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Veterinary Practice News March 2010 Letters to the Editor
Be Money Smart
Editor:
Dr. Patty Khuly’s recent Reality Check column [“It’s Time to Cure What Ails New Grads,” February 2010] was informative, but I feel it is an approach that is doomed to fail.
I believe that new grads need to be aware of the real world. The No. 1 problem facing new grads and the world as a whole is debt management. The entire economy is failing because this generation has failed to answer the simple question of not “Can I?” but “Should I”?
If a new graduate is going to graduate with a $130,000-plus debt, then academia needs to attack the problem before the person graduates, not after. Potential graduates need to be fully informed about the costs of education. Just because they can get a loan does not mean they should get the loan.
Expecting the previous generation of veterinarians to “pay it forward” for the lack of planning and poor decisions of current graduates is a plan that is doomed to fail just like the mortgage crisis. Academia needs to ask the question of potential students of not “can” you be a veterinarian but “should” you be a veterinarian with an unbearable loan and a burden on yourself and society.
Yes, I agree that some of the brighter students may not achieve their dream, but a dream of the burden of debt management and the lifelong stress is never any person’s dream.
Andrew Bloom, DVM, MS
Bovine Health Services
Windthorst, Texas
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The Wrong Answer
Editor:
First, I hope the people in Stanislaus County, Calif., are aware that there are veterinarians, clinic owners and clinic workers who are more interested in turning a buck than they are in drastically reducing the 14,000 euthanasias brought to the county’s Animal Services over a one-year span [“Shelter Crosses Line, Some Vets Contend,” January 2010].
Secondly, I hope the residents instead patronize clinics run by people who see an average of 39.33 euthanasias a day as unacceptable.
Lastly, the article quoted a vet tech who stated there was “nothing the government can do better than the private industry.” Someone should take the liberty to forward the article to her local fire and police departments. I can only assume that with such a brazen, foolhardy opinion she would wave off a fire truck if ever there were a need and she would grab a hose to prove a point.
It is an outrage that any member of the animal health care industry would protest a means of reducing the number of euthanasias and making spays and neuters affordable to as many people as possible.
Andrea Berger, DVM
World Vets Project Leader
San Jose, Calif.
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How to Do Declaws
Editor:
I find that people who have problems with declaws do not understand cat nail anatomy [“Declaws Should Be Performed Humanely,” Web Exclusive].
When I perform declaws, I use a surgical blade and remove only P3. The weight-bearing is on the pad, not on the claw. Approximately 3-4 mm of bone is between P2 and the pad that is removed when declawing. P2 drops onto the pad and everything else is the same. All my own cats have been declawed and act normally. They act like they are sharpening their claws and walk without pain.
Certainly a human with their P3 removed would have serious problems. Don’t apply problems that humans would have onto cats that don’t use P3 like we do.
I agree that pain management is essential with declaws. If the surgeon is competent, the cat will do fine. As far as I’m concerned, anyone using a nail trimmer should stop.
Mark C. Pirrung, DVM
South Mesquite Veterinary Hospital
Mesquite, Texas
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Down Is a Downer
Editor:
I was happy to see the “low down” on down products being brought to everyone’s attention [“Down With Live-Plucked Down,” The Bond and Beyond, January 2010].
Thank you, Dr. Alice Villalobos!
I have avoided down-filled products for the last two decades. I have a synthetic duvet that is toasty warm and cruelty-free.
We do not need to support this industry. Spread the word. This is just one factory farming industry that is problematic. There are many more that need to be addressed. I would love to see more of these topics covered.
As veterinarians, let us set the example for animal welfare for all species.
Fran Rotondo, B.Sc., DVM
Animal Hospital of Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
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Veterinary Practice News March 2010 Letters to the Editor
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