In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center a group of twenty-seven dogs braved the hazards of the world’s biggest pile of toxic rubble for a collective total of just over 15,000 hours.

Though other dogs sporadically joined them in their labors, these 27 were monitored as part of a collaborative study undertaken by the Animal Medical Center in New York. Their acute...

By now, those of you with close ties to the veterinary profession may already know: Comfortis (spinosad) and whopping doses of ivermectin do not go hand in hand.

Comfortis is the new-generation, super-effective, oral flea killer I’ve been using on my most flea-allergic and flea-infested patients. At this point I’ve got quite a cache of Miami-area canines sucking spinosad fumes with apparent...

At the outset let me state that I am largely in favor of gun control measures. Like you, like nearly everyone, I favor legislation that would keep guns out of the paws of my country’s criminal elements.

With that in mind, it seems reasonable to assume I'd be disappointed by yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling essentially supportive of less restrictive gun control measures. But considering my...

They do if you ask any of the self-styled veterinary practice management gurus who are happy to have you believe that high quality medicine is synonymous with big money.

The commentary in July 1st’s JAVMA (sorry, not online yet) dealt well with our profession’s professed soothsayers. Titled, “Is good medicine defined by profit structure?” this piece takes an enjoyably circuitous and...

OK so this is not my normal gig. But I’ve agreed to do it…and I’ll damn well going to have fun doing it.

Tonight at 9 (EST) I’ll be making myself available on the PetHobbyist chatroom for a community grilling. And you're all invited (you don't have to become a member).

No, it’s probably not like that. Not an ‘attack the vet’ thing, but a slightly intimidating adventure nonetheless—not least...

This is the time of year when pet sitters begin keeping multiple-daily vigils on increasingly large groups of pets. And for that—not to mention their newfound professionalism in the 21st century—I thank them.

The family away to Argentina for the month…

The kids at camp and the adults in the Keys…

Without pet sitters most pet owners in my area (South Florida) would suffer the heat, humidity, fleas...

Aside from my title’s familiar allusion to Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now, there certainly is a horror in the animal world to be raising Cain about, of late. 

Actually, it’s more than one horror, and I’m sure many of us can rattle off a good number of them:

• unwanted, neglected horses and the horse-slaughtering operations south of the border;

...

How often have I scribbled posts on the virtues of pet insurance, only to be chastised by you, dear readers, for your inability to consider it a practical alternative for those who live paycheck to paycheck the way many of us increasingly do (gasoline, Summer camp and orthodontics, anyone?).

If the goal of pet insurance is to save your pet’s life in a crisis, you say, pet insurance helps you...

Ever wondered why Dolittler’s logo sports a Great Dane with a generous ear crop? The answer: Because it’s by far the best logo my design guy presented.

When I first saw it, I knew it was a masterful design—visually, that is—but I had trouble with the purebred dog thing (why a Great Dane?)…and the ear crop, of course.

After another few logo attempts using different dog and cat images it became...

OK, so I’ve finally decided it’s time to give you an update on Sophie Sue’s story (reference my ten year-old French bulldog’s confounding condition of the past few weeks’ duration).

After playing an unrewarding game of surgical hide and seek, we found no insulinoma (or other abdominal tumor) to explain Sophie’s low blood sugar and drunken gait. Nonetheless, Sophie continued to...

While some Ohio legislators are working hard to pass another pit bull ban (this one statewide, check here to sign the petition against it), here’s a story of “Leo the Redeemed,” an ex-fighter from Michael Vick’s famed (and defamed) Bad Newz stash.

Leo’s gone from “caveman at a tea party” (according to his trainer/owner )to clownsuit-sporting therapy pet. Here's Leo (ain't he gorgeous, I just...

One of my family members owns a small building with several apartment units just one block off one of the busiest roads in South Florida. He’s got a feral cat problem—dead kittens in the roadway, smelly toms around the pool area and children chasing potentially aggressive cats.

It’s bad for everyone, he believes: the cats and the humans. Most of the neighbors are complaining about the sudden...

It’s food scare time all over again. Tomatoes fresh from your greengrocer’s truck are prepared to attack you with the viciousness of their bacterial contaminants the next time you rip into your pizza—or worse, your pizza will not sport those extra tomatoes some of us believe essential for a proper pie.

Though most of you may be breathing a sigh of relief that your dogs are fed a wholesome...

Some of you may have personal experience with the once-popular canine heartworm preventative, ProHeart 6. It was marketed from June 2001 to September 2004, until the FDA recalled it after thousands of adverse reaction reports crossed its desks. And now, almost four years later, it's making a comeback (that's the plan, anyway).

According to the FDA, 5,552 ProHeart 6 reactions were reported after...

