This issueNutrition and Pets
Dental Health Month -- Don’t Send Candy!
New Medications
Naval Bull
Nutrition and Pets
There are literally hundreds of commercial diets and nutritional supplements for pets. Most of them claim to cure many, or even all, ailments common to cats and dogs. In addition, there are advocates for feeding "all natural" diets and there are several competing philosophies concerning which all natural approach is best. This makes nutritional counseling and nutritional advice a common part of veterinary practice. Unfortunately, most veterinarians have limited knowledge of nutrition and limited time to spend comparing the benefits of one diet over another with pet owners. Most pet owners also have limited nutritional knowledge and limited time to experiment with one diet over another since it usually takes several months to make an adequate assessment of a pet's response to a diet. If an individual pet owner were to set out to find the optimum diet for their dog and wanted to try six or seven foods that seemed to be among the best it would take at least two years before a good comparison of diets could be made -- and then a good deal of the comparison would be subjective rather than objective. It may help to examine what we really know about dog and cat dietary needs and then move on from there.
The first thing that it is important to understand when discussing pet nutrition is that we have a pretty clear understanding of the minimum needs for nutrition. The amount of protein necessary to sustain life, the amount of Vitamin A necessary to sustain life and the amount of other essential nutrients necessary for life is well known. That much isn't very controversial anymore, although there are slight disagreements among nutritionists over the exact minimums. It has been possible to keep pets and humans alive and active for very long times using only intravenous feeding for some time. Obviously, this is about as "unnatural" as a diet can get but it appears to work well when necessary. It is reasonable to infer from the success of these diets that we do understand the minimum nutrient levels necessary to sustain life.
The next thing to consider is that the levels at which nutrients become harmful is also reasonably well known. There are limits above which certain vitamins and minerals become harmful instead of helpful. Again, there are minor controversies, but not much substantial disagreement. The minimum and maximum standards for life are not that hard to figure out. It is possible to cause nutritional diseases or even death by withholding essential nutrients and it is equally possible to evaluate the effects of overdosing essential vitamins and minerals. The whole controversy revolves around an entirely different concept. The question that is hard to answer is this: What is the OPTIMUM level and OPTIMAL formulation for each of the nutrients. Are there nutrients that are not essential for life but that greatly enhance life? Can disease be controlled through the addition of specific nutrients or specific dietary practices? These are the questions that fuel the great debates about diet and nutrition. The debates continue because there simply isn't enough information to determine who is right. There is a distinct possibility that the optimum diet for one dog or one dog breed may vary significantly from the optimal diet for another dog or dog breed. The same may obviously be true for cats, as well.
There are some "facts" thrown around in this controversy that I think are blatantly untrue and there is a reliance on testimonial evidence and hyperbole that is disturbing. Many of the advertisements for specialty dog foods state that the life span of dogs and cats has been decreasing in the last "x" years --- some say 40, some say 20, some say less than that. I think that is simply untrue. At the present time in my practice I have a number of feline patients who are over 20 years of age. For the first ten years I was in practice I do not think that I saw a single feline patient 20 years of age or older. At the present time in our practice we also have a number of dogs who are within a year or so of reaching 20 years of age and a couple that are 20 years of age or older. Again, during the first ten years I was in practice, seeing dogs of this age was unusual. While I am not aware of anyone keeping highly accurate data on the life span of pets, I can not find any evidence to suggest that twenty year old cats and dogs were common at any time in history.
Another claim that really disturbs me is the statement that a natural diet prevents disease, as demonstrated by the fact that wild animals thrive on these diets and do not have disease. This is another bold misrepresentation. Wild animals have dramatically shorter life spans than their domestic cousins. They may not be ill long for the simple reason that if you are a prey species and you are ill someone eats you and if you are a predator it is hard to eat when you are too ill to hunt. I have been the veterinarian for a wildlife rehabilitation organization in our area for ten of the twenty years I have been in practice and had an individual wildlife rehabilitation permit for a number of years, as well. After seeing sick and injured wild animals on a regular basis for all this time I think it is incontestable that they do become ill despite their "natural" diets. To suggest otherwise simply defies reality.
