Thoughts On My Thoughts: The Tales That Wagged This Veterinarian

By Walter R. Hoge DVM

In 1952 Stanley L. Miller carried out the Miller-Urey experiment which showed that complex organic molecules could be synthesized from inorganic compounds. This discovery gave a huge boost to the scientific investigation of the origin of life. Indeed, for some time it seemed like creation of life in a test tube was within reach of experimental s

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958030059

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Thoughts On My Thoughts.

Copyright © 2022 by Walter R. Hoge, DVM. All rights reserved.

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THOUGHTS ON MY THOUGHTS

The Tales That Wagged This Veterinarian

Preface

In 1973 after spending nine years - including three summers in college, graduate school, and veterinary school I began practicing veterinary medicine. I graduated in the top ten percent of my class, passed exams allowing me to practice in several states, and in a little cocky way felt that I was well prepared with current knowledge to be successful in my chosen career. I at first was even a little judgmental of how experienced veterinarians in the field were practicing their trade. However, I soon realized that even though my colleagues maybe were not doing things I had learned in school they were healing their patients, had good communication skills, were respected in the community, successfully running a business, and paying their bills. I soon made it a goal to observe and learn the art of veterinary practice my successful peers were using before I developed my practice methods. Over the years I have taken the time to share this learned advice to candidates interviewing for their first job out of veterinary school.

One day I was visiting with a condominium owner in Oakland California who in a joking manner said, I understand that your business is going to the dogs. I was so into my prideful self from my accomplishments in school that I allowed this statement to offend me. This was the first of many jolts that helped me get off my pedestal of importance and into the reality that if I truly wanted to have joy in my chosen career that it would only come from serving the client in a way that I would like to be served, being prepared to care for the patient with the best standard of care available and being honest with myself that I would not be happy long if I just looked at my job as a job. I am pleased to report that I have been practicing veterinary medicine for forty-eight years and have been at the same location for forty-five years. I’ve had ups and downs but never considered leaving my career except for two times. One was to care for my kid’s mom when she was dying from cancer and she insisted that I could never be very happy if I sold my practice. The other was when I had a stroke and realized that if I were to die that my estate would be mostly tied up in my practice and building which most likely would place financial stress on one of my five children who worked with me. My son and I sold the practice to a corporation, they did not want to keep me on staff because of my stroke, they agreed to let me at least come and care for some of my clients and I have been back to work ever since. Our society talks about burnout and depression – my mind thinks about what a wonderful day in the neighborhood I had visiting with and carry for the needs of clients I’ve known for years. Over the years I have fortunately missed few days from work and the pattern continues to this day. At my age, I have many a day that I feel tired, a little down, or with aches and pains that I’d rather not face. However, as I drive home from work I usually have had an uplifting and joyful experience that has stimulated my brain plasticity. I’m currently at work less than usual and find that when I’m away that it’s easier to get bored and down some even when I have things to keep me busy. 

My youngest son, Jeremy, worked with me for twelve years after graduating from veterinary school. We were known as Dr. Knowledge and Dr. Wisdom. Dr. Knowledge acquired his status by being acquainted with current facts, truths, and principles about veterinary medicine that were primarily gained through books, research, delving into facts, and hands-on experience under the guidance of one possessing knowledge and wisdom. Dr. Wisdom acquired his status of the power of discernment and judging properly as to what is true or right from the attainment of knowledge and experiences acquired over time. Marilyn Vos Savant summarized these thoughts when she wrote, To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. 

The adventure of writing this book began in the middle of 2010 when one of the leaders in my church assigned me to contact and minister to families that for various reasons were not attending religious services and let him know if they had any special needs. I found that most of these people wished not to be personally visited and, since sending emails or texts was not very personal, in my somewhat bashful way I started writing heartfelt letters that I hoped would be uplifting and of interest to them. I later began sending letters to clients I had become close to that were suffering from medical, aging, lonely or anxiety issues. Lastly, I knew that some of my children would eventually wonder about my thoughts and life experiences and that a journal would most likely never be read. With this in mind, I tried to write about interesting subjects occurring in the world that had influenced my life.

When looking over a career I’m sure most of us at one time or the other wonder if we had ever taken the opportunity to make a difference in anyone’s life. It seems like most of my Adams Apple caught in my mouth moist-eyed experiences have come unexpectedly, were not because of my medical or surgical abilities and happened because I took a little extra time listening to the client and letting them know that I did have an interest in them and the struggles they were going through. The song Have I Done Any Good? has filtered more often in my mind as my career and life’s pace have slowed down. 

Included is a letter I received from a client that I do not remember or the events that she refers to. However, it is one of the special moments that unexpectedly from time to time have come my way that have uplifted me in my life and career in a way that fame or fortune alone couldn’t ever provide. Hopefully, you will find the experiences I share in THOUGHTS ON MY THOUGHTS – The Tales That Wagged This Veterinarian will lift your spirits a bit and help you gain more appreciation for the animal kingdom we share our lives with on this beautiful planet in which we live. 

