The Mobile Veterinarian

The purrito kitty, also know as the taco cat or burrito kitty, is a beautiful thing! This swaddling technique has really made a huge difference for my nervous or fractious kitties. They calm down and I can get their full physical exam, blood work, and any other necessary diagnostics done safely. I strive for fear free, relaxed visits. After all, that's a huge reason for the house call visit. Well, that and a lot of people really just don't know how to put a cat into a carrier!

Here's Loki the Maine Coon, presiding over his Harry Potter bobble heads. He is usually really laid back when I'm visiting, but this day he was so wound up! He was super playful while I was acupuncturing his doggie brother. Loki finally hopped up on the counter and plunked down for this photo op. I was afraid he was going to grab Luna as a treasure and bolt!

Do you have a Jedi Master pet at home? Ron is desperately snuggling into my son to achieve his food goal of sneaking a chip. Did he get one? I'm betting yessss! As a veterinarian, I actually have no problem with appropriate table food handouts to pets. Dogs were domesticated around our cooking fires and ate our leftovers. Now I'd never recommend grapes, raisins, chocolate, onions, beer or wine for them, but there's no harm in some veggies, trimmed meat or bread. My other role of thumb is that if I wouldn't eat it, I certainly wouldn't give it to my pet. Super fatty handouts can cause pancreatitis, so that's a no-give for me. Food therapy can be a powerful thing and top dressing your pets' commercial dog food can really make a difference in their health. Food therapy and handouts for the win (and because, well, it's adorable to see Ron snuggled up like this!).

This happy-go-lucky Labradoodle is on his fourth home and he's only a year old! He has bounced around because his previous owners didn't bother to research his "breed". He is a mixed breed of a Labrador Retriever and a Standard Poodle. Both are high energy gun dogs (hunting breeds) that require training and exercise. They are highly intelligent and need tasks to stay happy. Lucky for this guy, he's in a new loving home that understands his needs and will take care of him. Lucky for me I get to be his forever Veterinarian. Now all we need is a new name to fit his awesome, loving, bouncy personality! Suggestions welcome!

This paw belongs to a senior cat who presented for his routine annual exam. His dad is fabulous with him, but never saw this ingrown toenail. Poor cat was tap dancing! I quickly clipped all his nails and pulled this one out if his paw pad. Don't worry, it'll heal up just fine. And we'll keep an extra eye on his pedicure lengths from here in out. This is actually quite a common condition in senior cats and is easily fixable.

My son's storm trooper doesn't know if he should shoot me as an intruder or surrender. I told him I was not the vetmom that he was looking for.

One of the blessing of being a housecall vet is seeing patients in their homes. Riann was previously so freaked out at the traditional brick and mortar veterinary hospital that she slipped her leash and ran off! Now I get to see her in her home, all relaxed. Here she is hanging out on her stair-bed. I think she thinks she's invisible though!

Psst! Did you know a lot of veterinary clinics are selling out to large corporations? These big corporations are not changing the hospital names, so clients don't know, but behind the scenes lots of things get changed. Ask your veterinary hospital if the doctors working there own the clinic or if they work for a corporation. You might just learn something surprising. Support your locally owned and operated veterinary hospital that is invested in your community!