No sniveling complaints here. I’d like to prove with this post (your read of my recent entries to the contrary) that I am indeed capable of offering up more sanguine fare on the business of healthcare. Last night’s experience at the human ER was proof aplenty that human medicine can be done right—even in large, institutional settings. And I enjoy giving credit where it’s due. Here’s my...

Yesterday’s surgery schedule was packed tight with the standard mix of routine, uneventful surgeries…at least, that’s what you might assume after reading this list:

Canine spay, medium

Feline dentistry/X-ray fractured tooth

Feline dentistry/apply sealant

Canine eyelid cyst removal/dentistry

Canine toe mass removal

Canine mass removal/re-check root canal

Canine spay, large/videoscope ears

Sure, there...

This post is neither about money nor pet safety…whew! We all needed a little respite after three serious posts on that subject. It does concern euthanasia, though, so those of you needing to close your eyes, plug your ears and sing “la la la la…” to shut out the impending doom of another potentially depressing post can come back to it after a respectable period of time.

This post is about...

WARNING: This post is a little long, legal, slightly technical and might be hard to follow but once you get through it you’ll have bragging rights on basic microchip ins-and-outs. A discussion of microchip readers comes in Part 3 of this series. (I had to split it up, there was just so much to this back-story, so there will be a Part 4 in this series, too).

In the US, there are two different...

If you or someone you know has the luxury of a swimming pool or nearby watering hole, your dog is likely to take an interest, too. Swimming may well be one of the healthiest and most entertaining exercises a canine will ever encounter. But it’s not without its hazards. So responsible parents would do well to take note: not all dogs take gracefully to the water. They and others, like geriatrics...

This is the first of a three-part series. I've been researching this industry for some time now and hope that you consider my comments exploratory and thought-provoking. Have fun.

You may not know this but…not only are there a variety of brands of microchips available, these brands often represent competing technologies.

Remember the VHS and Betamax wars of the late seventies? (Maybe not.) Back...

Today, I made an interesting observation. I don’t cry that much any more at work. That may sound strange to you, but young vets cry…a lot (if my experience is any indication of the norm).

Sure, I still get misty-eyed at euthanasias (especially when clients do), but I don’t have that red-faced, nose-blowing kind of cry I used to when I was newer to the game.

My young tech couldn’t help but lose...

Did you know that Gourmet, that old stalwart of foodie periodical publishing, has just pioneered a new section called “Politics of the Plate”? I’m flabbergasted…and overjoyed.

I’ve been buying this magazine steadily since 1986.Though my subscription has lapsed (for budget-crunching purposes), I still pick up the occasional copy while in line at the supermarket. I even bought two of this June's...

There’s this new client I have. She’s one of those ideal finds—the kind of client that will do anything you recommend, but never fails to ask questions, do her own research and bring in a list of issues to discuss. I’m thankful for these, much as they might tax my schedule with their personal due diligence.

Problem is, this one’s pet wears a dress with a frilly skirt on nearly every visit. It’s...

Every once in a while, a client walks right out the door (with Fluffy in tow) confidently proclaiming, “I’m sorry that I don’t have the money right now…but I promise to pay as soon as I can.”

And that’s when I kick myself for not demanding a deposit before having doled out my services indiscriminately (which 9 out of 10 times could have been delayed until the owner had the available funds to...

I’ve written about this so often it’s getting downright embarrassing. But this issue is so gloriously fraught with emotional material—for thousands of ill-bred pups, for their defrauded and distraught owners and for the vets that see more fallout from their sale than most anyone else. Unfortunately, I’ll not stop writing about it anytime soon—not so long as it keeps happening.

The Miami area...

Even vets need a night out every once in a while. Last week offered one of those. Unfortunately, it coincided with the same day I wrote about (again!) yesterday. So when I got myself showered and smartly dressed for a fancy dinner of CE credit-fueled high attendance, I wasn’t at the top of my game, to say the least. I drove myself to the steak-dinner event, nonetheless, knowing that continuing...

Last week I wrote about one of my horrific days…the kind that makes you want to run screaming into a rushing river with rocks in your pockets, á la Virginia Wolf. “To the Lighthouse!” I yelled as I made my way out the door that night (OK, so sometimes I get a little silly after a hard day).

I went home after that extra-special veterinary experience with the knowledge of a little respite headed...

Money, money, money. My, how the concept of cold, hard cash has its way with our world. In spite of all our best intentions, the issue of personal compensation has a way of corrupting all of us to varying degrees.

I won’t let any of you off easy on this point. We’re all human, after all. Those of us who profess to harbor completely cash-free tendencies are either saints or sociopaths. I may be...

A vet friend of mine called yesterday to bless me with a moment of career-loving madness. He was ten minutes into the recent film on Idi Amin and the doctor who elected to donate his services to an impoverished African village (The Last King of Scotland, in case you’re interested in a recommendable flick).

This vet specialist from New York had experienced an epiphany: the feelings that spawned...