The last thing that bothers me about nutritional claims made in advertisements for diets and supplements is the use of "clinical studies" that are not scientifically based. To meet the criteria for a scientific basis studies should be as free of an initial bias as possible. Setting up a study so that the results reflect what the observer wishes to see is not good scientific research. In one study used to support a natural diet the study conditions state that no dogs were included in which medications had to be used in order to control the symptoms being discussed in the paper. No mention was made of how many dogs were excluded from the study because they were on medications. Consequently, the authors were able to report that there was significant success using the diet. To me, this is analogous to evaluating the success of a cancer therapy by simply not counting the patients who died. Companies that sell pet foods touting the benefits of senior diets, weight control diets and other specialty dietary needs often make claims that are not substantiated by valid scientific studies or which ignore conflicting scientific studies. This is true of diets claiming to take a natural approach to health and diets from companies that are formulated specifically to treat various conditions in pets, such as kidney failure. It is very hard to sort through these claims as a veterinarian, with some nutritional training. It has to be extremely hard to make evaluations with even less knowledge. It is possible to use a little common sense when evaluating claims about dog and cat foods, though.
When you see a testimonial from a dog breeder or veterinarian who claims to have used many foods and to have finally seen great success with one particular food, ask yourself how thoroughly they could have evaluated other dog foods with just the dogs they have? Are they seeing what they want to see? That happens to both veterinarians and clients whenever new foods or new medications are being evaluated. I can remember several medications that I thought were working really well, sometimes for as long as several years, before finally figuring out that it was something else I was doing or finally having enough cases to make an objective evaluation and deciding that I was simply wrong. When claims are made about dogs with hairloss improving, has there been time to be sure that the hairloss problem wasn't seasonal? I could claim to cure almost all of my flea allergy patients if I could determine the starting and ending dates of a six month study. The problem clears up in the winter almost all the time. Ask yourself if the claims make sense. When a natural diet claims to be building up general health and eliminating disease entirely does that statement make sense to you? These dogs are eventually dying and they are dying from diseases and aging disorders just like every other dog. One of my clients has resolved the whole issue of disease in her dogs by simply ignoring it. When I point out a problem to her, she tells me that her dog couldn't have that problem because she is using a supplement that eliminates it. We have had that same conversation several times. She provides great testimonials for the products she is using and I think she really believes in them, but that doesn't make her statements true.
The last thing to remember is that a diet may work well even though it is not supported by scientific evidence or if the theory behind the way it works is totally wrong. I like a couple of dog and cat foods even though I think that their advertising touts seriously flawed reasoning as to the reasons the diets were formulated.
What do I tell my clients to do? I tell them to pick a dog food for whatever reason is important to them -- price, perceived quality, natural ingredients or whatever their criteria is. Make sure that it meets the AAFCO standards because we DO know the minimal requirements for life and they are included in those standards. There isn't a good reason that I can think of for a company to be unwilling to meet these standards. Then see how their dog does on the food. If there are no problems then there is probably no big need to switch foods. If problems develop, try a different food, if desired. As long as the transitions from one food to another are slow, there isn't much problem with changing foods. I change foods occasionally in my dogs, simply because I don't like the idea of trusting one particular dog food for the whole life of my pet -- just in case one food is missing an ingredient that does help to provide a more optimal life. I don't argue with my clients about the diets they choose to use. I think that there are significant risks associated with raw meat diets and not much evidence of the nutritional benefits claimed for these diets and I do point that out. Choosing a diet for your dog is a little like choosing a religion. It is an act of faith and not all diets will work as well for one dog as they do for another. Just keep those things in mind when selecting a diet and when evangelizing it!
