I have spent several weekends volunteering with the Humane Society of Tijuana, an incredible grass roots organization. In the States, we have thousands of well organized rescue groups who have access to funding, PR, and hope. In Mexico, a short hop across the border, there are no such resources. It started with one man who wanted to make life better for the street dogs and cats, and has grown solely through the efforts of volunteers to be a great success in helping animals in need. Unlike here, ... Read more »
Daily Life
Magic 8 Ball
I have a Magic 8 Ball. I bought it a few months ago as a joke, to consult in those cases where I'm not allowed to do any diagnostics or confirm any suspicions, where my hunch based solely on my history and physical exam is supposed to definitively diagnose a disease and give an accurate prognosis. On a few occasions, I have eventually been able to confirm Magic 8 Ball's predictions. There is a small problem. My Magic 8 Ball is ALWAYS RIGHT. Always right, to the point where it's a ... Read more »
Poker Face
I hear all sorts of stuff at work. Some of it is funny: "Hey doc, my dog caught me and my wife....uh....well, anyway, is he scarred for life?" Some of it is sad, like listening to a lonely elderly person tell me about the life of their cat, their constant companion and solace, as the cat is being put to sleep. Some of it is downright weird, like the woman who pulled her top down to ask me to look at a mole (I demurred.) All of this has to be met with the same expressionless face. That's ... Read more »
Confirmation
As some of you know, I spent a good portion of my years in vet school regretting my decision and sure that I would have been much happier as a human doctor as opposed to an animal one. It's been a gradual process, but over time I have come to realize that no, I actually did what was right for me. Had I chosen human medicine, I probably would have wound up in dermatology, prescribing Accutane to oily teenagers, or in pediatrics, looking down the throats of various runny nosed children. It's ... Read more »
Thank you
I just don't have the emotional strength to go back and respond to each post about Callie individually, but please know I am so grateful for all the comments and people who have encouraged me to keep hopeful. Callie has not returned yet, but I will do what I can to stay positive. My other cat is really mad too, because I've stopped being complacent about when he makes his escapes, and I've started tackling him when he tries to head out the door. Sorry Apollo. You are the solo remaining member ... Read more »
Developmental Milestones
They say 4-16 weeks is the most crucial time in a pup's development. During this time, they make lifelong associations and gain critical bits of social understanding. This is the key time to establish a pet's role in the family. Brody knows that I am his alpha. We are gently and consistenly reinforcing this through praise, the nothing in life is free approach, and training. Brody also knows my husband is an alpha. As far as I can tell this has been accomplished through a baritone voice ... Read more »
The lies we tell ourselves
I'll be honest with you. It's been a rough week. Monday, my oldest started kindergarten. There were lots of pictures, lots of emotions, and no small amounts of chaos. It went well, despite all that. Later in the evening, as I was getting the kids ready for bed, I thought to myself that it was unusual that Callie was not begging for food (that is pretty much all she ever does.) And come to think of it, I hadn't seen her all afternoon. I opened the door and went out in the backyard to ... Read more »
Know when to walk away- know when to run
A person walks up to our receptionist and asks how much a parvo vaccine is. The receptionist answers. The person makes a moue of distaste, her lips puffing out. "I'm not planning on vaccinating anyway," she tells the receptionist, who can only stand in bafflement as to why someone would drive up, park, and walk in the door to make this announcement. "I know it's a racket you vet people do to make money. The vaccine gives the dog parvo, then you charge an arm and a leg to treat it." She ... Read more »
The best day of the year!
August 26th is a banner day. A banner day, I tell you. On this very day, thirty somethingmumblemutter years ago, I was born. That in and of itself is nothing major, other than the fact that on this day every year without fail I go to Cold Stone and get ice cream. What else happened today in history? Let's see. In 1303, someone named Ala ud din Khilji captures something called Chittorgarh. Great. 1920 – The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women ... Read more »
Family ties
Brody is not Emmett, nor should he be. There is a lot I have yet to learn about Brody: his personality, his likes and dislikes and quirks. I am excited for that period of discovery. I have been blessed with such vivacious pets in my life, from crotchety Taffy to daft Nuke, mild Mu and the inimitable Emmett. I can't wait to find out who Brody will be. I've already found that he, unlike my other dogs to date, has begun bonding immediately with people other than myself in the family. That is great. ... Read more »
Teach me, Jedi master
As a vet, I get asked behavior questions all the time, both at work and here through the blog. They are important questions, questions that set the tone for the entire bonding process and the life of the pet. They are complicated questions, more often than not. I am happy to answer them as follows: "Has he been to training?" I ask. If they say no, I tell them to go find one. If they say yes, I tell them to call their trainer and ask them. Boom. Next question. Hopefully it's about ... Read more »
A midsummer night’s fluffball
How now, spirit! whither wander you? Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier, Over park, over pale, Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere. I have an exposition of sleep come upon me. ... Read more »
Comment of the day
I go on autopilot sometimes, as we all do when we're performing an activity we have done with some degree of repetition. Today, I was reciting my usual spiel to an owner who adopted a cat from a shelter who had, as is often the case, an upper respiratory infection. One of the common causative agents is the feline herpesvirus, and for that reason many veterinarians recommend L-Lysine (an amino acid) as part of the treatment regime. "So in conclusion," I summarized, "you should get some Lysine ... Read more »
A happy, albeit indignant, ending
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there is someone for every dog. Even if you could not possibly understand how someone could live with the snorting pug/the yelping chihuahua/the loud Dobie, someone else not only understands, but adores it. Skippy came in for one last visit today. I had offered to get him caught up on his boosters for his new owners, one last time to see him before he headed off into the great wide yonder. When last I saw him, he was a vaguely Yoda-like creature ... Read more »
Cower before me, foolish mortals!
You sure do see some interesting things on the internet. Some of it is good, some of it is equivocal, and some of it is downright messed up. One of the advantages of having my own vet blog is getting to climb up on my soapbox and rant to the ether in response. So. Here I sit, perusing Twitter, my puppy curled up by my feet. Oh look, another I hate Michael Vick T-shirt. A link to a cute cat. Someone had a bad day with an aggessive dog. And then in between those innocuous twitters was ... Read more »
Happy Day!
I just got off the phone with Reggie's foster dad in Phoenix. He arrived safe and sound and is already making friends with the four dogs who live there permanently. He will be seen by a vet there soon for a checkup and a more thorough medical evaluation than we were ever allowed to do by his previous owners. Looking to a happier tomorrow... Now that he's safe and sound, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The doggie angels at Another Chance for English Setters made this all ... Read more »
What were we thinking?
Ah, freedom. I have just gotten to the point where my kids sleep through the night. This is the first time since, oh, 2004 that I have had the luxury of sleeping in every once in a while. My son is just about potty trained and I was looking forward to a life free from diapers, with a tad bit more independence. Then I got a puppy. Oy. I haven't raised a puppy since, oh, the early 80s. My parents got a Lhasa-something-or-other from a neighbor, which we had for 15 years and did just about ... Read more »
It takes a village to save a dog
I have a newfound respect for rescue workers. Not that I didn't have respect for rescue volunteers before, mind you. I think I just forgot how much dang work rescuing can be. I was part of a group in vet school that rescued dogs from shelters, put them in foster homes for 12 weeks, trained the dogs once a week, and at the end of the 12 weeks adopted them out. I was just one of the adoption coordinators and it was a ton of work, happily done but work nonetheless. We had a dog at our clinic who ... Read more »
