Thanks to Debbie for forwarding this on! This video shows the reunion of a soldier returning home from 14 months in Iraq. I think his dogs missed him. :)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Lost! Stray Barn Owl. Tame. Answers to "Roxey"
Dartmoor Roxey the tame barn owl, above, seemed relieved to be found after surviving for four days in the wild. When she was found by a passing motorist she hopped on to his arm and flew into his van as soon as he opened the door.
George Hedges, who has hand-reared the two-year-old bird since she was five days old, said: “I think she was saying ‘take me home’.”
The bird had no experience of hunting for her own food or avoiding predators, but managed to travel 20 miles with leather straps still fastened round her legs.
Roxey escaped from the back of a horsebox travelling at 50mph on a motorway. Mr Hedges, who runs Devon’s Eagles, a falconry centre on Dartmoor, was forced to brake sharply, loosening the catch on the owl’s cage. She sat on the back of the horsebox for 20 miles then launched into space, narrowly avoiding being run over and crashing into a grass banking near Salisbury. Other drivers flagged down Mr Hedges.
He said: “We went back to try and find her but there was no sign. I feared the worst.”
For four days Mr Hedges heard nothing, then he had a call to say that a couple had found the owl.
He said: “When I went to pick her up she flew straight out of the cage she was in and into my hands.”
From The TimesOnline.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Importance of a Complete History
I walked in a room the other day to be greeted by not only the real-life representation of Cujo but also of Cletus the Slack-jawed Yokel of Simpson's fame. While digesting the irony of being faced with two caricatures in the same room, I had the more immediate problem of what to do with this case.
The presenting complaint was that "he gots the puppy mange." While essentially all I could see of Cujo was his hugely dilated eyes as he stared me down with all of his 100 lbs of 1 year old St. Bernard, I could also see the spots of hairloss on the dog's side that had Cletus concerned. We eventually coaxed the beast onto an elevator table in the clinic; one that allows us to raise large dogs to our level without having to lift them. This contraption has the secondary effect of often disorienting aggressive or nervous dogs enough for a short period that we can work on them with relative safety if we work before they get their bearings.
So, with Cujo at eye-level and Cletus soothing him up by his head, I quickly went to work gathering the skin scrapings and impression smears I hopped would diagnose the cause of this dog's hairloss. In an ideal world, we would have been able to get a muzzle on him...but it was not to be. I decided to proceed anyway, hopeing I could get my samples before Cujo knew what was going on.
However, it wasn't long until Cujo's patience waned. With amazing speed, he spun his head, and with what I can only describe as survival reflexes, I jumped back. I felt the side of one of Cujo's teeth brush my forearm as I did so, knowing that what samples I had gotten by then were all I was going to get.
"Oh, 'e won't bite 'che," Cletus commented with a laugh, clearly amused by my jump back from his "puppy" which likely wasn't as graceful as the jungle cat moves I was hoping for. I lowered the elevator table and quickly excused myself to the lab and the relative safety of the microscope.
Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, I didn't see anything of interest in the hasty samples I had obtained. I was mostly looking for mites as the cause of the hairloss. "The puppy mange," as Cletus called it, is caused by the demodectic mite and is not uncommon in young puppies. If an older dog has it, it can be the sign of very serious disease elsewhere. Demodectic mites are often somewhat easy to find on a skin scraping, but can be frustratingly hard to treat at times, requiring very odiferous mite dips and the like over the period of several weeks.
The other main type of mange mite we worry about is the sarcoptic mite which causes "scabies" as many people know it. Sarcoptic mange is highly contagious and of human health interest as well since people can catch it from their pets and visa versa. Sarcoptic mites, as opposed to the demodectic ones, can sometimes be hard to find on the microscope, but are relatively easy to treat. In some cases, if we suspect sarcoptic mange, but can't demonstrate the mites via skin scrapings, we'll treat for it anyway to be on the safe side.