Yesterday was among the busiest and most annoying days I’ve managed in well over a year. I had to deal with three repro-related nightmares and some fallout from a fourth. You should know that, much as I love to treat the pets in these cases (I love reproduction work immensely), my backyard-breeding parents are the worst of my clients.

To make matters worse, I worked yesterday alone (since one...

When I was a second-year student in vet school, I received a tidy sum in scholarship money to help out with my escalating student loan debt. It was a Hill’s-sponsored subsidy based on an essay I’d written (on what topic I remember not—but it wasn’t nutrition, that much I recall).

While my friends at the University of Florida’s vet school received lectures on nutrition by Hill’s-funded faculty,...

Guess where I am? At the human hospital attending a sick friend’s bedside (his family’s out of town and unavailable). It’s been twelve long hours and counting—five of them spent in the waiting room in the pre-dawn hours (when things are supposed to be slowest).

Indeed, the waiting room was nearly empty when we arrived (and there was little of that behind-the scenes bustling that indicates a...

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to receive resounding confirmation of why I went into vet medicine to begin with. In my job that happens surprisingly often—a thing that makes me willing to continue to subject myself to the never-ending stream of euthanasias, vet-business issues and pet owner-related stress.

Mitigating all those things I dislike about my profession are the moments when I can...

OK so here’s a live wire issue for you: How do vets choose which foods to recommend? What goes into this decision? How educated, effective and ethical is it really?

Some of you are smart; you’ve been around the block more than a few times and now you’re jaded on the vets and nutrition thing. I don’t doubt that you have a reason to be. Nutrition is one of the few areas in which we vets don’t...

At our hospital we have a couple of neighbors who pass by our back door more than a few times a week looking for some spare change and a little conversation. They’re homeless and alcoholic and we generally try to hook them up with what they need at the time—though we know they’re likely to buy beer when we give them money instead of food.

It’s an increasingly common problem—even for suburban...

BPE, we call it. This three-letter acronym stands for a common malady among intact male dogs: benign prostatic enlargement (hyperplasia). This week alone I’ve seen three cases in varying stages of severity.

The first was in a beagle mix—and his prostate was causing him no serious hardship—yet. His owner had seen the occasional spot of blood on her hardwood floors but his urination seemed...

This new client was taking no prisoners on this particular morning. She was angry and frustrated at the emergency hospital across the street. She’d arrived there with a serious emergency and the estimate had topped $5,000. When she subsequently showed up on my doorstep she was still seeking satisfaction for the pressing problem of her dog’s impending death.

And this dog was trying to die with a...

Now that acetominophen has shown up in pet foods (in whopping doses), you should know what this common household toxin can do to your pets. Most of you keep this drug around—it’s the ubiquitous Tylenol we trust so well to relieve our fevers and headaches with a minimum of side effects. But it’s not so safe for pets.

Cats are especially susceptible to the dangers of Tylenol. Because they lack...

This post is long overdue. Today (yesterday for y’all) I snail-mailed The Miami Herald from May 18th to Gina Spadafori of PetConnection.com. On that day, she was front-and-center of the business section (in color, even) after my local paper picked up a national story on blogger-power in the wake of the pet food recall.

Gina has almost single-handedly served as point-person for pet food recall...

There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to stimulate a salubrious fitness regimen—and maybe a little bit of good PR along the way.

It seems some new rehabilitation facilities have found an effective way to market themselves by hosting weight loss competitions that utilize their equipment and services (underwater treadmills, nutrition counseling, exercise physiology education,...

This information was provided me by a source at the Veterinary News Network but I haven’t been able to independently corroborate it yet—I’ll keep you posted and give you a link ASAP. But here’s the scoop:

As if their PR problems weren’t bad enough, Menu Foods recently hired a telemarketing firm. Why? They’re systematically calling all pet owners who have made claims against them after their...

There’s nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night with a premonition that one of your patients is waiting for you—dead in his cage. I had one of those last night. So I got up, got myself dressed, and arrived just in time to see him take a few last gasps. At least I got the chance to call the owner and give her a chance to elect for resuscitation.

I didn’t really need to. She and...

Yesterday, I received a phone call from a dear client. He left a message that referred to one of his two cats, a sweet kitty I’d been treating for early geriatric issues over the past year. So when I returned his call, I asked brightly, “How is Mr. Kitty?”

“Don’t you remember? You euthanized him in February!”

Omigod. He was right, of course. It all came rushing back—a few seconds too late....

Dr. Kevorkian, of assisted-suicide fame, was released from prison today (as I write) after serving an eight-year sentence for second-degree murder and administering controlled drugs. Yet it seems just yesterday that his how-to video made national news on 60 Minutes. Our culture condemned his actions with a conviction but fell short of imposing a lifetime behind bars. After all, the so-called...

Let me explain: When you take your pet to your regular vet you avail yourself of the services of a general practitioner. When your pet becomes infirm or gets injured in a serious way, most vets will steer you to a specialist. How quickly or how often that occurs is loosely termed a practitioner’s “referral rate.”

Some vets refer patients very quickly and very often, relying on the services of...