I would like to take a momentary break from my emails of self-discovery to tell you guys some factual stuff. The reason I don’t do that much is because honestly, most of it is boring, and we are inundated by so much information that its nice to have a little story now and again.
Now sit down and listen to me. This is not boring.
Ticks are coming back. The most common tick is the deer tick, and it carries Lyme disease. Lyme disease is real, and at least in our population of dogs, pretty common.
Trying to protect our patients, we recommend 3 things you can do to protect your dog (Lets say for sake of simplicity that cats can’t get Lyme).
#1 Test yearly. Since Lyme has signs that are all over the place, and since we have a pretty accurate test in veterinary medicine, we recommend all dogs be tested yearly. Most of the positives we find do not have a history of ticks being removed by the owner. That means they are getting on and off without most people noticing.
#2 Tick control. The options are many now, and I wrote anemail that explains my opinions on the current state of tick control. For those who want to review the options, by all means click away. If you are overwhelmed too and just want to go with what we decided have the balance of safety and efficacy: Advantix as a topical and Nexgard as a chewable. I think both work pretty well. If you have a dog that you carry around every where it goes, and it has no hair, you may not need this second level. Otherwise, we should talk
#3 Lyme vaccination. I held off on this recommendation until two years ago. Fact is, I only want to recommend vaccines that are necessary and effective, and this one is not 100%. Its more like 70-80%. But since every 5th dog we see if Lyme positive, it seems like beggars can’t be choosers.
Now, a couple widespread rumors about Lyme I would like to squash now.
You can’t get rid of it once its in your system-I don’t know about in people, but in dogs we usually get rid of it with a course of antibiotics. Now, the test we do is an antibody test, so it will stay positive after we treat, but not for long. 75% of dogs that are treated will be negative (or below the clinical threshold) in 1 year.
Dogs can give Lyme disease to other dogs or kids-A tick bite is necessary to transmit Lyme. And on top of that, the tick has to be on for greater than 24 hours.
It is called Limes disease-Limes do not carry the disease, ticks do. And its named after the town where it was first identified …Lyme Connecticut.
So, if you do tick control, start it now.
The second bit of information I have to share is harder for me. Dr Karen Pooler has gotten married and is moving to the Waterville area. Fortunately for us, she is staying at Kindred Spirits, but she is decreasing her schedule to twice weekly. Her new days will be Thursday and Friday.
Please feel free to send her encouraging emails (or blackmail her to stay…your call) at [email protected]
Karen has been an important part of Kindred Spirits. She was the reason I chose to expand the practice, because she had the combination of clinical excellence, compassion, and excellent communication skills that I think are necessary to be a good veterinarian. Plus, she sits on the floor with the animals and did it before we met…it has saved me a ton of money on exam tables.
So, during this time of change, I have decided to ask a veterinarian in the community, Dr Abby Arena, to work one day a week. What I do not want is a practice with large turn over. I have seen businesses that always had new faces (Massimo’s in Bangor jumps to mind, but there are veterinary clinics too), and I want a team that you can get to know and depend on.
I reached out to Abby because I met her on a spay day at the Bangor Humane Society. She was the most enthusiastic vet student I had ever met, and I wrote one of her letters to get into Vet school. That was many years ago, and she came back to work in the area in Winterport and Waterville. She also does veterinary care at the Greyhound Rescue, and Waterville Humane Society. I love that she carried a commitment to homeless pets in her practice of veterinary medicine.
I get it that people move on… Dr Miller lived in Steuben and although we enjoyed having him, I think that the drive was simply too much. Karen solved this for now by staying with her sister who lives in Bangor and I have slashed Dr Chris Barry’s tires so that he can’t get away. I really did identify that I am happiest when I am seeing clients, so that works well into the future.
The new schedule of doctors is:
Monday-Dr Arena/Dr Hanks
Tuesday-Dr Barry/Dr Hanks
Wednesday-Dr Barry/Dr Hanks
Thursday-Dr Barry/Dr Hanks/Dr Pooler
Friday-Dr Barry/Dr Pooler
We will still schedule with individual doctors, so when you set up an appointment, its for one of us. I encourage you to meet Dr Arena…for you who have followed my blog all along, you will remember that I wrote about her years ago when she was a student……
And as always, our staff will do that actual work when you come in. Although we do the diagnosis and treatment plan and any surgeries, the reality is that the real work is done by my penguins.
For those of you who have not read our Facebook, I call our team members penguins because years ago Mary started the tradition of “pinning” the staff with a small penguin.You may have seen it on their scrubs or jacket.
It comes on a card with this printed on it:
The Power of Team
The flightless fairy penguin of Australia stands less than a foot tall and is clumsy on land, where the fox is its natural enemy. Alone, one penguin wouldn’t survive for long. So, after each day in the water, they gather where the surf meets the shore, waiting until the last penguin joins them.
Then shoulder to shoulder they march up the beach to their burrows.
They support each other
They rely on each other
And everyone except the fox, wins
We are a stronger team because of you.
Each morning now I start the day after rounds by saying “Go Penguins”. That is how everyone knows that rounds have ended. If you had told me that would be true 10 years ago, I probably would have looked at you like you had three heads. Funny how things happen.
Dr Barry was pinned at our team Christmas party. I wore a special penguin hat, and there might have been adult beverages involved. For those of you that are new to the practice, I just wanted to let you know what you are in for. For those of you who have been here for awhile, I’m sure none of this will come as much of a surprise.
Have a good week!
Mark