As I was explaining these things to Cletus, he perked up when I mentioned that sarcoptic mange was transmissible to people. Suddenly suspicious, I asked him if anyone in the family had been itchy.
"You mean like a rash?"
"Um, yeah...."
"Oh yeah, me an' the boys all gots rashes. The doctor said it could be mites."
I knew I was in dangerous territory. From experience, I know that people have surprising lack of modesty when talking about their own medical conditions with their vet, thinking that we are interested in and/or knowledgable about human health problems because we are doctors. I'm sure all vets can tell you stories about clients showing them their own rashes, lumps, scars and injuries with surprising speed and unembarrasment.
Hoping fervently that Cletus would not show me his own rash, I told him of my plan to empirically treat Cujo for sarcoptic mites and monitor for response to treatment. Cletus informed me that his doctor told him that mites weren't transmissible to pets, so he hadn't thought to mention that. I knew I should have asked initially when faced with a dog with mange, but I hadn't. Being faced with Cujo and Cletus in the same room, who can think of anything except a Simpson's Halloween special?
The presenting complaint was that "he gots the puppy mange." While essentially all I could see of Cujo was his hugely dilated eyes as he stared me down with all of his 100 lbs of 1 year old St. Bernard, I could also see the spots of hairloss on the dog's side that had Cletus concerned. We eventually coaxed the beast onto an elevator table in the clinic; one that allows us to raise large dogs to our level without having to lift them. This contraption has the secondary effect of often disorienting aggressive or nervous dogs enough for a short period that we can work on them with relative safety if we work before they get their bearings.
So, with Cujo at eye-level and Cletus soothing him up by his head, I quickly went to work gathering the skin scrapings and impression smears I hopped would diagnose the cause of this dog's hairloss. In an ideal world, we would have been able to get a muzzle on him...but it was not to be. I decided to proceed anyway, hopeing I could get my samples before Cujo knew what was going on.
However, it wasn't long until Cujo's patience waned. With amazing speed, he spun his head, and with what I can only describe as survival reflexes, I jumped back. I felt the side of one of Cujo's teeth brush my forearm as I did so, knowing that what samples I had gotten by then were all I was going to get.
"Oh, 'e won't bite 'che," Cletus commented with a laugh, clearly amused by my jump back from his "puppy" which likely wasn't as graceful as the jungle cat moves I was hoping for. I lowered the elevator table and quickly excused myself to the lab and the relative safety of the microscope.
Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, I didn't see anything of interest in the hasty samples I had obtained. I was mostly looking for mites as the cause of the hairloss. "The puppy mange," as Cletus called it, is caused by the demodectic mite and is not uncommon in young puppies. If an older dog has it, it can be the sign of very serious disease elsewhere. Demodectic mites are often somewhat easy to find on a skin scraping, but can be frustratingly hard to treat at times, requiring very odiferous mite dips and the like over the period of several weeks.
The other main type of mange mite we worry about is the sarcoptic mite which causes "scabies" as many people know it. Sarcoptic mange is highly contagious and of human health interest as well since people can catch it from their pets and visa versa. Sarcoptic mites, as opposed to the demodectic ones, can sometimes be hard to find on the microscope, but are relatively easy to treat. In some cases, if we suspect sarcoptic mange, but can't demonstrate the mites via skin scrapings, we'll treat for it anyway to be on the safe side.
As I was explaining these things to Cletus, he perked up when I mentioned that sarcoptic mange was transmissible to people. Suddenly suspicious, I asked him if anyone in the family had been itchy.
"You mean like a rash?"
"Um, yeah...."
"Oh yeah, me an' the boys all gots rashes. The doctor said it could be mites."
I knew I was in dangerous territory. From experience, I know that people have surprising lack of modesty when talking about their own medical conditions with their vet, thinking that we are interested in and/or knowledgable about human health problems because we are doctors. I'm sure all vets can tell you stories about clients showing them their own rashes, lumps, scars and injuries with surprising speed and unembarrasment.
