This week I’m shouting out to four fab veterinarian tweeps and bloggers.
My girl injured herself–again–while chasing after her beloved ball. Our vets (We consulted both Sadie’s regular vet and an orthopedic specialist.) think she popped, or severely stretched, the superficial digital flexor tendon that attaches to the third toe of her right hind paw. So, first-rate veterinarians, and how much we rely on them for the care and well-being of our dogs, are on my mind.
Nancy Kay, DVM
I first heard Dr. Nancy Kay while listening to NPR. Terry Gross was interviewing her on Fresh Air about her book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Longer Life. I was hooked. I wanted more of this kind, empathic animal doctor. I looked her up on Twitter (@speakingforspot) and recently became a fan on Facebook. And, four paws up for her blog! Of course, Nancy writes informative posts on health issues such as vaccinations, gastric torsion, and nasty foxtails. But, do you know about the smart phone app for calculating whether or not the two ounces of chocolate Fido ate is toxic for her size and weight? No? Go here. How about velcro? Did you know a dog was central to it’s invention? Read this. And, did I tell you she’s an excellent writer? Nancy’s book and her blog were named Award Winners in the Dog Writers Association of American Annual Writing Competition.
Next up is Dr. V. (“Actually, it’s Jessica, followed by a long last name that no one can ever pronounce correctly.”) the author of the blog Pawcurious: Eat. Play. Love. Dr. V. blew me away at BlogPaws last April with her smarts, humor, guts, and passion for animals. She’s a major force behind the Be the Change movement that was spawned at BlogPaws. (You can become a fan of Be the Change here.) Dr. V. famously blogged for 24 hours straight and taste-tested dog food–that’s right, she ate dog food–(kindly donated by Anthony Holloway of K9Cuisine) on YouTube to raise money for animal welfare! Since meeting her I regularly read her dynamic blog, am a fan of Pawcurious, with over 2,000 others, on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter @pawcurious. Dr. V. is candid. It’s one of the many things I admire about her blogging. She doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to difficult topics like puppies that died on a recent American Airlines flight or euthanasia. She also is simultaneously funny and informative as in “Let’s Make a Diagnosis.” And, I thoroughly enjoy her speaking, sometimes exasperatedly and, to my ear humorously, from a veterinarian’s point of view as in “Top 5 Things to Never Say to Your Vet.”
Patty Khuly, DVM
Fully Vetted: A veterinary blog for pet lovers & vet voyeurs is written by Patty Khuly, DVM. Two of the things I enjoy about her blog is the wide range of veterinary-related topics she covers and her writing style. Patty has opinions and she’s not shy about sharing them. Take, for example, “Is Abortion a Sin if You Choose it for Your Cat?” or “Five Things This Veterinarian May Never Understand About Her Clients.” Actually, Patty’s perspective is clear in all of the posts that I’ve read. I particularly appreciated her thoughtfulness and honesty in “The Truth about ‘Titering’ Instead of Vaccination.” Sadie had a reaction to a vaccine (I don’t recall now which one.) when she was a puppy. She developed a lump around the vaccination site. It scared me. So we’ve been using titers to determine whether or not to give her boosters. “The Truth about ‘Titering’…” and the comments following offered an informative overview of a controversial topic. You can follow Patty on Twitter @dolittler and find her on Facebook here.
Lori Huston, DVM
Dr. Lorie Huston’s blog is the Pet Health Care Gazette: Keeping Pets Healthy and Happy from A to Z. Lorie’s writing is personal and engaging. I feel like she’s talking directly to me. In addition to being a reliable resource on pet health issues, Lorie recently invited Jana Rade to write guest posts about Jasmine, “the most beautiful, sweetest, smartest Rottweiler puppy you have ever seen.” Jasmine suffered a host of medical problems from chronic diarrhea to ACL injuries to cancer scares. And, Jana suffered from veterinarians who didn’t listen to her and who refused to consider innovative therapies like injecting stem cells. Finally, Jana found a vet who would work with her and later a veterinarian who practiced TVMC or Traditional Veterinary Chinese Medicine. Jasmine’s is a cautionary tale and Lorie reflects on lessons we can learn from it in “Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?“. For example, “be an advocate for your pet’s health” and “don’t blindly trust your veterinarian.” You can read Jana’s and Jasmine’s story here, here, here, and here. A committed champion for animals Lorie also participates in “Blog the Change for Animals.” Follow Lorie on Twitter @Loriehuston and Facebook.
That’s it for this Friday. I hope you pay a visit to these outstanding veterinarians’ blogs and Facebook pages. Now I have to get back to not taking Sadie for walks and finding ways to tire her out by putting her furry, little brain to work.
I love your blogs, Deborah. I’m enjoying your fab 4 series. This one on veterinarians is particularly interesting to me, as my dogs have been to many!
I also want to point out that Dr. Lorie Huston is one of the co-moderators of #dogtalk, a Tweetchat occurring every Monday night at 7pm MDT. She has lent credibility to all of our discussions.
Thanks again for all you do, Deborah!
Thank you Hilary for pointing out Lorie Huston is a co-moderator of #dogtalk!
Thanks for this Fab Four! I’ve had a great time working with Dr Lorie Huston as a guest on #dogtalk, when she guest posted on my blog and in an upcoming round table discussion for #dogtalk. I used to read Dr Kuhly when she was Dolittler and she was always forthright as is Dr V – funny, witty; all are smart and really good writers so it’s a pleasure to read their work. I’ve heard of Dr Kay but for one reason or another she’s not been on the radar so thanks for this reminder!
Nicely done as always, Deborah;)
Thanks so much.