In Vet school you learn a LOT about everything and get to see doctors handle many different medical scenarios. It was wonderful being around so much knowledge. Intelligence was a very important attribute as far as I was concerned. I wanted a puppy and I wanted a SMART one. My Grandmother had given me some money for my birthday….. I felt a puppy would be a good investment. Nothing but a Border Collie would satisfy me.  I went out to see some puppies and the breeder sent the “Puppy Daddy” out to work some sheep. Of course I was impressed, since I hadn’t seen a lot of dogs work in my life and his Dad was a Competition Trial dog.  I gave the man the money and took my new puppy home. That was the only ride that GUMBY ever took in the front seat, cradled in my hand. At that time he was small enough to run under my roommate, Dr. Dennis Geiser’s 300ZX without even ducking.

I spent A LOT of time with him. He was my release after a long day in clinics. I would sit in the floor and work with him, talk with him, play with him and teach him anything I could think of. His vocabulary was extensive. I worked with him to the point, that I could start saying the alphabet and somewhere in the middle I would give him a command. He could somehow pick those words out and understand what he was supposed to get; whether it was a Frisbee, rope, ball, etc. He was VERY focused on whatever I said, much like my human children are now {insert snide comment here______}. Even other people could tell him what to do and he would do it; of course if I was around he would look back at me to see if it was OK. I thought I was so cotton picking smart because I could train my dog to do almost anything. He would climb up on top of anything if I told him. I set aside an entire Sunday afternoon to teach him how to “kennel”, into the new pen that Dennis had fixed, but after 5 minutes he had it completely figured out. Maybe I didn’t deserve the credit after all. People would ask me; “why doesn’t Gumby bark?” and I would tell them, because I told him not to. Profound, don’t you think?  He is still the most intelligent dog I have ever been around and we were connected. One day he had gotten into something smelly and I simply said, "Gumby you stink", and he promptly went and sat in a corner. I had never told him that before and used no inflection in my voice that would make him think I was mad at him. He comprehended so much more than I thought a dog ever could. He got to go everywhere because he was so well behaved. Once we were at a friend's house and I noticed him helping himself to their dog's food bowl. I told him that it wasn't his. He didn't just stop eating it, he actually spit out what he had in his mouth!

As with most Border Collies, he went through his gawky stage. My classmates and professors harassed me unmercifully during his not so handsome period. He didn't LOOK very smart. He would travel with me whenever possible. He rode in the back of my Jeep Cherokee with his head hanging out. He was a drooler and the side of my Jeep was absolutely NASTY. On a trip for an Externship in Houston, he stood looking out for 9 hours, before ever lying down. Starting as a little puppy, I made him go to the bathroom before he could get in his Jeep. His command was “Hurry up.” Every time I told him that for the rest of his life he would go to the bathroom, or at least pretend.  When he was just a young pup, I took him to school on a Saturday while on Radiology Rotation. There were very few people in clinics that day, so I could let him cry it out and learn to stay in a cage by himself. Of course he wailed when left by himself, but sure enough after a relatively short time all was quiet. I was of course very proud of myself and my wonderful training ability. I decided to go get him later and I found out what had quieted him….. My Roommate had RESCUED him! Oh well, so much for my Trainer Ego.

Gumby was amazing and could outrun everything (except for one Whippet on one day). He was remarkable with a Frisbee, as long as he was by himself. If there were other dogs out chasing the Frisbee, his job changed from catcher to herder and he would simply outrun all of the other dogs to try to turn them back to me. The herding instinct was in him. He could run and run and run. The summer after graduation we spent a lot of time at the farm. Without any training, I could tell him to go get the cows and he would bring them. Of course, our Herefords were easy. They would run from the backside of the pasture if you honked or rattled a feed bucket, but Gumby felt an accomplishment by bringing them to the barn. My mare had a filly (named Pokey to go along with Gumby) who was a wonderful playmate. Gumby would stop running just long enough to go jump in the water trough to cool off, then back to his "job". His heart rate was below 40 and his thighs were bigger around than his waist. He was an athlete.

