Melissa Shapiro, DVM

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Melissa Shapiro, DVM

Veterinarian, Speaker, Author, Educator
Advocate for disabled rescued pets,
Quality of life, end of life care for pets.

Co-creator of the Piglet Mindset Educational Program which is supported by the nonprofit Piglet International Inc. We teach children to be resilient, inclusive, and kind with free online educational materials that feature my dog Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy. Piglet is a very positive dog who is an amazing growth mindset teaching model for children and adults! Piglet and our 7 other rescued dogs set an example for being accepting, inclusive, and kind, which is why we call them Piglet's Inclusion Pack. Visit our website PigletMindset.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more. My veterinary house call practice offers in home end of life veterinary care for dogs and cats in lower Fairfield County, CT. (FB page- Melissa Shapiro, DVM, website- visitingvetservice.com). I offer in home quality of life consulting, short and long term in home hospice care, and in home euthanasia services for dogs and cats. As animals near the end of their lives we provide families and their pets with comfort, palliative therapy, and if appropriate, euthanasia in their own homes. When possible, meeting with families and patients prior to a euthanasia visit allows for a smooth transition to the final visit. Assessment of older dogs and cats in their home gives a more realistic view of how they are doing and what they need than when they are brought in to an animal hospital. I am available to consult with families when they have questions about quality of life, keeping their pets comfortable and happy for as long as possible, and the timing of euthanasia for their geriatric or ill pets. I am sensitive to the concerns and emotions of the family during this difficult time and will work closely with the regular veterinarian as the need arises. For more information about our practice, visit our website, visitingvetservice.com or e-mail [email protected].

29/10/2026

No, we did not need another dog. And some would say, especially not a disabled puppy. But then we wouldn't have this tiny mite here with us.

I tried on having 6 dogs, kind of enjoying the ease of older dogs who are on auto most of the time. Even our challenging deaf blind poodle has improved dramatically.

But something has been missing. I'm not hooked on having 8 dogs but the holes left by our recent losses are just not closing up; sort of like those wounds that you think are finally healing but then the incision re-opens and you're back to the beginning.

I was able to try out having this tiny chihuahua with no front legs, in my mind, for a couple of weeks bc I couldn't adopt her when I met her due to some other obligations. Thankfully my rescue friend Trisha was willing to keep her until last Friday when we brought the tiny baby home.

My dogs and family reactions didn't surprise me in the least- husband, kids, and dogs.

We have deaf and blind dogs here. We have never had a young, mobility-challenged puppy. I don't know if that's a good way to describe our little peanut bc she doesn't see herself as being challenged at all. But the reality is that she will require assistance and equipment to help her get around more easily.

We also have to get used to a puppy who can hear and see us. While I talk to our deaf dogs, I know I can also be silent and they won't feel left out. Same with her being able to see us and everything else. This little girl has the biggest, sweet, dark eyes that take everything in. She wanted to jump into the fish tank with my little fish Eddie tonight.

My point here is that we got another dog even tho we said we weren't going to. And I'm very happy with our decision. I have plenty of work to do but this little puppy brings a refreshing new direction for our dog pack.

Even our dogs would agree that they are ready. Zoey actually loves Baby Jenny. We call her Zoey's baby.

So, I know I'm a little bit crazy but we don't go on fancy vacations and we never go to the movies or out to eat. We have dogs. We love them. And we try hard to help them love being in our family.🩷

What's your sweet spot number of dogs & other pets?

28/10/2026

I read a post from a young vet discussing how he doesn't want to be judged for his approach to his veterinary job. That is that he doesn't want to eat, drink, and sleep veterinary medicine. He wants to have a life that doesn't involve vet med.

The irony of his argument and description of the situation is that he seemed to be judging those that have approached their career differently than him. As if those that have had a different veterinary work life somehow invalidate his way of being a veterinarian.

And most of that perspective points to us old vets who had and might still have no boundaries, worked while we were supposed to be doing New Year's Eve, our kids birthday parties, and even when out on pseudo maternity leave.

