Let’s all call it “H1N1,” OK? Or “Mexican Flu.” Because to refer to this triple human-bird-swine influenza virus by its porcine etymology does everyone a BIG disservice. 

No, I’ve not been sent here by the marketers of “the other white meat” to exonerate their livestock or to coax you all into supporting their industry. In fact, it was only when my son commented on his fortuitous aversion to...

Got a Schnauzer? What made you want this breed of dog? Did “Shnauzer” come up on an Internet breed finder? Maybe you grew up with one, or your friends have one. Perhaps you just like the way they look. Their spunk. Their style.

Today’s topic is “breed perceptions.” The question, according to one study out of Australia, is whether people, at a formative age––at a time when lifelong opinions...

The Obama administration is working hard on solutions to the high cost, spotty availability and inefficiencies of our current medical system. As if the economic crisis, foreign policy nightmares and energy issues weren’t enough, taking on the US’s human healthcare insufficiencies as well will take an act of God to surmount. 

No matter, we have to start somewhere, right? Some proposals have...

Topical pet pesticides. You may know them as Frontline, Advantage, Advantix and Promeris, among others. Perhaps you also use Adams brand flea and tick shampoo and occasionally defer to a Sergeant’s supermarket brand spot-on flea and tick killer when your veterinarian is closed (or when you’re tight on money, as so many of us currently are). 

In case US pet owners didn’t know this, our FDA...

Wanna know what I spend my time doing...day after day? It’s pretty simple really. The hard part’s the talking, explaining, teaching, cajoling, reasoning, recruiting, empathizing, etc. The rest? It’s mostly a breeze. 

That’s because veterinary patients tend to observe the 80/20 rule. 80% of our “problem” cases are routine. The remaining 20? Complex cases with complex solutions. Bloats,...

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my dog’s brain tumor. Strange, this ability of a questionably animate thing to lay me low so effectively. Of course, it doesn’t compare to the stress people and their family endure with human cancer––at least I don’t think so, never having been in that unenviable position. But it’s harrowing in it’s own unique way, I promise you. 

The most...

I have a relative whose two adult dogs were both neutered last week. So I knew to expect the cross-country phone calls––in spades. But nothing prepared me for the onslaught of incision site issues that awaited me in the wake of this simple procedure. 

Sure, they’re nervous nellies. But they’re really no different than you and me when it comes to watching out for the minutest signs of an...

After spending more time than is reasonable explaining WHY dogs are gaining weight in spite of all owner attempts at the reverse, I get tired...really tired. 

That’s why, lately, I’ve taken to suggesting my clients keep a diary of everything their fat dog eats in a week (and how much exercise they get) by way of explaining how vigilance and diligence is sometimes no match for intelligence....

Bad things happen. But you expect them to happen less often to the horses that play the Polo Club circuit. Living with in-house masseuses, fancy veterinarians, frequent hydrotherapy, and first-class flight accommodations––while boasting an asking price of $200K––has something to do with it. Never mind that they’re treated like celebrities wherever they go.

That’s probably why yesterday’s

After reading your comments from yesterday’s post on the cost of routine dentistry, I got to thinking: Do we humans often treat our pets better than we treat ourselves?

Don’t bother answering; I know the truth. Most serious pet people are too willing to put off their on medical issues in favor of their pets.’ 

Since I’m a veterinarian who makes her living from making sure her patients get...

It’s worth thinking about, especially as more and more of us are braving hard times by dispensing with the dentist...for ourselves, our human kids, and our pets, too. 

It’s understandable, all this stress over spending up-front money for non-life-threatening issues like dental care. If the cash is in in short supply, best to save it up for the true emergencies, right? 

I get it. In fact, I’m...

Yeah, I’ve got a few hot chicks on my mind. And they’re all under a heat lamp in my back yard. 

My seven baby Dominique-esque chicks arrived last Thursday. All healthy. All vibrant, cheepy and cute as you might expect of any newborn baby (save the human variety, for which the cute-factor seems to elude me). 

These fluffy gray and yellow chicks have been going back and forth to work with me...

Here’s my simple answer to the controversial question of "people food": Personally, this veterinarian hates the issue because of the words involved. “People food” is a loaded term––one full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Nothing, that is, beyond a Madison Avenue-originated, hard-blowing wind kicked up to keep most of us from feeding our pets anything that doesn’t come in a bag or...

Keep a ferret? For many, a ferret is every bit as lovable and bond-worthy a pet as any cat or dog, despite the naysayers (who’ve obviously never met a well-raised ferret). How about a Cockatiel? I never knew a more lovable bird than my first male Cockatiel, “Sydney.”

Now enter the US government with its proposed stipulations on who can own what kind of animal. Its H.R. 669, the Nonnative...

Exhibit A: The Obama family has a new dog.

Exhibit B: The recession’s in full swing.

Exhibit C: Media sources say pets are expensive.

Ergo...

The new White House dog is a Presidential splurge...or so some say.