He & I practiced in Indiana for a while, and then moved to Las Vegas for about a year. At that time he was not neutered and he figured that out. One day someone came to our hospital and said he found my dog at a post office. Gumby had traveled across one of the top 5 busiest intersections in Vegas that day. The man that brought him in said that he told him to get in his car and he did, but he didn’t know what to tell him to get him out. I got him out and that night we stayed after work and he was no longer, not neutered! I wasn’t sure how he had gotten out, but later found out that he would jump on the wall at the back of my yard and tightrope around, sometimes hopping over into the neighbor dog’s yard to play. I took the picture below, the day I caught him in the act.

After moving back home to Dyersburg, I became known more as Gumby’s owner than Dr. White. I was used to that, since I grew up being Nancy, Marion & Sally’s brother or PH & Polly’s son. He would go with me to different classrooms or scout camps to show off his skills. If I couldn’t make it, someone else could take him and he would do whatever they said. After these outings, the kids would crowd around him, and he was always willing (maybe not so eager) to allow them to pet and pet and pull and rub and pet all over him. He later taught Sydney to do the same thing. 

He didn't like Sydney when she first arrived on the scene. His life was pretty good and he didn't see the need to have some cute little blonde Golden Retriever hanging around. He SAID that she fell out of the convertible that day, but I'm not so sure he didn't push her. As usually happens, they became inseparable....into the SUV every morning to work, somewhere at noon, then back home after work. As many dogs do, they knew what time everything was going to happen.

I was getting ready for a seminar in Knoxville and was petting on Gumby when I felt a swelling in his abdomen. He hadn't been sick, no weight loss, normal appetite, not painful, I was leaving later that day, I was imagining things, Gumby can't have a problem, he was only 10, it wouldn't be there when I got back; I was going to will it away. Those few days of separation were tough. Of course when I got home, it was still there. I went in surgically to explore. I can’t imagine putting anyone else in the position of doing surgery on Gumby, and I had never seen my hand shake like that. I found a 4 inch mass on his spleen that I knew was cancerous and there was little doubt that it had already seeded to other places in his abdomen. I removed the spleen and would hope for the best. The pathology report said it was a poorly-differentiated Hemangiosarcoma………. A bad diagnosis. I did a lot of researching, thinking, praying, hugging….oh yeah, I bought him a truck. He always wanted a truck.

He went down fairly rapidly, but he did enjoy his rides. After he was gone, I took his body to the farm and buried him where the cows would walk near him every day. Gumby loved the farm.



 

Probably not. Several years ago we started hearing some rumblings at conferences and seminars about duration of immunity from some vaccines. Some of the vaccine manufacturers finally had proof that their vaccines lasted 2 or more years, so I started paying attention. I had been using a 3 year Rabies vaccine since I opened in 1989 , although at that time, the State of Tennessee didn’t recognize it lasting that long. I used it because it could be given under the skin vs. in the muscle, it was very non-reactive and it came in single dose vials instead of using the same bottle for 10 different patients. I just had to give it every year for my patients to be legal.

When we talk about the longer duration vaccines, we are talking mainly of the “Core” diseases. Besides Rabies, these include Distemper, Parvovirus and Adenovirus for dogs & for cats they are Herpes, Calici and Panleukopenia viruses. There are of course other diseases, but they aren’t included in the “Core” vaccines.

The first company that came out with proof and a label for 3 year duration was one called Intervet. I did my research and decided that it was better medicine. I did realize that this was NOT a good business move. Our philosophy is to offer to treat each patient like we would treat our own, and I wasn’t going to vaccinate my own dog or cat for every disease every year. We don’t want to under-vaccinate, but we don’t want to over-vaccinate either. Now I’m not talking about the series of vaccines that are given to puppies and kittens. Those need to be given in a series to override the immunity they got from their mother. We can talk about those at another time. When Parvovirus first came on the scene several decades ago, there were veterinarians that vaccinated every 6 months for a while, and that may have been warranted. Some even gave a feline vaccine for Panleukopenia (similar to Parvo) to try to boost their patients immunity, before a commercial vaccine became available for dogs.

