Animal Health VIPS - Veterinary Integrative & Performance Specialists

02/17/2025

Most of the mushers are up in arms as they know how dangerous this area can be without snow. Now it’s without snow of any kind yet Iditarod management won’t change the real start (called the re-start) to Fairbanks. There is precedence of doing that from 2003, 2015 & 2017. I worked the last two times they did that and it’s very do-able. Dig. And support if you love this race and support mushing.

Relocate the 2025 Iditarod Official Restart Location to Fairbanks

02/15/2025

This was a project my son did while getting his degree in Sustainable Agriculture in 2005 at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, NC. It pretty much says all we need to know about GMO products. Even the squirrels wouldn’t eat it. They knew there was something wrong with it.
By: Russell Turner

02/15/2025

Hey, fellow travelers...those of us who are out on Western roads a lot are familiar with the Green River tunnels. In case folks weren't aware, I-80 is closed down at Green River due to this fatal accident and you'll probably get diverted through the town of Green River. The WB tunnel is probably structurally compromised so this is going to be a long time before getting fixed. If you are planning on heading through WY on I-80, be aware and find a different route. Roads are bad due to weather even without this sad event - stay safe and don't speed on slick roads. Even better, stay home or find a hotel if need be until the roads can be cleared. Fortunately, I'm heading south rather than west...but nevertheless, many of us know these tunnels well, and I feel sad at the loss of life.

Heavy, black smoke billowed out of both ends of the Green River Tunnel along Interstate 80 after a fatal multivehicle pileup and fire inside Friday…

02/14/2025

As many of you know, for several years I have been writing a National Ski Patrol magazine column for Avalanche Dog handlers. Last November, on the request of a couple of handlers, I submitted an article to the editor on using homeopathic remedies for injuries and GI issues in working dogs. For the first time ever in our professional relationship, she rejected the article, stating that there was no research and she wasn't going to print it. When I sent her examples of, not only research (including new biophysics from the quantum physics folks), but also the National Health Care statements of support and research for homeopathy from the Swiss and French governments (and the Swiss are masters of detail so those statements aren't made lightly), she refused to even consider any of it. The statement was, "I am an EMT and I have spent several years working in an ER." Okay, then...that's not exactly the background that I would look at for training scientific review skills, but she's the boss.

So, once I figure out how to post the article onto my business page, everyone (especially those with working dogs and horses) who would like to have homeopathy as a tool in their resource tool box can have a copy. FB isn't making it easy, so if you want a copy of the article, just DM me with an email and I'll send it.

So much for the open exchange of animal care options!

For those that would like to learn more about homeopathy, CHE Online (Classical Homeopathy Education) has a free "home prescriber" course that is available for anyone. The link is:

Get free Access to CHE's Home Prescriber course, perfect for beginners. This course covers the history of homeopathy, homeopathic principles, first aid prescribing and more.

02/13/2025

Why did I bother spending money on this barn???

02/10/2025

Cha Cha Jago Levinson’s life’s work, Jigsaw Farms, was consumed in the blaze that ravaged the Pacific Palisades

01/31/2025

Looks like Iditarod is probably going to leave from Fairbanks this year. Sadly, that's due to climate change issues (rain vs snow in Alaska). But it's also appropriate that it's the 100th Anniversary of the original 1925 Serum Run that Iditarod honors (that historical moment with Balto and Togo) which actually started from Fairbanks (and not Anchorage)! This is the famous Leonhard Seppala and his wonderful leader, Togo!

01/29/2025

39 years ago today, we lost 7 brave souls to poor decisions made from pressure from then POTUS Reagan, and corporate dismissal of temperature & SRB (solid rocket booster) concerns raised by knowledgeable, practical and expert engineers brave enough to speak up.

RIP: Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Jr, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe - a cross-section of the best of America!

This is the last space shuttle launch - STS 135, Atlantis, July 8, 2011.

01/17/2025

Animals know!

A veterinarian in Istanbul, Turkey, was astonished to find that a puppy, which only had a faint heartbeat, had been carried to his surgery by the puppy's mother. The video of the mother dog's lifesaving efforts have gone viral.

01/11/2025

FYI...pass it along...

More help for animals displaced from

01/08/2025

So if anybody wonders why I haven’t been able to get any justice from Iditarod and musher Snitch Weasley (Harry Potter-inspired pseudonym), just read this article. This says it all in the shortage of competent lawyers (whoda thunk we'd need more of those) and the overall attitude towards the treatment of women in Alaska. That trickles down even to something as simple as trying to get an arrogant, wealthy and race-winning musher to drop a sick dog. Rather than doing what’s best for the dog, it’s easier to verbally and nearly physically abuse the vet because you know no one will stop you or hold you accountable. And THIS is why I work races in Scandinavia now.

In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it “a travesty of justice.”

01/03/2025

A group of veterinarians is doing a research survey on Librela (Bedinvetmab). I'm encouraging everyone who has used it on their dog, no matter the outcome, to please fill it out. Results will be published.

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year’s to everyone! Here’s to a WTF (only in good ways) 2025!!! (Note on the calendar that Jan 1, 2, 3 are Wed, Thurs, Fri.)

12/23/2024

Evidently our failed foster Siamese kitten Brie is a big Giant Slalom fan!

12/22/2024

This was too funny not to share…

I laughed the whole time I read this.
(A letter from someone who wants to remain anonymous, who farms, writes well and actually tried this)
I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.
I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up-- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold.
The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope, and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.
That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a c**t. A cow or a c**t in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no Chance. That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it je**ed me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.
A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.
I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.
Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ..... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and slide off to then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head--almost like a big dog. They bite HARD and it hurts.
The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.
It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.
That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.
Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp... I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.
This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.
Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.
I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope......to sort of even the odds!!
An Educated Farmer. 🤣🤣🤣
Credit; The original owner