I've heard the opposite from older generation vets- kids don't want to work like we did... blah blah blah. They don't have to.

The more I see these kinds of attitudes, the more I realize just how versatile vet medicine is.

There are different ways to find your place in vet medicine and different ways to live the life of a vet. Not everyone wants to think about work when they are taking a hike with their family or when they are walking their dogs at the beach. It really isn't necessary. But if they do, then maybe those who don't need to realize that this is no reflection on their not wanting to be on call 24/7. It is totally understandable.

Judging goes both ways. Maybe we should stop and accept that everyone isn't exactly like us and maybe there's a place for both within the profession.

Neither is better or worse for our patients. The care my patients get doesn't improve bc I'm occasionally available at 11 PM bc my phone is open to my clients. The clients like it but there are emergency vets open at that hour which wasn't always the case 40 years ago.

Some of us made that fateful vet med decision when we were young kids. Our lives focused on getting into vet school. Some decided later on, mqybe even after a previous successful career. Neither is better and both should accept each process and work together. There's something to learn from both sides.

26/10/2026

Years ago one of my patients was accidentally left in a car on a 95-degree day by a dog sitter. The dog did not survive and many questions were raised about choosing safe reliable pet care. My clients trusted their dog sitter of many years but he went away and left his boarding dogs with a 21-year-old woman. Clearly this woman was not prepared to take care of numerous dogs at once.

There are many services offering off-leash hikes for dogs. Working pet parents are happy to find a way for their dog to spend time exercising and socializing instead of sitting home waiting for their people.

There are many levels of dog walking and hiking services. The biggest question for me is dog walker to dog ratio. One person cannot possibly keep track of 8-10 dogs alone on wide-open wooded mountain trails. Even the best-trained dogs sometimes have a moment when they catch a scent. What happens when for any reason a dog takes off and is lost. Who looks for that dog? Some services have backup systems for when a dog is missing for over 15 minutes. Is that good enough?

There are so many safer alternatives to sending your dog into this kind of situation.

There are dog walkers who build a team of dogs and rotate between fenced yards and larger fenced dog park areas where their dogs CAN only go so far.

Ask questions about safety, locations, and who the other dogs are. And meet the people who will be in charge of your dog before agreeing to any dog services. This includes all boarding and pet care facilities and services.

Share your experiences below.

24/10/2026

At what age are you too old to adopt a tiny puppy?

There are many considerations when making decisions on which dog to pick, and some do involve the reality of age.

If a dog has the potential to live up to 15 years, then someone in the older age categories needs to be honest with themselves about the possibility of the dog outliving them. There are no health guarantees on either side, but here are odds.

However, there are even more factors involved in choosing a new dog- puppy, young adult, middle-aged, or senior.

Lifestyle, other pets, kids, grandkids, work, travel, health, activity level of dog va human, finances, living environment- house vs apartment, and most important, backup plan.

Ironically, these are factors that should be addressed no matter who the adopter is. Age isn't always the number one limitation, right?

All of these things should be applied to every adoption decision from both sides- rescue placing the dog and the adopter.

But of course, age is not a fluid piece like where you live and how many hours you work or play golf during the day. Your age is your age and you can't be 40 when you're 75. So age limits are imposed by some rescues and adopters on themselves.

I've had clients in their 80s adopt puppies, manage their care, and even outlive their dogs for one reason or another. And I've had younger clients adopt older dogs who outlive them.

Sometimes situations arise that are unpredictable. Which leads to the conclusion that while being responsive to whatever animal we bring into our lives, there are times where we should step back, not overanalyze, and do what's in our gut.

Here are pics of a few of our dogs when they were tiny babies. We've adopted puppies and younger dogs over the years. Each time we say this is the last one. Oy.

23/10/2026

Have you ever gone somewhere and not taken enough pictures?

I did that today. I have hardly any good pics to show from our trip to Boston. And I'm trying to rationalize and not regret it.

