June 10th 2006

Saturday. Today I saw the tiniest little kitten with a nasty fracture of his femur. This little four-week-old has had a rough couple of days. It looks like a car hit him, splitting his lip and fracturing his leg. How he survived amazes me.

His family has named him Lucky. They found him when he wandered into their yard yesterday. Who could resist his tiny cries? Feeeeeed me....

June 9th 2006

Friday. Day off. I`m spending the day between the dentist and a short road trip to Ft. Lauderdale to celebrate the completion of this blog’s redesign. My designers, the illustrious, industrious, and supremely tolerant individuals at ichameleon group (headed by my dear—and extremely yummy—friend, Mr. Freddie Laker) will receive my famous litterbox cake.

In case you have never heard...

June 8th 2006

Thursday. A slow day in the land of sick pets. It’s a good thing (nobody getting sick, that is), but as my cleaning lady wisely reminds me, sin perros viejos y enfermos no hay cheque de la semana. Literal translation: Without old and sick dogs there can be no weekly check. How true. And, of course, that applies to her check too—I guess that’s what she meant.

At least I have a...

June 7th 2006

Wednesday. Kitty is still on the decline. I`m about 90% sure we’re losing her. Her bite wounds, despite failing to penetrate the skin, are taking their final toll. The tissue beneath the skin, where extensive bruising took place, is beginning to die. This is typical 4 to 5 days post-trauma in cats attacked by dogs.

Although her owner was informed—day one—of this possible outcome,...

Sunday. Kitty looks much brighter today. She’s pulled through the shock of her attack. But we’ll have to see how she progresses. I expect it’ll get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

If dog-attack cases survive the first 24 hours, unfortunately they’re still only halfway there. The toughest part, in many cases, is yet to come.

I’ll explain: When an animal’s tissues are injured in a fight...

Saturday. One of my clients just had a very bad day. And it’s only 9AM.

When they woke up this morning, this client’s dogs decided they no longer liked the household kitty cat. Poor kitty. She spent a little time in each of three large sets of jaws (the smallest of these dogs

weighs about 75 pounds).

Mostly, these kitties die—quickly. They seem to have what is known in animal behavior circles as...

Thursday. It appears we’re settling into another pattern here at Sunset Animal Clinic: It’s 4 PM and time for the afternoon abscess series. Each day at 4 another cat bite abscess case comes in the door. Today was only day number two so it’s hard to call it a pattern but I’m pretty sure we’ll see another one

I sometimes wonder whether people think we veterinary professionals are acting rudely...

It’s my first day back since the Memorial Day festivities and I’m having an extremely busy time of it. All my sick little patients have come back to see me for rechecks and in one case, "Just to say hello."

Who brings their cat to the vet just to say hello? All well and good...but these people are paying 48 bucks to do so.

Interesting how some people will dress their cat up, stick a flower in...

In my mind I’m still on vacation. And, although I’m back in town sleeping in my own bed, I’ll not be back to work until tomorrow. So, technically, I’m still vacating. Especially since my eight-year-old is still with his grandparents in Disney World for the next few days. Forget Key Largo, life sans child for a week…now that’s a vacation.

Nonetheless, I could not help driving over to work to...

Today we made our way [slowly] back from Key Largo. The water was so beautiful we stopped about twelve times to stare down through it. The seas were so calm we could see straight through twenty feet of blue to the reefs below. Just so you know: that never happens.

We went snorkeling for an hour or so at a gorgeous reef teeming with fish and some of the healthiest coral in the Keys....