Pet owners beware: There will come a time when your vet (or, God forbid, a specialist) will ask you to pay more than you’d rather fork over for the treatment of one of your pet’s maladies. Whether it’s an unforeseen illness (after eating out of the garbage, let’s say), devastating injury (the dreaded hit-by-car) or a chronic issue finally rearing its ugly head (yep, it’s finally time for that...

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the cat. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here.”

Such is how I feel when faced with the Sysyphian task of taking on another ear infection—especially when it afflicts the same dog or cat I treated the month before. As many of you well know, there is no silver bullet to treating pets with the scourge that is “otitis externa”—save the...

The use of pain control medication in pets seems like a no-brainer to most of us—especially when it comes to seriously excruciating orthopedic surgeries. One US vet, however, maintains that it’s his prerogative to dispense with such niceties. Unfortunately for him, taking this stance in his practice brought on a complaint against his license from the owners of one of his patients.

The owners...

Cats can be the snuggliest, cuddliest, most personable of pets…and then there’s the rare deranged feline. No, I’m not referring to feral animals with a biological rationale for appropriately aggressive behavior. Rather, I’m talking about the felid indoor fauna capable of launching a devastating surgical strike at the exposed bit of ankle peeking just ‘twixt your jeans and your sneaks.

Before...

Here’s another “only in Miami” story for you: Barbie, a sheltie owned by a murder suspect, was reportedly “dognapped” by a North Miami police officer after she was found at the crime scene with blood-soaked paws and a forlorn look on her face.

The officer took the dog home, she explained, so that Barbie might avoid the fate of a previous homicide investigation’s find. The officer alleges that...

Pet insurance companies can now add another notch to their tally of marginally useful things achieved in the animal health arena. Their actuarial databases have uncovered the most entertaining top ten list since Letterman stopped being funny (OK, that was mean).

To the delight of vets everywhere, Veterinary Pet Insurance ranks the most oft-consumed, surgically retrieved non-comestibles pets...

Here's another Miami Herald column for you. I'm travelling in New York (yes, lucky me, I'm in Manhattan for the weekend)  but I'll be keeping up my posts--I promise.

Q. My cat Smushball has a hairball problem. For the last couple of months, she’s been throwing up hairballs at least three times a week (usually in the least desirable places). I know cats do this but three times a week? Is that...

New research shows that even pets get the blues during that time of year when the Earth is tilted away from the sun’s direct intervention. The waning light of winter certainly yields more depressive incidents among the human population—why not our pets?

The study, however flawed, at least shows that people consider their pets to be depressed during these months. They report greater indolence,...

After this week’s post on my freebie services, I started to feel unduly praised for the work I undertook on a dying cat’s behalf. I know that none of you willing to read this blog would fail to yield for a roadside feral cat half-kill or even a semi-squished suffering snake. So why praise the vet for what should come naturally?

I bring this up in an effort to be fair. After blogging about...

OK, here's another one of my Miami Herald artcles, reprinted from last week's Sunday Home & Design section. (No, they didn't print my title.) Enjoy!

Q. My husband and I are ecstatic—almost. We’re having a baby. But the obstetrician I’ve been referred to said we have to put our cats outside for my entire pregnancy due to the possibility of an infection with toxoplasmosis. They’ve never spent a...

Begging your indulgence, yet again, I turn to the topic of my friendly neighborhood wildlife. Though my neighboring state’s governor might beg to differ (see what Georgia’s official peach has to say on endangered species, the drought and diverting rivers), the dear creatures in my backyard are a constant source of intrigue and an object of my compassion.

I refer, here, to my local frogs. I...

Sure, it seems an incongruous mix. But there’s a lot to be said for how our society deals in all four of the above categories of “goods.”

In case you haven’t read it, the title for this post is a direct reference to a fun read on the history of civilization (with particular emphasis on New World conquests). It delves into how all three categories (guns and germs and steel) served to propel the...

I mean, no one’s perfect. Not every household can handle a rescue dog, two cats and two meteoric careers. A mega-busy household is even less likely to take on this kind of stress with the typical aplomb of its other stellar endeavors. We understand. We forgive.

But don’t use your connections and bully pulpit to get around this reality: You should have respected your agreements—not to mention...

Don’t worry, I’m not about to out some underground society where vets don black robes and bird-like masks at midnight before foisting poor Fluffy into one another’s arms like a hot potato. It sure sounds a heck of a lot sexier than this sport’s daytime reality—and yet the real version might surprise you more than my pulp-fictional one.

Yes, vets sometimes play “hot potato” with pets. We tend...

No, I’m not about to launch myself back into last week’s snakepit on the issue of pets as property. Though there’s much more to be said on this worthy subject, my post today will confine itself to the use of words when it comes to talking about pets.

Words are a vet’s stock and trade. Sure, a neat row of stitches and a bounding recovery from an illness speak to our skills, too—but talk is...

There’s no way to know. Just as you’ll never truly understand whether your conception of the color yellow equals theirs, the sensations they experience will never be fully understood by us. So we must anthropomorphize, which is to say we have to use our human understanding, limited though it may be, to fathom their feelings on the subject of pain—or any other perception, really.

To help us...

As we all know, the French are champion diners. The tradition of the restaurant is more developed in this culture than in any other, and yet we turn a blind eye to the ways in which we could benefit from following their lead.

No, I’m not referring to the smaller portions, voluptuous sauces, or the cheese plate (though all are worthy improvements to any American’s dining repertoire). Rather,...