But the truth is, I enjoyed every minute of it, even the uncomfortable hotel bed, bc I had the amazing opportunity to give my disabled pets presentation at MSPCA-Angell which I was delighted about, as you can imagine.

Any chance I get to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for disabled pets and their people is a really big deal. In fact, as much as I enjoy presenting on this topic, my tiny deaf blind boy dogs Piglet and Georgie are equally enthusiastic about our talks. They can't get enough of these events!

We also got to meet the very special Lisa of Lisa Mattuchio and two of her precious little dogs.

Sometimes it's just best to be present and not worry about recording with a phone. That's how today went. I hope there will be more opportunities to present our disabled pets talk to vets and vet techs, and vet students at other teaching hospitals, conferences, and vet schools.

My talk is RACE approved for 1 hour of CE credit. It is a really nice summary of the current state of disabled pet care with a new 5-step SHIFT Framework for vet hospitals to implement for care and support of disabled pets and their people. The talk is versatile and can be customized for vet professionals as well as pet parent and rescuer audiences.

Visit my website melissashapirodvm.com for more info about presentations I offer.

18/10/2026

We've been talking about Baby Georgie's 4th Zoom bday party that's happening tonight/Sunday the 18th at 7:30 PM eastern time.

But, Georgie isn't the only one we are celebrating.

We don't know exact birthdays for our dogs but we count backwards based on their presumed ages when we adopt them. That is the case for Lucy Lemonade who was rescued in CA by Dogwood Animal Rescue Project

She's approximately 6 years old now and we combine her bday party with her baby brother Georgie's every October.

Lucy is a very kind, sweet, but prey driven terrier mix who is adored by Piglet, Georgie, Rubles, and Anna. She adores them and she loved Deanie and Gina too. Yes I'm leaving the mean girl ZoZo Marie out bc let's face it...

So please sign up and join us for our Zoom party from anywhere around the world, to celebrate Georgie and Lucy's birthdays.

In addition, the 19th is Ruby's 1st Gotcha Day so we are also celebrating Rubles during our bday Zoom.

We'll have fun talking about the three pups as well as a mini webinar/discussion about when it's the right time to adopt the right dog with an emphasis on adopting dogs after losing a beloved dog. We'll use our dogs as the example.

I didn't add music to this post bc the sounds on the included videos are too cute to cover up.

Links to register for the party are in our stories and on our website events page.

Happy bday little Lucy Lemonade!!!

15/10/2026

There's lots of talk about using sedation and calming protocols for dogs and cats prior to vet visits.

Many pets tend to become moderately to severely anxious when faced with a visit to a veterinary hospital or even a veterinary house call. Some of the nicest most well-behaved animals can even become aggressive during the stressful events.

Years ago, we did not have good safe medical protocols to help dogs and cats manage their anxiety and have a more comfortable experience when visiting their veterinarian. We were forced to use injectable medications when they arrived at the vet hospital rather than having them arrive with meds on board.

If you have a pet who you feel would benefit from pre-visit calming protocols check with your veterinarian. If your veterinarian has recommended that you use meds or calming supplements prior to a visit please follow their advice.

As a house call vet, my patient base was somewhat pre-selected for cooperative pets because I couldn't go into a house to work with high-risk aggression pets. But surprisingly, there have been many clients along the way who have not given me any warning that their dogs or cats."Don't like the vet". And I have had to figure that out in a somewhat tenuous way.

Thankfully I have avoided major incidences over the years. But I have also run into pet parents who don't understand the importance of helping their pets to stay calm for vet care. Not all pets become aggressive when stressed but for extreme anxiety, it's important to offer ways to help them feel more comfortable.

My own dogs know the difference between friendly visits to the vet and when they are the patient. I've started giving them meds to help them cope with their resulting anxiety. Even at home for nail trims when I turn into their dreaded groomer- I'm giving meds to help them deal with their emotions.

What have been your experiences with vet visits for your pets?

13/10/2026

I keep reading posts and comments that are over the top critical of veterinarians. People accuse vets of trying to "rip them off", sell things they don't need, get paid big money by pharma companies to push vaccines and other meds that are toxic to pets, and are all about the money.

