Journal #2

What better time to write a journal than while watching Lord of the Rings and managing fantasy football teams? Veterinary medicine has developed some new products that have significantly changed their lives, and I am excited to talk about it. We also have some changes at home involving all of our animals.

First, we have two new kittens! We tried adopting eight from a hoarding case and were successful with 6 of them. However, Ed and Jephf are here to stay, bringing our total to 5 cats. We have officially started a farm: T&A Family Farms LLC! My wife is raising Silkies, Ameraucanas, Rainbow eggers, Polish, and frizzled Cochin chickens, and English Lop rabbits. Soon, we will add Flemish Giants, goats, and our Livestock Guardian Dog, which will be born on Christmas day, to the crew. I am also getting involved in beekeeping and will be able to provide it as a veterinary service soon.

In veterinary medicine, everything comes in waves. Last month, we had several emergency pyometra surgeries in cats and dogs and one death caused by a pyometra. The surgeries are costly and potentially fatal. Please spay your pets before their first heat cycle.

Almost every veterinarian I have talked to has been excited about the new arthritis medication. Librella from Zoetis (again, not sponsored) is a once-a-month injection that helps with osteoarthritis in dogs, similar to Solencia for cats. We have been giving the Librella injections to our boxer/husky mix, who is acting like a puppy again. This medication has dramatically improved the quality of life for many pets, and if you are dealing with arthritis in your dog or cat, talk to your vet about one of these new products.

We hope everyone has a fantastic holiday. Please give all of your animals a boop from us. I also hope everyone is still enjoying the blogs, and I hope to make some updates to make the website more interactive. I just have to figure out how first.

A Day in the Life: Stevie

Several days ago, my third anniversary of becoming a doctor came and went. I have worked for two veterinary corporations and have been a relief vet at five different clinics in those three years. I bought a house, acquired a few (too many) animals, and have tried to justify my decision to go to college vs. choose a career in the game of life. Throughout my professional career, one thing has remained consistent. I attract chaos. It's not that I pick the complex cases on purpose or that when I follow hoofprints, they manage to lead to zebras; it just happens. Welcome to my chaos. My goal in these journals is to give you insight into cases while giving you a glimpse into life as a veterinarian.

Stevie Wonder (not her name at presentation, but we'll get there) was an unknown age, female intact domestic short hair (DSH). Was presented for euthanasia:

Euthanasia for the last appointment on a Saturday is not ideal for going into the weekend. Going into a euthanasia appointment is complicated. What condition will the patient be in, what state of mind is the owner in, and what is the worst possible scenario? It requires a lot of improvisation and control. In this case, it was a four-week-old kitten on the table with an understandably upset owner. The kitten was playing on the table but was missing an eye, and the other eye bulged out and looked incredibly painful. The kitten was dropped off at the owner's house, and the owner was unable to afford any treatment and therefore was forced to euthanize. Treatment would likely involve surgery to remove any remaining glandular tissue and antibiotics, antiviral medications, and pain medications. Many cats have feline herpes virus, which when the cat becomes stressed or immunocompromised, like this kitten, infections may occur. This kitten likely had a secondary infection in the eyes, causing them to rupture.

For the first time in my career, I offered relinquishment to the clinic. That is the story of why I have a clear dome backpack sitting in my house so that my girlfriend can take our foster, Stevie, for walks. “The kitten is blind, dear, and it doesn't need to see the outside world. It has no eyes.” Steve seems to appreciate the gesture anyway, and it keeps the girlfriend happy, so blind Stevie gets to go for walks and trips to work. Stevie gets medications daily and will need surgery once she is big enough. So, never say vet staff turns a blind eye on patients in need.

Yes, I wrote an entire article to get that pun in there.

You're welcome.

Life Outside the Clinic: Fostering, Farming, and Knee Surgery

When starting my blog, my goal was to inform readers about various topics in veterinary medicine with an emotional connection rather than just numbers and statistics. After a year, I’ve recognized how difficult it is to come up with a topic each month while connecting on a personal level. So, I will start trying to make more frequent but slightly less medicine-related journals because life outside of veterinary medicine is also chaotic. So Journal #1.

Stevie Update

First, by popular demand (primarily by my wife) and an update on Stevie, our blind kitten. We have been “fostering” Stevie for a year now, and she has fit into the household perfectly. Around every corner, there is a chance of being pounced on…but wildly inaccurately. But the thought that she came close to attacking a leg is enough for her, and she runs off to plot her next assassination attempt. She has killed more mice than our other two cats, lazy freeloaders. 

Stevie: Blind, fearless, and plotting her next ankle attack

T&A Family Farms

Second, my wife and I are starting a new adventure by starting our farm, and T&A Family Farms will be coming soon. That means my wife has gone crazy with chicken egg hatching, and on top of our 19 chickens, we now have a metric ton of chicks. I’m excited to start raising quail and ducks, a couple of beehives, and get back into maple syrup making. 

The incubators at T&A Family Farms

Injury Report

Third, as mentioned in the Cost of Veterinary Medicine blog, I tore my ACL and will have surgery in June. In the meantime, I will be fly fishing and building chicken coops!

Last, I look forward to attending a conference to learn (ironically) CCL repair in dogs called the MRIT procedure. I’ll also learn about patellar luxation, limb amputation, and epidural blocks. 

Feel free to comment about how you feel about journal entries vs. topic-based blog posts or case blog posts!