Hoping fervently that Cletus would not show me his own rash, I told him of my plan to empirically treat Cujo for sarcoptic mites and monitor for response to treatment. Cletus informed me that his doctor told him that mites weren't transmissible to pets, so he hadn't thought to mention that. I knew I should have asked initially when faced with a dog with mange, but I hadn't. Being faced with Cujo and Cletus in the same room, who can think of anything except a Simpson's Halloween special?
Monday, September 22, 2008
If you don't have the finances....
Maybe I should change the name of this blog to "Pet Peeves" since that is often what I write about of late. Or maybe I should just post more, so I can post more of the good stories as well as the irritating and bad ones. In which case, maybe I shouldn't work as much so I have more times to post...well, I doubt that will happen. :p
Anyway, on to my topic: Pets and Finances. Since I began my veterinary career a little over a year ago, I have been faced with the question of finances and pets. It's something that is touched on in school, but almost in a somewhat ethereal way...as if costs are something that are important in a parallel universe, but not in the one you are currently in. As students, we didn't have a clue what anything cost. Sure, there are ways we could have looked into it, I suppose, but we barely had the time to adequately SOAP all of our patients, let alone marvel at their bills. Additionally, most critters in a veterinary teaching hospital situation are there because their owners have already spent quite a bit of money and are verging on desperate for a diagnosis if not a treatment. Students have no contact with the client regarding bills or finances and, after being out in practice and dealing with that multiple times on a daily basis, I really think that should be an important part of the curriculum during school.
But that is a topic for a slightly different time. Before I digress too much, I should launch into what inspired today's post. And perhaps the best way to do so would be in list form, so here it goes. Following is a list of the most common ways people complain to me about bills and/or try to get me to reduce them. While I certainly empathize with people with stressed finances (chipping away with half of my pay every month going to pay off my student loan which will take many years to get rid of), I can't help but get a little tired of people blaming me and the rest of the staff at the clinic for their own poor financial decisions. So, before you go to the vet with any of these excuses, know that they have heard these before as well.
1. "I just spent $250 to buy this purebred Shih-Poo, and don't have any money to pay for anything today." This was today's incident, actually. Beyond what I think of paying $250 for a purebred mutt, I had a heck of a time trying to convince this lady that puppies need more than one vaccine to start to induce immunity against diseases. She informed me (in a voice very like a grade school math teacher correcting a student's sloppy multiplication table) that the breeder -- who has been doing this for 45 years -- knows what she is doing, and told her that this puppy was "up to date on all of its shots." She showed me the breeder's card, as if that would impress me of her knowledge and experience. The card proudly advertised at least 8 different breeds, not a one of them not a Something-Poo or a Bichon-Something. Long story short, I finally convinced the lady to at least allow me to vaccinate the puppy against rabies and she was going to need to "think about" boostering the other vaccine.
2. "I just bought these 2 purebred Aussies and adopted these 2 cats. Can you do something like give me a 2-for-1 deal on spaying and neutering them? There is no way I can pay full price for that on all of them." This is another painfully true situation from a few weeks ago. This lady specifically purchased 2 Aussie pups because she had always wanted 2 Aussies. And the farm where she picked the puppies up at had some free kittens up for grabs, so of course she needed some of those as well. Long story short, she didn't get a 2-for-1 deal. Dogs aren't glazed donuts.
3. "I rescued this puppy from being abused. Will you cover part of the costs in treating him?" This one always comes up in a tone and manner that makes the vet sound and feel like a heartless Scrooge if they say "no." What people don't seem to understand is that this one -- maybe of all of them -- gets asked the most. I would also be willing to wager a sizable sum that this is the one that irritates many vets the most. Free services and antibiotics at-cost won't feed the receptionist's kids or make the technician's car payments. People have this strange notion that we become vets purely and simply to "help animals" and apparently all veterinary clinics are charitable institutions or, at the very least, non-profits. Newsflash: it is a business. Businesses that make money stay open. Businesses that give everything away will close. Most vet clinics do an inordinant amount of community service in the way of cheap spay/neuter programs, treating homeless pets and so on. But none can afford to treat every pathetic sneezing kitten found in the gutter for a plate of stale cookies. However, maybe if they were fresh cookies.....