I've been a veterinarian for over 40 years. I have definitely met a few vets I would never bring my dogs to. But there are very few I can attach these very negative, inaccurate, and downright mean labels to.

Becoming a vet is one of the hardest career paths. It requires 100% commitment to preparing to apply to vet school, devoting extensive time, energy, emotion, and money to get through vet school, and then even more commitment and emotion to be a vet and provide high level medical care for patients and support for pet parents.

And then we have to figure out how to navigate personal attacks and aggressive criticism of the profession by people who have somehow jumped on a bandwagon of very nasty myths!?!

NO ONE goes into vet medicine "for the money".

It is pure insult to hear people bad mouthing veterinarians bc they offered plan A. Not everyone can afford plan A. As a vet, I have chosen plan B and C for my own dogs at times.

Corporate takeover and sky-high costs have impacted our ability to offer affordable vet care to everyone. But claiming that we are trying to sell vaccines for puppies who are at risk of fatal preventable diseases is very low. And claiming that we are "selling" unnecessary treatments for pets who are sick doesn't make sense.

There is a big push within the profession called Access to Care. There are veterinarians who are actively offer levels of care so that all pet parents can receive reasonable treatment options. There are nonprofits run by veterinarians who offer free and subsidized care to people in lower socioeconomic areas. They obviously care. And they are actually veterinarians.

I think it's time for pet parents who are spewing negativity about vets to step back and consider that vets are humans with feelings, who care deeply about animals. If you're feeling like you're being ripped off, go somewhere else. Get another opinion.

Be Kind!

11/10/2026

The hole she left is still wide open.

Going to a dog event yesterday without her was not easy. I tried not to miss her but when I left after 5 hours of talking to so many very nice people with no dog for the kids to really pet, I felt it.

I had my tiny deaf blind boys there. They did their awesome thing. Everyone was delighted to meet and hear about Piggy and Georgie. Piggy posed and carried on like he does and sweet Georgie got petted by many. It was an extremely nice day.

But- While Evie wasn't a disabled dog, she brought something extra special to all of our programs and to our everyday interactions wherever we went.

Apparently this loss is going to take a lot longer than 4 1/2 months. When I say I don't think I'll ever recover it might actually be the case.🩷

06/10/2026

Do we really want to be so bold as to say that "if you can't afford vet care you shouldn't have a dog."?

There are so many dogs and other animals in rescues and shelters that need someone to love them. Who are we to judge and say that just bc someone can't afford plan A vet care, those animals should be euthanized instead of going home with someone who will actually love them and do their best?

Some people wear expensive clothes and others wear worn out shoes. Some drive fancy cars and others drive old junkers. Some kids eat high quality food and others are hungry until they get their free breakfast and lunch at school.

Of course, the waters get cloudy when it comes to providing basic healthcare even before illness happens. Most Veterinarians are unable to offer free or even subsidized vet care. So either these pets get no care, compromised care, or a nonprofit comes in to help defray costs.

When these animals get really sick and need major care, vets write off charges which happens frequently, (with no credit given by the vet haters), or they compromise care in a reasonable way.

Here's the reality for vets though. Unfortunately, even when the vets are being generous, if they don't provide "enough" free care, in many cases, they get taken down by people who take to the internet to write scathing reviews about how horrible their FREE care was.

So next time, the vets don't offer financing, deep discounts, or free care at all. And then they are criticized for being all about the money.

The bottom line for me is that most people are aware of their financial situation and they are truthful when they bring their pets to the vet. They understand that nothing is free and there will be compromises for the medical care they can offer their pet. They provide love and care which goes a long way for so many homeless pets.

I'm not taking about blatant neglect and abuse. I'm talking about families who love animals and want their kids to experience the love of a dog or cat or other pet.

*Vet care prices have skyrocketed for all due to the economy and corporate takeover. To start with, all pet parents should consider supporting independently owned vet hospitals!

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https://www.visitingvetservice.com/vet-school-for-kids

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