Visiting Vet: Acid reflux in dogs
Fifteen years ago I had a patient named Bianca — an exceptionally nice Portuguese water dog with an exceptionally dedicated owner. I was at that point in my career where I was confident of...
Visiting Vet: Time is of the essence
It was Friday morning. I was tired. I was recovering from a nasty cold, and had been up most of the night coughing. “I’ll take it easy this morning,” I thought to myself as...
Visiting Vet: Keeping Halloween pet-friendly
Early on in my career, I had two wonderful employees, Beth and Midge, who had wicked senses of humor. Despite the stress of veterinary practice, we laughed a lot at work. Of course, dressing...
Visiting Vet: Swallowed batteries
My dog Quinna is an odd dog. We think she is part Labrador retriever, part beagle, part something else. Now, we all know how Labs love to eat, and like many dogs, they are...
Visiting Vet: Lone star questions, answered
Fifteen years ago, I attended a conference about ticks presented by Dr. Susan Little, one of the country's top authorities on veterinary parasitology. I had been practicing on the Vineyard for a quarter-century, and...
Visiting Vet: Solving mysteries
Blanche, a 12-year-old Labrador mix, first came to see me for an emergency last December, when her owner noticed the old girl exhibiting stranguria. That’s the technical term for slow, painful straining to urinate....
Visiting Vet: No pain in the neck
Velma came to see me as an emergency one summer afternoon. Her owner was confident she knew what the problem was. “I think she has a sore neck from roughhousing with other dogs about...
Visiting Vet: We’ve got this
It was Thursday. My day on call covering urgent veterinary care for the whole Island. Eight in the morning, the phone wouldn’t stop ringing. One of my staff was out of town. The second...
Visiting Vet: Tips for Nervous Nellies
The wind blows. I roll over and go back to sleep.Our dog, Quinna, does not. She goes downstairs and crawls under my husband’s heavy oak desk. That was her favorite cozy place when she...
Visiting Vet: Summertime hazards
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy. Or not. Let’s talk about summertime dangers for dogs.
The first is an oldie but goodie. Heat. OMG, folks. It’s hot. Don’t be an idiot. I’m not even going...
Visiting Vet: The tale of PeeWee
PeeWee is a young hypothetical cat. Let’s say he lives with his owner, who keeps him indoors to make sure he stays safe (with the added benefit of protecting wild birds from predation). Maybe...
Visiting Vet: Brain inflammation — MUOs
Bonito is a handsome chocolate Labrador retriever who has had his share of challenges in life. As a pup, one of his testicles didn’t descend properly, thus requiring a little extra surgery when he...
Visiting Vet: Do dogs get poison ivy?
I dragged the hose across the yard in a halfhearted attempt to start cleaning out our long-neglected shed. Critters have chewed holes in the roof and floor, and made nests in the open bags...
Visiting Vet: Captain Jack
Captain Jack was a bad cat. Even as a tiny kitten, found abandoned in a church alleyway in Worcester, he had cattitude. A little, long-haired tabby, he strutted in his cage at the city...
Visiting Vet: Aslan in his old age
When I was in veterinary school, long, long ago, I had a professor who used to say, “Old age is not a disease.” What he meant was that when evaluating senior animals who weren’t...
Visiting Vet: Dog aggression — take it seriously
I’m running late. April 7 was the start of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, a project sponsored by a coalition of the American Veterinary Medical Association, State Farm Insurance, the Insurance Information Institute, and...
Visiting Vet: Vaccines work
The pandemic has taught us many things … from how to “Zoom” to how little many Americans understand science, especially the concept of herd immunity.
Now, I know you may not like to think of...
Visiting Vet: No lilies for kitties
Easter is right around the corner. For religious Christians, Easter is a time for celebrating their faith. For more secular folks, it is still a time of celebration. It’s spring. It’s a time for...
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...