A couple of months ago the Journal of the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) ran a cover illustration of three English bulldogs. In response, last month’s JAVMA featured a finger-wagging letter (written by a veterinarian AVMA member) accusing the AVMA of supporting the cruelty inherent to breeding such malformed creatures.

In many ways I couldn’t agree more. And the problem isn’t...

Sometimes I wish I could reach out through the telephone lines…and strangle someone. 

This time it was the owner of a Rottweiler whose bitch just bore her second litter out of the same sire...in seven months—despite my strong recommendation to never do so again.

The first litter suffered a 91% death rate (by day 9, 10 out of 11 live-born pups were dead, succumbing one by one until a lone,...

Today is World Rabies Day!

I know it doesn't sound like a reason to celebrate (and it's not) but it's still an important reminder that a killer disease is still in our midst. Here's an article I wrote for the Miami Herald on this issue:

Several years ago a father and his young son brought me a small, black kitten they’d found in their yard just days before. Though initially vigorous and...

Yesterday was my birthday. In a misguided attempt to celebrate this auspicious day with me, my first patient of the day took a whopping chomp out of my left hand.

As is my usual style, I made no exclamations or accusations and simply whipped out a muzzle, sparing just enough time to write “Watch!” on the file in bold letters and utter a few words of exculpatory explanations.

Now, this would...

This past Monday’s post on euthanasia raised a discussion on the merits and pitfalls of various euthanasia methods. It also brought up some misconceptions as to how the various drug cocktails used to effect euthanasia actually work.

It seems incredible to me that before this week I never thought to post on the mechanics of death in veterinary settings. I hope to rectify this lapse with an...

This is a tough one. And it’s a biggie. How old an animal happens to be makes a huge difference for how the pet’s medical condition is interpreted and assessed as well as for how diagnostic and treatment resources are allocated. But is that fair?

Owners, veterinarians, family, friends and society at large are all responsible for how we see our aging pets. Creaky, rickety older guys are part of...

At least a hundred Galvestonian animals have been found and remanded to shelter care each and every day since Hurricane Ike. Abandoned in homes, roaming the streets, tied to poles and occasionally washed up on the beach, these pets (and the occasional member of a wildlife species) are flooding nearby Texas shelters and sanctuaries.

We talk a big game here on Dolittler about what needs to...

Both my French bulldogs have suffered from unsightly, often-itchy and technically benign tumors we call histiocytomas.  Though histiocytomas typically resolve after two to three months, the uncertainty of this tumor’s provenance leads most vets to snip it off (or at least part of it) to ensure its benignity.

A surgical scalpeling of a “benign” mass may sound extreme to you, but since...

A coven of nine veterinarians united around a table to break bread and suck down wine is never a too-pretty experience once the evening winds down and talk of veterinary disaster cases overwhelms the menu. (Halibut crusted with Indian spices accompanied by heirloom tomatoes in a spicy yogurt sauce and peppery smashed potatoes—with an almond panna cotta for dessert, in case you’re wondering.)...

Here’s another one of my list-style posts in which I bemoan the many ways in which my clients, colleagues and even random citizens manage to make my life more of a stress-fest than it already is. In case you need a primer, here are ten ways to drive your vet nuts (sourced from last month’s cases):

#1: The drop and run

Leave a box full of nine (!) kittens 10 feet away from your vet’s back door....

California’s ballot initiative to improve conditions in factory farms has already led to a whole lot of “unintended consequences”—even before the state’s voters get a chance to enact this “sweeping” animal welfare legislation. It’s pitted vets against vets in a battle over what’s good for the animals, the industry and consumers.

Proposition 2, “Standards for Confining Farm Animals” is...

Those of us who like to think in epidemiological terms know that pets can act as sentinels for cancers, infectious diseases and toxin exposure. The Chihuahua in the coal mine and all that.

The recent press on thousands of sickened babies in China (and at least four deaths to date) recalls that line of thinking, begging the question that’s in all of our minds: How could they let this...

Heard this one? It’s about a small Israeli city’s new approach to ridding Israel of the pet lovers everyone loves to hate…those unwilling to pick up after their dogs.

No one likes scooping poop. But officials in Petah Tikva have joined forces with veterinarians to apply high tech DNA technology to solving the problem of stray stool in public places. Apparently they don’t want to turn their...

Not everyone takes me seriously when I tell them they need to brush their pet’s teeth. That’s when I whip out a toothbrush and pet toothpaste and get to work on a demonstration. But even that’s not always enough to convince them of my resolve on this issue.

Not surprisingly, it’s more often the long-time pet owner who gives me that “you’ve got to be kidding” look. You know the look. It’s...

Some of you may know that I used to recommend Flintstones chewable vitamins for pets. You may also know that I enjoy my daily Starbucks. And Virbac is a pet product manufacturer I’ve profiled on Dolittler for its excellent concepts…

…and yet I’ve recently learned that all of them have let us down when it comes to heeding warnings on the use of Xylitol (a sugar substitute) in their products.

