dec2015

By Glenn Kalick, DVM
PET TALK
He “Eight” A Frog
Problems in Communicating
One day my staff and I
were having a discussion
about language
barriers. I joked that, on my
first day of being a veterinarian,
with my best Boston
accent, that a client’s
Pit Bull taw his ACI ligament
and most likely has
cahtlidge damage.
When I left the room, the
client asked the technician
what I said. She had no idea.
I came in and explained that
the Pit Bull has a meniscus
in the knee joint that is lined
with cartilage, so difficult for
a Bostonian to say. They
laughed and told me that I
better work on the “r”s.
A language problem I encountered
was my introduction
to the Southern drawl.
One day a Mr. Hutchinson
came in with his Labrador,
Dixie. I had never met Dixie,
but looking through her file, I
found three episodes of Bufo
toad-induced seizures. (I
took over my Fort Lauderdale
practice from an old-time
veterinarian.) I looked in the
chart and after the date it
would say Bufo Toad poisoning
and no evidence of how
he treated Dixie, but only that
he called the next day and
she was fine.
Dixie came to the hospital
seizing and my technician
brought her to the back and I
quickly placed an IV catheter
and gave her an injection of
Valium to stop the seizure.
After about 15 minutes, when
I felt that Dixie was stable on
IV fluids and her core body
temperature was normal, I
went to the examination room
to give Mr. Hutchinson an
update.
First thing Mr. Hutchinson
said was that I wasn’t Dr. L. I
told him that Dr. L. retired. He
told me that Dr. L. was too
young to retire.
Accents
interfere with
understanding
between
doctor and
client.
I told him that I gave Dixie
some medicine and that
she is fine. I asked him how
long was Dixie “seeahzing”
before he brought her in to
the hospital. He said that
she was not “seeahzing” and
that the Bufo toads make the
dog have a fit every once in a
while. I asked him again how
long was she having a fit and
he told me that she “eight” it.
I thought he was talking time
and he was talking appetite.
I was about to tell him
that an eight-minute seizure
was extremely long when
my technician came into the
room and told me that Dixie
was seizing again. I went
back to see Dixie and gave
her another dose of Valium
and the owner followed me
back. He told me again that
Dixie “eights” the toad and
Dr. L. always
made her
puke it up. I
told him that
dogs don’t
have to eat
the toad they
only need
to lick it. A
frustrated Mr.
Hutchinson found the only
person that he remembered
in the hospital and told her
the story in a truly Southern
accent that someone who
grew up in Alabama might
recognize.
My receptionist told me
that Dixie doesn’t lick the
toads, she eats them. Eats
not eights. And Dr. L. found
out, after Dixie’s first experience
with Bufo toads, when
he did the same treatments
that I was doing that Dixie
kept having fits. In between
the injections, he would
make her vomit.
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I gave Dixie a medication
that made her vomit and out
came a whole toad. It was
one of the biggest toads that
I have ever seen. I kept Dixie
for the rest of the morning
and wrote up the file, so
everyone would know in the
future how to treat Dixie.
It was an interesting first year
in south Florida. I quickly
learned how to read my clients’
facial expression when
they didn’t understand the
Boston accent and how to
make my clients explain to
me how a dog “eights” his
dinner or has a “fit.” P
Dr. Kalick, Dr. Callaway,
Dr. Hekman, Dr. Jehn, Dr. Leff,
and Dr. Goldberger
10625 Wiles Rd. • Coral Springs • In Brookside Square • www.brooksidevet.com
the PARKLANDER 109