January 26, 2021

Dr. Walter Hoge

Camden Pet Hospital

4960 Camden Ave

San Jose, CA 95124

Dear Dr. Hoge:

I wanted to reach out to you and thank you for everything you have done for me over the years. The last time we spoke was a few years ago when we put our wonderful Yellow lab Jett down. It was such an awful time in my life. I had left my abusive husband of 23 years and took Jett with me. I couldn’t leave Jett as my ex-husband had mistreated Jett and threatened to kill him on many occasions.

I rented a condo and the owner made a number of inappropriate advances. When I let him know I was not going to have any kind of a relationship with him, he evicted me. Then I was trying to find another place to live in a short amount of time with a 90-pound lab.

I took Jett to my friends’ 60-acre ranch in San Juan Bautista. It was so hard on him. He lived in the house with us and on the ranch, the dogs lived outside in kennels. He was attacked by a raccoon and had a terrible infection on his back. When he recovered from that, he then had diabetes. Of course, then we came to see you. We, my daughter and I, were heartbroken. I know Jett loved to see you and I cannot express my gratitude for your compassion for him when it came time to let him go.

I left all my material possessions in the divorce. My ex-husband threatened to kill me many times and was so afraid I let him have everything. I started over. I met a wonderful man who would not hurt me if his life depended on it. We eventually moved to Shingle Springs, CA (off Hwy 50, 15 minutes before Placerville).

I know the soft spot you have for labs. We have 2, a 13-year-old Chocolate, my step dog, and a 3-year old Yellow. My Yellow, Dexter, completed the CGC AKC program and once COVID restrictions are lifted we plan on working on therapy dog and scent training/games. He’d do well at doc dogs too. He would fetch out of the pool all day if you let him. When we stop throwing, he will throw the ball himself. We live on an acre and have a 200-acre farm. The dogs love it. :)

Stephanie, my daughter, lives in Campbell with her husband, two cats, and a black lab mix. One of her cats is Pickles (Polly Pickles in your records). We adopted her from your office many years ago. They are all fine. You probably won’t see her. Her father still lives in the old house close to your office and he was abusive to her as well. She decided to not have a relationship with him and does not want to risk a chance encounter.

Sometimes we don’t know the impact we have on others. You made a point to let me know that everything will work out. Your kind words meant the world to me at a time when hope was scarce. I’m semi-retired and have time to appreciate the good things in my life now. Please know you are one of the good things, thank you. 

I quote you often especially to people with young rambunctious dogs In two years they will settle down. You were so right on that one. 

I see your son is working in the practice now. That has to be a great thing to see him successful and thriving. I wish you all the happiness and blessings life has to offer. 

Kindest regards,

Cindy

"Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today because

I was willing to share? Have the sick and

the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?"

Have I Done Any Good?

Music and Lyrics by Will L. Thompson, 1847–190

Walter G. Hoge Thoughts on Walter R. Hoge as a Child

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Goethe 1749-1832

My father, the son of a dentist, was raised in the town of Blackfoot Idaho. He played in the high school band for four years, earned a letter in football, and was on the debate team that for two years in a row won the state championship. He played in a dance band during high school and continued playing to help earn money for college until he graduated the first time from BYU in 1936. He had little to no exposure to the animal kingdom until I came on the scene. I remember that dad did not belittle or discourage my interests. He believed that agency to choose was a gift from God and all mankind should be allowed his freedom of choice no matter the outcome. I had the impression that dad would have liked me to follow in his footsteps, but I know as human medicine changed and he saw the opportunities availed me in veterinary medicine he complimented me on my career choice several times in his later years. In the middle of a surgery, my eldest newly married son called me. He was graduating from college with a soon to be awarded accounting degree placed in his pocket and he was trying to decide on a job offer from a firm in Utah and one in California that my Camden Pet Hospital business was a client. He was troubled as to which offer to take and wanted my advice. Wishing with all my heart that he would come to California, I gave him the choice of agency that my father had given me years ago. I suspected at the time that he had a wife that wished to live near her family which weighed heavily on Chris’ decision and that a happy wife raises the odds for a happy life. Following his experiences, over the years his family has had a happy life and a successful career.

Reading my father’s autobiography several years after his death I have come to appreciate how he accepted the passion I had for animals and the joy I had playing and working with them. I would like to share his thoughts on my life living under his roof:

…There is a concrete drive into the garage, chain link fences around the house, and barbed wire around the pasture. By this time the pasture is supporting only several horses, a couple of them are ours and sometimes the Lilyas’ (Barbara Ann’s family – my sister) bring theirs into pasture for a while. When the children were growing up, we had a variety of animals, mostly Rich’s: cows, swine, sheep, chickens, rabbits, Chinese pheasants (from eggs rescued by Rich when some farm machinery about turned the nest over). Rich also brought in fish, polliwogs, fighting cocks, hamsters, a chipmunk, mice, white rats, and, I am sure, a lot of other things. The white rats (added – there were several generations from several rats and a couple of them got loose in the house helping my family make this decision) ended up going to Idaho State University as experimental animals. We only had one dog, Judy, which we all loved, and any number of stray cats that hung around looking for mice but never got inside the house. I am sure all of these animals kept Rich’s interest stimulated, finally directing him into veterinary medicine. Autobiography by Walter Grimmett Hoge, M.D., Born March 13, 1914, Chapter 3, page 23

