A veterinarian in general practice has to wear a lot of hats, especially when you’re a solo act (with a great back-up group of staff). I’m the internist, surgeon, dentist, radiologist, pharmacist, sonographer, clinical pathologist, behavior counselor, grief counselor, office manager and I forget what else. But that’s not what I came here to talk […]
Author Archives: Doc
Regular readers may remember that some time back I expounded on the pit bull dog. Generally speaking, most of the ones I see (who admittedly don’t belong to drug-dealers and dog-fighters) are family pets with good dispositions. The big story on NFL star Michael Vick’s dog-fighting operation has brought these concerns to the forefront for […]
Two different issues this time. A couple of different foods recalled due to possible Salmonella (the germ that causes "food poisoning") contamination: Krasdale Gravy dry, and Red Flannel large breed dry foods. Check out the Mars Pet Care site. For more Salmonella opportunities, try "Eight in One" chicken jerky. Here’s the FDA listing on those […]
Percardiocentesis – a big word. You’ll know what it means by the end of the post. The phone rings at 6:00 AM. "I didn’t mean to wake you". [How could I answer the phone if I weren’t awake?] It turns out that Coco had had a tough night. So had her folks. I had seen […]
I hadn’t seen the old Guinness Book of World Records in many a year. It seems to me that it just came out of nowhere when I was in high school, and everybody was reading it. Then I’ve sort of lost sight of it, much like the fading of Trivial Pursuit. My recollection was of […]
I don’t use a lot of strong tincture of iodine. This bottle is so old, that I’m not sure just how old it is. Strong iodine is very caustic — in fact, about the only thing I use it for would be some type of chemical cautery, like sealing the navel cord on a newborn […]
"There is no accounting for tastes", said the old woman, as she kissed the cow. This must serve as my disclaimer. I am no epicure, no gourmand. While I would rather have good food than bad food, my idea of going out to dinner is "eat, pay and get out". Rhapsodizing over the delicate blending […]
Boy Scout Troop 272 held a Court of Honor this evening. Scoutmaster Freddy Gentry took 12 Scouts to summer camp at Camp Lewallen in July, and they brought home 42 merit badges, plus a lot of great memories. If you clicked their link above, you can read his journal from camp. Tonight they shared those […]
Has your pet been "wormed"? And does that mean he’s been covered with worms? If you’ve been "slimed", you’ve been covered with slime, right? [See "Ghost Busters"] Most folks mean "de-wormed", or freed of worms when they say "wormed". They mean that a vermifuge has been administered — a drug that will cause those worms […]
As pocket pets go, the hamster can be a little demanding. If not handled regularly, they can become aggressive, and they are great escape artists. On the other hand, they can be mighty cute. Little "Reighty" here had two skin tumors. One looked like an inflamed wart, and the other looked almost exactly like someone […]