This column originally was published in the Tribune on May 15, 2000.
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Sugar used to get in trouble for digging in the flower bed to bury her bones, but she's learned she is not supposed to do that. Instead she presents the bone to her mistress then whines until she buries it for her in the flower bed.
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There is a rueful saying among vets that doing a lousy job of ear cropping is the best way to make sure a dog will live a long healthy life. For 25 or 20 years, people will look at the dog and say "Geez, what happened to his ears?"
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For some time I thought George, the cat belonging to the Wallis family, was named after the governor. But I found out he was named after the "Curious George" in books because he was so curious as a kitten.
One day George was snooping around and fell down head first behind the water heater and was wedged in tight. He didn't meow. No one knew how long he'd been there when they found him.
Dad came home from work; they called a plumber for advice; Dad spent more than an hour draining and moving the water heater. George shot out past Dad like a cannon and never even said, "Thanks."
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I looked twice at the breed listed for BJ, a cross between a miniature dachshund and a Labrador retriever? I had to know more.
Agatha, BJ's mother, was actually part black Lab and part Irish setter. She looked like a big black Irish setter. BJ's father, Bitte, was a purebred black and tan miniature dachshund.
The owner walked in on the two of them during BJ's conception. He said the willing Agatha, had backed into position and the busy father-to-be, Bitte, was balancing precariously on the arm of the couch.
The two of them had reached the stage, normal in dogs, when they were temporarily but firmly "tied together." It must have been most uncomfortable when the startled and embarrassed Agatha walked away. Bitte was left hanging, so to speak.
Nature has taken pains to eliminate coitus interruptus as a method of canine birth control.
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Janet brought new cat in for treatment of a bite wound abscess. Her husband, Roy, was sure the cat was pregnant but it turned out to be a fat male cat. We also gave the first vaccinations.
Roy has kept all sorts of livestock over a considerable number of years and I think he was disgruntled and embarrassed about not being able to tell the difference between a girl and boy cat. He is also - shall we say - frugal, and not as excited as Janet about taking on the expense of this new family member.
When he came in to pay the bill he told Carrie, the receptionist, that the cat had run away. "Take him off your records," He said, "And don't send any reminder cards."
A day or two later, Janet called and made an appointment for booster shots for the same cat.
"Oh, did he come back?" Carrie asked.
"Come back? He was never gone," Janet answered.
The two of them got even with Roy. Carrie made up a bogus $85 bill for a "records and reminders reinstatement fee" and Janet took it home and presented it to Roy. I thought that was funny, but also poor judgment. Roy is getting to the age where the stress of seeing a bill like that can be risky.
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Roen is a retired Clarkston veterinarian whose columns were published weekly in the Lewiston Tribune for more than 30 years. He may be contacted at jazzvet@cableone.net.
