Pulse - June 2022 - 4

PULSE PERSPECTIVE
VET4SPARTY@ME.COM
SUMMER PLANS
I
will test out Mr. Twain's theory next week as I head to the city by the bay for the CVMA's Pacific
Veterinary Conference and House of Delegates meeting. Experience with this conference has
me already planning to pack a coat. Did you know that it is both a city and the county of San
Francisco and it is the second most densely populated city in the country? It is this trip to San Francisco
that will kick off my summer.
I love summer! It is by far my favorite time of year. The tilt of the earth in
" The coldest winter I ever
spent was a summer in
San Francisco. "
- Mark Twain
relation to the sun means the summer solstice is near and longer days are ahead.
But for me the summer is symbolic, it is a symbol of energy and youth. As a
young girl growing up in Venice, CA, that meant extended hours of sun spent
at the beach playing volleyball and swooning over surfer boys. I used to take the
RTD bus up PCH to Malibu for my horseback riding lessons and spend hours
grooming the horses and mucking out stalls. Ahhhh, I miss those days. Now on
my occasional summer day off, I wear wide brimmed hats and apply my daily
SPF lotion while reading the latest Elin Hilderbrand novel under an umbrella.
Traditionally summer was the " busy " time of year in the veterinary clinic.
Back in the day no one was permitted to take time off or allowed any vacation
time during the summer months. Why? Well, it was flea season of course! Itchy
dogs and cats filled the appointment books. Flea baths, dips and prednisone were
used freely. Oh, my have times have changed. If the last two and half years have
taught us anything it is that there is no busy season. It is always busy! And flea
infestations limited to the summer months have gone the way of the dodo. Not
only do we have to battle fleas year-round but other parasites and maladies as
well. We now must educate ourselves and our clients about heartworm and tickborne
diseases as well as leptospirosis and zoonotic diseases like typhus. Not to
mention medicine has changed dramatically since those days. We have extremely
effective parasiticides for flea and tick control and monoclonal antibodies for
allergic dermatitis. Who would have thought?
Another sign of the times is that we no longer demand our team to put the
clinic before all else. We encourage a work life balance. I encourage you to spend
some of those summer nights with friends and family roasting marshmallows
and catching fireflies. This is a good time to remember that we are as young as
we think we are. The world holds as much opportunity as we choose to think it
does. Take a lazy summer afternoon and ask yourself what are the symbols that
guide you? What are the guideposts that give your life meaning, something to
work towards, to live for? It can be a season, a book, a piece of art or your child's
laugh when running through the sprinklers. Summer is that symbol for me.
I remember how excited I was to hear Alice Cooper's " School's Out " (for
summer) on my transistor radio. This was the true mark for the beginning of
summer for me. As I have mentioned on these pages before and unlike Alice's
anthem, school is never truly out. It wasn't really out when I was young on the
beach in Venice or during the summer break in vet school. And though I will
start my summer break at PacVet, it will be back-to-back meetings and lectures
as well as dinners with other doctors and colleagues. Nevertheless, the idea of
summer is located between my ears. The freedom of teenage girl talk on the
beach is an idea and an attitude. I encourage you to keep the idea of freedom in
your head. Or it can be as simple as a call to get back to the gym and get beach
body ready!
Karla Nichols
SCVMA President
4
JUNE 2022
PULSE

Pulse - June 2022

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