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Speaking of pets | Animal Care | Animal Diseases | Cats are not little dogs | Creepy Crawly Parasites | Wildlife and exotics | Vet Life and It’s not just a vet life | Out and About | Howlidays
Speaking of pets
Pet Festival
“Having a party, dancing on the ceiling” was playing on the radio the other morning and it is still running through my head as I try to write. Having a Festival (apologies to Sam Cooke) We're havin' a festival Celebratin’ the wildlife. Rehabbed by Guardian At the Med...
OVMA
“Where did you go on vacation last week? I tried to get in and you were out.” “Vacation? I haven’t been on vacation in about 18 months. Oh, last week I attended a conference to get my continuing education.” Actually, most conferences are a lot of work....
World Rabies Day Award!
We won!! “Did you see The Big Fix won the World Rabies Day Award?” I hadn’t seen it. I had meant to check. I knew the award was being announced on Nov 3rd or One Health Day, but I had worked, then ran to The Greenup Holiday Market before it closed at two....
Animal Care
Pet Article: Snuggling
Snuggling with your pet is a common and cherished activity for many pet owners. This article explores the benefits and downfalls of this practice, with a special mention of Foxtrot, your best snuggling Labrador. Snuggling with your pet significantly strengthens the...
Emotional ER shifts
As a veterinarian, my days are often a roller coaster of emotions, challenges, and occasional triumphs. Working at the Animal ER on Memorial Day was a poignant reminder of the extremes this profession can reach, filled with both heart-wrenching lows and joyous highs....
Pet article: The Hidden Lives of Turtles: Rehabilitation and the Importance of Letting Them Be Wild
When a water turtle named Timmy was brought into our wildlife rehabilitation center, it was clear he had been through a harrowing ordeal. Found on the side of a busy highway, Timmy had been struck by a car. His shell was cracked, and he was also suffering from a...
Animal Diseases
Coprophagia
My yellow lab, Whiskey, eats poop. Technically is it known as coprophagia, the consuming of fecal matter. And it is a frequent complaint of dog owners. It can cause gastrointestinal (GI) upset, intestinal parasitic infection, transmission of infectious disease and...
Miracles
We first saw Rusty in mid August. The 27 pound, red male fiest mix was about nine years old and had been vomiting blood since April. He now had a bloody mucoid stool. The owners had not been ignoring the problem and various things had been tried at another vet, but...
Good Ideas, Or Not
I had a talk with a couple in the exam room. Their dog has a chronic disease and they were asking if they had caused it. My honesty made that a hard answer. Every time we do something we have a choice. We can choose to do something that is good for us or...
Cats are not little dogs
Ember
I have a new roommate. She purrs. Actually, she has been here for almost two weeks and it is the first time that she has been in my office. The first week she spent in an oxygen cage while it was touch and go. Perhaps I should start at the beginning. I was...
Cat Fights
Saturday morning, nine A. M. There are two appointments scheduled. Both are cats. Buddy was just neutered four weeks ago, so we see him first. Besides Mow Mow’s parents are new clients and still filling out their paperwork. Buddy had gotten loose a couple of times and...
Cats Are Not Little Dogs
In veterinary medicine, we have to treat many species. There are too many variations and too many species to learn each species separately. Veterinarians are taught what the similarities or differences are so all of the knowledge can be stored to use....
Creepy Crawly Parasites
Heartworms
The recent rains will produce swarms of mosquitos. Getting the pups out of the truck, I paused and slapped my arm. A mosquito died from the single slap. As I removed them from my arm, I thought it would be a banner year for mosquito born diseases and heartworms. But...
Vaccines
I had a shingles vaccination Saturday. My shingles vaccine reaction started that afternoon. A vaccine is a weak or small part of the disease that trains the immune system. The idea is that it prepares the body to fight the disease without the disease symptoms. I do...
Vaccines
Last week, Matt drove me to Charleston to get a yellow fever vaccination. I need a booster vaccine, because this fall, I am going to northern Uganda in Africa to vaccinate and neuter village dogs, and yellow fever is one of the vaccines that I needed to...
Wildlife and exotics
Exotic Con
Katie and I just got back from Denver at Exotics Con. Leading exotic veterinarians from all over the world get together to advance veterinary medicine and surgery in exotic animal medicine. In the early years of exotic medicine, the organizations met at separate...
Galapagos Raptors
Yes, I went to the Galapagos and wanted to see blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and giant tortoises, but I also really hoped that I would see some raptors or birds of prey. I was lucky to see a few. I saw a Galapagos hawk nesting on the first island. It is closely...
Marine Iguanas
The first animals we saw in the Galapagos were the up close bright orange crabs and sea lions, but I had gone hoping to see blue-footed boobies, Galapagos tortoises, marine iguanas, and perhaps if I was lucky a Galapagos hawk. The sea lions and crabs seemed to be on...
Vet Life and It’s not just a vet life
Pet Article: Plastics in the Ocean
Diving Deep: A Veterinarian’s Perspective on Ocean Conservation As a veterinarian and avid wildlife advocate, I’ve spent my career nurturing animals and educating others on the importance of conservation. Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to combine my...
Pet Article: Continuing Education
Continuing Education in Veterinary Medicine: A Commitment to Excellence As a dedicated veterinarian licensed in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and the Northern Mariana Islands I understand the critical importance of continuing education in maintaining the...
Pet article: Reflections
This past week was one of the more challenging stretches I've experienced in my veterinary career. It began with a full shift in the emergency room (ER), where the unpredictability of cases is matched only by the urgency they bring. Following a long holiday weekend,...
Out and About
Blue Green Algae
I am camping this weekend. Although camping with a kitchen, bathroom and air conditioning does seem like cheating, I am old enough to have earned it. It has been a busy week! Major medical cases, intensive care cases, taxes, employees headed to college, new employees...
Found Dog
I was talking to my best friend when I pulled in the driveway and saw ears and a tail. It was dark and the front of the truck blocked the body, but I was pretty sure, but not positive, it was a medium to large dog. We are a bit off the road and away from...
GA5k
Two weeks to go! Guardian Animal Medical Center is hosting a 5K run and 1-mile dog walk on Saturday, May 18. This will be our fourth year. We decided at our roles and goals meeting at the New Year that it would be an annual thing. When the talk of...
Howlidays
Gratitude 2021
It is November 1st! I almost forgot! It is time to start my annual tradition of daily affirmations of gratitude! I started many years ago to help counteract the negativity that was rampant on FaceBook and other social media. Now, it is just good practice. Today I am...
Let the New Year Begin
I gave myself a gift for the holidays and took a month off writing. My best friend said I couldn’t write about all the stresses of COVID again for a while and I needed a break, but the text came in from my editor at 1:02am last night that he didn’t have a 1/5...
New Year’s 2021
New Years is a big holiday for me! Not New Year’s Eve, that seems too much gluttony, excess and lateness for my age, but the start of a new year. A time to reflect on where we have been and where we and especially I am going. The whole staff will get together next...