Finally, remember that there will probably never be a single "best" diet for all dogs or for all cats. Individuals have different needs. The cat that can gain weight on a half a cup of food a day probably does need a different diet than a cat that eats all day and never seems to gain an ounce. Working dogs and canine couch potatoes need different diets. Illnesses can seriously alter the optimum diet for a pet. Ask your vet for advice but remember that he or she is not a nutritionist. The same is true for dog and cat breeders. Then feed your pet a food that he or she seems to do well with. And if you're a little paranoid about all of this, change diets occasionally. Just take your time making the transition from one diet to another.
Dental Health Month -- Don’t Send Candy!
February is dental health month for pets. Taking care of pet’s teeth is a notion whose time has come. I am nearly certain that most of my clients would take really good care of their pet’s teeth if it was easy to do. Unfortunately, most pets consider their teeth to be private body parts that shouldn’t be handled by strangers - or friends. This makes brushing them a little difficult. When someone figures out an easy way to clean pets teeth that doesn’t take much time it will be a real benefit to dogs and cats. In the meantime, a lot of dental care is being done when periodontal disease has already become severe.
Dogs have some advantages over cats when it comes to dental care. One of the biggest is that dogs will eat the things that help prevent tartar. Hills makes a diet, t/d, which is made specifically for reducing tartar. It works well for one of my dogs and is worth considering for dogs with recurrent tartar problems. In addition, dogs like rawhide chews. These have been proven to reduce tartar, too. Real bones will help to prevent tartar but also sometimes break teeth, making it a little harder to decide if they are a good choice. It is also important to stick to large beef leg bones and avoid rib bones or other easily split bones. These are pretty easy things to do to help prevent tartar. Dogs are a little better about letting people brush their teeth, too. If you start slow, using a finger to rub along the gumline and then adding a washcloth or finger tooth brush it is usually possible to eventually get a dog to let you brush its teeth and even to use toothpaste. Most dogs prefer the tooth pastes made for pets but a lot of my clients prefer to use baking soda mixed with water to form a paste since it seems to help with breath odor, too. There are even some good products made for people who can’t quite brush their dog’s teeth but can apply a gel to them. Maxiguard Oral Cleansing Gel (TM) and CHX-Guard LA (TM) are two gels that seem to help when applied regularly.
Cats are more difficult. In the first place, cats aren’t much into chewing, most of the time. They just barely chew their food, much less their toys. There is a food made by Friskies that is advertised as tartar reducing. I can’t give you an opinion on how well it works because I haven’t seen any data and haven’t tried the food myself. While I do have a cat patient who likes to chew on rawhides he is the exception to the rule. For cats, it is usually necessary to brush the teeth in order to prevent tartar. When cats object to having their teeth brushed most clients give up quickly. After all, you don’t just have to avoid being bitten, you have to avoid the claws on all four feet, too! It is worth a try, though. Some my clients who care for cats have great success with tooth brushing.
If it isn’t possible to brush your pet’s teeth, what are the alternatives? When tartar begins to accumulate on teeth it is best to remove it. While many veterinary dental experts seem to disagree, it is my opinion that scraping tartar from pet’s teeth during their yearly physical exams works well to decrease the tartar accumulation. I think it helps enough to improve dental health. I can’t understand why, but it is often much easier for us to successfully remove the tartar from cat’s teeth than it is from dog’s teeth, during an exam. Tartar just appears to adhere better to dog’s teeth. One of my dogs is very patient about tartar removal and I can almost always do a very good job of tartar removal on his teeth without anesthesia. Due to these experiences I will try to remove tartar during an exam. If I’m not very successful then the need for tartar removal under anesthesia is confirmed.
In most veterinary practices today it is possible to anesthetize pets for minor procedures such as teeth cleaning without a great deal of risk. Dental procedures do not require deep anesthesia and in our practice we are often able to induce and maintain anesthesia with isoflurane gas alone. This makes the procedure pretty safe. Newer injectable anesthetic agents are also available which have increased the safety of short term procedures that do not require deep anesthesia. We are often able to do dental cleanings at the time of an examination when the need is obvious, but we do have a small enough practice that we schedule fairly long examination times. Most practices do need to schedule teeth cleaning for a later date when problems are found during the yearly physical or other examination. It is a good idea to ask your vet if teeth cleaning is possible whenever anesthesia is performed for another surgery or to help with a radiograph or other procedure. Sometimes we forget to offer this service if the client does not ask, so remind your vet.