Aren’t vaccines safe? Of course they are, but no drug is completely innocuous.  Every once in a while, we see a vaccine reaction and the pet will get hives and swell. Sometimes a Beagle can look more like a Shar Pei. There are many experts that believe that some of the Auto-immune diseases, like Hemolytic Anemia can be triggered when the immune system is stimulated. We saw a cat that was over 17 years old that went to a Veterinary Hospital and received every vaccine available, even though it never went outside. That cat almost died. When something upset the delicate balance of this geriatric cat, things got bad. Was it the vaccines? Or was it that this patient was well compensated even though it had some underlying problems that surfaced after some stress...

There are some pets that are exposed to more things and the “Core” vaccines may not cover them. For instance, if your cat goes outside, then we advise giving Feline Leukemia. This vaccine now has a duration of 2 years after the initial series. Chlamydia virus is included in some cat vaccines.  If your dog is boarded or goes to training, he will need the Kennel Cough vaccine which includes Bordetella and Parainfluenza. If your dogs hunt, work livestock or simply wander into wildlife areas, then Leptospirosis is given. At this time, these two vaccines are only good for 1 year. FIV and FIP in cats are controversial vaccines and we don’t currently advise them. Lyme disease in dogs in this area is up for discussion. Some give it to everything whether they ever go outside or not, and some don’t give it to anything. Canine Influenza is probably not in this area and the Rattlesnake Vaccine, may have improved, but it isn’t used much around here.

We started using the 3 year vaccines in 2007 and LOVE it. Instead of focusing on shots, we can do our yearly exam and focus on the patient. It is very common to see a patient for its yearly checkup and not have to give any vaccines. Every patient that comes in is different, whether its age, size, exposure, job, household, diet, personality, etc. etc. etc…. It makes it difficult on our receptionists, since they aren’t sure which vaccines the doctors will give to a particular patient. I take pride in the fact that we are not an assembly line practice. If a veterinarian is still giving every vaccine to every patient, many feel that is malpractice. The only two reasons I can think of to vaccinate every pet with everything every year are ignorance or financial gain. It’s just bad medicine.

The information that is filled out before a Yearly Exam or Vaccine Review is used to determine which vaccines might be warranted. We also want to know what else is going on with your pet, so that we can do the best job we can improving or maintaining good health. We are very particular about our vaccines. We only purchase from manufacturers that we believe in and if the order isn’t received the day after they are ordered, we send them back. These vaccines can be inactivated if they aren’t stored properly or stay on a truck or a loading dock too long. If we notice that a vaccine is causing lumps or reactions, we look into it and decide if the vaccine is right for our patients.

I can’t figure out why in the heck people take their pets to a Rabies Clinic to supposedly save money. You have to go every year and pay for the injection and the license fee. With a 3 year Rabies vaccine you only pay for the injection once and after that you only pay the fee for the license for the next 2 years…………….and you don’t have to stand in line. The physical exam is the most important part of a visit to the vet.

Having a Doctor-Patient relationship is very important to the health of your pet. Ask your veterinarian questions about what vaccines they recommend… or maybe what vaccines their pet would be getting. The way I explain it to my staff is that, “the more the client knows, the better care they will take of their pets”.  I have also said several times that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially if it comes from the internet”.  Let us know if there is a particular subject you would like for us to cover in our BLOG……...(I forgot; this BLOG is on the internet isn’t it?)

