Tell Us What You Think

Real cases. Real talk. This week Dr. Angie pulls back the curtain on what actually came through her exam room door and what it's like to be an integrative veterinarian who cares deeply for her patients.

A heartworm positive dog arrives from Texas. A cat parent introduces Dr. Angie to microchips that read body temperature at home. Giardia shows up in what feels like every stool sample of the week. An ER clinic runs an Addison's disease test on a dog that came in with diarrhea. And one mystery patient: a dog with a history of allergies, off balance, scratching without making contact is keeping Dr. Angie up at night with a suspected inner ear infection.

This is what veterinary medicine actually looks like from the inside.

🎓 Want help building an integrative care plan for your dog or cat? Book a consult at boulderholisticvet.com

Key Takeaways

• Heartworm is rare in Colorado but not impossible, especially in dogs adopted from Southern states. Prevention is far easier than treatment.
• The slow kill heartworm method is not recommended by the American Heartworm Society for young, healthy dogs. The fast kill protocol is the standard of care.
• Microchip technology now exists that can read your pet's temperature without a rectal thermometer. It's ISO compliant and it's up and coming.
• Giardia found in stool doesn't always mean Giardia is causing the diarrhea. That context matters a lot when deciding whether and how to treat.
• When a dog with chronic ear infections suddenly acts neurologically off with balance issues, scratching without making contact, leaning into walls an inner ear infection is a serious consideration.
• ER clinics should stabilize and return. When an ER jumps to rare, expensive diagnostics like an Addison's workup for a dog with a straightforward diarrhea history, that's worth questioning.
• A good integrative vet advocates for you and your pet without throwing other vets under the bus.

Sound Bites:

"I'm starting to get really prickly with these ER clinics that are spending way too much of my client's money." — Dr. Angie

"That is a hill you will die on." — JoJo

"Preventing heartworm disease is so much better than treating it." — Dr. Angie

"It's not a good look to throw another veterinarian under the bus." — JoJo

"Those are the thoughts that keep me up. And so she has my cell phone number." — Dr. Angie

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