The NAVC - Exhibit Hall

The North American Veterinary Conference is HUGE. It has been held in central Florida for 25 years, and grows every year. It is internationally known among veterinarians as a premiere event, for education, networking, and socializing. It attracts people from all over the planet. This year, 6000 veterinarians attended. With veterinary technicians and other support staff, vendors, and guests, the total group was something like 15,000. It is so big, it has to be held in three different facilities. I have gone three times now, and each time I go, I remember why I don't go every year. It is BIG! And exhausting. And HUGE!

Here are some photos of one of the two exhibit halls:

Check out what your veterinarian may be buying -

microscopes

endoscopes

left- blood chemistry analyzer
center- anesthesia machine with built-in ECG monitor
right- digital radiography (X-ray) unit

plates, pins, and screws
for fracture repair

surgical retractors

- and what s/he probably won't be buying, unless your vet wins the state lottery.

doggy (and kitty) CAT scan

underwater treadmill,
for physiotherapy (rehab) after orthopedic surgery

hyperbaric chamber, with stuffed dog
pretending to be Michael Jackson

And you wonder why your vet bills grow every year!

Anhinga: Snake Bird of the South

I saw my first Anhinga in July, 1993, on Hilton Head Island, and an anhigna was the first bird I saw when my plane landed at the Orlando Airport. This is a really weird creature. It looks almost like a Pterodactyl or some other prehistoric bird ancestor. It is truly unique in that it is the only member of its family, the Anhingidae, in North America.

Anhinga anhinga

I love it when an animal's common name is the same as its scientific name, and the anhinga is one of those. It belongs to the genus Anhinga, and it full name is Anhinga anhinga. Weird, huh? I can think of three other animals which share this quirk - the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), the American bison (Bison bison) and as a matter of fact, the Western Lowland Gorilla is even in the subspecies "gorilla" so its full name is Gorilla gorilla gorilla. But, I digress.

One of the neat things about the anhinga is how is swims - with its body completely submerged and only its neck sticking out above the surface. This appearance has led to one of its nicknames, "snake bird."

See how it got its nickname?

Like its close relatives, the cormorants, the anhigna dives under water to snare a fish, then surfaces to swallow its meal.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo -
I was trying to snap a picture of this successful fisher.

Also like the cormorants, anhingas lack the oil necessary to water-proof their feathers. This makes it easier to submerge to fish, but complicates flying, since it is hard to get airborne with waterlogged plumage. So, after feeding and bathing, anhingas must perch with their wings outspread to dry off in the sun. This is when I think they look their most primitive.

Did Archaeopteryx look like this?

Word of the Day: Indolent

Indolent: adjective - adverse to activity, effort, or movement; habitually lazy.

As in, "I am so indolent, I couldn't be bothered to come up with a Toxicology Tuesday post."

Check back next week.

Life Bird: American Bittern

I have so much to tell you about, I don't know where to start. Although the stated purpose of my trip to Orlando was to participate in the North American Veterinary Conference, I don't really feel like blogging about that tonight. So, instead, I'll treat you to one of the 11 (yes, that's right, ELEVEN!) Life Birds I picked up on my trip, the American Bittern.

A bird of the wetlands, the bittern is notoriously hard to find. Not only is it shy, elusive, and endangered, it is also very well camouflaged. As it turns out, I practically tripped over this bird. If it were not for my non-birding cousin, I may have missed it entirely.

We were at a wetlands area called Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, south of Lake George, near DeLand. (And DeWater!) If you are not familiar with Florida, try looking north of Orlando, southwest of Daytona Beach. I was having a great day. I had already seen Sandhill Cranes, White Ibis, Black Vultures, Great Blue, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, and both Great and Snowy Egrets. I was scanning the shoreline across a small channel when Nancy said, "There's a bird right there."

"Right where?" I asked, continuing to focus on the weeds on the opposite shore.

"Right there," she replied. I checked out the nearest greenery, looking for a sparrow or some other LBJ.

"No," she insisted, "right THERE."

I followed her pointing finger. OMG! An American Bittern, about 10 feet away from me.

Can you see the bittern in this photo? No?

Can you see it now?

This has got to be the coolest bird ever! It looked just like a stump, and despite our proximity, me talking too loudly, and my eager attempts to get just-one-more photo, it stayed in one place, swaying back and forth, imitating the weeds blowing in the breeze.

Isn't it beautiful?

Finally, I got just a bit too close and spooked it. It flew over the channel to the next weedy patch, and when I looked for it, it had vanished. Awesome!

Just for the record, Nancy also spotted the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a tiny, flittery little thing. Not a Life Bird, but still a good find. Need luck on your next quest for Lifers? Take along a non-birder - they're lucky!

Back from Florida and Jeez, is it COLD!

Ah, man - central Florida was in the 60's and low 70's for most of the past 10 days, and I'm already missing it. We did dip down into the 50's a bit and the locals were bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves, shivering, turning up the heat and complaining about the "cold." Now I'm back in chilly ol' Ohio, where the high today was about 35. Luckily, I did miss the 2 degrees above (with -12 degree wind chills) from just a couple of days ago.