Everybody needs at least one good dog in their life,
and so far I have had 4. Sydney was a Golden Retriever that I actually shopped for and “found” in Toone Tennessee. I talked to the breeder and described what I wanted over the phone and she felt she had exactly what I wanted. Even though I was a Veterinarian she wanted references before she would sell me the puppy……….  she actually checked my references. Fortunately Paula Hooper, a local groomer and Bulldog breeder, vouched for me and I was able to get her. Her parents were involved in Obedience Competitions, so I hoped that she would have some intelligence. She lived with both of my Border Collies at the beginning and then the end of her life. She was a soul mate to both.

She was a smaller Golden and very, very Blonde; in more ways than just hair color. She walked with an
attitude and the swing in her hips & tail were distinctive. Like most Goldens, she was extremely sweet. She was very easy to train, but I attribute most of that to being brought up by a Border Collie (Gumby) who taught her the ropes. Sure, she chewed up a few chair legs, but I’ll take the blame for that. I later bred her and she had a litter of 8. As those puppies grew up and found homes, I was a bit frustrated that some of the new parents weren’t taking care of them like I wanted. Some others did and one of the puppies ended up having a few litters and I was always happy to see her Grandchildren come in to see us at
Animal Care Hospital. I decided to breed her again to a great looking male with a wonderful personality. After the breeding, she had an accident in the house which was very unlike her. It was easy for me to diagnose what was going on. She had the classic symptoms of Pyometra. She had a recent heat cycle and she started drinking lots of water, which is why she couldn’t hold her urine. (Pyometra is an accumulation of pus in the uterus.) It is more of a hormonal problem than an infection and the treatment of choice is to spay her. The option of medical treatment is available and allows you to breed them, but it’s a bit harder on them…….. Easy decision to make for me, I spayed her. If we were in the big city, I would say that she had an Ovariohysterectomy.

She was great to have for my kids (Finley & Claire). Every family needs a “growing up dog.” I tell my clients that a Golden will let a child drag them around the house by the tail, just because they crave the attention. She learned to go to different school classrooms by going with her roommate Gumby. She was not much of a performer, but she would let any number of kids crawl all over her. Later she taught my dog Tucker how to act. By the way, she was NOT happy about Tucker being brought into the house. She was getting on in years and was very comfortable in her truck and in my house all by herself. Apparently she didn’t remember how she was shunned by Gumby when she showed up at the house, in his opinion uninvited. Things did change, as they usually do, and she and Tucker were inseparable. They each had their spot in the truck and very rarely were out of their “Assigned” area. She actually got healthier after she got a roommate, since she got more exercise and lost some weight.

Every morning, when we got to the hospital, she would go find a technician to remind them to give her the chewable Rimadyl, Joint Supplements and chewable Thyroid supplement……….and whatever else she could talk them into. As she got older, she stopped going upstairs and had to be helped into the truck. She still wanted to go to work every day. She loved being around people, and the hospital was a happening place with lots of activity.

As time went on, she had more and more trouble getting around, but she never lost her SWING. As happens with lots of older dogs, her joints and lower back got the best of her. We kept her propped up with
medications and she opted several times to let Tucker and me go alone. At the age of 15 & ½, I decided that she was not happy being here. It was one of those tough decisions that many of my clients face. Dealing with her last months made me a Veterinarian that is now better able to counsel my clients through
some of their most difficult times. Her favorite place was at the Hospital front desk, where she could visit EVERYONE and get them to pet her and tell her how wonderful she was. Her ashes are now buried within the slab in our new hospital right under our reception desk.

 

Dentistry is still evolving in Veterinary Medicine. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough exposure in Vet School. We could diagnose a retained baby tooth,  an Upper 4th Premolar abscess and we were just learning about cervical line lesions in cats, but we didn’t have the specialists in the school to teach us as much as we needed. When I practiced in Las Vegas, our hospital would fly Dr. Peter Emily, DDS from Colorado to do special dental procedures on our patients. He was a human Dentist that was one of the pioneers in Veterinary Dentistry. He was actually Board Certified by the Veterinary Boards.

