Here’s a light topic to follow a tough week’s woe-is-me stress-fest: Shoes in veterinary practice.

I confess: I love shoes. No, not in the Sex in the City kind of way where shoes are an antidote to lovelessness and the sedative of choice for our collectively obnoxious, whining femininity. (Can you tell I’m not a fan?)

But I still love shoes in a way that I’ll agree has its feminine side (if...

OK, you know I’m going to send this guy to you-know-where on this issue. I really don’t think I’ve ever heard an opinion uttered by a high-ranking veterinary official which relied less on science than on good old-fashioned fear-mongering.

Dr. Fred Landeg thinks we humans shouldn’t bed down with pets or let them in the kitchen(!)—just in case they carry diseases. He cites the Hendra virus from...

Pithy aphorisms abound in all professions and practices. Whether you milk goats for a living or paint in oils, there’s something somebody somewhere says that’s intended to make your job more intelligible…or perhaps simply entreats you to do things their way.

Same is true for veterinary medicine. In vet school we’re exposed to a continuous stream of these alternately folksy and blackish-humored...

There’s nothing more demoralizing than failing in your job. It’s a reality all of us face daily. (Can’t none of us be perfect, right?) And when we do screw things up it’s enough to send you under the covers for a long bout of escapist slumber.

That’s what happened last night after I learned of last Saturday morning’s misdiagnostic mishap. Yeah…I missed it. Here’s the scoop…

While all of you...

OMG! Is there nothing worse than an ear hematoma? I currently have three patients recovering from recent bouts of the bulbous earflap phenomenon knows as the “aural hematoma.” 

In these cases what happens is that the space between the cartilage of the ear and its overlying skin separates to accommodate the blood of a nearby ruptured vessel. In some pets it looks like a big bleb on the ear’s...

For Dolittler's Memorial Day 2008 edition, here's a satirical look at the Menu Foods settlement offer...

In case you hadn’t heard, Menu Foods announced a settlement offer of $24 Million to compensate pet owners for the expenses they incurred after last year’ massive pet food recall.

According to lawyersandsettlements.com, if the presiding New Jersey court approves the offer…

“…any and all pet...

With discussions on Big Brown’s doping and his trainer’s freewheeling use of the still-legal muscle-bulkers still in the press, I thought it would be appropriate to delve a little deeper into this topic. After all, it applies to pets, too—and I have one current case that might raise your eyebrows a centimeter or two.

So you know, there are two kinds of steroids we veterinarians can use in our...

It’s common for me to ponder the ways we euthanize animals. That’s because I’m always looking for the ideal version of “beautiful death.” With each creature I euthanize—beloved rabbits, injured birds, stray cats or well-loved dogs—I really do try my best to make it the most peaceful experience modern drugs can manage.

Because I’m working hard to fatten up my darling doeling Tulip (see how cute,...

I know there are individuals far more exemplary of thoroughbred racing’s dark side…but none (that I know of) are vets. And since Dolittler is a pet health blog authored by a veterinarian, Dr. Bramlage’s role in racing’s recent round of media prominence will be the subject of this post.

On-call veterinarian, veterinary surgeon and representative of the American Association of Equine...

No…not yet. But I'm sure the folks over at Texas A&M wish they’d hit the big time with their new oral contraceptive. How about it? Would you administer a daily or monthly pill to curb your pets’ reproductive antics?

It’s the holy grail of population control for pets: A safe, effective way to deal with the pet overpopulation problem. But this drug, phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor, is far from...

While in New York last weekend (I know, the stories from my trips never seem to end, right?) all the vets involved in the K-9 Down course got together for a friendly vegan dinner in Midtown Manhattan (funny…none of us are vegans).

At dinner, I was lucky enough to find myself seated near a decidedly extroverted fellow blogging veterinarian by the name of Dr. David Bessler. Like me, he’s a GP....

You’d never know it by looking at us, but veterinarians are four times more likely to commit suicide than the average person—that’s according to a study conducted last year in the UK and reported on in DVM Newsmagazine this month..

British researchers were stumped when they reached this conclusion and are currently undertaking a new study to determine what factors might be at play in such dire...

Second only to the market for technology, the pet market is booming in ways the rest of the US market for goods and services could only dream of in such an economy as ours lingers at present. Perhaps it’s not the best time, then, to invest in a powerhouse niche others are doubtless already informed of—but I prefer to take the long view on these things.

Though I have no funds available for...

OK, now that I’ve spent two very full days in NYC helping K-9 Down teach soldiers, cops, firefighters and paramedics how to put catheters in veins, bandage wounds and tube their bloating dogs …I’m tired…really tired.

I’ll be back at work in two hours after flying into Miami an hour ago and I’m wondering if I can somehow squeeze a nap in…after I finish this post, of course.

The course was...

