MAXIMIZING SOCIAL MEDIA IN VETERINARY MEDICINE WITH DR. JEREMY LIPSCHULTZ

When I first started learning Twitter, I got together with a group of Omaha Twitter people for pizza.

Dr. Jeremy Lipschultz was in that group. I was impressed then, and have been since, by his depth and span of knowledge. I have enjoyed getting to know Jeremy over the past several years.

Photograph by Dr. Marnee Jepsen

Last night, with other Omaha veterinary teams, Hannah Miller - one of the awesome receptionists at Gentle Doctor, who may or may not be on a quest to drag me in multiple new social media directions, including Instagram, which, for the record, is not even a word - and I had the privilege of hearing Jeremy speak about social media.

I took notes as fast as I could for almost two hours, so although I know I learned a ton, I do not yet know what all exactly I learned. 

Here are some of my notes:

Dr. and Mrs. Lipschultz have Winston the Pug and Franklin the Cat. They are, of course, friends.

I was able to talk afterwards with Hannah, Dr. Lipschultz, Dr. Van Horn, Dr. Jepsen and Rob from Virbac, who, along with the MWI team, arranged the event AND bought us dinner at Cantina Laredo. I am now a huge fan of that restaurant.

Thank you Rob! Thank you Jeremy! What a fun night.

DR. FINCH, BIRD DOCTOR

Dedicating a newsletter to hamsters was so fun, I decided to do another…this time dedicated to birds.

Since the start of my career as um, Dr. Finch, the comments have ranged from “Do you see birds? You should! Get it?” to that of my most recent bird-owning client, who, after a wellness appointment with his new baby budgerigar, said, somewhat dubiously, “Well, with a name like that, let’s hope you’re a good bird doc.” I just laughed and said “Yes, let’s hope!” I must be ok… or lucky… his bird is doing fine so far.

My first avian patient was a budgerigar whose owner had called five other veterinary hospitals, and none of them would see her hurt bird. For the record, I now know of several vets in Omaha who see birds, and they are all very good. However, she was panicked and calling through the Yellow Pages, which can be hit or miss. Anyways, my first reaction was to also say I don’t see birds. But the bird was hurt…and the owner was crying…and no one else would see them. And I do love budgies. So I had them come in.

On presentation, the little bird was hanging from the top of her cage from…a paperclip. Gross. This wasn’t an avian case. This was a hardware case—more my husband’s area of expertise than mine.  

What would Russ do?

Stuck wire…needle nose pliers…similar to…hemostats!” I grabbed a pair of hemostats and the bird and gently pulled the paperclip out of the scared budgie’s mouth. It had been a homemade toy hanger. She had ignored the toy, bitten the paperclip, and it had gone through the bottom of her mouth and out her neck. I finished the exam…nothing as dramatic as a paperclip impaling, the rest of her looked like a normal budgie. I treated her pain and sent her home on budgie-sized antibiotics to guard against infection.

Then I sat down and shook for a good half hour as I thought through how many vital structures are in the very small neck of a bird. Amazingly, the wire must have missed every single one of them, because she lived to play with safe, paperclip-less toys, and I have gone on to have many, many avian cases, but none as scary as my first one.

In fact, they have by and large been very fun cases. If you are a pediatrician, maybe you can relate to how fun it is when you are used to patients who will look at you with their cute little faces, but not answer any of your questions, to then having a patient actually answer you in plain English. It is a nice change of pace, even if my patients are only mimicking what I just said. Sometimes, on a slow day, I will talk my clients into staying longer just so I can hold their bird and finish our conversation.

I can honestly say that I have yet to have a patient of any species who was not cute (yes, even the hairless dogs and rats), but the scarlet macaws, rainbow-colored gouldian finches and bright green conures are way up there for breath-taking beauty. 

In fact, I always save a few feathers from wing trims for my daughters. Many of their stuffed animals, thanks to gorilla glue and contributions from my gorgeous patients, are now angel stuffed animals.

And the personalities! Every bird I have met seems to have an amazing sense of humor just under his or her little feathered surface. One of my best friends is my Mom and Dad’s twelve-year-old budgie, Pete, Pete, the Parakeet. (Mom calls him Pete.) Pete, Pete, the Parakeet knows over thirty words and phrases, and I swear he often uses them in context. My favorites are “Gimme a kiss,” “Whatcha doing?” and “Here Ernie, Ernie.” (Ernie is my parents’ tiny poodle, another good friend of mine.) Pete, Pete, the Parakeet has had two bouts of kidney failure, but is presently healthy and working on his next phrase.

