In the olden days, people used to turn to carnival medicine men or the back pages of Look Magazine for the latest way to solve all of their problems. People don't change, just the technology. Now we have the internet to turn to. If the web is to be believed, and it always is for some reason, there is a new cure for all the world's ills. That cure is coconut oil. It's good for your hair, your skin, your GI tract, your dog, your mental health, and your aura. It's anti-inflammation and ... Read more »
Health
Dog: World’s Worst Coach
I am training for a half marathon. I thought about training for a full marathon, but then the reality what that was like the last time I attempted it kicked in and I remembered that oh yeah, I don't like to run. I think you can do a full marathon once when you don't like to run, just to say you did (Rock n Roll 2001 for me), but after than there's really nothing to prove other than, "oh yeah, this hurts." A half marathon though, is doable. Still not fun, but manageable. I have decided, ... Read more »
Good health is a revelation
When I took my son in for his first routine eye exam, I had no idea he needed glasses. Neither did he. He seemed fine, wasn't running into things, was reading fine in school, but nonetheless the optometrist suggested glasses. OK, I said, let's give it a shot. One week later, his glasses arrived and we went into the office to pick them up. He picked them up dubiously, slid them over the bridge of his nose, and stood there for a moment, blinking as the refracted light hit his retina in new and ... Read more »
Do we need pet care advocates?
In the depth of my despair when Apollo was dying, the medical resident at the specialty hospital made a comment I will never forget. He was dying of a blood clot, a sequelae of hyperthyroidism and heart disease. I was in shambles, having come home from the gym to find him immobile on the couch, and rushed in straightaway, sweaty and spandex-y. I scribbled his medical history as quickly as I could, which the resident pored over with her intern as I sat in the room planning to say goodbye. I ... Read more »
One Twenty Over Eighty
A few years ago I ran away from my job. At least, that's what I called it at the time, that is how I framed it in my head. I couldn't hack it, I was a failure as a vet. My mind was wrecked, my physical health was wrecked, and my stomach curled up into knots every time I pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't only me who suffered; I knew my heart was not where it needed to be for my patients. They deserved for me to want to be there. It was a bad place to be in. With the gift of ... Read more »
A place of passing
"I'm never going back," I have heard more than one pet owner say. They are talking about the office of their veterinarian, a person with whom they have built a relationship for years, someone they like and trust. But their pet died there, and the painful memories are too strong. So strong for some people that they go and find a new vet, even if they liked their old one just fine. It's one of the reasons I like having the option that I offer, of performing in-home euthanasia and pet hospice ... Read more »
Awesome App Alert: Pet First Aid
You're on a walk with your dog. He looks tired. You don't know if he's just tired from the walk or if he's showing early signs of hyperthermia. What do you look for? Unless you have a lot of experience with dogs or happen to have an emergency medicine textbook on you, you might not know. But thanks to increasingly cooler and better apps, you can get some immediate reassurance from your smartphone. The latest must-have app for dog and cat owners just came out, and at $0.99 there's no reason ... Read more »
The Secrets to Saving Money at the Vet
Hoo boy, that 20/20 piece sure stirred up some emotions, didn't it? And it's Thanksgiving, a week of gratitude, so I'm going to take a step back and say thank you to all the wonderful readers and colleagues who make writing this worthwhile. In honor of that, I'm going to take a moment and also share with you some of my own veterinary secrets. For the low low price of nothing, I want to explain to you what I believe, based on over a decade now in the field, is the best way to save money at the ... Read more »
Some Veterinarians Sell Unnecessary Online Memberships By Throwing Colleagues Under the Bus
Some Veterinarians Sell Unnecessary Shots, Tests to Make Extra Money, Says Former Vet Did you see this bit on 20/20 this weekend? Ah, media. Titled "Veterinary Confessions," the piece follows a couple of dogs through a series of veterinary visits where different vets offer different services based on their clinical experience, interspersed with the contrite admonitions of a former veterinarian who says that he was, before he relinquished his license (more on that later), the medical ... Read more »
