Subscriber Archive
Second in a series My first instruction, with Charley Garcia still on the phone, was NOT to remove the stick from her dog Ruby’s chest. Leaks can kill. That grotty elm branch, with its abundance of dirt, bark, and bacteria of many varieties, may have been keeping her alive. A projectile that has impaled a body, whether an arrow, spear, or part of a tree, can temporarily plug the holes it caused in blood vessels and lungs. We soon came to learn how important that was for Ruby. It was a mighty good thing Charley followed my advice. As soon as our train-chasing Doberman patient was stable and anesthetized, she was thoroughly prepped from her throat to her lower abdomen. I was trained to be objective and I wasn’t new to emergency medicine. I sucked in big breath. We wheeled her into surgery ASAP. My first responsibility was prioritizing Ruby’s…
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Young Mick’s BFF is Gaston, the white fuzzy guy. Despite the language barrier they often play well together. But this time, despite Mick’s entreaties, Gaston just said No!
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First in a series “Dr. Nichol, Charlie Garcia’s dog Ruby has a stick in her chest. What shall I tell her?” Martha Peterson, our composed client service specialist, had appeared quietly at my elbow. I could feel her presence before she spoke. Emergencies of all kinds seem more common just before closing time. We’d been busy that day with the usual vomiting, coughing, limping pets. I was just finishing a medical record, ready to head home. A stick in her chest? Maybe it was a small stick causing a minor wound but I had known Charlie Garcia for years. She and Ruby shared little in appearance but woman and dog had much in common. Some people become understandably anxious and prone to exaggeration, even hysteria, when their pets are sick. But Charlie and Ruby were calm regardless of the circumstance. I asked Martha to send them in ASAP. It was…
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Mick enjoys meeting other puppies and he’s doing it at the right time. Their developing canine brains, between ages 7-12 weeks, has them ready to be socialized with people and other dogs . The Aztec Animal Clinic has these weekly classes for vaccinated puppies so they can learn, during their essential sensitive period, that people and dogs are generally trustworthy. These kiddos have good fun too.
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Incarceration-No. Scavenging-Yes! According to our dogs, the great famine could strike anytime. They’re natural predators but, gee, how often can they snag a slow rat in time for dinner? Their fallback is to sniff out delicacies like moldering carrion. But don’t they trust us to deliver the groceries? They’re dogs first and pets second. They assume nothing. You would think that moving in with Diane and Richard would feel like dying and going to heaven for a street dog like Jasper but their human domicile stymied his attempts to self-actualize. This dog, in serious need of honest, canine-specific labor, was an anxious mess when left alone. Maybe if he worked to survive, much as he would in the wild, he could adapt. On most days Jasper’s folks could drop him off for play at doggy daycare. Party animal that he was, he had no problem fitting in with a…
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Young Mick is fitting into our family nicely. His toys are lucky to be just toys. With this wild Border collie channeling his inner predator, his whale and sheep would not survive long.
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Third in a series Don’t lock him up Bang, bang, ding, dong! Just as Diane walked into the house, finding more of Jasper’s daily carnage, somebody was outside! Fresh scratches on the door, pillows disemboweled, and a reeking fecal pile was no kind of welcome home, especially from this starving beagle they had rescued from the road side. Bang, bang. And who in @#%&* kept banging on the front door???!!! Wishing hard that her husband Richard would arrive – like now – Diane squared her shoulders, stepped over the poop, and opened the door. With chin out, hands on hips, and wearing an imperious glare was Nellie from next door. And she was mad as @#%&*! Diane had already endured a few of her tirades. Jasper’s continual daytime barking and howling had provoked threats of a visit from Animal Welfare. Something had to be done. Adding Jasper to their lives…
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Life should be so simple and joyful for all of us. We have named Mick because he ROCKS!
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Second in a series Diane and Richard called from the shoulder of I-40 right after Jasper, the roadside beagle, had a desperately needed drink and a snack. If you don’t carry dog food on a road trip a ham sammie from the cooler works just fine. I’d treated their aging miniature poodle for congestive heart failure. We stayed ahead of Mandy’s abnormal heart rhythms and the fluid in her lungs until her 16-year-old ticker just couldn’t sustain life. We had shared that sense of relief when treatment adjustments reduced her symptoms but I always had to remind them that more challenges lay ahead. You could see right through Diane’s denial as her special girl worsened. With tears in her eyes, and Richard’s too, she divulged her chronic depression. Medication and counseling had helped but she feared a slide into darkness when she could no longer hug little Mandy. And of…
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