Walking along St. Mark’s Place while in Manhattan late last Saturday afternoon, my sister and I beheld a common East Village sight—a colorfully eccentric homeless man…and his dog.

Jessie James, a five year-old pit mix, appeared well fed and thrifty. She and her owner, a ruddy-faced, white-haired Vietnam vet, are a well-known fixture in the neighborhood. Everybody knows and loves them…hence,...

Remember K-9 Down? This is an organization aimed at training cops, rescue folks and military personnel to deal with their working dogs’ injuries. I blogged on this a couple of months ago after meeting the group’s fearless leader on a veterinary cruise (yep, we have those). I was so sold on the concept I promised to lend a hand if I could.

To that end, I’m in New York City today so I can help...

The dust is still swirling around the circumstances of Eight Belle’s untimely demise at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago today. The sandstorm kicked up in the wake of the heavily televised tragedy will have at least two immediate repercussions, and maybe three (if we’re lucky).

1-More viewers gritting their teeth in fear of another catastrophic breakdown.

2-Overall, fewer animal-adoring viewers....

Speed demon surgeons may not sound like your pets’ best friend, but let’s not be too hasty now…sometimes it really is the best medicine.

In some surgical residency programs they teach the mantra, “time is trauma under anesthesia.” In other words, the longer a patient is out, the higher the risk of complications.

And statistically, that’s true. The longer a pet is under anesthesia the higher...

“My complication had a complication.” That recurrent line in Terry Gilliam’s brilliant flick, Brazil, has been popping up a little too often over the past few days. Here’s my list:

1-A non-healing ear hematoma on a severely allergic, mixed breed dog who also suffers from chronic ehrlichiosis. The sutures are perpetually infected. The ear is horribly inflamed. I’d be at my wit’s end if it...

For the second time in as many weeks, I’ve been berated for the prices OTHER vets charge. 1-The emergency room visit for accidental snail bait ingestion that ended up costing $2,800 for less than 72 hours of care. 2-The specialist’s masterful treatment of a severe congenital heart defect that tapped his owner’s savings to the tune of $6,000.

Both cases demonstrate the extreme expenses many pet...

Time once again to discuss the epidemic of obesity suffered by US pets. But this time we’re talking about solutions the pet food industry might offer—in this case, the act of listing calorie counts on their labels.

Yesterday, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recommended the FDA require calorie information on pet food labels. In his testimony, John Branam of the AVMA spoke out...

Here are nine fun facts about feeding nutritional supplements to your pets:

1-On pharmaceutical grade ingredients: It may surprise you to know that all but one pet supplement company adheres to the more stringent procedures required to produce pharmaceutical grade supplements. The vast majority of human supplement companies also eschew these stricter, more expensive controls.

2-On FDA regulation...

The Pentagon has recently been forced to admit wrongdoing and change its tack. No, it’s not another Abu Ghraib, but it means more to some soldiers and family members of the fallen than another wartime prison scandal.

In this case, soldiers’ remains have been subject to cremation at facilities that handle both human and animal incineration.

Families and soldiers say it’s no way to treat the...

I know Dolittler's a pet health blog but occasionally (OK, more than just occasionally) I have to have my say on the farm animal thing.

Partly that’s because in a better world, I believe farm animals might make ideal “pets,” as they once did. No, maybe never like dogs and cats—but in a respectful, reasonably companionable sort of way, as “livestock” (like my goats).

It’s because of my lifelong...

If you’ve got a complaint against a veterinarian you can appeal to your state’s veterinary licensing body. But what do you do when your complaint is against a breeder or a pet shop?

Since pets are considered property under the law and their purchase is toaster oven-ish in nature, your best bet is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This consumer protection not-for-profit works in the US to help...

OK so I caved to your recommendations in favor of keeping no less than two guinea pigs at a time. It seemed a fair recommendation, especially after noting how well my goats do in tandem.

Orange (pronounced oh-ronj-uh, as in the German word for the eponymous fruit) is now a part of our household, along with Apfel (apple in German). She snuggles with her con-specific and relaxes nicely when...

This coming week I’ll be spaying three dogs whose owner has historically been reluctant to submit her pets to the “barbarity of unnecessary abdominal surgery.” It seems that after searching in vain for the ideal baby-daddy for her three poorly bred bitches she’d finally grown sick of the blood on the fine carpets and high-priced linens.

This is what I’m up against…

It’s like a bad Cinderella...

Yeah, ain’t it the truth! When a gatekeeper’s got it in for you you’re screwed. And your local veterinary hospital provides no exception to the rule.

Our receptionists can be surly or sweet, depending on the object of their attention’s attitude. I’m embarrassed to admit it but often that dictates how long they wait, whether they get the last box of Revolution or not and, not uncommonly, how...

Yeah, it’s getting hotter out there. Here in Miami it’s already too hot to run while the sun is out. Basic gardening and goat-tending has already bronzed my exposed limbs. And swimming training will soon see my back turn five shades lighter than the front of me (even 50 spf can’t control some things).