Can Obama expense Bo on his taxes, you think? Or should he declare him, as he was a gift, by next April 15th? Whaddaya think, Portuguese Water Dog...high quality...two, three grand?...

Sometimes things in veterinary medicine have a way of going wrong...very wrong. Want a sampling of human errors and stupid veterinarian tricks? Here’s a bunch for your amusement:

1-The blood bath

Ever seen your vet do this one? Take a large syringe designed to sample a full twelve cc’s of blood. After you’re almost done, pull just a little harder on the plunger...

OK so maybe I’m in a tiny minority on this issue. Nonetheless, I’m sure most of you still agree (especially in light of recent conversation here) that dogs and cats would be better off not procreating––regardless of the methodology applied to the problem before us.

Of course, that approach would have to be humane. It would have to be secure and irreversible. And it would have to be safe.

So why...

There’s been a lot of flak lately over the comments of a veterinary student at Oklahoma State’s vet school. Allegedly, the student passed along faulty information pertaining to the use of live animals in the surgery curriculum at the school...to one of the school’s heftier donors, leading her to rescind her offer for sizable financial support.

According to would-be donor, Madeleine Pickens,...

Today, Easter Sunday, you might be feeding your pets lots of fun stuff from the dinner table. If your pets are lucky, it’ll be the remnants of local lamb with organic veggies, hot-cross buns and a lemon tart (that’s my personal wish list, anyway). But keep your dogs away from the hot-cross buns with raisins, OK?

I bring up this issue on this holiday because last week’s Passover didn’t go over...

Ever played with a Peep––just for fun? Who hasn’t. After all, most people don’t share my enthusiasm for a delicate, sugar-coating crunch followed by a mouthful of sickly-sweet marshmallow smush. That’s why most adults opine that it’s better to look at ‘em than eat ‘em.

I mean, who can resist a Peep’s cute factor?

That’s why I’ve decided to take the Peep escapades to the next level....

I should have known this Hollywood version of the human-animal bond would come up lame.

On the cover of the DVD, a treacly Marley-as-a-pup pic spoke exactly to the kind of movie I was about to consume: one so heart-strummingly sanitized that even the puppy’s infantile “willy” was airbrushed out––apparently so as not to offend my delicate American sensibilities.

Things devolved from...

It’s a question that was raised recently after I posted on gas chamber “euthanasia” techniques. And it’s one I’ve received many private emails on. (So you know, the shy lurkers among you can always hit the ‘contact us’ button and get my direct line.)

Is it right for veterinarians to assist in euthanasias for “unwanted,” but otherwise healthy pets? 

My take is no. from my "lofty" position...

Ever wonder how a group of veterinarians arrives at a conclusion? Stressfully. 

Long story short: We had this argument. About fifteen of us went back and forth on the merits of a free spay/neuter event sponsored by a South Florida veterinary group, for which I serve as an officer.

We’d already done one event. (Here’s the post on its success.) Now we were talking about doing it four times...

Veterinary students are less willing to tackle the hardships of a career in veterinary medicine now that the economic forces on earning a buck off the backs of food animals are skewed against them. So says Marketplace, American Public Media's show known for its inclusion in the early morning and late afternoon NPR lineup. 

As all NPR junkies know, Marketplace rolls up all the economic news...

I’m being seriously spoiled this weekend. It’s my first three day weekend since Thanksgiving...and our fifth anniversary (shocking!). That’s why we’re celebrating it in style at a fancy resort in easy distance to some of the best kayaking in the Florida Keys.  From Miami, it’s not such a splurge. It’s the ideal weekend getaway for the harried.

Three days and three nights at Hawk’s Cay on...

There are so many great ways to bring on the “beautiful death” we know of as euthanasia. While it may sound harsh to revel in this fact, here it is: We vets give great death...usually. 

Not so according to six more states seeking to outlaw gas chamber euthanasia for unwanted animals in shelter settings. The method is not humane, they say. The animals suffer as they stressfully asphyxiate....

I write a weekly column for the Miami Herald. I’ve been doing it for two years with nary a glitch. Yesterday, however, I received word that Hartz took offense at a mention of their supermarket-brand, flea product line in one of my recent columns. They subsequently sent a cease and desist letter to the Herald asking for a retraction, an apology and an errata notice. Here’s the column for your...

Walking into work yesterday, April 1st, I heard the darnedest sound. I could have sworn my little hen, Elsita, was hacking up a hairball. 

Elsita’s been living in the hospital ever since she was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia. The three-times-a-day medication had meant of lot of scrapes and bruises once she got the hang of eluding me intelligently. In hospital things have gone so...

Sure, you can buy an iPhone because it looks cool to whip out your sleek black beauty in public, because it means all your iPod’s songs can live on your phone, too...or you can keep one for all the cool pet-related apps that come with it. 

IMO the main reason to invest in an iPhone has always been the apps. I’m a Mac user so it’s always held more of a romantic and practical appeal for me. But...