Dental care for pets is important. Many many times I have had clients who were initially reluctant to have their pet’s teeth cleaned come back on a regular basis once they see the difference it makes in their pet’s health and disposition. Having gums that are inflamed and teeth that are loose or infected is painful. The great medical care and nutrition that is available for pets makes it possible for them to live long enough to have severe dental problems develop. If you are willing to provide the care necessary to allow your pet to live a long life, why not also allow your dog or cat to also have a long comfortable life? Dental care for pets may sound odd, but it makes a great deal of sense.
New Medications
There are two medications that are receiving a lot of attention in the press right now. I am not sure why they have caught the media’s attention but an explanation of what they are and what they might do for pets seems like a good idea.
Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome ( CCDS, canine senility) is a disorder in which older dogs have difficulty remembering things like going outside to urinate or defecate, exhibit restlessness, going out the door and then wanting back in immediately (remember, we’re talking about dogs, not cats!), tremors, shaking, circling, increased vocalization and loss of appetite. Selegiline hydrochloride (l-deprenyl, Anipryl Rx), a medication previously approved for the treatment of hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease) is now approved to treat this condition as well. This medication helps to increase the levels of dopamine in the brain which offsets the loss experienced due to aging. Dogs treated with selegiline should show signs of improvement in behavior within one to two months. The diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction is a little difficult to confirm but treatment does not pose a great risk to the pet, so it is reasonable to treat when suspicion is high. While not approved for cats, there are veterinary behaviorists who recommend this medication for similar problems in older cats, especially when restlessness and increased vocalization occur in the absence of hyperthyroidism. While we do not have tremendous personal experience with this medication the two dogs we have given Anipryl do appear to be responding well to therapy.
Separation anxiety may be the most common behavioral disorder in dogs. It appears to occur much less commonly in cats but I am convinced that there are some cats with it. Dogs that are only destructive when left alone, dogs that are housebroken but defecate or urinate in the house when left alone and pets that show other signs of extreme distress when left alone may all suffer from this condition. There are pretty good behavioral techniques for dealing with separation anxiety but they take dedication and persistence on the part of dog owners. A new medication, Clomicalm (clomipramine) has recently been approved to treat separation anxiety. While it is recognized that the medication works best in conjunction with a behavioral program it can make the program much easier and also more successful. While not approved for any other use, clomipramine has also been recommended for dog with lick granuloma problems, excessive tail-chasing disorders and even aggression in dogs. I have not seen a price for this medication but am hopeful that it won’t be as high as the human product containing clomipramine, Anafranil (Rx).
There is a new giardia vaccine for dogs. It is important to understand something about vaccines before discussing this one. Vaccines are a lot cheaper to get approved and approval is much faster because they are regulated by the USDA instead of the FDA. So companies are willing to try to make a vaccine for almost any disease if they can. They make a profit more quickly than with a medication. That said, what do I think the scoop is on the new giardia vaccine? I think that there are areas of the country in which giardia is a serious problem, based on postings on the Veterinary Information Network and that the vaccine may be helpful in those areas. Unfortunately, this is probably a localized problem where it occurs and it is not possible to give you are really good idea of what areas might be affected. Giardia causes transient diarrhea in dogs when it does cause a problem. If your pets have repeated bouts of diarrhea and giardia is suspected or confirmed as the cause it may be worth considering this vaccine. For most pets, it will not be necessary to add it to the vaccine program.
Naval Bull
For some reason, emergencies always seem to occur at 5 minutes before closing time. It doesn’t seem to matter when closing time is. We have changed our closing time numerous times over the years and this problem still persists. Even worse, emergencies that occur five minutes before closing time are always time consuming problems or for large animal vets, problems with the patients of the clients who live farthest from the practice. So, when the phone rings at 5:55 PM at our practice we are always apprehensive about answering it. But we usually do.