Skin cancer checkups with my dermatologist are on my yearly calendar. But how about our pets?...

…but will it deliver?

I’m always on the lookout for neat new drugs to complement my arsenal of pharmaceuticals—and this one has the potential to change the way I practice medicine.

Marketed as Convenia in Europe, Pfizer’s new one-time injectable, two-week duration third-generation cephalosporin is an antibiotic approach that may also revolutionize how YOU deal with your pets’ healthcare needs....

Think all bovine vets are old-timer types with a blind eye for any abuses perpetrated by the industry providing their paychecks? Then think again. Though agricultural animal vets are known for their practical ways and no-nonsense approach to dealing with the herds in their care, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a heart.

I won’t deny it: The leaders of the veterinary groups serving these...

Were you one of the recipients of PETA’s email missive on the subject of Eight Belles? Here’s my receipt from the “PETA Action Center:”

Dear Patty:

As I am sure you have heard, after crossing the finish line in last Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a young filly named Eight Belles collapsed when both her front ankles snapped. She was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the dirty...

Last night on NPR you may have heard a report on the over-diagnosis of bipolar disease in humans. Hearing the psychiatrists decry the increasingly ready use of this terminology to describe many merely depressed patients, I couldn’t help but think about how this over-diagnosis (and over-medication) applies to pets.

After all, drug companies are increasingly targeting pets in their drive to...

Last week I posted on the cost of spays and neuters in veterinary practice. In the comments below the post, it became clear that concern for the risks the procedures entail, particularly for the intra-abdominal spay, run high among you.

No matter what we veterinarians may say to calm your fears it’s true. Every surgical procedure has its risks. And while a spay is a surgery we may perform...

After this weekend's gravitas, I thought I’d offer you some light fare on the topic of something sweet and hopeful.

Yes, I keep a Guinea pig. Her name is Apfel (means “apple” in German, after her round physique) and she’s been living with us for a couple of weeks, during which time I’ve been stressing out about my son’s allergies (Guinea pigs are NOT hypoallergenic).

Thankfully, my son’s...

Over the past few days I’ve been corresponding with the owner of a kitty whose expressed desire is to maintain her cat’s reproductive integrity—sans ability to bear kittens. Tubal ligation is the subject of her inquiry: “Is it advisable if my goals for her include sexual activity?”

Hmmm… This is a weird one for sure. Despite the fact that I have better things to do than correspond with people...

I’ll confess to having reacted viscerally to the news of Eight Belle’s euthanasia after her second-place performance in yesterday’s Kentucky Derby. Last night’s late post found me at a loss for words to express the confusing emotions I’d experienced after my boyfriend’s “I have bad news” phone call reached me in advance of a few others.

Nonetheless, I’ll not rescind my call to boycott the...

On the heels of Thursday’s post on the merits of high quality supplements in pet diets comes this celebration of the lowly fatty acids in our pets’ diets.

We’ve long known that dogs and cats who consume diets including fish, flaxseed oil and/or enhanced with fatty acid supplements we may add tend towards shinier coats and healthier skin. Fatty acids are important to the health of skin, which...

This is the first Kentucky Derby I can recall not watching with bated breath—in fact, I didn’t watch it at all.

Like a junkie in withdrawal, I kept looking to my watch as it approached post-time, hoping a good book would prove sufficient distraction. I’d decided I wouldn’t be a part of it this year—or ever again.

Now, after the flurry of phone calls I’ve just received, you can be sure I won’t...

With a deep bow to PetConnection, whose blog posts I was catching up on this morning, I feel compelled to address this timely issue: Why there are no Google ads on Dolittler.

Though I’m grateful to Google for all the traffic it sends Dolittler’s way, I will never use their AdSense service to populate this site with revenue generating advertising—not unless there’s a way for me to weed out the...

By sheer coincidence, I had my twice yearly dental cleaning on Tuesday-the same day that I took my 12 year old cat to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. The bill for my cleaning was $115.00. Karma’s was $598.01. This is not really a fair comparison because, unlike me, who white knuckled it through the scraping and polishing, Karma had to be anesthetized. For Karma there...

I find that many of my clients want to be told exactly which supplements or vitamins their pets need…and which they needn’t spend the money on. It’s a relatively easy thing for me to do in an individualized fashion, assuming I’ve had the chance to examine the pet fully and run basic tests on his/her blood and urine (further diagnostics, if necessary).

But I find that at some point it’s not so...

Is it possible? Might Baxter’s poisoned heparin trickle down to pets? Why not? And how would we ever know?

In case you haven’t been made ware of the problem through your media sources, here’s a wrap-up: Tainted heparin, a  blood-thinning medication, was manufactured by drug company Baxter after using ingredients sourced from—you guessed it—China.

As far as I know, no one’s tried to send me an...