Better With Pets
Hardened criminal. Swimsuit model. New media revolutionary. NPR host. Animator. What do they all have in common? Their lives have been made better by having a pet. And we're not talking oh, I have a cute cat and I sometimes feed it and it makes me chuckle, I'm talking about people whose lives have been profoundly affected by the animals in their lives. I assume if you're here reading this blog, you feel it too. Something about the bond between ourselves and our pets goes way beyond the ... Read more »
Three things to know about the jerky illnesses
Let's imagine, for a moment, that there is a serial killer loose in your town. One by one, he picks little kids off from the local playground, and it's horrible and awful. The police are working around the clock, but the killer remains elusive. But he only ever chooses his victims from that one playground. You wouldn't take your kids there, right? Even if *most* of the kids who play there end up ok, even if the police chief says, well, it might be OK now? Why take that chance, when there ... Read more »
Poke, pay, push off
I used to work in a clinic that offered twice a week vaccine clinics. During those times, we would waive our customary exam fee (at the time it was $45), as long as the client was coming in solely for vaccines and had no health questions. We did this to provide a service to those clients who would go to the weekend vaccine clinic at the pet store instead of coming to us. I know how those weekend clinics work. They are much like the flu clinic I took my kids to last week. You go, you get your ... Read more »
How to talk to your vet about death
I'm getting Apollo's ashes back this week. I still haven't quite processed it yet, because his death lacked that months long painful preparation/ agonizing over a pet in the process of dying: The Infinite Hovering of the Big Hanging Clock. He woke up Wednesday morning, meowed for his food like always, and was dead 12 hours later. Whenever you learn of a terminal diagnosis, that invisible countdown clock that all living beings share suddenly appears. And we know that it's winding down, sooner ... Read more »
The strange twisted story of canine circovirus
You have probably been hearing a lot about canine circovirus. So have I. You may have heard some conflicting things about this virus. So have I. Because I love you all and I want you to know what I know, I've spent the day trying to make sense of the information that's out there. Here's what I know so far and why I'm not recommending mass panic at this time. Part 1: It's the food Here's how the story evolved, as far as I can piece together. 1. In mid-August, P&G pet foods issues a ... Read more »
World’s Most Adorable Degenerate Produce
A grape. So benign. Frozen, so delicious. Dehydrated, so raisin-y. And in large quantities in dogs, the unassuming grape goes Breaking Bad and becomes a killer. Da da duuuuum.... so let's talk toxic foods for a minute. When my friend Lili Chin over at Doggie Drawings asked if I would look over a poster she was designing of toxic foods for canines, I was so excited, because her drawings rock and I couldn't wait to see how she interpreted "bulb of garlic." The idea was to create a simple, cute ... Read more »
Do dogs get headaches?
Humans For Sure Get Headaches A week ago, I decided I was going to stop drinking caffeine. Now if you know me at all, you know I adore coffee, more than almost anything else in life. If you cut my arm, skinny vanilla latte would pour out. The decision to give up my biggest vice was not an easy one by any means, but at the end of the day, health trumps pleasure, and I figured there's always decaf. I did what everyone tells you not to do, and just stopped cold turkey. Big mistake, ... Read more »
Fear Me: Fear Free Practice and You
My resting blood pressure, I assure you, is completely normal. I have to state this fact again and again every time I wind up at the doctor's office, when the nurse places the cuff and then pulls it off with a thoughtful wrinkle in her forehead. "It's not normally 200/140!" I plead, hoping she doesn't direct me to the closest ER. "I just get this way when I'm in the doctor's office." She nods, and we get on with our day. I have no idea why it happens, but apparently it's A Thing. I blame it on ... Read more »
The worst situation in the world
A couple of days ago, the wonderful Dr. Nancy Kay posted a story I hope all parents (human and pet) read about the trend of kids and dogs in pictures getting into potentially scary situations. If you haven't read it yet, she punctuated the apprehension she feels seeing pictures like this: And this: with a story from her own practice, where a parent disregards her attempts to help her children interact with their dog more safely. And the story ends, after the dog bites one of the ... Read more »
