Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly just keeps getting better and better (and she was great to start with!). Hers is without question one of the most honest and powerful voices in veterinary medicine. She has been on a roll lately with a series of must-read posts about veterinary ethics, arthritis treatment, bloodwork and what happens when a person can’t pay for necessary vet care.
Just go read ‘em all. And if you only read one other pet-related blog — other than this one, of course! – it has to be Dolittler.
The independent VIN News Service, the pet project of another of those voices, VIN co-founder Dr. Paul Pion, continues to develop its own niche. Some of the stories are not of huge interest outside the veterinary community, but others are must-reads for all. VNS also covers the ethics issue at the core of Dr. K’s post, and its top-notch staff of medical, science and trade reporters will continue to break open the industry for the public — and veterinarians themselves — to look at more closely.
Of special note to pet-lovers, Timothy Kirn’s piece on interpersonal skills in veterinary medicine:
Many medical professionals once believed that bedside manner and empathy traits were hardwired — clinicians either displayed compassion or they didn’t — and few schools bothered to teach the skills required to comfort and reassure patients.
Now that notion has been turned on its head. During the past few years, the veterinary profession has embraced the idea that clinicians can be taught to become better listeners and more sympathetic, and some say that in veterinary medicine, this type of training is sorely needed.
More here. And when you’re there, add the RSS feed to your reader.
Forced spay-neuter is still in play in many locales, especially California, where a rehashed version of last year’s defeated bill is now in committee. As usual, this isn’t about reducing shelter populations — forced spay-neuter doesn’t do that — but sticking it to poor people and reputable breeders, while inserting the government into a medical decision that should be made on an individual basis by a pet’s owner with advice of a veterinarian. Contrary to wide-spread belief, spaying and neutering are not all pro and no con for the animal involved, although the cost-benefit analysis still leans towards altering for most pets when all factors — including convenience for the owner and behavior — are taken into account.
Over on Lassie Get Help, Luisa lays it all out. The AVMA, the ASPCA and the no-kill nation get it that forced spay-neuter kills more pets and drives pet-owners away from care for their animals. Why don’t the spittle-spewing haters of the animal rights movement, who just keep selling this reheated slop to well-meaning pet-lovers, get it? Oh, sorry …: I already answered my own question. It’s about hate, not saving pets.
From Lassie Get Help:
How is it that being a “responsible” pet owner here in California might soon involve mandatory surgery on your pet rather than, you know, actual responsibility? What kind of state mandates removal of your dog’s reproductive parts – then turns around and punishes people for cutting tails off cows?
More here. And by the way, you know how I feel about factory farming (cruel, environmentally devastating and a health risk for us all). Cows crammed in these big dairies are unhappy enough. Let them keep their fly-swatters, fergoshsakes. I support SB 135 as I supported Prop. 2. Farming reform is food reform: It tips the scale back to humane, sustainable and regional family farms and lays a strong anti-cruelty foundation that industrial animal agriculture has long needed.
As for forced spay-neuter, if you’re in California call the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and tell them why SB 250 is more about animal-rights vendettas than pet-owner responsibility … and won’t solve the problem of helping people and helping pets.
ConsumerAffairs.com is reporting that Greenies chews will soon be available through veterinarians and pet specialty stores only — no general retailers (hat tip to Shirley at Yes, Biscuit!):
“We believe that pet medical professionals at veterinary hospitals and well-trained, knowledgeable staff at pet specialty stores are best equipped to answer pet owners’ questions about our products and to make the right recommendation,” said Carolyn Hanigan, vice president of marketing for Nashville, Tenn.-based NUTRO.
Now, I have long argued that the problem with Greenies was that it was an entity that actually could be identified and sued, as opposed to, say, the distributor of generic imported rawhide. Anything your dog chews has risks and benefits, and we have to be sure we choose an appropriate chew for our dog’s size and chewing style, and monitor our pet’s chewing. (Irony of ironies: When I read the story on ConsumerAffairs.com, the Google-generated ad pitched Greenies from a catalog company.)
Got something good? Throw it in the comments.
The new “Cash For Clunkers” program is creating quite a stir in auto dealerships across the nation, as many people realize that incentives like this don’t come around very often in the auto industry.
Seems everyone’s pretty interested in that now, especially car companies, who have figured out that pet-lovers are worth chasing. Point of fact: We caught Honda completely unaware in 2007 when we named their 
