Homer was a couple of weeks old when I found him…maybe 21 days at the most. A young couple brought him in after finding him—I can’t remember where.

His eyes were swollen shut. I recall the presence of maggots. Though the couple requested he be euthanized on account of his certain blindness and disgusting appearance...I couldn’t do it.

How can I describe my feelings at the time?...

I was a...

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,...

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...

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...

Yep. For those of you following the saga of my ten year-old French Bulldog and her brain tumor the news is in: Sophie Sue is officially 100% done with her radiation treatments.

The upshot? It’s no stretch to say that six weeks and 18 radiation sessions later Sophie Sue is a new dog.

From an emaciated dog too weak to stand upright or swallow her home-cooked meals to a robust, rowdy Frenchie...

Yesterday’s emergency patient arrived after she’d collapsed at the groomer’s after a rough night of intermittent restlessness. She’d perked up with a pain-reliever by breakfast-time (prescribed for her severe osteoarthritis), which is presumably why her owner thought she’d keep her appointment with the groomer.

In hind-sight it’s obvious her first step should’ve been the vet’s—though the end...

It’s a good thing I have the weekend off. Unfortunately, I’ve been doing little with it beyond feeding a five day-old kitten every hour…on the hour.

Sure, I’ve been reading, cooking and organizing my house, too. Too bad I’ve also been suffering a breakdown in my central AC…in Miami…in July…with every AC repair service asking triple-overtime rates…ouch.

So maybe that’s why I’m feeling...

In my case, all you have to do to be a sucker for a kitten is get home late from work and nearly trip over the mangled body of a maggot-ridden rat—oh God no—it’s a kitten!

A well-intentioned neighbor, apparently desirous of anonymity in case kitten stress should befall him, must have left him on my doorstep. How NOT to Be a Sucker for Kittens 101 is clearly something this individual has down...

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...

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...