Saturday, July 5, 2014

Date with your dog: a holiday in Tuscany?

This dog was happy to pose. And little wonder. What a stunning profile.
This weekend SAT HQ has moved to Tuscany in Italy, which we can safely declare is absolutely beautiful – the light, the vineyards, the scenic roads, winding cobbled streets and historic buildings (they certainly did build them to last). One fantastic thing about this place – and most of Italy – is that you can take your dog out to a bar or restaurant. Even large dogs are welcome and it’s not a recent phenomenon – there are little doggy drinking fountains built into walls of buildings that are hundreds of years old.

This isn't a drinking fountain for dogs but I liked the detail on the top.
The dogs are well behaved, people are happy because they can hang with their pets, and it’s a great opportunity for the temporarily dog-less to get their canine fix.

There are also cats in Tuscany. This one parked her botski next to this no parking sign.
Not a bad view...
Among other things I am working on a project on disclosing clinical error (any clinician who says they have not made an error is not being honest with themselves). I found this lovely quote from a book called How to Deal with Adversity by Christopher Hamilton (you can see him talk about the book here).

“…it is not despite but on account of all the mistakes you have made in your life, and not despite but because of all the forms of adversity that you have experienced and had to cope with, have confronted well or made a mess of, the life you have lived and are living has given you a unique insight into your condition and the human condition more generally. The adversity of your life has been a precious sources of enlightenment. You will face more adversity. As you do, you should seek not simply to cope with it as constructively as possible, turning it to account, but also remember that it is giving you an understanding of things that is irreplaceably valuable. It is part of your inheritance as a human being – and you should seek not to consider it alien to you.”p134-5.

Anyone working in any field needs to acknowledge that errors can and will occur and seek to maximise their learning from these.

It’s to know that everyone back home is spending quality time with their pets…entries are still trickling in for our David Attenborough Giveaway. For more info check out this post.

Jasper catches some z's while Riley catches up on essential viewing.


Reference
Hamilton, C (2014) How to Deal with Adversity School of Life Publishing, London.


Friday, July 4, 2014

What does a baby hedgehog look like?


These photos were taken by Annika Cova, who saved this little baby hedgehog (riccio) from a road, where many hedgehogs suffer an untimely and gruesome end. This little bambini was taken to a wildlife sanctuary (Giardino delle Capinere) where it will be cared for until it can be released (alas I cannot claim to have met this delightful little critter in person.

Obviously these little guys can move. But at least for an Australian, the sight of 55g of hedgehog
is very special.
A good place to take an orphaned baby hedgehog...at least if you are in Italy.
This was a pet hedgehog I met in the USA. Beautiful guy. Apparently they can suffer from ringworm and at least in the wild they can be riddled with ticks.
Meantime back in Australia the ASAVA is hosting a webinar next week on surgical management of traumatic wounds and wound reconstruction with Dr Gordon Corfield. For more info visit www.ava.org.au/asava

The Animal Referral Hospital is hosting an oncology workshop on July 27 – the program looks excellent. To find out more click here www.arhvets.com

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Collecting mozzies in the Alps

They may spread zoonotic diseases, but Italian mozzies hang out in classy places.

When I mentioned that I was popping overseas to catch mozzies in Italy, a few people rolled their eyes. “What kind of holiday is that?” “Why go all that way to catch mozzies?” Well, peeps, let me tell you. Italian mosquitoes hang in some pretty fine places (some of them also carry West Nile virus - a disease one really wants to avoid. More on that here).

Luca and Fabrizio with a car full of mosquito traps (mozzies are attracted by dry ice as it releases CO2).
Fabri places a mosquito trap at a pre-selected location.
And the best way to catch them, as it happens, is to sit quietly eating a margherita pizza and sipping Prosecco (alcohol is a vasodilator) in the Dolomites whilst a friendly entomologist stands by with a special miniature vacuum cleaner ready to suck the offending mosquito from one’s limbs the moment it lands. This is done for thirty minutes a sitting, three times in three hours. Along with my Italian colleague Dr Patrizia Danesi, I had the honour of being the bait, or the “human landing” as she calls it.

Fabrizio demonstrates the mosquito vacuum. We have great faith that this sucks faster than mozzies can bite.
Trying to explain this arrangement to locals when one does not speak Italian is something of a challenge. Our mosquito catching site was outside of an isolated cabin belonging to the Alpini Brigade – a branch of the Italian army specialising in mountain combat.

It happened that we were attempting to lure mozzies outside of an Alpini HQ on their meeting night. My Italian colleagues explained what we were up to, and there was much laughter. We were invited in for a coffee with home brewed grappa. Of course, when one’s vocabulary is so limited, one can only respond in the affirmative. One grappa coffee and several shots of home-brewed limoncello later, we still had not caught any mozzies. But we slept well!

Mozzies hang out here. Also a nice place for a quiet drink.
Today’s mission is to present a seminar on desexing dogs in remote communities in Australia. This is quite topical as the moment I landed in Italy it became very apparent that desexing is not routine. Let’s just say my eyes are trained to assess certain features of canine anatomy which are particularly prevalent here. I asked my hosts if there is a problem with overpopulation (especially in the light of this overabundance of gonads) and they replied in the affirmative.

