And good vets are hard to come by. In many ways, veterinarians are like people docs: some are good at what they do and some are constrained by a "know it all" attitude, which can easily create serious problems for you and your favorite companion. Picking the right vet and sticking with him or her is critical to your dog enjoying a healthy, long life.
Trust Me. I Know What I'm Doing As a youngster with my first German shepherd, Rex, I remember using a veterinarian that was part of the third generation of family vets. His father was a vet. His grandfather was a vet. Even this guy's brother was a practicing veterinarian. Three generations…how could we go wrong? Anyway Rex developed a problem of blood in his urine, but had no other symptoms. Nor did he show any signs of discomfort. After a routine examination, this stalwart of veterinary medicine told us that the dog had to be put down. Rex was under a year old at the time, so euthanasia wasn't part of our vocabulary. We heard about this other vet, who worked on animals at the Baltimore Zoo. So we opted for a second opinion. He checked Rex out, prescribed some pills and indicated that Rex would need a booster shot once a month. We followed that sagely advice and Rex lived another eleven years. The moral of the story is that when the proverbial chips are down, a second opinion is always a great idea. And that stands no matter who gave you the first opinion. I have no qualms about double-checking everything that has to do with my dog's treatment. In fact, I probably am more on top of the dogs health than I am my own. Go figure.
That's Why They Call It a Practice About eight years ago, one of my two German shepherds, King, developed a nodule about an inch or two from the his left eye. To me, it looked like a swollen lymph node, but what do I know? I mean I could kind of move it around under the skin. The next day, King refused breakfast-something he never did. I took his temperature and it was 104.5 and climbing (normal for a dog is 99.5 to 102). Off to the vets we went to find out what was wrong. After a routine exam, my vet opted for a short course of Baytril, a broad spectrum antibiotic. When I asked if there was a lymph node near the eye, I was told there wasn't. The fever went down and life returned to normal, except we didn't know what had caused the problem. The following weekend, my other shepherd, Shalimar, had the nodule in exactly the same place. I put her on Baytril and the problem resolved itself. But what had caused the problem in the first place, I wondered. A long-time veterinarian friend of mine put forth the theory that both dogs had stuck their noses somewhere where they weren't wanted and had been bitten. Right. First one dog stuck his head in a wood pile and a spider bit him, then the female did the same thing a week later. Again I was told that there isn't a lymph node in the immediate area. The idea that both dogs had been bitten seemed implausible, and I looked further into the mystery. The two vets I used had no idea, so I contacted Dr. Linda Ross, director of the Tufts Veterinary School. Dr. Ross asked if tick titer tests had been run-they hadn't. She asked if I had removed a tick from both dogs, and I had. Although a definitive diagnosis couldn't be made after the fact, to me a tick-borne disease was more probable than not. Interestingly Dr. Ross verified that there is a lymph node where the nodule had appeared, which was obviously swollen. I filled in my local vets, and one of them commented, "That's why they call it a practice." This guy's a friend of mine, and "practice" is fine unless the dog's health is seriously threatened. Then I don't want to hear "practice": I want the right diagnosis and treatment. Period. We all were lucky this time. By the way, I know and still use the other vets, although now they know there's a lymph node (albeit not well documented, by a lymph node nonetheless) near the eye. All three local vets are very conscientious, but they can't know everything and they don't. Most local veterinarians are lucky to keep up with the ton of mail touting the latest and greatest drugs. That's why when I think I'm dealing with something serious, I go to one of the vet schools and search the Internet. *************
When is an Eighty Pound Dog Forty-five Pounds? A couple of years a go a rescue dog, Sarek, that my significant other owns was positive for heartworms. Since he was on heartworm preventative, we don't have any idea how that happened, but it did nonetheless. I was a nervous wreck because heartworm treatment, depending on the degree of infestation, can be life threatening. However where vets used to treat heartworm with a cyanide-based product, they now have a newer drug (Imiticide) available to deal with heartworm positive cases. The first problem we ran across was specific treatment options. Some vets recommended a single shot of the heartworm medicine Imiticide. Others told us that two shots a month apart were needed. Ultimately we found out that two shots a month apart are more effective so we opted for that approach. By the way, it took me literally hours of time on the internet to find out what the options were, and subsequently, what the tradeoffs were with each option. Again we used a vet we knew and have confidence in. Sarek