Vet tales

Who says vets don't know how to have a good time?

When I had Tess in for her checkup earlier this week, the conversation in the office at one point turned to the weird things dogs can eat.

Well, turns out that there are these in-house contests veterinarians like to hold to see who can report the strangest things ingested by a pet.  Submitting X-ray entries, they all gather together and vote for the winners. Two of this year's standouts: 

• The boa constrictor and the frozen rabbit: The owner of a boa constrictor was thawing out a frozen, dead rabbit for his "pet's" dinner. When he returned, everything was gone. An X-ray shows the side profile of a crouching rabbit -- sitting on a heating pad complete with wires still attached -- all perfectly intact inside the happy snake's stomach.

• But here's my favorite: The Best Hiding Place: A family dog, a golden retriever I think they said, was experiencing repeated ear infections. No one could figure out why the flare-ups kept returning and were so persistent -- until the family vet peered deep within and discovered, smiling from way inside the dog's ear, one of these:                           The family's preschooler had apparently found the perfect hiding spot for her tiny Mighty Mite doll. And it worked. Her little brother never did find it. Problem is, she forgot where she'd hidden it, too -- until she gasped in surprise when the vet told the family what she'd found. So: Mystery solved, ear infection = gone..