In...

Ahhh, the dreaded declaw procedure. Young vets have emailed me after reading my posts on this feline claw removal surgery to ask me how I convinced my employers to go easy on me when it comes to declaws. Last weekend’s correspondent was no different—except this time I think I convinced him to keep an otherwise wonderful job by taking my advice on the subject.

So you know, more small animal...

CAUTION! This post contains nasty photographs and discusses pus in detail.

I confess. I love feline abscesses. Ever since I was a little girl working in a veterinary hospital setting (apparently before child labor laws were strictly enforced), I’ve adored a good cat bite abscess.

Though these usually superficial wounds may seem frustrating and scary to you (and rightfully so), to me they’re an...

Not every pet plays well with others. We all know a recluse or three and more than a couple unsociable fight-pickers. While members of the latter variety are usually great one-on-one, the prospect of taking one of these canine examples to the dog park is not a sunny one—in fact, it’s fair to say they're unwelcome, banned, verboten.

But that doesn’t keep some similarly socially challenged dog...

Recent posts on muzzling and vet-client divorce have led to comments that intimate the desire for veterinarians to treat their cats in feline fashion—not as small dogs, as some practices tend to do.

Veterinarians can’t always love all species equally. It’s sort of like saying you really don’t care if your bedroom is painted red or blue. Everyone’s go an opinion on which they prefer, right? I...

#1: Stress!

When clients add stress to our lives in quantities disproportionate to that of the average pet owner, we sometimes initiate divorce proceedings. It usually arrives in the guise of a nice letter explaining that it must be our fault:

“It’s clear to the doctors and staff of X Animal Hospital that we cannot render services at the level you deem acceptable. Enclosed are your medical...

Ever been to your vet and been told your pet WILL be muzzled? Does it sound any better if they ASK if they can apply a muzzle? What if they tell you gently that, “for our safety we’re going to put a muzzle on her, OK? It won’t hurt, I promise.”

In my personal experience, it’s all about the WAY in which the issue is broached. But different vets and different hospitals have different styles and...

If you read Dolittler relatively regularly, you’ll know I post in defense of pit bulls as pets. As an ex-pittie owner, I feel strongly about breed specific legislation (such as the banning of pit bulls from many municipalities across the US).

In practice, it’s a fear-based, discriminatory policy where justice is too often meted out unfairly. It condemns dogs almost exclusively on the basis of...

I get lots of mail on the subject of finding a new vet. Some pet owners have already decided that they need to switch to a different veterinary professional either because they’re moving out of town, require an in-city vet closer to them, or simply because they’re fed up with their last doc.

Ever since I started writing my Miami Herald column a year and a half ago this kind of mail began...

One of the most frustrating ailments to afflict pets in their geriatric years is deafness. While humans can have high-tech hearing aids manufactured and even cochlear implants applied, pets are not yet offered such technological niceties.

Despite the advances we now take for granted in human medicine, treating hearing loss is astoundingly complex and, in pets, is hampered not only by the cost...

Staring down the barrel of a gun never was my idea of a fun pastime. Watching Ike advance feels akin to that same kind of prickly-cold dread. First too far north, now too far south…yet Miami, my hometown and current place of residence, is still well within the cone of error (and still three days away).

South Florida never has been too unified in its approach to the homeless animals in our...

The former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska has more on her animal welfare record than hailing from the town where the Iditarod makes its annual start. However you feel about this famous sled-dog race, its potential welfare issues pale in comparison to the sport of aerial hunting and the opposition to endangered designations for needy species.

Though it won’t necessarily drive my vote, knowing how my...

A couple of weeks ago I committed a medical error. I meant to blog about it at the time but, uncharacteristically, something stayed my flighty keyboard fingers. I’m still not sure what it was that denied you the up-to-the-minute access I like to offer, but the following questions might have had something to do with it:

Will others think me stupid? Careless? Saddled with poor procedural...

At least once a month or so a client will call with questions about pets who seem to grieve for their lost companions. Sometimes it’s a human death at hand, but more often it’s about pets who “miss” their recently departed conspecific (typically another cat or dog):

What should I do to help her grieve?

Will he ever get over the loss?

Could grief be making her sick?

I’m not always sure how to...

When you buy a puppy you buy a “health certificate” to go with her. Like any literal-minded consumer you assume a certificate with this title means she’s been examined by a veterinarian and has received a stamp of approval in the health department.

Guess again.

Last week I fielded a flurry of emails from my FVMA (Florida Veterinary Medical Association) list-serve. The topic was the widespread...

Maybe you’re not aware of this but some vets are scared of pet insurance. All that paperwork, red tape and the fear of something even more sinister: the specter of managed care that lurks behind every policy.

Me? I’m not so worried that one day how I practice will be altered by my patients’ policies. I’m more worried that my cases won’t get the benefit of the care I can provide. The way I see...