Catfight in the Kitchen: And Other Ruminations on Animals, Pets, and Spirituality

By Dr. Louis Kwates

This book is a collection of short stories based on veterinarian Dr. Louis Kwantes' experiences with pets and people. Could it be that animals might show sensitivities to spiritual realities that we are often too dull to notice? Are they participating in a very real world that we somehow tend to ignore? Touching, humorous, and thought provoking, these stories reveal something of the nature of learning and personal growth, and how animals can in some way be our spiritual guides. Things are not always as they appear... Readers may find themselves reflected in the characters presented, and pet owners will certainly relate to some of the situations described. The veterinary vignettes section includes episodes from North America as well as overseas, and chapters under mundane and miraculous include several parables told from the perspective of a pet. The final series of chapters, which contain information on caring for a variety of different pets, is a resource for current and prospective pet owners.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jun 12, 2008
• ISBN: 9781466978256

Dr. Louis Kwates

Dr. Louis Kwantes has been practicing veterinary medicine for more than 20 years since graduating from Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario in 1987. He has a Masters of Science in Tropical Veterinary Medicine from the University of Edinburgh, in 1989. He has worked in Haiti, Uzbekistan, Sultanate of Oman and Jordan although the last thirteen years he has mostly been practicing small and exotic companion animal medicine at Park Veterinary Centre in Sherwood Park, Alberta. He has published many newspaper articles. For four years he was veterinary expert on Canadian Learning Television 'Help TV' and for two, co-host of a weekly radio talk show called 'PET TALK'. He was (with his co-hosts) awarded the 2006 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association - Hill’s Public Relations Award. Growing up as a child of missionaries in Japan, he has always been interested in God and spiritual growth. The older he gets the more he finds he can learn from children and animals. He lives together with his wonderful and patient wife, three children-guides and five pet-guides in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada.

Book preview

PART 1

VETERINARY VIGNETTES

1 STRANGE

REASONING

Some lessons just have to be learned the hard way—things are not always as they seem.

One of my professors in Veterinary College was fond of telling his classes, More things are missed because of not looking than because of not knowing. In other words, we were to always remember to be thorough in our physical examinations. Our schooling trained us to rely heavily on our physical senses when performing a physical exam. The only sense on which we do not rely of course, is taste,-sight, sound, touch and smell however are all important in coming to an appreciation of any abnormalities in a patient. Another factor in reaching a diagnosis that can be just as important as the physical exam in many cases, is the history of health problems as relayed by a pet owner. By history I mean information such as how long the ailment has been going on, what the first abnormality noted was, what other changes there have been, and so forth.

That is why, when performing a health evaluation in our patients, we ask for historical and background information in addition to carefully examining a pet and using whatever other diagnostic tools we need. The desire to help sick animals get better is one of the main reasons people bring their pets to a veterinarian,-this is the primary reason people like me even want to become veterinarians. So it was with some consternation that I could not find out what was wrong with Mr. Dumfries’ dog. I had just gradu-

ated with my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and was eager to put into practice all the things I had learned in my classes and residency. Yet no matter what I did we could not find out what Jupiter’s illness was, much less find an appropriate therapy to control the scratching that she was doing at home.

It started out innocently enough—Mr. Dumfries had phoned the clinic where I was a newly hired associate vet and booked an appointment to get his dog Jupiter checked for a skin ailment. She had been scratching ever since she was a young pup he said, and it was getting worse. Several months earlier she had been spayed. According to the medical records, there was no history of any scratching or skin problem at that time. My physical examination of Jupiter revealed no abnormalities either. There was no indication of redness, no sign of swelling, no hint of hair loss, and no suggestion of scratch marks. When I told Mr. Dumfries that there were no symptoms associated with skin problems at all, he retorted, Are you going to believe me or not, son? She needs help and if you can’t give it to her here I will just have to take her elsewhere. I hurriedly assured him that if Jupiter was scratching she was scratching, and I would try to help. In most cases, I told him, an underlying dermatologic problem usually shows up as skin lesions. In cases where there are no lesions but scratching is intense, we usually at least see evidence of scratching. Scratching certainly could result from hormonal or behavioral problems that would not result in a sickly looking skin, but this demanded additional testing. We would start with screening blood work and likely progress to skin biopsies and possibly to allergy testing. Mr. Dumfries readily agreed to this. Although he knew the cost of getting a definitive diagnosis might be high, he seemed very committed to doing the best he could for his pet.

The blood analysis results were normal in all respects. The next step, biopsy of the skin, proved to be a bit of a