Dinner with a Veterinarian Fianal Call

Our Veterinarian is willing to provide a directed forum on pet care / first aide issues. I have arranged for a venue at: The Elephant Bar and Restaurant

Rancho Bernardo, CA
17051 W. Bernardo Drive
(858) 487-7181


This will be an informal focused discussion event with open forum question and answer period. Dr. Rick will respond to those issues and topics as indicated in advance. Those of us in attendance will pick-up the Lunch/Dinner Tab for Dr. Rick and his wife (should she choose to attend). With ten of us in attendance - this should be no more than $6.00 each (plus our own meal/beverage tab). The current plan is that this event will occur during a late afternoon on a Saturday or Sunday in June. The actual date will depend upon Dr. Rick's availability.

To make this come to pass - we need to muster a minimum of 10 people. Due to the venue - this will be without pets (I did try to find a place that serves food and that will permit pets - but alas, to no avail).


To finalize this event:

• We need at least 10 people to confirm interest in attending this event.
  
• we need topics of interest that Dr. Rick can prepare for and present at the event.
  

Along with your statement of intent to attend, please provide your topics of interest and/or concern. I will provide a list of the most commonly stated topics to Dr. Rick so that he can prepare. Needless to say time may preclude addressing all enumerated topics. If this proves successful we may repeat it and we may try to develop a pool of veterinarians to draw from.



Here are some topics I thought of:

• Rattlesnake venom Vaccine - pros/cons, case histories.
  
• Poisonous Plants (ingestion)
  
• Poisonous insect stings and bites
  
• Pet First Aid in the Back Country
  
• What to do if your pet has been stung hundreds of times or more from swarming bees.
  
• Heat Stress signs, symptoms, and first aid.
  
• Annual Vaccines for Older pets - is better for the pet to go without - some evidence (reportedly) indicate yes.
  
• Broken Bones - blunt trauma first aide.
  
• Toxic algae in local waters - is there a risk to our pets?
  
• FYI: Lyme Disease, Giardiasis, Parvo, West Nile, Canine Influenza, raccoon Worm, Chagas Disease.
  
• Zoonooses: What can our pets transmit to us?
  
• Toxic Toys (lead and other chemicals in dog toys).
  
• Tainted Pet Food - what are industry safeguards, how prevalent is it ?, how do you recognize it or its manifestation in a pets health?
  
• How safe are local ponds and streams in terms of biologic and chemical hazards?
  
• Chemical Exposure - lots of illegal dumping in the back country: illegal drug labs, industry and agricultural waste/runoff, mining. How prevalent is this, what first aid should be rendered if our animals come in contact with or ingest these chemicals?
  
• Removal of cactus spines - when is a veterinarian visit necessary?
  
• Pet behavior issues.
  
• Parasites: are our pets at risk from parasites endemic in wild animals?
  
• Do our pets transmit disease to wildlife?
  
• Nutrition in the Older Dog and special commercial dietary formularies.
  

Please provide your response here or email me directly. If we do not generate sufficient interest in this forum, I will arrange a specific date and I will post it as a meetup with the caveat that is there is insufficient interest, then the meetup will be canceled.

Andra wants to attend. Will post my topics of interest later.

Thanks for continuing to get this set up for us.

Count Leanne in too. I am interested in first aid topic in the wilderness or backcountry. Also just how bad of a mom am I to let my dogs drink from the local creeks and Lakes. :)

Hi Andra!

I hope all is well with Bear and Kalani!

Please feel free to extend the Dinner and Vet to your Golden Retriever Club as well.



Cheers Leanne! I hope all is well with your pack too. Glad your participating as well!


David (AKA) and crew!

Given the focus of the group, I'd vote for backcountry threats and dangers, and how to minimize, mitigate and/or treat them.

You could always set up a poll ; )

Doggie CPR great topic and in emergencies, when out hiking, types of doggie first aid we can do, snake bites, bee stings hurt paws etc.

Andra, Bear & Kalani

Hi David,

Hope all is well. I'd like to attend, as long as my schedule permits. As far as topics, I think the suggestions posted by Nathan and Andra are what I'd be most interested in learning about. Thanks!

I'd like to attend-depending on the date and time. I work some evenings.

I'm new to the list but would be interested in vaccinations and his take on shock collars for rattlesnake avoidance. I 'm assuming that's what your rattlesnake classes are?

Jan

I'd like to attend, and since this group does things primarily outdoors, I'd be interested in any topic that pertains to that... safety, first aid, rattle snake venom, what to carry in a first aid kit, keeping paws safe, drinking from ponds, etc.

Thanks so much for setting this up.

Judy

DR. Rick has a copy of the topic list and the web address for this site; if you have a topic of special interest, post it here.

Dr. Rick will choose a date convenient to him, we are currently looking at mid July or after. I am sorry this has taken so long to get this off the ground, I committed my time as a volunteer this spring and early summer which piggy-backed into graduation season.

I have since found another veterinarian who is interested in presenting a focused discussion to the group - and I may have third vet on line too - our initial discussions were very encouraging. When Dr. Rick provides a date - I will post the event - if this goes over well I will try to setup follow-up events with the other vets.

Stay tuned.


David aka