Vetcetera Dirty Jobs: One veterinarian’s vote for her profession’s filth

There’s been a lot of horseplay in the media in recent years on the concept of truly disgusting professions. The mushroom farmer manure-slinger, zero-gravity vomit quicker-picker-upper and bed-pan disaster beneficiary, etc… The Discovery Channel even has a popular show called “Dirty Jobs” to highlight the visual aspects of these revolting trades.

Recently, NPR conducted a decidedly higher-brow...

April 4th, 2008 37 Comments

Vetcetera By the numbers: Dolittler’s top ten veterinary posts

After my post on blogging I received a nice bunch of emails from fellow pet bloggers urging me not to pull an Itchmo. Among these well-wishers, fellow pet industry geek Alex Krooglik of Embrace Pet Insurance offered me an analytical glimpse at why I shouldn’t give up:

Though I’m told most bloggers are mad about their stats, I confess to being somewhat oblivious of the traffic that makes its way...

April 4th, 2008 7 Comments

Vetcetera Kitty carriers and other feline tractability solutions

Hot on the heels of my rant on the potential horrors of retractable leashes comes this one on cat carriers.

Granted that cats are hard to catch when they mysteriously surmise it’s vet visit time. A lot of it has to do with the placement of the cat carrier after you’ve decided to hose it down or otherwise clean it up so your vet doesn’t think you’re a horrible owner and a slob to boot. Then...

April 3rd, 2008 31 Comments

Vetcetera Dr. K’s new gig: Telemundo gives her a shot on early morning TV (LIVE!)

OK so I didn’t expect my first appearance on TV as a vet to be a national one. International, even, if you consider the broad audience of mixed nationality US Hispanics.

Nope. I expected something sleepy and local where I wouldn’t be up against all that cleavage! (If you’ve ever watched Univision or Telemundo you’ll know what I’m talking about.)

Tomorrow on 7:30 AM EST on Telemundo you too can...

March 31st, 2008 17 Comments

Vetcetera Kitty corners: Real life outdoor enclosures for cats

I love love love kitties but my son is highly allergic and predisposed to asthma. The last time I brought a cat home (Helen, for the weekend) his face puffed up and the congestion lasted three days beyond her departure.

But I can’t justify keeping cats out of doors. Not when I know most of my local strays are FIV-positive. Not while I still occasionally take on the neighborhood detail of...

March 25th, 2008 20 Comments

Vetcetera Ode to the oft-maligned canine cage muzzle

It’s too late after your Cavalier King Spaniel’s chewed through the power cord behind the fridge in your garage. She’s gone. And all those miscellaneous pills, baby toys and cat stool consumed?—not to mention the woodworking gnawed off your favorite chair. You could have avoided that, too.

Sure, a cage muzzle doesn’t scream, “I’m so cute you gotta pet me!” But it can save your butt when the...

March 19th, 2008 33 Comments

Vetcetera Inside Animal Minds: National Geographic’s cover story makes this vet ponder dog breed smarts

Betsy the Border Collie knows more than 300 words. Sure, she’s no Alex-the-African Grey. She won’t be speaking them anytime soon. But she knows them. She can act on them. And she understands them in different contexts, displaying a knack for abstract thinking we’d never before thought possible in animals—not to mention dogs.

So goes National Geographic's March 2008 cover story. It details the...

March 18th, 2008 22 Comments

Vetcetera K-9 Down does big things for working dogs (and other vet-envious musings)

Part of the fun of being aboard a huge ship with a crew of your colleagues (as I was last week) is the inevitability of meeting someone whose interests and ambitions intersect with your own.

Among my new cohorts was a dual-boarded veterinary specialist in internal medicine and veterinary critical care (talk about an over-achiever!).

Though I’m not fit to lick her shoes—especially when it comes...

March 18th, 2008 5 Comments

Vetcetera Trucks and their unwelcome appendages…sometimes I just want to neuter ‘em

(Until I can post again on my own two legs, here's a substitute post as timeless as tastelessness...)

I’m on a roll with the whole castration issue lately. It must be the stress. But here’s a pet peeve worthy of discussion. Well…maybe not, but here goes anyway.

Have you seen those big macho trucks on the road? The ones with oversized tires, Playboy-stenciled mud-flaps and perhaps a windshield...

March 14th, 2008 29 Comments

Vetcetera Flea and tick phobia? Delusional parasitosis in veterinary medicine

Yeah, it’s true. Most people have a built-in fear of bugs. For some unlucky souls, however, the fear is far greater than what most of us would consider rational. A significant percentage of the population is afflicted with this problem. Indeed, it’s common enough for the psychiatric community to have come up with a medical term for it: “delusional parasitosis.”

Yesterday’s post on bedbugs...

March 10th, 2008 26 Comments