Pet talk

By Lisa Whiting, DVM (medicinewoman84@hotmail.com)

In my twelfth year of life, I experienced one of those significant “ah-ha” moments. I had loved animals all my life and I had been begging my parents for a horse for as long as I could remember. That summer my parents finally gave in and bought me my first pony. I was in heaven! I spent countless hours with that pony. We could have slept together if my mom would have let me sleep in the barn. Darn mother….

Within weeks of getting my new pony, I learned that horses need routine worming, shots and “floating” all of which sounded real importatnt to a 12 year old. So I called the local large animal vet and made an appointment to have him come out and perform the work. From the moment he pulled up the driveway, I was in love. He got out of his heavy duty pickup eating an ice cream cone and holding a lead rope. Wow, a job where you get to be with horses all day AND eat ice cream! I was hooked. From that moment on I set my sights on becoming a veterinarian.

Years later I became that veterinarinarin. I still eat ice cream, but I never went into a horse only practice. Oh, I still treat horses these days, but they are my own. In fact I have a very large family consisting of 2 rescued Boxers, a rescued Rat Terrier, a Pug, 2 horses, and an ever expanding flock of chickens…..those baby chicks are just so cute…

I hope you can tell by now that this blog is about animals. All kinds. Large ones, small ones, and the unusual ones. Ones that are nice, and ones that need to learn to be nice. Along the way I hope to answer your questions about your pets. I would also like to take the time to share my experiences with the animals I have known over the years and their sometimes goofy owners. So please feel free to add your comments and send in your questions. Together we will learn something new.