The rules for the Dolomites are also a great way to brush up on useful Italian phrases
that you can drop into conversation.
So I am keen to learn more about population control over here. (If you’re interested in another perspective on birth control check out this post).

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Cats of Australia - as viewed by Italian artist Elena Mambretti

Gatti Australiani, Painted in Italy. Imagine coming across the world to find this package awaiting you.
Italy is famous for its art, so it was an absolute honour to be presented with this beautiful collection of paintings of Australian cats by Italian artist Elena Mambretti. They are absolutely stunning.

Hero, painted by Elena Mambretti.
Michael, painted by Elena Mambretti.
Elena was a civil engineer but is now a band manager and artist – with an incredible eye for cats!

(If you do happen to travel to Italy before August, you might also like the Frida Kahlo exhibition in Rome - details here. Kahlo also had an eye for cats. One thing I learned was that as a young adult Kahlo was in a terrible bus accident, sustaining a fractured spine, collarbone, ribs, pelvis and leg; dislocated foot and shoulder; and punctured abdomen. She spent a long time in hospital and suffered from chronic, often very extreme pain. Consquently, when she was out of hospital she spent a lot of time at home with her animals. You can see photos of Frida K with her pets here).

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

House calls, Hills Hoists and Italian fast food


How do you chill with your favourite non-human? Alaska and Sandwich enjoy a bit of TV. If you’ve not yet entered our David Attenborough giveway, there’s still time! Click here.
As mentioned earlier, SAT HQ has temporarily relocated to Padova, in the North East of Italy, where we are working remotely and hanging out with Italian veterinarians, mycologists and parasitologists working on zoonotic diseases (i.e. diseases that can be transmitted between humans and animals).

What is really amazing is that when I walked into the laboratory, everyone – and I mean everyone – knew my cats. In fact, Michael is staring at me from a picture on the wall behind the desk. Such are the benefits of international collaboration.

Italy's answer to the Aussie Hill's Hoist. I think they've one-upped us here.
Close up, just in case you missed it.
This week we will be joining Fabrizio Montarsi as he collects mosquitoes in the Alps (if you want to know a bit more about Fabrizio, here is a post about what heeats for dessert).

We've also been doing the odd house call and sampling Italian fast food.
Examining Elliot, who had a sore eye, with Dr Patrizia Danesi.
Fast food, Italian style.
In other very important news SAT readers have shared some links, including this post on awkwardly sitting cats (click here) and a short video of this woman’s routine (click here). I applaud her commitment to oral hygiene.

Meantime if you're keen to read more about vector borne disease, check out this link here.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Blue Juice: Euthanasia in Veterinary Medicine

An elderly cat at the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary in Rome (you can read more about them here).

Euthanasia is an important part of veterinary medicine – being able to relieve suffering and ensure a peaceful death is a privilege. Quite often when I discuss euthanasia with our medical counterparts they express the view that they wish such a service were available to human beings.

But euthanasia brings with it many challenges – assessment of the interests of an animal and quality of life when our patients cannot report these; in some cases uncertainty; the limits of medicine; economic concerns; the extent of intervention which is appropriate; the burden of decision making and grief. And I'm not even going to start with the topic of human euthanasia.

Patricia Morris, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Drury University, spent over 18 months speaking with and shadowing companion animal veterinarians, with a focus on euthanasia consultations – and wrote an entire book about it.

Which I must say is a brilliant read.

“For social scientists, the study of veterinary euthanasia provides a unique lens through which to study many important topics, including professional socialisation, emotion management, and death and dying, as well as relationships between practitioners and patients or clients in a medical-care system that is ethically complex” (p16).
She looks at the emotional and ethical conflicts around the concept of effecting a “good death” for our patients.

As a veterinarian I’ve not read extensively in the field of sociology, this view from an “outsider” of the negotiation and practice of euthanasia is very insightful.

Morris talked to veterinarians with a range of experience, from new graduates to seasoned practitioners, about how they think about euthanasia. The book lends a fascinating perspective into how veterinarians, “charged with the difficult task of balancing the interests of their animal patients and their human clients” cope with this responsibility. But Morris also asks the bigger questions about how the way we think about and perform euthanasia reflects a deep and unresolved tension in human-animal relationships.

“As medical providers to non-human animals, veterinarians are in a position that exemplifies the ambiguity inherent in human-animal relationships – they treat animals as both subjects (patients who deserve quality medical care) and objects (the client’s property)” p6.
Despite the topic, which can be very emotionally loaded, this is not a depressing book at all – nor is it judgemental. Different people cope differently with euthanasia but it’s a topic relevant to all veterinarians. Nor is this book loaded with sociology terminology – in fact it’s very readable, whether you are approaching it from a vet or humanities perspective (or both).

Euthanasia raises many major ethical questions and without being morbid is something that needs to be discussed and reflected on and thought about on an ongoing basis.

P.S. If you're interested in ethics you might want to read this interview with veterinary ethicist James Yeates.

Reference

Morris, P (2012) Blue Juice: Euthanasia in Veterinary Medicine. Philadelphia, Temple University Press.