Saturday. It’s a slow day, yet everyone manages to show up at the same time. How does that happen?

Today I sent a complicated diabetes case to the internist, figuring she would be better off in a critical care setting for the weekend. I’m sure the owner thought I was trying to get rid of her. And she wasn’t wrong (you can’t love all your clients). But Ingrid will get much better care where...

Too busy. Four diabetes cases and a gastrointestinal obstruction do not make for a fun day. In fact if there’s one thing I can’t stomach (nevermind the pun), it’s the extremes of work created on rare occasions when everybody decides to get [very] sick on the same day.

The saving grace of sick pet clusters is that they seem to arise at predictable intervals: after 5 PM, lunchtime, Saturday...

Mr. French bit me. On the heels of Otis and Winston (yesterday’s dangerous duo) I have to deal with a freaked out Spuds-dog in serious need of some Prozac. Poor Frenchie, he’s just a serious nut-case.

I know all you Bull Terrier owners out there love your dogs (and if I knew them I would probably love them too) but I must comment on the staggering incidence of mental illness in this breed....

Otis Ryker Stevens coming in. Winston Rodgers, too. What a day I have programmed. Both dogs have the same thing in common. They’re big, fear-aggressive dogs whose owners refuse to acknowledge their potential for inflicting serious bodily harm.

Both dogs have acted aggressively in the hospital. One has actually bitten a technician—the only dog bite in our 35+ year history to require the...

Success! Miss Brown found a home!

She now lives with a very nice young couple and two rambunctious kids—perfect! I expect them to find their way back to me in a couple of weeks so she can get her last set of vaccines and I can determine whether or not she’s working out for them.

Godspeed, Miss Brown!

Today I saw a new client. A young couple arrived with a very sick eight-week-old puppy of indeterminate breed. The pup was clearly dying. The couple was tearful as they explained that this was not their dog. It was their neighbor’s. The neighbor was not taking care of a litter of unexpected puppies and most of them were sick and dying.

It was an excruciatingly sad story. The upshot: They...

Saturday. Waiting to get the day started and expecting Miss Brown’s potential new owner to arrive. This once-stray puppy has been with us three weeks now and she needs a permanent home. Sitting in a cage is doing nothing for her home training.

Miss Brown’s leg, two and a half weeks post-op, is now in great shape. To see this puppy run around comfortable, it’s scary to think what a few more...

Friday. My day off. Went to the hospital to check on my patients, take care of phone calls and pick up my check (let’s not forget that).

On finishing up with my patients, I noticed that one of yesterday’s patients was still in hospital when she should have gone home for the night. The file read: "client insecure about diagnosis; wants a second opinion from another doctor; keep overnight for...

A beautiful Thursday in Miami. A slow day. Lots of cute, fluffy pets with no problems.

Except…

…for the poor little ferret with a horrific eye tumor. It’s been a long time since I saw such a horrible thing. How sad—ferrets seem to get a disproportionate share of the cancers in this world. Perhaps they were never meant to live as long as they do. They get such great nutrition and enjoy such a...

A docile stray cat was "donated" to the hospital on Monday with a big, swollen belly and five, fully formed skeletons in her belly on X-ray.

She’s pregnant and the kittens were pretty well cooked. We didn’t have the heart to spay her that day and abort kittens that would likely be ready to breathe and suckle. I’ve been known to perform a great many abortions, but none so late in gestation. It...

Back in Miami but technically not back to work yet. I couldn’t help making my way over to the office for a check on the Miss Brown situation. And my sneaking suspicion was confirmed: Miss Brown, the sweet brown and white pup of last week’s drama (badly broken leg with a non-responsive pseudo-owner situation) was still there. Legally, this is known as "abandonment." Although convinced I could...