Duke Animal Clinic

11/25/2025

The holiday season has begun. How do we know? The first case of pet dietary indiscretion. A bag of Reeses Pieces was left out. The Doberman could not resist it. 108 unwrapped minis came in the bag. The owner estimates that the dog consumed half the bag. About 50 pieces. Presented at our clinic within 20 minutes and vomiting was induced. That was a lot of chocolate and peanut butter. Enlarge to appreciate the volume. Happy Thanksgiving.

10/30/2025

It's that time of year. The pumpkin decorating contest at Duke Animal Clinic! Three teams from our staff use their creative talents for a great show. Although we do appreciate all of your jolly comments.......please vote. The team that wins will choose an animal charity for our annual donation.
Below are 1) Candy Apple
2) SpongeBob Jellyfish
3) Pumpkin Cat in ICU

10/29/2025

Last Friday afternoon a new client brought in one of their backyard chickens. She thought it had "sour crop". After a through examination it was determined that the crop was not "sour", but was distended to the size of a regulation softball. The decision was made to open the crop surgically and get whatever was in there out and let the crop shrink back to near normal size. The crop contained a pretty much a normal bunch of cracked corn, straw, and seeds. The primary seed was large an oval. I did not recognize it as a common seed crop.
Saturday morning the chicken went home after her crop had been sutured closed and it was business as normal. Further communication with the owner revealed that she had fed pumpkin sprouts to her flock. Final diagnosis: Crop impaction due to pumpkin seeds. The second image is of pumpkin seeds from a "Jack-o-Lantern" I made with my two youngest grandsons on Sunday. A match.
Takeaway: If you have friends with chickens....easy go on the plethora of pumpkin seeds.
Tip: Take a leftover pumpkin and cut numerous holes in the orange outer layer. The chickens will peck a hole through it and enlarge it.......slowly allowing them access to the inner goodies. Enjoy

10/03/2025

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” You may have noticed the sign on the clinic door that read “caterpillar crossing. Please don’t squish us!” This year DAC had an abundance of monarch butterflies. We’ve all reveled in the life cycle of the caterpillar/cacoon/butterflies. Below are some photos the staff has taken.

08/31/2025

Dauphin Island claims the title "Sunset Capital of Alabama". The picture below is from last Sunday afternoon while I was tending some oysters with my grandson, Silas.
About 7:15 pm. Young people where there with engagement photos. About 10 vehicles showed up like a parade to share in the sunset. You may have time to get there tonight, but the weather looks as if will repeat tomorrow evening.
Two objects on the horizon. On the left is a natural gas well platform. On the right is an Inter-coastal Waterway navigation tower that hosts a weather station managed by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Check it out to see the water conditions at the Katrina Cut of the Mississippi sound. disl.edu/arcos

08/19/2025

We are proud to announce that Sierra Killeen has done academic work, clinical skills and passed the exam to be designated as an Approved Veterinary Assistant. (AVA). This program is endorsed by the North American Veterinary Technicians Association as a gateway to becoming a licensed veterinary technician.
Next month, Sierra we will be celebrating her 5th anniversary with us. She is an excellent animal care-giver, team leader and huge asset to our veterinary staff.

08/01/2025

It is hot out there. It can be fatal. Two weeks ago a dog was presented at Duke Animal Clinic limp and almost lifeless. He had been out in a yard with shade provided. It was a very challenging case. His re**al temperature topped out with the thermometer at 112 degrees!
Our team really came together. Oxygen therapy, IV catheter with fluids chilled through a water bath and assistants pouring ice water over his body. In 35 minutes his re**al temperature was normal and at 40 minutes he sat up and began complaining.
He went home 4 hours later, wagging his tail.

07/28/2025

I ran across this article in "Garden and Gun" from last January. The head football coach at Ole Miss got a Labrador retriever puppy as a pet.

Now he steals the show!

Focused on (and in) the field, a party animal off of it, the yellow Lab has captivated fans, charmed recruits, and brought a little bit of cheeky mischief to the sidelines

07/18/2025

Midday yesterday I went to the grocery store during the lunch break to get some items for dinner. One item was a bunch of leeks. One of our fun-loving employees saw them, and asked if she could "borrow" one. I obliged her.
When the clinic supervisor came back from lunch, she asked the supervisor to check the autoclave, saying that it had a leak. The supervisor ran upstairs to check and she had been had ............

07/05/2025

We have a young man working for us named, Christian Itua. He is a native of Nigeria. Two of his brothers served in the US Navy and they sponsored him as a family member in the USA. He got a green card and has worked at numerous jobs. He is a student at Coastal Alabama Community College training to be a veterinary technician. He has also studied and prepared for US citizenship. 3 weeks ago he passed he exam and became a US citizen. When it came time to put the flag out in front of the clinic for Independence Day, he asked to be the one who mounted the flag. Of course. An honor for all of us. The newest citizen I know, Christian Itua.

06/27/2025

Meet Storm a 5 year old Dutch Shepherd with his new smile! If you can see in the picture Storm just had 3 metal crowns applied to his canine teeth. He had one tooth that was fractured and endodontics was performed. Because of the excessive wear on the remaining canine teeth, the owner wanted protective crowns placed on them (this picture shows the bottom 2 crowns).
So far this year Dr. Duke has performed 6 root canals and placed 6 crowns on dogs to protect their teeth. Police dogs are a big part of our work with endodontics and crowns because of their jobs in apprehension and bite work.

06/06/2025

It's been 50 years since I graduated from Auburn with my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. It has been a great ride. I am still working full-time plus. I would not trade it for any job. Get up every morning and be ready for what ever is on the schedule. Yesterday was a sugar glider with a dental abscess.