When someone brings a pet to us for a pedicure, we bust out the clippers and the Quick-Stop. I HATE using the clippers. Not that it matters all that much to me personally, since I don't actually do the trimming, but I hate them on behalf of the technicians who have to do the deed. Clippers compress before cutting, and it hurts. They nick quicks, and as anyone who's accidentally torn a nail past their own nail bed can attest, that really hurts. We encourage every owner who has a pet under ... Read more »
Daily Life
What they neglected to mention
Here's a little segment I like to call, "What They Neglected to Mention." One: Office manager: Someone complained that you didn't spend enough time with them last night at their appointment. She said she felt rushed. What they neglected to mention: That client showed up 50 minutes late, 10 minutes after we closed, without so much as a phone call to let me know she was running late. I was in my car in the parking lot when she showed up. Two: Client: My dog threw up this morning. Can I ... Read more »
Say yes to drugs. But only if I say so, OK?
I'll revisit the topic of sedatives in a bit- I have a guest post coming up in the near future about thunderstorm phobias and it will fit right in with that discussion. In the meantime, just to clarify some points that were made in the discussion yesterday: The dangers of sedating a pet for air travel are, by and large, not as much of a problem for travel by car, when the pet will be presumably monitored much more closely. I have been known to prescribe sedatives for pets going on a long ... Read more »
Marmaduke: the review and a teeny PSA
I've never been a huge fan of the 'live action' pet movies. Garfield, G force, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, all movies that never made it into my Netflix cue. It's just not my thing. But times, they are a changing, and I did see Marmaduke this weekend. This change occurred for two reasons: 1. I have a 5 year old and a 4 year old who are pretty much right in the target demographic. 2. We saw the dog who played Marmaduke at the Loews Surf Dog competition a few weeks ago and had to check out his ... Read more »
The elephant in the room
There's no situation harder for me than walking into an exam room and meeting an untrusting pair of steely eyes and crossed arms. That's it! That exact expression to the right. The internet, bookstore, and media are rife with sensationalistic stories about veterinarians trying to soak their clients, offering tips to help you combat those sneaky vets for only $19.95 plus S/H. I hate those stories- not because they're exposing my "secrets", but because they set up this combative atmosphere of ... Read more »
The truth? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Man, that was an intense movie. *wipes forehead* As I was perusing Facebook yesterday, I saw a link from my friend Annette over at Biscuits By Lambchop that took me to a column about pet nutrition in the New York Times. "The truth about cat and dog food," it is titled. You should read it. Then let me know what you think. As far as I can tell, the gist of the article is this: Super premium pet food is rife with gimmicks. Most pet foods in the same quality range have similar ... Read more »
Party animals!
*I don't know what is going on with Flickr- the pictures are randomly not showing up here and there- each time I refresh different ones become available. Hopefully it will be working more normally later on. Curses!! I divided the weekend pictures into two parts but I'm actually going in reverse chronological order. The first part, "Baking With Brody", will go up later this week because a couple people asked for the recipe for his birthday cake. The second part is just us being silly having ... Read more »
Happy Memorial Day
From I has a hotdog ... Read more »
The Fantastic Mr. Foxtail
I have a love-hate relationship with foxtails. On the one hand, they are nasty. Little sharp spiky pieces of grass material with tiny microscopic retrograde barbs that cause them to migrate on a one-way trip into yucksville, they like nothing better than to jump onto a dog's fur and burrow into just about any orifice they can find. I've pulled them from eyes, ears, noses, tonsils, toes, vulvas, prepuces, teeth- you name a surface, I've seen a foxtail in it. On the other hand, they sure do ... Read more »
How do we honor our pets?
Brody's first birthday is tomorrow. I've got some great recipes to use for a birthday cake. The kids wanted a birthday party- it's all their fault, I swear- so we will have one this weekend. I had a nice long list of all sorts of amazing luxury collars and various sundry goods that I wanted to get for Brody for this once in a lifetime event- and honestly, this is the first time I've had a young one year old dog to celebrate a first birthday with, so this really is an unusual thing for ... Read more »
Boards, bones and Brodes
It's Brody's First Birthday Week! I have some really cool stuff in store for you guys. Stay tuned! And to kick it off, I'm sharing the awesomeness that was the Loews Surf Dog Competition this weekend here in San Diego. There are few things in this universe more delightful to watch than a happy dog on a surfboard. It's cute, they are clearly having fun- I mean, who could possibly NOT like that? (Don't answer that.) I remember seeing the promotions for the 2009 competition last May, thinking ... Read more »
What’s in a name?
Thank you for all the thoughtful and heartfelt responses yesterday. I still have no idea where my head it at. To be honest, it probably wasn't the best idea to watch the Grey's Anatomy season finale when I was in such a melancholic mood since it didn't really help the situation. My GOD. That was the most intense 2 hours I have spent in front of a TV since Saving Private Ryan. Shall we lighten it up a bit? Did you all see Dr. Patty Khuly's USA Today article about what vets think of the names ... Read more »
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Veterinarians
(And that, my friends, is probably the first and last time you will ever see a country song referenced in this blog.) Last weekend, I had the honor of going to a fundraiser dinner for a local rehabilitation center at the invitation of my father-in-law, an active Rotarian and an example of the kind of person I want to grow up to be like someday. ;) Anyway, there was another Rotarian there whose daughter wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, and he asked if I would mind talking to ... Read more »
Careful where you put that thing
Some people read Rolling Stone. Others read National Geographic. On the rare occasion we have a quiet moment in the clinic, my staff likes to read Veterinary Dermatology. Now, I know lots of veterinarians are less than excited about this particular aspect of practice. Ear infections aren't sexy, they say, not like, say, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Bo-ring, they ho-hum over a flea allergy dermatitis while hoping a nice cranial cruciate ligament tear limps ... Read more »
The Circle of Life. Deal with it.
Me: So what did you learn in school today? Daughter: I learned snakes eat mice. Me: And so they do. Daughter: I got to see one do it. Me: Oh....did you watch a movie or something? ... Read more »
Things that strike terror into my heart
You all remember the Great Apple the Hamster Switcheroo I mentioned last week, right? It all went down at the home of the resident kindergarten rabble-rouser, a sweet yet entirely Tasmanian Devil-esque bundle of unrestrained kid energy. Let's call him Harold, just because. If you asked me in December who would win the "Most Likely to Accidentally Lose or Otherwise Injure a Small Animal" award I would have picked Harold. He just has that "Ohwowlookabugcoolcheckitout*SQUISH*ohwhoopshahah" sort ... Read more »
Juvenile delinquent
When my daughter's class went to Sea World earlier this week (I know, don't get me started) I was not asked to chaperone. That was OK with me, for several reasons: 1. I got to chaperone the awesome trip to the wildlife preserve in January. 2. You all know how I feel about Sea World. One other reason: I found out that many of the parents invited to chaperone were so asked because the teacher was afraid that without direct parental supervision, their children would end up running around ... Read more »
Call of the day
Receptionist: Hello, thank you for calling. How may I help you? Caller: Hi, I was wondering if you had prednisone? Receptionist: Yes...it's a prescription medication though. Do you need a refill? Caller: Well, I just called PetStore to ask if they carried it over the counter and they said no. Receptionist: Are you a client here? Caller: Huh? Oh, no. I got some from my regular vet for my dog because he had a platelet problem and I ran out. Can I get some more? Receptionist: You ... Read more »
