“My complication had a complication.” That recurrent line in Terry Gilliam’s brilliant flick, Brazil, has been popping up a little too often over the past few days. Here’s my list:

1-A non-healing ear hematoma on a severely allergic, mixed breed dog who also suffers from chronic ehrlichiosis. The sutures are perpetually infected. The ear is horribly inflamed. I’d be at my wit’s end if it...

If you’ve got a complaint against a veterinarian you can appeal to your state’s veterinary licensing body. But what do you do when your complaint is against a breeder or a pet shop?

Since pets are considered property under the law and their purchase is toaster oven-ish in nature, your best bet is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This consumer protection not-for-profit works in the US to help...

Yeah, ain’t it the truth! When a gatekeeper’s got it in for you you’re screwed. And your local veterinary hospital provides no exception to the rule.

Our receptionists can be surly or sweet, depending on the object of their attention’s attitude. I’m embarrassed to admit it but often that dictates how long they wait, whether they get the last box of Revolution or not and, not uncommonly, how...

It happens everywhere, not just in Miami. Every day, veterinarians are asked to be arbiters of disputes between family members, spouses, neighbors, puppy park dwellers and other veterinarians’ theoretical malfeasance.

The words “law,” “legal,” “police,” and “evidence” are bandied about, making us extra-cautious about everything that enters the medical record—how we say it and in what detail...

Yeah, I know this story will sound petty but it’s been burning a hole in my soul for the past couple of days so bear with me as I exorcise this demon here.

Some of you will remember an old post where I profiled a local hospital (nameless, of course) refusing to divulge the information of its former veterinarians after a falling out. Clients were upset after making appointments without being...

Last week I stopped by the specialist’s hospital to drop off some X-rays. In the parking lot I spied a yellow lab with a shaved knee as he jumped sky-high into the seat of an F-350.

“Was that your patient?” I asked when I noticed one of the surgeons shaking his head wistfully nearby. “Sure is—but I wish he wasn’t.”

There’s nothing more frustrating than doing your best work only to find that...

1-Eating lunch too close to the fecal-screen counter (blech!)…

2-Taking the client at her word (“She doesn’t bite!”)…

3-Not wearing gloves while flushing out ears or examining a potential abscess (so much for a dinner date appetite)…

4-Investigating a possible ringworm lesion barehanded then getting distracted and suffering three circular lesions to your ankle (presumably after scratching the...

Discussing euthanasia is stressful for any veterinarian. Having to refuse it can be doubly so.

It’s an uncomfortable position many vets find themselves in for a variety of reasons.

The most oft-mentioned scenario? A healthy animal is presented to the veterinarian. Euthanasia is requested for a vague reason, disapproved-of reason, or for no reason at all.

Under these circumstances we can all...

Some clients are sweet as sugar…but clueless. Here’s a recent example: Owner on her way to a ballet recital with her daughter spies kitty in the driveway unable to rise. Pressed for time she scoops him up and encloses him in his top-clip cardboard kitty carrier. Arrives ten minutes later to drop him off with a complaint of: cannot walk.

Thus informed by the reception staff after the client’s...

I’m not sure it says anything but I will confess to receiving the news with some degree of alarm. Itchmo’s been blogging heavy since last year’s pet food recall. It earned itself a high profile among pet bloggers and devoted readers with scrupulous attention to the details of the news during those weeks of high anxiety.

And now it’s gone. Well, not completely. Its forums are still active and...