We are still learning by going to seminars and meetings as well as spending time with Dr. Greenfield in Memphis, whose practice is dedicated to Dentistry. His practice is where we refer the cases that are above and beyond our ability and instrumentation. His website is www.yourpetdentist.com.

When I opened in 1989, I purchased a state of the art Dental Unit to enable me to do as good of a job as possible for my patients. We use an ultrasonic scaler to remove the tartar and a polisher to smooth the enamel to try to keep the plaque from coming back so soon. If we saw a tooth that was loose or looked infected we pulled it. We simply evaluated the best we could by our exam of each tooth while under anesthesia.

We now have a Digital Dental X-ray that helps us to evaluate each and every tooth and its root. Since our patients can’t tell us if a tooth is bothering them, these X-rays are an indispensable tool in determining that. It helps us to evaluate bone loss, pockets around root tips, abscesses and teeth fractured below the gum line. We feel that it is so important, we do a full mouth X-ray of every patient that is in for a dental cleaning. Doing a dental cleaning without anesthesia is doing a disservice to patients. The teeth much be cleaned under the gumline both inside and out, and that is impossible on an awake patient. Thoroughly examining each tooth can seldom be accomplished on an awake dog or cat, and I have yet to see one that is willing to hold my $3000 Digital X-ray sensor in their mouth without chewing the cord in two.

We continue to learn more about Dentistry every day, and we are very happy that we have the opportunity to help our patients more than we were able to in the past. We promise that we will continue to strive to improve and practice the best medicine and surgery for our patients.

OK…. What can you do to keep your pets’ teeth in better shape? I tell my clients that every little bit helps. Look at the products available to see what might work for you. The best thing to do is to brush the teeth with pet specific products that taste good and won't foam. I do understand that every pet and every owner won’t get this done. Some of the products are simply for the breath and don’t do much for decreasing Plaque, Tartar, Gingivitis, etc. There are foods formulated to help with  teeth, such as Hill's T/D and for those dogs who like to chew, there are numerous products available. Try the rawhides that are impregnated with enzymes to help keep the teeth healthier.

When you smell that bad breath, the odor is coming from Bacteria. This bacteria can be on the teeth, at the gum line, in the bone, as well as the tooth roots. Antibiotics often improve the odor, but this is going to be temporary until the underlying problem is addressed. Some of your pets are going to need a Dental Cleaning as often as every 6 months, but the more you are able to do at home, the less frequently we will have to clean the teeth.

Everybody needs at least one good dog in their life. I have been fortunate enough to have 4 that were very special. I am writing a series on Tucker, Sydney, Gumby & Cricket. I certainly hope that I can add more to the list, but if not I still consider myself extremely blessed. Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of my “Dogs Life” with you.

 

   

Those of you who are recent to the Animal Care Hospital scene may know only of Tucker. He was a Border Collie that I found living under a Track hoe in Lenox. I saw him one day as he slinked out to see who was driving by his accommodations.  I told him if he was still there the next day, I would take him home. I checked with the only 2 houses in the area and nobody knew anything about him…. So I took him to work.

He just lay around the treatment room and seemed very comfortable.  Actually, at the time, we thought he was just tired…..which is why “Tucker” won the name game competition. My Golden Retriever, Sydney, was not happy to see a 5 month old puppy enter her life.  At the time she was 9 and slowing down some, but they eventually connected and the increased activity got her in better shape and helped her live longer.

Sydney really enjoyed the back of the truck and had been taught to ride back there by my first Border Collie, Gumby. I felt that Tucker would love it, so I took him to the farm for “Truck Practice”. He LOVED it! He only jumped out once, when he saw some deer in the pasture and I thought I might never see him again. He was fast. From then on his spot was in the truck. I’m not sure if he liked me or my truck more. He would always ride on the back right hand side……….unless it started raining, then he would jump thru the back sliding window into his back seat. He was very seldom, not with me (or my truck). He was a Border Collie, but would have never made a Stock dog. Cows made him nervous if he was in the pasture, unless of course he was in his truck.