These are the 3 most common comments related to finances and pets. I know there are many more, several of which I havn't touched on for time considerations. Any in the veterinary field, feel free to add your most favorites to the comments page.
On a closing note, let's just say I have gotten really good at making estimates for even the most mundane of procedures and "encouraging" prompt payment despite not getting any training in that at school. Maybe they just figure that is the best kind of lesson to learn "on the job" because it is difficult to teach. Still, I think it would be very useful if some "bounty hunter" classes were included in the curriculum. Maybe right after learning how to play the invisible violin.
Anyway, on to my topic: Pets and Finances. Since I began my veterinary career a little over a year ago, I have been faced with the question of finances and pets. It's something that is touched on in school, but almost in a somewhat ethereal way...as if costs are something that are important in a parallel universe, but not in the one you are currently in. As students, we didn't have a clue what anything cost. Sure, there are ways we could have looked into it, I suppose, but we barely had the time to adequately SOAP all of our patients, let alone marvel at their bills. Additionally, most critters in a veterinary teaching hospital situation are there because their owners have already spent quite a bit of money and are verging on desperate for a diagnosis if not a treatment. Students have no contact with the client regarding bills or finances and, after being out in practice and dealing with that multiple times on a daily basis, I really think that should be an important part of the curriculum during school.
But that is a topic for a slightly different time. Before I digress too much, I should launch into what inspired today's post. And perhaps the best way to do so would be in list form, so here it goes. Following is a list of the most common ways people complain to me about bills and/or try to get me to reduce them. While I certainly empathize with people with stressed finances (chipping away with half of my pay every month going to pay off my student loan which will take many years to get rid of), I can't help but get a little tired of people blaming me and the rest of the staff at the clinic for their own poor financial decisions. So, before you go to the vet with any of these excuses, know that they have heard these before as well.
1. "I just spent $250 to buy this purebred Shih-Poo, and don't have any money to pay for anything today." This was today's incident, actually. Beyond what I think of paying $250 for a purebred mutt, I had a heck of a time trying to convince this lady that puppies need more than one vaccine to start to induce immunity against diseases. She informed me (in a voice very like a grade school math teacher correcting a student's sloppy multiplication table) that the breeder -- who has been doing this for 45 years -- knows what she is doing, and told her that this puppy was "up to date on all of its shots." She showed me the breeder's card, as if that would impress me of her knowledge and experience. The card proudly advertised at least 8 different breeds, not a one of them not a Something-Poo or a Bichon-Something. Long story short, I finally convinced the lady to at least allow me to vaccinate the puppy against rabies and she was going to need to "think about" boostering the other vaccine.
2. "I just bought these 2 purebred Aussies and adopted these 2 cats. Can you do something like give me a 2-for-1 deal on spaying and neutering them? There is no way I can pay full price for that on all of them." This is another painfully true situation from a few weeks ago. This lady specifically purchased 2 Aussie pups because she had always wanted 2 Aussies. And the farm where she picked the puppies up at had some free kittens up for grabs, so of course she needed some of those as well. Long story short, she didn't get a 2-for-1 deal. Dogs aren't glazed donuts.
3. "I rescued this puppy from being abused. Will you cover part of the costs in treating him?" This one always comes up in a tone and manner that makes the vet sound and feel like a heartless Scrooge if they say "no." What people don't seem to understand is that this one -- maybe of all of them -- gets asked the most. I would also be willing to wager a sizable sum that this is the one that irritates many vets the most. Free services and antibiotics at-cost won't feed the receptionist's kids or make the technician's car payments. People have this strange notion that we become vets purely and simply to "help animals" and apparently all veterinary clinics are charitable institutions or, at the very least, non-profits. Newsflash: it is a business. Businesses that make money stay open. Businesses that give everything away will close. Most vet clinics do an inordinant amount of community service in the way of cheap spay/neuter programs, treating homeless pets and so on. But none can afford to treat every pathetic sneezing kitten found in the gutter for a plate of stale cookies. However, maybe if they were fresh cookies.....
