Every other healing arts profession. Because human health is very important, but animal health is a luxury, apparently. ... Read more »
Some days are great, and some are like this
Mr. Randall is one of my favorite clients. He and his wife adopted a kitten about six months ago from the shelter; over Thanksgiving they got a second kitten to keep him company. Both the cats and the people are just tremendously nice and pleasant, and it’s always a bright spot in my day to see them. He came in to see me because they were concerned that Pawsy, the newer kitten, had worms. His belly looked a little big to him, he explained to the tech. My tech came out of the room shaking ... Read more »
The Accidental Veterinarian
No one ever asks “Why did you decide to become a vet?” It’s a fairly coveted job, up there with ballerinas and astronauts. I imagine “port-a-potty maintenance man” may have to field that question a little more often, but in my case, it’s assumed I was born with a Dr. Doolittle-esque Way With Creatures that dictated this was to be my fate. It is almost a rule. I’m an exception to that rule. I’ve always liked dogs and cats, sure, but I didn’t ... Read more »
Welcome to the Neighborhood
It’s hard being the new kid on the block, no matter where you are. I find introductions to be a little forced and awkward, myself. “Hi, I’m Dr. V, I like Golden Retrievers and Diet Pepsi…” I much prefer to just jump on in and hope a normal working relationship establishes itself. Most of the time this works. When I began at my current practice, there was the normal flurry of resistance from clients used to seeing The Other Doctor, ie, my boss. I don’t blame ... Read more »