Growth here has improved animal care
Growth here has improved animal care
By: Bill Mead
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 401 times
0 responses 0 comments A lot of my friends complain about the way Tehachapi has grown and I can understand why. I liked it in the old days when I could back out of my driveway without looking either way. Still, there is an upside to population growth along with the problems it creates. One of the pluses is that more people bring in more beasties like dogs, cats and horses. Naturally this has attracted veterinarians, groomers and other talented people who help us take care of our furry family members.
When we unloaded our VW bus here in 1970, the nearest veterinarian was at least 40 miles away. My wife discovered this in a tragic way when one of her horses went down. We can't say for sure that a local vet might have saved it but the creature's death throes still haunt my wife, mostly because of her feelings of helplessness.
Whenever one of our dogs or cats became ill in those early days it meant a trip to the Nile Street pet clinic in Bakersfield. Grooming was out of the question until Dorrie showed up. This meant our animals spent years looking like Hurricane Katrina refugees. Finally, a young and able veterinarian set up shop here but he proved to be a romantic soul who soon hit the yellow brick road. His practice was picked up by another animal doctor whose commitment to the community has brought us a veterinary hospital worthy of a much larger city plus related pet care facilities that would do credit to Beverly Hills. Obviously this wouldn't have been possible without more people coming here with more pets.
You might still hate Tehachapi's growth but Isabella, my aging Chihuahua, begs to disagree, especially after she ate some contaminated pet food that triggered a nationwide recall just a few weeks ago. Thanks to her local doctor's attention, Isabella's outraged stomach was returned to normalcy with no apparent lasting damage.
While sitting in the vet's crowded waiting room, it occurred to me that most of the animals awaiting attention behaved much like human children in a pediatrician's office, only better in some cases. I had the uneasy feeling that some of their owners (I think we are supposed to call them “pet parents” in this politically-correct age) were perhaps more concerned about their pets than many parents are concerned about their human children in the same circumstances. Don't take that as criticism. I suspect it's because dogs and cats are unable to tell you where it hurts. Whenever our youngsters got sick, they could describe their miseries so that we could pretty well determine the seriousness of their condition before we ever got to the doctor. Dogs and cats have to suffer in silence. That's why it's understandable that we often worry more about sick pets than sick kids.
While I was waiting for Isabella to be diagnosed, one of my favorite readers came up to me with his mutt in tow and suggested I comment on the eagerness of pet owners to shell out serious money for pet care. It's true that veterinary services have become more expensive but I say it's about time. For too long we undervalued veterinary services even though veterinary training is about as tough and costly as that given to people doctors.
When my recovered Isabella snuggles up to me on the sofa these days, I figure that what I spend at the animal hospital is money well spent. I suspect you feel the same deep down.
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