June 13th 2006

Tuesday. Kitty went home this morning. She still needs some work after her brush with death but she’s past the worst of it.

After convalescence of a week or so at home we can start to deal with the dental issues (she lost some teeth in her battle with the dogs). We need to take some dental X-rays to make sure the roots aren’t still present. If so, they’ll be removed so they won’t...

June 12th 2006

Monday. Have you ever had one of those Monday mornings when you get to work and the most stressful thing that is going to happen to you all month long is sitting on your desk like a big doo-doo explosive?

Today was such a one. One of my unsuspecting clients had just experienced the wrath of the local ER, or, as I like to put it, the desire of the local ER vet to take her kids to...

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...