Birds seem to bring me beyond my hospital walls better than any other patients. I do house calls for Pedro, a cockatiel who lives in the exercise room of Lakeside Village. While I am there I get to visit my Mother-in-Law Karen who works there, my friends who work with Karen—Paula, Tanya, Michelle and the rest, and the residents—my great aunt-in-law Aunt Rachel, Pedro’s best friend Catherine, our real estate agent’s Dad, my daughter Abby’s “adopted” Grandma, whose cat we went to check on together, and many others. For the severe introvert that I am, Pedro has brought me a long ways.

SOME NUMBERS AND STATISTICS

First published on the Riley and James website

by Shawn Finch, DVM

Age children should be before they own a reptile: 6.

Age children should be before they have primary care of a pet: 12.

Age children should be before the family owns a pet prone to aggression: 18.

Age I was married: 24.

Age I had my second child: 30.

Favorites…

Favorite dog name: Joey Cupcake.

Favorite cat name: Mr. Narwhal.

Favorite rabbit name: Junie B. Jones.

Suggestion for their new bunny’s name: Judy Moody.

Dogs or cats: both.

Being a vet or being a Mom: being a Mom.

Crabby owners or crabby pets: crabby pets.

Treating or preventing: preventing.

Hamsters or pit bulls: pit bulls.

Dogs I have disliked: 0.

Cats I have disliked: 0.

Number of years I have been a vet: 8.75.

Number of years I have been a mom: 7, including gestation.

Number of crabby owners I have had to deal with lately: 1.

Number of crabby pets: 10 maybe? But if you have read “Will Benji be there?”you understand why it was not their fault!

Primary guideline for scheduling appointments: No crabby owners, crabby pets are just fine.

Coworkers who stand by that with me because it makes work very fun: 5 of 5.

Coworkers on my list of favorite people: 5.

Percent of pets who come in for prevention-related reasons: 90.

Percent of pets who come in for treatment of disease: 10.

Hamsters who have bitten me: 3.

Percent of hamsters who have considered biting to thank me for their great care: 98.

Pit bulls who have bitten me, or even tried: 0.

How these statistics, excluding the hamster bites, make me feel: happy.

Average lifespan of a dog: 12 years.

Oldest dog I have known: 17.  Breed: Poodle.

Average number of years that are added to a dog’s life when fed properly: 2.

Average lifespan of an indoor cat: 13 years.

Average lifespan of an outdoor cat: 3 years.

Oldest cat I have known: 21.

Breed: Siamese.

Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor.

Average lifespan of a betta fish: 1 year.

Age of our betta: 3.

Secret of Fish’s youthful beauty: oxygen.

Most common cause of death in pocket pets and exotics: improper diet or housing.

Amount of Internet information on pet care that is accurate: 50%, I would guess. But I still maintain that it is a great place to start.

#1 cause of death in cats and dogs: euthanasia due to behavior issues.

#2: euthanasia due to overpopulation.

Most common signalment of a dog with cancer: senior patient who has had excellent care and grown old enough to develop cancer.

Most common issue owners who have pets with cancer deal with: guilt.

Stages of grief owners go through at the loss of a pet: 5.

Percent of dogs and cats over 2 with dental disease: 80.

Frequency of dental cleaning recommended for average adult pet: once a year.

Average lifespan of guinea pigs: 5.

Age of Piggy: 3.

Most common vitamin deficiency in guinea pigs: C.

Animals that do not make vitamin C: Primates and guinea pigs.

Amount of vitamin C in Piggy’s daily supplement: 25 mg.

Number of guinea pig diets with adequate vitamin C: 0.

Number of guinea pig liquid supplements with adequate vitamin C: 0.

Diseases Piggy has had: 2.

Diseases related to vitamin C deficiency: 0.

Most common vitamin deficiency in birds: A. Most common vitamin deficiency in reptiles: D.

More favorites…

Favorite rodents for children: rats and guinea pigs.

Favorite rats from children’s literature: Nicodemus and Templeton.

Favorite mice from children’s literature: Mrs. Frisby, Herman the Great and Ralph.

Number of favorite dog breeds I have: 23.

Number of least favorite dog breeds I have: 2.

Number of breeds I have mixed feelings about: 4.

Favorite canine from children’s literature: Carl.

Other favorites: Ann and Dan.

Number of favorite cat breeds: 1.

Number of least favorite cat breeds: 0.

Favorite feline from children’s literature: Socks.