These are the 3 most common comments related to finances and pets. I know there are many more, several of which I havn't touched on for time considerations. Any in the veterinary field, feel free to add your most favorites to the comments page.
On a closing note, let's just say I have gotten really good at making estimates for even the most mundane of procedures and "encouraging" prompt payment despite not getting any training in that at school. Maybe they just figure that is the best kind of lesson to learn "on the job" because it is difficult to teach. Still, I think it would be very useful if some "bounty hunter" classes were included in the curriculum. Maybe right after learning how to play the invisible violin.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Venomous Patients
My work with the aquarium has certainly introduced me to a variety of new species and 
situations. Certainly the most unique have been some of the new additions to their special venomous exhibit. Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to exam and collect blood samples from 3 of the most notorious venomous snakes in the world. Previously -- related to this exhibit -- I had collected samples from copperheads, diamondback rattlesnakes, and pit vipers. But these latest 3 really were amazing.
First was a gaboon viper (which I neglected to take a picture of). Known as having the longest fangs among snakes, this guy was large, broad and amazingly calm.
Next was a king cobra. Huge and fast, this species may be the most photographed and feared of all snakes. With the ability to stand up to 3/4 of their body length, this particular specimen (being 11 feet long) could easily meet most people eye-to-eye. When comparing venoms, the cobra's is not the most deadly of the venomous snakes. However, they make up for it in volume. A fully charged king cobra can deliver 400 grams of venom in one bite...and it only takes 20 grams to kill an adult man. The size of this cobra's head is, more or less, the size of your hand. He is considered a mid-range king cobra in size. A skull of a king cobra has been found that fits snuggly in a gallon jug. That snake is estimated to have been pushing 30 feet long!
Last was the green mamba. Small, fast, and almost unnatural in the brilliancy of its green color, the green mamba is one of the deadliest snakes in Africa. Strictly arboreal, the green mamba's venom is less toxic than that of the larger, more aggressive black mamba, but still very deadly. The thing that struck me about this snake (and the cobra as well) was their intelligence. Their keepers have commented that they are much more interactive and seemingly observant of their surroundings than other snakes, besides being amazing and beautiful creatures.
situations. Certainly the most unique have been some of the new additions to their special venomous exhibit. Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to exam and collect blood samples from 3 of the most notorious venomous snakes in the world. Previously -- related to this exhibit -- I had collected samples from copperheads, diamondback rattlesnakes, and pit vipers. But these latest 3 really were amazing.First was a gaboon viper (which I neglected to take a picture of). Known as having the longest fangs among snakes, this guy was large, broad and amazingly calm.
Next was a king cobra. Huge and fast, this species may be the most photographed and feared of all snakes. With the ability to stand up to 3/4 of their body length, this particular specimen (being 11 feet long) could easily meet most people eye-to-eye. When comparing venoms, the cobra's is not the most deadly of the venomous snakes. However, they make up for it in volume. A fully charged king cobra can deliver 400 grams of venom in one bite...and it only takes 20 grams to kill an adult man. The size of this cobra's head is, more or less, the size of your hand. He is considered a mid-range king cobra in size. A skull of a king cobra has been found that fits snuggly in a gallon jug. That snake is estimated to have been pushing 30 feet long!
Last was the green mamba. Small, fast, and almost unnatural in the brilliancy of its green color, the green mamba is one of the deadliest snakes in Africa. Strictly arboreal, the green mamba's venom is less toxic than that of the larger, more aggressive black mamba, but still very deadly. The thing that struck me about this snake (and the cobra as well) was their intelligence. Their keepers have commented that they are much more interactive and seemingly observant of their surroundings than other snakes, besides being amazing and beautiful creatures.
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