This particular evening, the voice on the other end of the line belonged to Mrs. Small. "I have an emergency," she said. We were not surprised. Mrs. Small’s and her husband owned a small herd of cattle and lived at the very boundary of our practice area.
"Our bull calf is down out in the marsh and he can’t get up. He’s been like that all day and I don’t want him to be out there all night, can you come here and help him?"
It was a nice night and nightfall was several hours away. I figured that I could get there and back in time for a late dinner, if there wasn’t a really bad problem. I packed up the truck and headed towards the Small’s farm. It is a very pretty drive through the tidewater marshes around our practice area and the warm spring day made it even nicer. I was in a pretty good mood when I pulled into the long paved driveway that led through the farm to the Small’s house. Like many of the "farms" in my area, this one was owned by people who worked other jobs and made very adequate livings. Cattle were more an adornment to their landscape than a necessity for their livelihood. I stopped in front of the low brick home and knocked on the door.
"Hello, doctor," Mrs. Small said. She continued on without stopping, "The calf is out in the back field by the water. I think you can find him. He’s been down all day. I don’t know what is wrong with him because whenever I get close to him he moves farther out into the marsh. I’d go with you but I’m baking some pies and just can’t. I’m sure you can find him, though."
I was beginning to understand that this was going to be a longer farm call than I had hoped. Normally, when a farmer says a cow is down, it can’t get up at all. That didn’t seem to be the case, since he was moving some. Hoping for the best, I headed through the nearest gate and drove my truck across the field, heading for another gate in the middle of the field that led to the pasture closest to the water. I could see a dark shape right at the water’s edge. As I approached it I could tell it was the injured bull calf. It was also apparent that "being down" wasn’t the only slight misconception that I was suffering under. This was a full grown Angus bull or else he was the biggest calf I have ever seen in my life. He stood and lowered his head as we got close, slowly shaking his head from side to side in an unquestionable challenge to my presence. He was holding his right rear leg up but the other three appeared to be likely to work just fine.
I sat in the truck for a couple of minutes trying to decide what to do. Handling a calf alone isn’t a really big deal, most of the time. Handling a full grown bull alone is a different story, entirely. I didn’t want to give him a sedative while he was so close to the water, just in case he went in that direction as it began to work. I wasn’t all that confident in my ability to herd him on my own but that seemed like the best thing to try.
Cattle tend to move along a fence line until they are confronted by a gate which makes them turn. Unfortunately, the gates in this particular field had two problems. The first was that they only opened in one direction and it was outward into the next field - - so that it was easy for the young bull to walk right past the opening in the fence and keep going along the fence line as I herded him. We went around the fence and along the water and then back to the fence again several times.
I decided to park the truck at a right angle to the gate and try again. The bull was tired now and it was slow going as he moved along the fence line towards the truck. As he got close I walked away from the fence in an arc to place myself near the end of the truck to encourage him to turn through the gate. This seemed to be working well and I began to walk towards him, working him through the gate. He turned and headed for the next field. Just to be sure that I knew that he was in charge, he leaned against the side of my truck and brushed the driver side mirror off with this shoulder. I was used to losing parts of my truck to curious or belligerent patients so I still thought of myself as the victor.
Since I now had a working plan, it seemed like it might be easy to work my way across the next field and into the barn. The gate was arranged the same way and I was pretty sure that could remember to park the truck so that the passenger side mirror was away from the gate. As I drove across the field towards the gate it was evident that this plan was not going to work. The barn was in the middle of the next field but there was a driveway between us. Since the gates still only opened in one direction it was only possible to block off one side of the driveway -- the other side was unblocked and lead off towards the highway. Obviously, I needed a new plan. As I was thinking about what to do, Mr. Small’s car came down the drive towards me.