Tucker was fixture at Animal Care Hospital for many years. I’m embarrassed to say that he was prejudiced.  He liked most other Border Collies and a few others that would come in the hospital. If he heard a familiar voice he would leave my office to go up front to say hello. The majority of dogs he would ignore and he almost NEVER liked puppies. He did have an affinity for kittens. Tucker was intrigued by the birthing process and would wander into the treatment area whenever we had a C-Section occur. He would go up to check a new puppy out and promptly throw up.  People on the other hand, he liked. He learned his social skills from the master….. Sydney. He went to numerous class rooms to visit, sometimes with Sydney, sometimes alone. He was tolerant of 20+ kids crawling all over him.

My wife Amy & I were scheduled to go to a seminar when I noticed that Tucker didn’t seem right. I did some testing and took some chest X-rays and found a chest full of fluid. I drained the fluid off to alleviate some problems and hopefully get a diagnosis. I’ll admit that I was very nervous about leaving him. Not because he wouldn’t get the care he needed, but the stress that my employees would be under taking care of the boss’s dog. He did fine and we would periodically draw fluid off of his chest. I took him to a Specialist in Memphis for additional testing, but even after all that we did, I never got a specific diagnosis.  Yes it was cancer, but not in a place that would do well surgically or be cured with medication. 

I made the final decision about 4 months after his problems started, to make sure he didn’t have to go through anymore. I have talked and counseled people numerous times about making that final decision and when the time is right. I always talk about sometimes being lucky enough to have a defining moment, when we’ll know. It doesn’t always happen. My defining moment for Tucker was when he didn’t want to go with me when I left for lunch, (He always knew what time it was) and he didn’t ride on his side of the truck. I knew him well and felt he was ready to go. He was one of my fantastic dogs that I was able to spend time with for well over 13 years.

 

There are actually a lot of things that your pregnant wife can’t or won’t do. There may be some validity to this one though.   There is an organism called Toxoplasma gondii that is transmitted by cats. If the woman gets infected by this, for the first time, during her pregnancy there is a chance that her baby can have problems later in life. These problems can be mild or severe and are usually associated with Neurological problems and vision.  The likelihood of passing this to the unborn child is more common in the 3rd trimester, but can occur during all three.   If the woman was infected earlier in her life, there will be minimal threat to her child. Most all infections go undiagnosed, since the signs of aches, malaise, fever and enlarged lymph nodes are very vague.

 

Why do cats get the bad rap?  This is most often spread by outdoor cats since the life cycle involves the cat eating raw meat… whether they caught it or found it in the garbage.  The oocysts shed in the feces don’t become active for at least a day, but probably longer. 

Take Home Message for you pregnant ladies out there:

                Don’t dig in the garden while pregnant or at least use gloves and wash your hands.

                Don’t eat fruits or vegetables without washing or peeling.

                Don’t eat undercooked meat.

                Don’t feed your cat undercooked meat.

                Clean your litter box daily (OK… get someone else to clean the litter box daily)

                Wash your hands often, especially after exposure to a cat or its litter.

 

Indoor cats are very unlikely to be shedding the organism.

Taking you cat to the Vet to be tested sounds like a good idea, but the oocysts are shed intermittently and the blood tests are not exact in telling us if the infection is active or a previous problem.
 

Don’t get rid of your Cats!!


 

I've been a Veterinarian since 1986 and opened the Animal Care Hospital in 1989. My desire is to take care of pets. I have learned that there are several things that can hinder my ability. These include finances, logistics, time, ability, to name a few.  The more my clients know about their pets and the medical problems that they are having, the better chance the pet has to get better. One of my goals is to attempt to educate my clients about certain conditions or procedures.

I also want to relay some things about me and our hospital that may not be medical or surgical. Like a lot of you, I have been connected to animals since I was very young. I can't imagine being in a family without pets. If you have ideas or suggestions about my Blogs, please let me know.