Dr. John Hunt: Veterinarian and Author

27/10/2025

PORCUPINE Quills wasn’t the only emergency I had to deal with one Sunday night when Mr Sawtell brought in Buster, his frantic, 90 # , Lab, with a mouth full of quills.
Mr Sawtell, looked like the typical “old geezer” ; unkempt hair, scraggly beard, wearing a plaid shirt and suspenders.
It took both of us to drag Buster into the treatment room.
In my day i took after hour emergency calls by myself and frequently asked my clients to help me.
I threw a towel over Buster’s shoukder so Mr Sawtell could restrain Buster and hold his front leg so i could inject anesthetic into a vein without getting pocked with quills.
Buster wasnt having any of it - he thrashed and squirmed so much, Mr Sawtell could hardly keep him still.
I somehow got the needle in the vein. I got about half of the anesthetic in when suddenly Mr Sawtell let go of Buster , grabbed his chest and collapsed against the wall not moving.
Now what do I do?!?!?
Buster was still not anesthetized and I had a client having a possible heart attack .
Miraculously, the needle was still in the vein. I was holding on to Buster’s leg for dear life!
In that second i decided to inject the rest of the anesthetic, then call 911.
With Buster asleep on the floor I checked Mr Sawtell. He was awake and weak but he waved me off and pointed to his dog.
I pulled all the quills with one eye on Mr Sawtell, who seemed to have recovered from an apparent angina attack.
We sat on the floor together as Buster came out of anesthesia. He told me he was going to see a cardiologist next week because of these episodes.
From then on Mr Sawtell would drop off a bag of candy in appreciation for helping Buster that night.
I never forgot the moment when he was laying against the wall with obe hand on his chest and the other pointing at his dog. He was thinking of Buster’s welfare ahead of his.
And that is why I loved being a veterinarian.

26/10/2025

Porcupine stories:

When I was doing a routine spay on a lab retriever I found a large quill floating around the abdomen !?!?

A dog came into the clinic on an emergency one night with 2 quills stuck to his nose. I soon found out why the owner didn’t or couldn’t take them out with his fingers.
When I tried, the dog threw its head every which way. So i put the dog in a head lock and when i pulled out thr quills, he threw himself hard into my chest. It felt like my rib broke !
I couldnt breathe normally for a month.

25/10/2025

Porcupines! UGH!!!
The number one late night emergency call I had in rural Maine.
Dogs would be let out for one last bathroom call at 11 pm - the exact time porcupines come down from their tree.
A dog will chase them down . Which was easy because pork’s don’t run fast -they dont have to!
The predator chasing and grabbing instinct is still very prominent in many dogs.
And -BAM !! A mouth full of quills- and then my buzzer went off - just as I was getting to sleep after a long day at the vet clinic .
Some owners, god bless them , tried to pull them out themselves. They even thought trimming them would make it easier - it doesn’t .
More about porks bext time

19/10/2025

How come we humans don’t get a treat when our pets train us to do things like open the door.

15/10/2025

After the KISS - epilogue
When I was taking parasitology in veterinary school, Chagas disease was a footnote, because it was so rare in the US at the time. But it was a favorite on exams. Our professors loved to trip us up when they could.

Times have changed. Due to climate change the Kissing Bug is more prevalent and Chagas’ disease has been diagnosed in over 20,000 people! The CDC wants to pronounce Chagas as endemic so money can be dedicated to public education.

Where does this leave our dogs? I have no data on Chagas infections in dogs in the US.
It’s up to you to be vigilant . Talk to your Vet.
Ask her/him if Chagas has been diagnosed or if the Kissing Bug is in the area. If you can’t get a satisfactory response contact your state vet.
My guess is the southern states need to be more concerned than in New England .
In the mean time kissing your partner before bed is a tradition I fully endorse😁

14/10/2025

KISSING -part 3 : CHAGAS DISEASE in dogs

Your dog is sleeping , a kissing bug bites the dog on the face while it sleeps. After a blood meal it turns around and defecates on the bite wound. In the f***s is a protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruz, that gets worked into the bite wound when the dog scratches at the site.
Now the parasite is in the blood stream. The infection is called CHAGAS DISEASE. Some dogs will experience an acute myocardis: fever, weakness, sudden collapse, fatal tachyarrhythmias, and die .
Other dogs may get sick 1 to 3 years later! They develop chronic cardiomyopathy, which leads to ascites, pleural effusion, edema , and die of heart failure .
If the organism is identified in the blood by your vet, early in the disease, it can be treated but the prognosis is still poor.

13/10/2025

KISSING - part 2
It’s unsettling enough to think about a bug biting you on the face while you’re asleep. It’s what happens afterwards thats even more unsettling.
After the Kissing Bug feeds on you, or your dog, it turns around and defecates on the feeding site . Yuch !
Wait ! It gets worse !
Kissing Bugs can be a host to a one celled parasite they harbor in their intestines. You guessed it , their f***s are full of these bugs called Trypanosoma cruzi. When you or your dog scratch at the bite wound the parasite is rubbed into the wound and T. cruzi is now in your blood stream .

12/10/2025

KISSING - part 1
Kissing your loved one good night is a loving, intimate gesture that gives one comfort and security.
But in South America , and now more commonly in the United States, there is a bug called the KISSING BUG , that likes to “ Kiss” you ( or your dog ) on the face while you sleep. And that “kiss” , or bite, could be fatal to you or your dog that is sleeping with you.

10/10/2025

There has been a 93% increase in pet insurance claims for anxiety in the past five years. That’s over 25,000 claims!
Can you blame our poor furry friends?
 Our pets are in tuned with our emotions. Your anxieties can become their anxieties.
Other factors that can create anxieties include; lack of exercise, poor diet
, being alone, conflicts with other pets, to name a few.
Like people, anxieties can create health problems like bladder disease in cats, or lick granulomas in dogs.

So let’s all step back and chill. Be kind to each other. Your pets will appreciate it.



07/10/2025

Made you look ! 😆

02/10/2025

28/09/2025

I remember being carefree — then I grew up !