is a good sized shepherd, clearly weighing over seventy pounds. Imiticide, like many drugs, is dosed on the basis of weight. So I took him in for his first shot, and all seemingly went well. He stayed overnight and came home the next day with me. Subsequently I ran into one of the vets. He commented that he was surprised that Sarek was small for a shepherd. From my previous comments, he thought that Sarek was considerably larger. Small, I wondered? Well, everything's relative. Later, he checked the record and told me that they weighed Sarek and that he weighed in 45 pounds. No way!. I had weighed the dog before and knew damn well that he was closer to eighty pounds than forty. The Imiticide dose they administered was for a forty pound dog. So what happened? Two mistakes were made, interestingly by two different people. The vet tech who weighed Sarek didn't wait for the scale to settle, and recorded the wrong weight. Plenty of time to do it twice, but not enough time to do it right the first time. Second, the vet who administered the shot didn't use his/her head and thus failed to realize that dog standing there couldn't possibly weigh as little as forty-five pounds. Fortunately an under-dose of this drug is a lot better than an over-dose! No one was surprised when I carefully monitored the second weigh-in and shot. Now you're probably sitting there thinking, "I pay top dollar for veterinary services. What am I getting for that money?" I think there are two levels of veterinary service. The first includes the routine vaccinations, treatment for cuts, ear mites, and stuff that's a pain, but not life threatening. Then there's the second level where the wrong treatment, regardless of price, can have a catastrophic effect on you and your best friend. That's when you need to learn as much about whatever's ailing your dog as fast as you can. ******************
When You Hear Hoof Beats, Think Horses Not Zebras Not too long ago, I ran into a young lady with a six year old male shepherd who was no longer walking. Six months earlier, she had taken the dog to her vets because he was limping. Her vet brought in an orthopedic specialist who recommended extensive tests including a myleogram. This test has an extensive downside to it in that if something goes wrong, the resulting bruising on the spinal column can lead to temporary or permanent disability. In this case, the disability was permanent and a limping dog went to a paralyzed dog. Worse yet, the results were "inconclusive" so they still didn't know what had caused the problem in the first place. When I asked if anyone had run a Lymes test, she told me that they hadn't. Oops! Needless to say, the dog was found positive for Lymes. And since he had had Lymes for so long, the so-called "experts" were at a loss as to what to do. Everyone missed the obvious diagnosis while rushing toward more exotic possibilities, and their ancillary tests. I never heard what finally happened, and I'm probably happier I don't know the outcome. *********************** With the vast amount of information available on the internet, there's no excuse for taking anything for granted when it comes to our shepherd's health. Web sites such as PetPlace.com provide extensive information, and thus make each of us more "literate" when it comes to our dog's health. For non-computer savvy individuals, there are excellent newsletters out there including "Your Dog" (supported by Tufts Veterinary School in Grafton, MA) that provide monthly updates on all types of canine health issues. People are human and make mistakes. That applies to medical doctors and to veterinarians. I have a somewhat unique attitude when it comes to my dogs. Since they can't talk, it's up to me to ensure that their medical care is top-notch. I make no apologies to anyone. I have learned not to be afraid to ask questions, and I don’t' understand the answer I ask another. If I don't hear the same recommendation(s) from my second opinion veterinarian, everything stops while I reconcile what I'm being told. And if a particular vet has a problem with my questions and double-checking, that's too bad. Today's small animal veterinary practitioner has a lot to do if s/he's going to be successful. Besides treating patients, there's a support staff to direct, not to mention a myriad of business-related issues with which to deal. Even the most conscientious vet can't be on top of every facet of modern veterinary medicine. And that's why it's important that each of us uses every resource we have when our dog's health is at stake.
Richard Bajackson is not a veterinarian. However over the forty years he's been owned by German shepherds, Rick has run across enough dog-related issues to fill a large notebook. Unfortunately most of these "lessons" (for lack of a better term) are often learned the hard way in the proverbial school of "hard knocks". He has no affiliation with anyone including The Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine or PetPlace.com, both of whom are mentioned in the article. When he discovered the JustShepherds website, he knew had found the perfect vehicle to share his extensive experience with other German shepherd owners. Expect to see more from him over the ensuing months.
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