Twice in the past half-year we’ve been treated to research that challenges the last few decades’ conventional wisdom on the subject of spaying and neutering dogs. This time it’s all about knees and hips—and it’s a good study.

Sure, this JAVMA study (from last week's edition, not yet online) has its population bias issues and leaves open the question on ideal timing for sterilization (crucial,...

1-Thou shalt follow the directions the veterinarian has offered and indicate thy unwillingness or inability to do so (when applicable).

2-Thou shalt not commit the sin of silence. Asking questions will get thee further than speechlessness.

3-Thou shalt research thy pet’s condition upon its discovery. 

4-Thou shalt not call the veterinary staff with absurd questions or demands to speak to the...

I truly enjoy getting the opportunity to see how other veterinary hospitals do their thing—mostly.

Last Tuesday’s visit to my area neurology/oncology/radiology team (again, reference my Sophie’s illness) was impressive for a whole bunch of reasons. Among them, one thing really stood out for me: the DNR form at the very bottom of the release I signed before she could get her MRI.

In case you’ve...

After playing a unrewarding version of hide and seek in Sophie’s abdomen last week (reference my ten year-old French Bulldog and her recent health concerns), I decided to take Sophie to my area’s closest neurologist, oncologist and radiologist team (with no traffic, about an hour away in Cooper City, Florida ).

While waiting in the lobby area with all the creatures and their caretakers, I felt...

Last I spoke of Metacam in any detail it was to describe how helpful the manufacturer (Boehringer-Ingelheim) was after one of my canine patients (allegedly) experienced an adverse reaction to it. The B-I folks rolled up their sleeves and helped out on this one.

Turns out it was a gall bladder problem my patient was suffering. Though it had absolutely zero to do with the Metacam (contrary to...

I’m used to all sorts of evening and weekend telephonics. And guess what? I don’t like ‘em. Truth is, I seriously dislike being called on my personal phone—at all—unless it’s an emergency and I’ve expressly given YOU permission to call me in such an event.

Yet even in the case of an emergency my friends and family think I’m crazy to allow such an intrusion on my non-working hours: “I mean,...

2008’s Kentucky Derby disgusted us all. Its Preakness flew by like a blur. Finally, against the prevailing “wisdom” of racing’s spinners, this year’s Belmont gave proof to the sport’s lack of soundness. The "cripple crown" played itself out, culminating in the whimper its detractors uncomfortably anticipated.

With over-hyped one-liners promising glory as hasn’t been seen since a star lit up...

Dogs are capable of making a scary sound that often provokes midnight emergency vet visits among novice dog owners. In case you’ve never heard it, it sounds like a repetitive snort, sneeze, gag, honk, cough kind of a thing that usually lasts just a few seconds (though it may seem to last forever in some cases).

We in-the-know folks call this a “reverse sneeze.”

Though the term is arguably way...

Let me be clear at the outset: My intent is NOT to bash Fort Dodge and it’s new flea-buster product ProMeris, but I just finished reading a piece in this month's Veterinary Practice News that shocked and dismayed me.

Shocked:

The short piece (sorry, couldn’t find it online) reports on Fort Dodge’s defense to the Internet hype surrounding its product’s adverse reactions. According to the company,...

Have you ever thought about how medical personnel learn to perform a procedure? I often liken it to what people say about surgery: It’s like making sausage. You really don’t want to see how it’s made but it almost invariably tastes great when it’s served.

It seems there’s an interesting debate going on in Australia over how veterinarians and veterinary technicians come to acquire their...

In answer to all your questions and hope-for-the-bests: Yes! Sophie pulled through nicely and has already successfully consumed at least four small meals.

Surgery apparently makes Sophie hungry. And that makes her mom happy. [big smile here]

Though everything went as safely and smoothly as possible, not everything went 100% according to plan. [frowny face]

Unfortunately, no tumor jumped up and...

Less than six weeks after their arrival my two gorgeous guinea pigs are happy as clams—well, almost. A lot has happened since I last wrote of them.

For starters, Orange had a crisis. This pig never acted quite right and a week after living in our home she began to lose her balance, her eyes started to seek two separate points low down and away from one another (ventrolateral strabismus), and...

It was just three months ago that I wrote about my ten tear-old Frenchie’s scary spinal surgery. It wasn’t pleasant, all that pain and worry. But this time it promises to be somewhat more stressful—in the long run at least.

Sophie Sue's got cancer—at least we think she does—on her pancreas. Said putative cancer's producing insulin, which pushes blood glucose into cells, thereby lowering the...

It seems some New York RNs don’t want veterinary technicians calling themselves “nurses.” A complaint to the New York State Veterinary Board was advanced to ensure naming rights to the term and to limit its proper usage to the human nursing profession.

NY’s vet board has apparently caved and is letting its licensees know they should refrain from using the term “nurse” when alluding to their...