Subscriber Archive
Peacocks on St. John island are somewhat leery of people, well, those of us with a pulse anyway. Folks in this gorgeous Caribbean land of manana bury their departed above ground. None of the colorful wild creatures think this is unusual.
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Not your Typical Two Step Question: I have a male ginger cat, 9 years old, named Will. For the last 2-3 years he has had to have his anal glands expressed due to boot scooting and licking of the area. In the last year I have had his anal glands infused with antibiotics twice. After this last infusion he did receive relief but it seems to be for a very short time as he is already starting to boot scoot. Should Will have his glands removed? Dr. Nichol: A long, long time ago, as a much younger veterinarian, I took country and western dancing lessons. I don’t know what got into me. The instructor demonstrated a move called the boot scoot. Call me crazy but if your cat’s fashion choices have been trending toward big hats and belt buckles you may have your answer. On the other hand, if Will…
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Question: I have an adorable rescue named Quinn who does not like other dogs. He is good with people but he wants to attack every dog he sees. I put a basket muzzle on him when I walk him. Dr. Nichol: Other leashed creatures and their people don’t think Quinn is adorable. His basket muzzle prevents injury but invokes images of Hannibal Lecter. Somehow this makes folks nervous. It doesn’t have to be this way. Leashes are necessary but they often create trouble. The motivator for Quinn’s antisocial behavior is his frustration with that @#%&* tether! A rapid escalation of subtle signaling between him and other dogs he sees culminates in his aggressive lunging, barking, and cussing. It’s embarrassing and it’s a workout. The easy-to-miss glares, taunts, and sneers go both ways. Some dogs ignore the posturing but an easily frightened pupster like Quinn would really like to beat it…
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Last in a series Acute hearing is among most cat’s best methods of detecting movement of nearby prey but not for fuzzy Mr. Lancaster. Like the majority of blue-eyed white kitties, he was genetically as deaf as a post. Despite this handicap he was an inspiration to all of us. We could have changed his name to “Mouse B. Gone.” Sadly, he was less adept at collaring thieves. After 3 years as an associate veterinarian I realized a life goal of owning my own practice. I’d saved and invested heavily; providing good medicine requires serious equipment purchases. I was an intense young man. Now, I am no less intense but I am less young. Slow days were difficult in those early months. When I arrived one morning, Mr. Lancaster was the only creature stirring but he had not spent the night alone. The front door had been forced open. Instruments…
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“Bizzi” panicked with any handling – especially her paws. Her nails could only be trimmed under anesthesia. She got lucky when she was adopted by a credentialed dog trainer who knew how to gently teach her to file her own toenails. Never triggering fear by leaning over this good little dog, her new person encouraged her to dig in soft dirt. She then used treats to lure the kid to run up and down a ramp. That’s when she added a nail scratch board, reinforcing this happy camper with a tasty snack every time she scratched her nails on it. Bizzi’s nail trims don’t cause her to panic anymore, they make her mouth water.
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Fourth in a series Mr. Lancaster Sr. was tall, lean, and spry, I’d guess about 80 years old. He was a quiet, likable man who typeset and printed our medical forms. Friendly chit chat revealed that he lived quietly with his daughter. There weren’t many veterinarians in Albuquerque in the late ’70s; everybody knew everybody. Of course, that made gossip a hot commodity. When Dr. Mike Adams encountered me at a continuing education conference he could hardly contain his excitement. Clearly feeling the power of knowledge he dropped the bomb that Mr. Lancaster was a convicted counterfeiter who’d been released from federal prison only 3 years earlier. The old timer’s history did not diminish our esteem for him. He’d gotten himself on the wrong side of the law and he’d paid the price. Mr. Lancaster Jr. – our new cat –, on the other hand, was a horse of a…
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OMG! Yell, swat, yell some more? Samantha, a sweet basset hound, was the highest-ranking dog in her home but she was not a stable leader. Her pushy, overbearing behavior toward her subordinates was caused by her anxiety not some desire to drive her people crazy. She often lost her impulse control and lashed out aggressively at her canine housemates. Safe antianxiety medication reduced this hound dog’s anxiety, her impulsiveness, and her aggression. Applying frosted window film to the lower portions of the front windows (available at home improvement stores) helped a lot by preventing Samantha and the other dogs from seeing those outside scary monsters.
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Third in a series Young Mr. Lancaster was a kitten whose behavior was sometimes, as they say in learning theory, undesirable. He did turn out to be a pretty good cat, hanging out at the reception desk, accepting attention from our clients. On the flip side, even at 6 months he was a wild animal masquerading as a cuddly pet. We love our kitties like little people in furry suits but they are stalkers, slayers, and devourers of helpless creatures. Even in our compassionate veterinary clinic there had to be somebody who needed killing. One fine summer day a couple arrived with a Pekin white duckling with a fractured leg. In their futile attempts to avoid veterinary bills they had fashioned a homemade splint that failed miserably. The little guy’s mother and siblings, crowded in a muddy pen, had stepped on him, sat on him, and pushed him away from…
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Does this first photo scare you? Pepper not only bared her teeth but lunged and sometimes bit her people when they reached for her on the couch or approached her when she had a toy. She had her reasons. Like many small dogs she was easily startled and became defensive-aggressive when a much bigger creature loomed over her. She also suffered from joint pain. Nobody gave up on Pepper. Her people learned to lure her for hugs and cuddling rather than inadvertently triggering her reactive fear. We also reduced her anxiety with safe medication. Antiinflammatory and pain meds helped too. No side effects. The result was a happier dog who still occasionally reacts and shows her teeth but she never tries to bite anymore. A better life for everybody.
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