"Hi Doc, need some help?" Mr. Small asked. Unable to think of any graceful way to say no, I said "Sure, Mr. Small." I had worked for the Smalls several times before. I had always found it harder to work with his help than without it. The situation seemed to demand that someone help, though. I asked him to park his car across the driveway to block the way to the highway. He seemed a little hesitant to back the Lincoln Continental up and turn it sideways, especially after surveying the side of my truck with its recently missing mirror. But he did.
Chasing the bull across the driveway and into the field containing the barn went really well. He didn’t even hurt the car or my truck on the way across the driveway. I even got a good look at his right rear leg on the way by. The problem with it was obvious. About two feet of wire was wrapped tightly around the leg just above his hooves. Blood oozed around the wire where it had cut through the skin . It was obvious that we were going to have to sedate or anesthetize him in order to remove it. It was equally obvious that this wasn’t going to be easy. Despite his reluctance to use the leg he was doing pretty well getting around on the other three. I was still hoping to get him into the barn where it would be possible to confine him and work on the leg and to medicate him for a few days.
The problem with getting him into the barn was that it was located right in the middle of the field. It had four doors, only two of which closed. It had four stalls with walkways in the shape of a cross that connected the two pairs of doors. The other problem was that the bull had absolutely no intention of entering any of the doors in the first place.
As is often the custom in rural areas when one needs help, Mr. Small volunteered to call a few friends over. Since Mr. Small was wealthy and had contributed a great deal to the local fire department, he just called the fire chief and asked him to send over a few of the volunteers. While it is not fair to make such judgments, my impression was that this produced more bodies than if Mr. Small had actually called his friends. It also produced a whole lot more confusion. Within minutes there where ten pickup trucks in the driveway.
I spent a few minutes explaining my plan to get the bull into the barn with the fire chief. Soon we had a whole line of trucks across the field, making a new fence from the gate to one of the barn doors. It was impressive. I carefully explained the need to move the bull along the fence line and to get him to turn along the line of trucks and then head into the barn. I talked two unwitting firemen into parking their trucks across the spaces where the two missing doors were. Once was smart enough to acquire a piece of plywood and put it across the opening so that it provided one layer of protection for his truck against the bull.
My luck was holding and the bull turned along the line of trucks and even began a slow trot towards the barn. I really thought that the hour or so we had spent so far was going to pay off and we would have him trapped. That good feeling held until he reached the back end of a particularly large four wheel drive pickup that had a great deal of chrome along its sides and a number of bumper stickers promoting eating fish and the virtues of a particular tug boat company. Just as he went by an incredibly thick rope loop appeared out of nowhere and settled over his neck. It was a very good throw, especially considering that the rope absolutely had to be at least an inch in diameter. The loop of the hawser tightened around the bull’s neck. As might be expected, this produced a sudden acceleration in the bull’s speed. He also took a left hand turn and headed into the field again. The large tugboat captain holding on to the other end of the rope looked pretty surprised as he lost his feet and was dragged out into the field with incredible ease. He made a valiant effort to throw a loop around the trailer hitch on the way by but it was too late. He held on for about twenty feet but let go as the bull disappeared into the darkness that had settled in for the night. I knew then that it was going to be a really long night. This was a smart young bull and he was now a smart and angry young bull.
A younger fireman took off into the field. Surprisingly, he came back quickly and the bull was actually running from him and directly towards the line of trucks. In a graceful move, the bull choose a path between two of the trucks, leaping high enough to get over the bumpers and landing with one foot on a truck bumper and two in the truck bed. He fell, then regained his footing and leapt out of the truck. It was only slightly dented on one side by all the action. Firemen really love their four wheel drive pickups, though. Within minutes my mobile fence was lined up alongside the driveway again and the field was empty. Except for me, the bull and about ten firemen.
