I have great respect for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). One of the many wonderful things this organization does is the gathering of experts within the profession to create practice guidelines for veterinarians. In the past, for example, I’ve exposed you to AAHA guidelines for vaccination protocols. Not only are such guidelines helpful for veterinarians, they are also available to you, the consumers of veterinary medicine. With such information in hand, I’ve no doubt that you will be better able to make informed decisions for your pets. And there’s nothing I like better than helping people become better medical advocates! [More]

The transition to a new calendar year may inspire you to muster the resolve to make good changes in your life. How about the lives of your pets? No time like the present to make some new year’s resolutions that will benefit both of you. Here are three suggestions: [More]

When my clients make decisions on behalf of their senior dogs and cats, they routinely factor in their pet’s age. I often hear statements such as, “I would pursue a diagnosis if only she weren’t so old.” and “I would treat him if only he were younger.” When my clients voice such “senior objections” I gently encourage them to consider the situation a bit more objectively by considering their pet’s functional age rather than their chronological age. [More]

Consider this example- when some savvy veterinarians took a fresh look at performing spays, a surgery we’ve been doing the exact same way for decades, guess what happened! They came up with a revised technique that accomplishes all of the objectives of the spay surgery with fewer complications! [More]