Ken writes: I adopted my dog from a shelter 2 years ago. She was estimated to be 1 year old at the time. She is a mix of Chihuahua and Terrier. She weighs approx. 11 pounds and is 12 inches tall. She tested positive for heartworms but I elected to adopt her anyway. I had […]
Category Archives: Explanations
You may wonder what this rant has to do with veterinary medicine, but be patient. I’ll get there. “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take […]
Some animals wear crazy costumes. Some wear bandannas, and some wear harnesses, and some wear halters like the “Gentle Leader”, but a collar is still the most popular item of pet apparel. I had an interesting case this morning that really shows how important it is do a good physical examination of the patient, no […]
“So, on those microchips, what kind of range do they have?” About three inches. When people don’t really understand what microchip identification is, they can have some unrealistic expectations. Look at this little thing: do you see any room for a power supply? I mean, I’ve heard of the “button battery”, but you’d have to […]
"Now why is there two sets of directions on this bottle?” What do you mean? “It says on this label, give one pill twice daily, every 12 hours. Now, which is it?” That is a true story. I knew that we had experienced some communication difficulties with this client while he was still in the […]
Today a lady arrived at our door with a drooling, twitching puppy, and around a half-gallon of insecticide. It had been a full gallon when she left the house. When she returned home from her errand, she found the puppy in considerable distress. He had chewed on the spray-tube apparatus, and managed to drain half […]
People are searching the internet for information on how to care for their pets. Some veterinarians hate this. Not me. It would be pretty hypocritical for me to rant about "Dr. Internet" when I sort of am "Dr. Internet". The thing is, I try to confine my advice to subjects that I personally know well. […]
In a nearby small town, the counselor organizes a “career fair” every two years. She doesn’t call on the same professions each time, as she presents the program to the entire body of middle school and high school students. No point hearing about the same career twice, especially if you didn’t want to hear it […]
I find that sometimes cat-owners are reluctant to have their pets sedated for examinations and what appear (to the casual observer) to be minor procedures. When I recommend this, it is really done for the cat’s benefit as much as mine. If you’re a cat-lover, you already know that you have to more or less […]
One of our readers writes: I have 2 Chihuahuas, one weighs 10 pounds and the other weighs 15 pounds. They both have the same symptoms: scratching, biting and pulling out hair. My vet gave them both a long-acting cortisone injection June 1st, and the symptoms stopped. On July 2 they started again. I waited until […]