FEATURED POSTS:
Best in Show: The Latest Crop
I’ve noticed a shift in the last decade when it comes to vets’ attitudes towards speaking out in public about potentially controversial subjects. It’s a minefield out there on social media and media in general and we Gen X types were always told never to give an opinion that could alienate (offend/ piss off) a client, no matter how much it was in the best interests of pets and animals in general. I mean,…
It’s Chriiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaas!!
It’s that most blunderful time of the year once again….the crazy lead up to the Silly Season when suddenly every client’s call ins are urgent, everything needs to be seen right away despite the already overbooked surgery and we are all running like headless chicklets trying to get it all done because many of us too have holiday plans and would also rather be doing things other than working, hard as that might be…
Classic Horror Movie Remakes by Vets: THE VIOLENCE OF THE FANGS
What greater cause of fear and dread can those of the veterinary persuasion encounter than a visit from Serial Shredder, Hannibal the murderous Bengal cat? There will inevitably be a couple of these types on every clinic’s patient list that’ll need the cat muzzle, total towel wrap AND leather gauntlets just to be placed on the exam table without putting a member of the team, or possibly their own owner in hospital! (Yes, I…
Classic Horror Movie Remakes by Vets: LUMPENSTEIN
It all started off so well. Frank the 7 year old Boxer was booked in for a supposedly straight-forward lump removal. You performed the fine needle biopsy when he was last in and it was clearly a benign lipoma. You’ve booked in another 3 surgeries expecting this one to be the quick and easy one…… Only Frank and his owner, Igor, have other plans for your morning, haven’t they? Igor has discovered a further…
Classic Horror Movie Remakes by Vets: THE CONE
The Cone. The lampshade, the Elizabethan collar, the Buster collar, the Cone of SHAME…. That vital piece of equipment in the veterinary toolkit that does actually save lives, although more often it saves patients from multiple repeat anaesthetics to restitch chewed wounds, and overlicked skin allowing us to skimp on the post op anti-biotics needed in case Foofikins decides to sit and lick that sucker 23 and three quarter hours a day. Yet, this…
Classic Horror Movie Remakes by Vets: THE BITING
This is the first in my veterinary HORROR SERIES in the lead up to Halloween. Those things that fill us all with an icy dread, tachycardia and neck hair piloerection. And what better subject to start it off than that PTSD-inducing visit from Ronnie the Rottie without a muzzle? Ronnie generally comes accompanied by the insipid owner who thoroughly regrets the day they thought a Rottweiler pup would be a great idea, having only…
What Do We Really DO All Day?
Every vet who has performed surgery at least for a few years will probably have had this scenario happen: You’ve admitted a patient for an important, often life-saving procedure, gone to great lengths to explain all the intricacies, risk and challenges of what is going to happen to their beloved animal once under anaesthesia and yet there is always that client who seems far more fixated on whether or not you are going to…
The Latest from Tailer Snift
The Life of a Showdog Album FEATURED TRACKS: Apologies if this post does not make sense …you are obviously neither a Swifty nor a Snifty. For reference, check out: http://www.taylorswift.com IYKYK , right? Subscribe to get my next blog post emailed straight to you! I’m a working vet, so it’s not like it will be an endless stream of Clogs clogging up your inbox…it comes when it comes! 😀
We’re ONLY in it for the MONEY
Now we all know how, with the arrival of the internet and social media, all sorts of misinformation, conspiracy theories and utter bizarre nonsense is allowed to run rife and unchecked and is leading to, in my lil’ old opinion, the vast majority of the world’s social problems at this point. Not least of these is all the doubt being cast upon science, especially medical science and the scientists and practitioners themselves. So in…
Nasty or Nice?
It’s often hard to explain to people who don’t work in jobs involving facing a constant stream of members of the public, exactly how challenging it is to provide services, advice, help and support day in and day out. As much as we think we are ready for it when we embark on our journey to become vets and finally emerge from university rearing to go out and save thousands of lives like scrub-clad…
A Heavy Subject
Ah yes, here we go: one of the biggest challenges facing us vets is the problem of the abundance of high quality, high nutrient food fed by indulgent owners with gay abandon. (yes, I’m old enough to still be using terms like this and if you don’t understand, ask your AI assistant to explain.) Just like with people, one of our biggest challenges in first world veterinary is obesity. Is it all these big…
About those Testy Testicles
. To chop or not to chop? That is the question! Should we whip off every male dog’s gonads willy nilly ASAP no matter what? Is the problem of unwanted puppies first and foremost what we should think about? Is this just a logical black and white argument, or are there some grey and grizzled areas to examine? The answer my friends, seems to depend a lot upon where you live. This is indeed…
The Thing about Scaredy Cats at the Vet
Now if you are a vet who sees at least a few cats in your practice, there`s one scenario you will come across on constant repeat. It’s such a common exchange in the consult room that, when I spot a nervous kitty, I sometimes catch myself doing a “5…4…3…2…1…” in my head and…… cue client! Off they go, expressing surprise and shock at the behaviour of their very own cat who has some extraordinarily…