If only I had a dollar for every time I heard this line…“This breed is sensitive to anesthesia. You need to be extra-careful with them.”

I know the words are well intentioned and born of fear, not the I-know-more-than-your-vet-about-these-things breeder snarkiness we vets are too often exposed to. But you should still know that it drives us nuts sometimes.

For starters, we’re extra-careful with...

Like altogether too many of us, I confess to having reached a plateau of protective disinterest when it comes to the gritty details of the war in Iraq. The NPR reports on the numbers, attendant names, allegations and their deflections increasingly dissolve into a background of road noise, leaving much of this meticulously researched information unassimilated—essentially rejected by my...

One of my longest-standing clients is also one of my favorites. He’ll consider anything I say—but a smart question is always sure to follow. That’s an admirable trait he’s honed to perfection in recent years as a result of his own illness—one which culminated in a kidney transplant about a year ago.

After dealing with the plethora of specialists he’s been subjected to (it’s like herding cats,...

A few years ago my neighborhood had a bad cat overpopulation problem. I’d find kittens dead in the street and slinking ferals behind every nook and cranny in my overgrown yard. I took to setting a borrowed trap every night and ended up catching about one every other morning. At lunchtime, I’d come home and spay or neuter it—on my glass and steel kitchen table.

Sounds a little rustic, I know,...

I have this client…she raises dogs for fun and, occasionally, she profits financially, too. Mostly, though, it’s a labor of love—Rottweiler love, to be exact. Her most recent acquisition to her burgeoning pack of canines includes one very fancy pedigreed Rottie (for whom she traveled to Germany to personally hand-pick for his breeding potential).

Because I have misgivings about his personality...

The Pandora’s Box I opened up by begging for your favorite pet sites is only just beginning to reveal itself…starting with this post. It was the Animalblawg site, written by a couple of Georgetown law students on the subject of animal rights law that sunk its claws right in and refused to let me off easy. Now that I’m newly armed with some recently-informed, deadly opinions on the issue of...

Ever thought the Internet was limitless? I seem to have plumbed its depths with this one…finding a buck willing to donate his semen for a good cause: my Poppy’s pregnancy and milking potential.

It’s not as if I’m asking for a handout. I’m willing to pay handsomely for said buck’s smiling little spermatozoa. I’ll take it fresh, fresh frozen or pelleted—take your pick. Problem is, the goat people...

I know I’ve hit the slaughter hot button a little too frequently lately but I couldn’t resist this one: Pigs being raised in Beijing are getting the royal treatment in preparation for slaughter—get this—so that athletes and other Olympic luminaries will have access to a safe supply of pork (their national protein staple).

Wow!—If that don’t beat ‘em all.

The hundreds of pigs are reportedly...

Every once in a while you get a really fun case. Here’s my definition of ‘fun,’ in case you’re wondering: 1) an even-tempered pet, 2) a willing, supportive owner, 3) a confusing series of clinical findings, 4) the diagnosis of something slightly odd but fixable and 5) getting to see the fix unfold.

Though there are plenty of fun cases that don’t meet these criteria, one kitty I’ve got in the...

It’s Sunday morning and I’m all alone at the hospital. I’ve got phone calls to make, two stable liver kitties to medicate and fine-tune, my colleague’s Presa canario to babysit while he’s out of town (all 160 pounds of him) and then I’ve got these kittens…all these smelly kittens…

It looks like I’ll be getting my hands dirty again today.

My two colleagues (the ones who own the hospital) they...

This week a warehouse space in Hialeah (a city within the greater Miami area) was ravaged in an electrical wiring-sparked blaze. There were no fire alarms and the owner kept no insurance. Over fifty souls perished. It was a tragedy all around. It made news in Miami but quickly fizzled, along with the memories of those overcome by the smoke and chemical fumes. Only five, locked in a sealed...

Yep, it’s time again for the chronic vet industry debate I’ve hosted on this blog many times before. Again, it’s about us girls in white with the pet hair on our labcoats and the stethoscopes fashionably entwined ‘round our necks. And this time, no wringing of hands or gnashing of teeth—I promise.

As a friendly reminder, let me first point out that women now outnumber men in the veterinary...

There’s always a point in the treatment of any serious case when I’m forced to wonder what I would do if it were my very own pet's life-threatening crisis and not the patient's before me.

For some reason I can’t get past this inevitable moment. I know it makes me a prime candidate for “compassion fatigue” and irrevocably skews my unbiased perspective but it’s one thing I haven’t overcome…not...

We’re currently suffering such a chronic shortage of vet techs in our area that I’ve been told my hours might get cut short this coming month. Dr. Khuly? Do you mind working only in the afternoons while X technician is out on vacation?

Although I like to think I’m pretty efficient and can manage a lot on my own in the hospital, a lack of technicians means that even I’m without work when push...

You know the song, Save a horse, ride a cowboy? I sure didn’t—that is, not until I started looking up ringtones for my new iPhone. But I figured that any song with that kind of title deserved a plug on an animal-themed blog, even one whose “family-friendliness” I work hard to maintain. And it works—sort-of—as a workable intro for this post on the unwanted horse legislation currently stalled in...

For some reason (probably because vet medicine is more akin to other kinds of medicine than it is to being a lawyer, for example) I know a lot of human docs. Orthopods, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, urologists, neonatologists, radiologists, internists, pediatricians, gynecologists and the like. Whether they’re friends, family, acquaintances or just clients, they tend to be...