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Tales of a Pet Vet: Stories from the Clinic and House Calls

Read an excerpt

One morning last spring I started my day as usual, reviewing the list of house calls on the schedule. As a mobile veterinarian, my day was full of visits, including a stop at a breeder’s farm to examine fifteen Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppies. Puppies always brought a lot of fun, but that morning’s schedule and accompanying notes told me that the pups’ wellness visit was going to have to wait until the end of the day.

The rest of my stops read like a script from an episode of a pet ER show on Animal Planet. The first appointment was urgent. Mabel, a Labradoodle, had gotten her paw caught between the iron scrolls of a barstool. Her owner, Mrs. Lerner, had frantically described a bloody, chaotic scene. Poor Mabel was howling and gnawing at the paw, trying to escape. My answering service had written in all capital letters, PLEASE SEE FIRST, in case I hadn’t already discerned that Mabel was the patient most in need of my help. Before I continued reading the list, I called out to my assistant to contact the local police about borrowing their Jaws of Life tool—again.

My second stop also involved a limb injury, but this one was much more mysterious. Gidget, a healthy Jack Russell terrier, had been left home alone the day before while her owner worked a double shift. Gidget was able to use the dog door to go outside and relieve herself. When her owner returned at the end of the day, Gidget was missing a leg. The intake notes indicated that the owner could not locate the missing limb out in the yard, but there was a small area of blood near the fence. Other than the missing limb, Gidget did not seem to be in any distress.

Appointment number three was with a fifty-pound American pit bull terrier named Gandhi. He had eaten $500 worth of marijuana. As I gathered my supplies and headed out to the car to start my rounds, I wondered if the marijuana had been baked into brownies. I was worried about chocolate toxicity as much as the effects of the weed itself.

My last stop before I checked on those Cavalier pups was at a household that owned seven cats. Their owner had discovered vomit with fur and blood in it, and the pet hamster, Beluga, was missing from the Habitrail. The owner wasn’t sure which feline had done away with the hamster and wanted them all checked. While I was there, she was also requesting a hoof trim on her two pigs. So there you have it! A “typical” day in the life of a vet who makes house calls.

Dr. Dawn Filos has always had a passion for animals, and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, she’s turned that passion into a career. Here, with emotional honesty, Dr. Dawn shares her colorful, memorable journey, from nervous novice to seasoned, self-assured doctor. This modern-day James Herriot, ultimately finds her niche as a house-call vet, where she creates a way to practice on her own terms with the privilege of unique, intimate. Access into the homes and lives of her beloved patients and their human families. Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes sad, and often hilarious, Tales of a Pet Vet will resonate deeply with pet lovers everywhere.