Story archive

Elephant – So Tired

Insomnia – It’s complicated A big, older girl with a gentle soul was having a hard time sleeping. She laid down during the night but popped back up after a…

My puppy Scott – the start of a career

I’ve always loved pets. I remember watching Lassie and Rin Tin Tin on TV, enthralled with the loyal bond between these dogs and their children. By age 8, I just had to have one of my own. Making it happen was a long shot.

Cat frat hazing or attempted murder?

Karen and Richard loved “Larry” and Curley”, a couple of fuzzy BFFs who’d shared their home with them since kittenhood, eight years earlier. Everybody snuggled. It was feline nirvana. Then…

Dog Fights at Home

Stop Fighting! Quizzes are fun when I know the answers. Fights between family dogs are caused by: a) Dominance b) Resource guarding c) Jealousy d) Bad juju e) Sometimes a)…

Spank him? Send Him Packing?

We love our pets like little people in furry suits but if they bite, chew, bark, or relieve themselves indoors they need to stop that @#%& right now, don’t they?…

Predatory Aggression – Lucky to be alive

Early in my career my veterinary clinic had a feed store as a next-door neighbor. Being a backyard poultry farmer, I visited often for chicks (baby chickens, that is) and lay pellets. I lived the life of North valley chic. The only thing missing was the chic.

Airborne Monstrosities – High Anxiety

Gas Abuse; Paw Pain Frustrations come with every job. I’ve been lucky. The problems I have faced that have risked baldness, you know – tearing out my hair – have…

Horse Play – Fun Until it Isn’t

We were just wrapping up a routine day of limping, itching, and diarrhea (ah, my patients, not me) when Jamie arrived. She’d been frolicking in the pasture with the neighbor…

Biting – Can You Ever Trust Again?

Folks like you and I are tethered to our pets by an emotional commitment to their well-being. If they have a problem with any body part, including their brains, we want them to get well fast. The Internet offers prodigious quantities of quack remedies, especially for behavior disorders. Think twice about quick and dirty corrections.