You know what I hate about the internet? Sometimes people will just lazily slap a “citation” on an infographic and trust that they’ll be completely taken at their word and nobody is going to dig deeper. And it works all the time. As an example, please look at this photo someone posted to dispute my assertion that garlic can be toxic to dogs.
Okay well, kind of a pain to manually type in that link but obviously I am going to look into this study that is confident enough to recommend people feeding their dogs garlic. So here’s the article, kind of a weird journal choice for this graphic to reference from but looks like a legit (though 20 year old) study
Funny thing is, almost immediately this article acknowledges that garlic can indeed be toxic to dogs. The health benefits mentioned in the graphic are referring to human health, not canine. This section is literally in the introduction of the article and one of the first things you read. Emphasis here is mine.
Crazy to me that someone would imply that this article encourages giving dogs garlic when it in fact immediately asserts that doing so has the potential to cause hemolytic anemia. The article does explore the anti-thrombotic effects of garlic components in dogs and humans, but by no means does it say that “contrary to misconceptions garlic is safe for pets”. It is dishonest to assert this in an infographic. However the creator of the image correctly assumed nobody would check, because the person who posted it took it as fact without further investigation.
I am begging you to be skeptical. Check your sources. Check their sources. Check my sources. Learn how to dig deeper and exercise that muscle as much as you can, especially on the internet. You will be absolutely shocked how much misinformation is casually stated and received as pure fact.
I sincerely wish that whoever came up with the name ‘Carflexin’ wakes up one morning to discover that all of their teeth have turned into spiders. 🙂
‘Carflexin’ is a brand name of a drug which sounds an awful lot like the active ingredient for an unrelated drug, so much so that it sometimes gets misfiled in the pharmacy. Can you guess which one it is?
It’s been raining 🌧️🌂 so heavily that the city has declared a red alert ‼️ Also been tracking my sleep 💤 and I seem to have improved my morning wake up times ⏰ and have been thankfully getting 7-8 hours per night. 🌃
Started this little series with Hunter. He wants to actually earn some money for his first date with Willow, so he goes to work with Camila as a Vet tech/assistant. Its a little inspired by my own job as an tech myself. I just always found it awesome Camila is a vet and that theres so much potential for Hunter in that field, especially with his soft spot for Palismen. Follow me for the next few pages and concept art! Sorry if its a little rough, I had a huge break from drawing the past two years and Ive really been getting back into it. Hope yall enjoy, lots a vet tech jokes coming up in this.
Periodontal disease is one of the most common canine diseases, affecting at least 80% of dogs aged three and over. Periodontal disease begins as gingivitis, where gums become red and inflamed, and may bleed. Untreated, the disease can progress to periodontitis, where the alveolar bone is progressively damaged so that teeth may loosen or fall out. In turn, periodontitis is a risk factor for other diseases like cardiovascular and lung disease.
A major cause of periodontal disease is poor oral hygiene, which can lead to the build-up of plaque and tartar. For this reason, veterinarians counsel owners to brush their dogs' teeth regularly. Unfortunately, compliance with this advice is low, because it's onerous or because some dogs won't cooperate.
"Here we show that an additive to drinking water, based on pomegranate extract, can reduce the accumulation of plaque and tartar in dogs," said Dr. Jerzy Gawor, a veterinary dentistry practitioner and researcher at the Arka Veterinary Clinic in Krakow, Poland, and lead author of a new study in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. "This additive thus helps dogs to maintain healthy gums, and may ultimately help to limit the occurrence of periodontal disease."
One of the hardest things about working in a veterinary ER is delivering bad news. I feel like at least once a shift someone is blindsided by their pet being diagnosed with a condition they’ve never heard of before. In many cases this is unavoidable but I really feel that some of the most common critical emergencies I see would be easier for owners to process if they had prior knowledge about the illness.
The following infographic is far from a comprehensive list and truthfully I have a LOT more to say about diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of each of these conditions. However, this image shows just a few of the major points that I wish owners had been able to prepare for prior to hearing about them in the ER. Some of these conditions are preventable and some are not but they all require an owner to make difficult decisions in a crisis situation. If your pet fits into one of these categories, please just do a quick google about the condition, and maybe discuss with your vet signs that you can watch for at home.
We just did a spay on a pregnant feral that turned out to be a unicornus (only made one uterine horn), and also either had a teratoma or ectopic mummified fetus wrapped up in her omentum.
I hope this wave of of strikes pushes the veterinary industry to unionise. As corporations like VCA and Banfield (both owned by MARS, yes the chocolate company) continue to buy out independent clinics, the industry is shifting away independent businesses founded and owned by DVMs to corporate franchises.
Working conditions in the industry have been abysmal for years. But everyone working under the same company + significant staff shortages (in canada both DVM and RVT positions typically take 6+ months to fill according to a report by the CVMA) does provide opportunity both for community-building and an advantage for bargaining or, if necessary, striking. Staff are not easily replaced.
We all know we're being overworked and underpayed. It's time to fucking do something about it. Talk about your wages with your coworkers, make sure you're being reimbursed for overtime, see if you're getting enough vacation days. Find out what you want and take it.
Some clinics have already unionized, I hope more will soon.