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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
Pets in Uganda
We do not know what poverty is in the United States. We went to Africa to help animals, but what I saw when well beyond the animals. I got in late at night. Ellie and Moses picked me up at the airport with my two fifty pound bags of supplies. I didn't look...
2018 AVMA Conference
I woke up in Denver this week. Actually, I woke up Sunday morning at 6:18 a.m. to a series of texts from a client asking when I would be in the office that day. Even when I mentioned that it was six AM where I was, there were a couple more texts. Normally,...
5th Graders Come To Visit Guardian Animal Medical Center
We were in early last Thursday. We had to be. The fifth graders were coming! They would be arriving at 9:30 a.m. and we had to have all of our treatments done and stations set up before they arrived. This is the ninth year that Mrs. Muncy has walked her...
Animal Care
Pet Aggression
I know it hasn’t really been this way, but it seems like it has been the week of aggressive animals. Every day there has been a ‘special’ dog or cat. Generally, we do very well with animals that have problems at other places. We do a lot of things to not trigger...
Torn Cruciate
In the middle of Friday afternoon appointments, I met Bo. Bo was a small mixed breed feist sort of dog who was a little over seven years of age. The appointment said “right back leg limping and won't put much weight on it. He won’t let owner get near it.” Sure enough...
Vomiting
At the end of a long hard week, I think the theme of the week was vomiting dogs. While there are plenty of highlights to a busy week (Ember is healed enough to be off pain meds; Hava’s ears are much better; Cora’s misplaced testicle was found and removed; Sadie was...
Animal Diseases
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...
Rabies And The One Health Initiative
The One Health Initiative is a movement to forge co-equal, all-inclusive collaborations between all healthcare providers. Veterinarians are used to taking treatments and medications from human medicine, but our important role as human health protectors is...
Respiratory Syndrom in Dogs
On my way in Friday, my phone rang. Morning phone calls are never good. “Doctor, where are you?” “Seven minutes.” Steph doesn’t care where I am. She wants me there. I can tell. “What’s up?” “Roxie is here, and she is in respiratory distress. We have her on...
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
Falconry
I have a falcon on my head. It is training time for the birds of prey. Focus is an American Kestrel or sparrow hawk. It is her turn in my office and she is flying from the perch to the window and detoured to the top of my head. I think she is annoyed at me. Falconry...
Wildlife Rehab
A busy Saturday morning when I was interrupted with a sealed greeting card. I could see through the envelope that it isn’t hate mail. Even though those are rare, most vets are hurt deeply and remember the few that they get. I know I do. Veterinarians are often accused...
Ground Hog
There were a few bleary eyes as Albert headed to a new home today. He came from a not-great situation as a little kit already imprinted. He couldn't be released, and we became quite attached. We got permission to keep him on an educational permit, but Covid has cut...
Vet Life and It’s not just a vet life
We Need to Talk
We need to talk. Nobody ever likes to hear an conversation that starts with that phrase, but sometimes we really do need to talk. Veterinary medicine is changing. It started several years ago. Sophia Yin was a brilliant veterinarian. She spoke at many conferences...
Long Day at the E.R.
I got caught by a stoplight so I was parking as my shift began Sunday morning. I was in the building by 8:02AM. The doctor I was relieving seemed happy to seem me. She quickly went through the cases. She had done two enterotomies (for a gunshot and a eaten towel), had...
Technology
COVID 19 has certainly changed our world. Things that we used to take for granted are now different. Simple things, like moving animals through the hospital or communicating with clients are now more difficult. But through all of this, I have had the knowledge that...
Out and About
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...
Packing
I need to pack. I am behind schedule and starting to get a tad stressed. It would seem that my carry on bag went from Cincinnati to Michigan to Indiana to Ohio to West Virginia before arriving less than 48 hours ago. So, the nice leisurely planning and...
Howlidays
The Holidays Vet Style
While the holidays are a festive time for many, they are often a busy, sad time for veterinarians. On my Facebook vet list, practice owners were discussing whether to be off the day after Thanksgiving or not. Many said that they enjoyed the days off with family and...
Holiday Grieving
I have been missing Ranger a lot lately. The staff suggested that it was because Facebook suggested a memory photo of Ranger sitting on Santa’s lap, but I think I missed him before that. The holidays are hard. There are always empty chairs around the table. Empty beds...
Christmas Presents
It is Christmas time! It is also the season of Hanukkah, Kwanza, Pancha Ganapati, Saturnalia, Bodhi Day and others according to Wikipedia. And while none of these should be known as the time of spending, it is fun to have an excuse to buy things for those we love....