My patience was thinning. I told the tugboat captain that I needed his rope and that he needed to do what I asked him to do, this time. I asked the men to form a line and to stretch the rope between them, forming a new fence. I figured that the risk of looking cowardly was enough incentive to make the firemen stand still and headed out into the field again. The bull was smart enough to be difficult to herd along the fence line and was getting tired enough to consider stopping and fighting as a reasonable alternative to going where I wanted him to go. He made a couple of short threatening dashes but wasn’t quite ready to fight, yet. He finally decided to turn along the human and rope fence and actually walked into the barn. Even better, the firemen closed the two doors behind him and their makeshift plywood door held as he made one attempt to push his way out. He turned and walked into a stall. He seemed to have given up.
I drew up a small amount of xylazine in a syringe. About a half cc of xylazine was enough to immobilize him for a few minutes. It seemed reasonable to expect that I could find an injection site for that small an amount of medication without too much risk of being hurt. I jumped over the stall door and made a cautious approach to the bull. He turned and headed straight for a small window where two firemen were looking in to see how I would do. One ducked and the other one fell backwards, just as the bull’s head smashed through the window and his shoulders locked briefly before he fell back into the stall. He looked around the stall. He was really mad now.
I knew that I had made a mistake coming into the stall right about then. A bull is fast and very powerful. In a small room they are very very impressive. As he lowered his head to attack, I was thinking that maybe my luck had finally run out for the evening. Although I had never had any reason to know for sure, I had heard that bulls close their eyes when they attack and that if one had the courage to wait until the last minute to move it was possible to evade their attack. A knowing person had told me that was the way that bullfighters worked. To this day I don’t know why that thought suddenly popped into my head. I do know that the person who told me that was wrong -- at least wrong in the case of this particular bull.
I jumped sideways and upwards just as he got to me. He turned at the same time and made a wild throw of his head which resulted in my rear end meeting his head on its way up. I was propelled into the rafters and was lucky enough to grab one. I climbed up on top and surveyed the situation below. The bull was turning tight circles under me and even made a half hearted effort to rear up on his back legs and butt me again. The firemen were encouraging me to hold on and I still had the syringe of xylazine in my hand. I hadn’t even injected myself with it.
I decided that I could reach the bull’s back muscles if I hung by one hand and one leg and made a quick stab. It worked. Within minutes he was asleep. After all of the evening’s events it was almost anticlimactic to swing down from the rafters and unwrap the wire from the foot. I recognized the baling wire from a bale of hay. I cleaned the area that was damaged and gave him an antibiotic injection. I asked Mr. Small to keep him in the stall until I could check on him again tomorrow and make sure that there wasn’t more that would need to be done.
The firemen took off after discussing their various roles in the great bull capture. I thanked the tugboat captain for his restraint on the second try to get the bull into the barn. Then I started to add up the charges for Mr. Small. In most cases, I don’t charge much for the time spent capturing animals. Of course, most of the time it doesn’t take two or three hours. I told him that I thought $180 was fair, all things considered. He hit the roof.
"You only worked on him for ten minutes, Doc! What are you trying to do to me?"
"I’m just trying to make sure that when you call, I can afford to come, Mr. Small".
"You know, I should bill the government for this, Doc. You should just send your bill on over to Oceana Naval Station."
At this point, I was pretty confused. Unless Mr. Small had a contract with the navy for beef I didn’t see how the bull’s predicament was their responsibility.
"You know they crashed one of those Tomcats on my property a couple of years ago and they spent weeks picking up all sorts of stuff out of that field. I know that wire is left over from that damned plane!"
I didn’t argue. I just told him that I would send two copies of the receipt and he could give one to whoever he wanted. When I got home, I talked to a friend of mine who was a naval aviator, just to make sure that our navy really wasn’t flying around in jets held together by baling wire. It might have been OK for the old biplanes but I don’t think they make a Mach 2 version of baling wire.
Thanks! Copyright, TierCom, Inc., 1998 Tiercom, Inc. P.O. Box 476 Cobbs Creek, VA 23035 The opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the author, Michael Richards, DVM, unless otherwise noted in the text. Michal Justis is our web designer and graphic artist.
This page was last edited 08/13/02
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