While attending an FFA (Future Farmers of America) meeting in Kansas City Kansas my prize New Hampshire sow named Miss Royal Charm the IV was farrowing and having trouble delivering her piglets. My father the M.D. surgeon and general practitioner brought home his sterile obstetrical and gynecology instrument pack in a house call medical bag full of drugs and supplies with sterile gloves. He knelt in a stall full of straw and muck and saved the day by helping Miss Royal Charm IV deliver a fine litter. What more could you ask from a father? If you asked my father, he would have probably mentioned my mother who was raised on a ranch and had a lot of influence on my interest in animals and my father’s tolerance of me. Maybe this is a little like the influence my daughter-in-law had on where my son Chris went to work and the born before Christ Athenian statesman Themistocles’ comment about his happy wife, happy life deal.

Themistocles  (527- 460 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and general whose emphasis on naval power and military skills were instrumental during the Persian wars, victory in which ensured that Greece survived its greatest ever threat. He once said jokingly that his son, who was spoiled by his mother and through her by himself, was more powerful than any man in Greece, ‘for the Athenians command the Greeks, I command the Athenians, his mother commands me, and he commands her. Themistocles, 95, 527 - 460 BCE

Most Influencing Teacher Lovell

As a young lad, I had a New Zealand White doe rabbit that was quite a bit overweight. One day I heard her screaming in her cage and my father and I figured she had broken her back because the rear legs could not lift her. Rabbits reproduce rapidly and are next to plants at the bottom of the food chain, in the sense that rabbits are natural food for any carnivore. They are normally very quiet, can be trained to use a litter box, usually like to be pet, and have a calming effect in the home. Most people would describe a bunny scream as a very loud intensive squeak. Once heard you will never forget the sound. The most common reason why a rabbit screams from intense fear or pain. In the wilds a screaming rabbit usually means it is trying to startle a predator enough to escape. Another fear motivated defense mechanism used by rabbits is laying on their back and looking completely relaxed. This is called trancing or hypnotizing, but it’s actually Tonic Immobility. It is considered to be a fear motivated defense mechanism and the last attempt for the rabbit to escape being eaten. When rabbits are tranced, they are at the highest possible fear level, and they can possibly die from fear.

On my first day starting a new year in middle school the science teacher was going through the class roll, calling each student by name and taking a moment to look at them to see where they were sitting. When he came to my name he stated, Mr. Hoge stand up. And I quickly did! He proceeded to tell me that he understood I was a disruptive student and liked to fool around. He then told me in no uncertain terms that if I acted up in any way in his class that I would be dismissed immediately and never asked back. He caught me off guard and I was floored. If I were a rabbit in front of the class I would have screamed and gone into a state of Tonic Immobility in hopes I could safely find a dark corner or a hole to hide in. To me, I considered this particular year of school high stakes - I had just gotten on the basketball team, and to stay on the team I needed to keep my nose clean and maintain good grades. To make matters worse, science was one of my favorite subjects and I wanted to be in his class.

Rabbits are considered to be a biological refrigerator because the meat from one animal can be consumed without storage. They breed year-round and you only need a few animals to provide a steady meat supply. A doe can produce five to six litters a year and an average litter is seven to eight kits, so you can expect 35-40 rabbits per doe per year. Rabbits are butchered at eight to twelve weeks of age and rabbit meat is all-white meat. Domestic rabbits of the variety raised for meat around the world originated from European wild rabbits. The first recorded rabbitry was in early Roman times, where rabbits were kept and raised in walled gardens for a food supply. In the depression, people fed their rabbits on grass clippings & lived on the meat for an abundant and thrifty source of protein. During World War II civilians were encouraged to include rabbits as a component of their victory gardens. Rabbit meat has fewer calories, the highest percentage of protein, and the lowest of fat and cholesterol of any normally consumed meat. Research shows that rabbit meat has been recommended for special diets such as for heart disease patients, diets for the elderly, low sodium diets, and weight reduction diets. Because it is easily digested, it has been recommended by doctors for patients who have trouble eating other meats. 

When my children were young I raised rabbits using yard and garden waste plus a commercially prepared feed. Rabbit raising stopped when my oldest child walked around the corner of the house and observed me preparing one for dinner. That was the end of my family having a rabbit on the menu at my house.

In the 1970s, researchers set up an experiment to examine the effects of diet on heart health. Over several months, they fed a control group of rabbits a high-fat diet and monitored their blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. As expected, many of the rabbits showed a buildup of fatty deposits on the inside of their arteries. Yet this was not all! Researchers had discovered something that made little sense. Although all of the rabbits had a buildup, one group surprisingly had as much as 60 percent less than the others. It appeared as though they were looking at two different groups of rabbits. To scientists, results like this can cause lost sleep. How could this be? The rabbits were all the same breed from New Zealand, from a