Monday, March 18, 2024
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Visiting Vet

Visiting Vet: Bored cats can overeat

A few years ago at her annual appointment, I mentioned to Augusta’s owner that the cat was a little chubby. OK, maybe I said fat. Having battled my own weight all my life, I...

Visiting Vet: Gemma’s dilemma

Thursday is my day providing “Urgent Veterinary Care” on the Vineyard. Despite the fact that I haven’t taken on new clients in years, for a 24-hour period each week, I try to assist anyone...

Visiting Vet: The saga of heartworm meds

In 1977, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first canine heartworm preventive medication. I was just starting veterinary school. The drug was diethylcarbamazine, known simply as DEC, and it had to be...

Visiting Vet: A heart murmur can mean many things

Smurf is a classic example of what veterinarians call an LWD. That’s a Little White Dog. He happens to be a Maltese–toy poodle cross, but LWDs can be any pup fitting the description: bichon...

Visiting Vet: On call

I wasn’t too concerned about being short-staffed, even though it was my turn on call for “urgent care.” A small group of veterinary practices here rotate providing basic emergency services the best we can....

Visiting Vet: Let’s try happy

It’s January. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but if I had to pick one for 2024, it’s simply this: Happy New Year. Happy. I come from a family and a culture...

Visiting Vet: Onions and garlic are toxic for cats and dogs

Every time my friend Gail brings her pup for a veterinary visit, she also brings me a little bag. Usually when clients do this, it’s a bag of poop. Not Gail. Her bag contains...

Visiting Vet: Aging gracefully

I only met my little friend Beulah two years ago. She was already a senior citizen, with bilateral cataracts (meaning both eyes were affected), causing vision loss. As many visually impaired dogs do, she...

Visiting Vet: Cats in the cradle?

I’ve been watching with both empathy and amusement the trials and tribulations of Facebook friends with their various cats and kittens. I wish all of them could have joined me and my staff at...

Visiting Vet: Dog behavior

“When you walk your dog, you are on a date with him,” the speaker said in his charming Italian accent. “You wouldn’t like it if you had a date and the person ignored you.”...

Visiting Vet: Helping Geezer get around

My recent articles have been about depressing topics. Sudden death. Home burials. Constipation. I promised my editor I would write something more cheerful soon. So here it is. There is a new medication now...

Visiting Vet: The last call

It’s raining. And cold. I was on call last night. I was tired from a busy day of appointments. When the phone rang, I had already shed my scrubs, and was parked on the...

Visiting Vet: Beach tummy

“What a sweet face,” I thought as Havilah, a 2-year-old golden retriever, bounded into my office. Havi’s family had been here on vacation for a while, but were heading back to the Midwest by...

Visiting Vet: Constipation in cats

Lavender, a sweet middle-aged cat, has lived an idyllic life. Pampered by her people. Far from the road. Acres of woods to explore. But something went awry recently. Lavender didn’t come home one night....

Visiting Vet: The ball is all

“One last question,” the client said at the end of her dog’s visit. Rafa, a big, goofy, good-natured, golden-retriever-poodle-and-maybe-something-else mix, had just been in for his annual physical examination and vaccinations. His person and...

Visiting Vet: Legg-Perthes disease

When Flash, a sweet little Yorkshire terrier, was less than a year old, he started limping one day. Now, when young dogs get too rambunctious, it’s not particularly unusual for them to strain or...

Visiting Vet: Porch histories

Lately I’m trying to go out on the porch whenever I can, to talk to clients in person. That’s right, I’m still practicing curbside. I have one staff member recently exposed to COVID whom...

Visiting Vet: Urgent-care day

“There’s a sick Bernese Mountain Dog coming in with a bloody discharge from her vulva,” my assistant told me first thing that morning. My blood pressure went up. In intact female dogs, this can...

Visiting Vet: Neutering your cat

Achilles, an 18-month-old male cat, was asleep on my exam table. Well, not really asleep. He was anesthetized, and being prepped for neutering. “When does Maddy get here?” I asked my assistant Fawn. After...

Visiting Vet: Late-onset dirt eating

When my first child was a year and a half old, we traveled with dear friends to the Caribbean island of Culebra. Our companions had been there many times, and showed us all the...