Boy, do I have a bunch of good photos for you! I'll try to organize them into themed posts, but to whet your appetite, here is a brief taste of what I have been doing while I was away. I call this post:

The Coat Tour

My famous OSU jacket traveled to Orlando in my checked bag from the Cincinnati Airport (which, if you didn't know, is actually in Kentucky). A near-tragedy occurred when one of my checked bags (the small one) traveled with me on my connecting flight through Atlanta while the larger one, containing ALL of my outer clothes, including my wonderful coat, somehow took a direct flight. While I was enjoying (?) the hospitality of the Hartsfield airport, my large bag was all alone, waiting for me in Orlando. Perhaps it looked sad and lonely, perhaps it had that "Take me home" expression, or perhaps some people are just idiots, but when I arrived at the Orlando airport, it was gone.

"All the bags from your flight are in this area," was the so-not-useful comment from a Guy in a Tie near the carousal, when I told him my suitcase was missing. I renewed my search, only to confirm my suspicions. No suitcase. The Tie Guy sent me on to his supervisor, in the office.

"Our records show your bag was checked in, Ma'am. It is here in the airport," said Ms Helpful Supervisor Person. "It's NOT!" I choked out through the lump in my throat.

Thinking perhaps I couldn't SEE a large black wheeled suitcase with red tartan ribbons attached to both handles, Ms. Helpful looked at all the bags scattered around the Baggage Claim area. She even inspected the hot pink duffle and the paisley overnight bag, just in case my suitcase had somehow mutated during the flight. It hadn't.

This is when the lowest ranking guy in the baggage area informed me that he had pulled my bag off a different flight, and had put it aside to await my arrival. (Thank God for blue-collar workers who notice ACTUAL suitcases rather than trusting computer reports.) When he shared this info with Ms. Supervisor, she was of the opinion that someone else had taken my bag by mistake, and all we could do was wait for some honest soul to return it to the airport. She took my hotel and cell phone information, and left me feeling less than hopeful.

Yes, friends and neighbors, KatDoc was stuck in Florida wearing hiking boots, corduroy pants, and a sweater. The small bag held my jammies and unmentionables, but all my lighter clothes were MIA. More to the point, my OSU jacket was gone. I almost cried in the airport.

What happened next was either a minor miracle or a reaffirmation that honesty and decency still exist in the human race. A woman called - she had my bag at her business. It had been picked up by mistake by visitors from Europe. When they arrived at their destination, they realized they had the wrong suitcase, but they were a long way from the Orlando Airport, and they decided to return it when they went back to the airport for their flight home. In two weeks.

Two weeks?!?!?! What kind of goofball, ignoramous, IDIOT keeps someone's bag for TWO FREAKIN' WEEKS? Fortunately, the business lady said "There is no way I can let this woman go without her luggage," and even though her company wouldn't pay for the bag to be shipped back (and the Europeans obviously weren't taking responsibility) she took it upon herself to return my suitcase to the airport. The airline, in turn, sent it on to my hotel, and while I was telling the front desk that I was expecting my lost luggage to be delivered, the driver arrived. Right there in the hotel lobby, I opened the suitcase to find -

MY JACKET, on top of the rest of my things. Hurrah!

That's when I decided not to let that jacket out of my sight. I would take it with me everywhere. So, here are photos of The Jacket, enjoying itself in sunny Florida:

Relaxing in a chair at the hotel room,
regaling me with travel tales.

Having breakfast at the hotel.

Sitting in on lectures at the Convention Center.

Lunching by the pool at the Gaylord Palms.

Looking for manatees on a pontoon boat trip.

Taking an airboat ride.Hamming it up at Lone Cabbage Fish Camp.

Birding at Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.

Waiting for our flight home.

In later posts, I'll share more of our trip with you, including some pretty good bird photos. As a teaser, I was hoping to see about a dozen Life Birds on this trip, and I got close. Trip List to follow...

Snowbirds

Dark-eyed Junco

I understand why juncos are called "snowbirds," since their arrival signals the return of winter storms to Ohio. But, I don't understand why Ohioans who travel to Florida for the winter, escaping the snow, have the same nickname.

Be that as it may, KatDoc is about to transform herself into a snowbird, at least temporarily. I'm off to Orlando, Florida for a five day veterinary conference, followed by a three day mini-vacation with family. I hope to get in some birding while I'm away, and to bring back lots of news and photos to fill up the blog.

So, have fun in my absence, behave yourselves, and get to work on this week's toxicology quiz! (I suppose you are going to say those three things are mutually exclusive, right?)

Toxicology Tuesday, January 15

A common phone call at a vet office is "My pet just ate a house plant; is it poisonous?" This is not a "yes or no" question - the answer depends on the type of plant, what part or parts are eaten, perhaps how much the pet ate, and what type/how big the pet is.

Here is a typical group of house plants (mine):

Ignore the Peace Lily in the back right of this photo - we already covered it in a previous post. The rest came in one of those florist's baskets, a mixed arrangement of foliage plants crammed into a too-small container. It was a "Thank you" gift from Heidi's owners (remember Heidi?) I took the arrangement apart and repotted the plants as small groupings.

Group 1

Group 2

What can you tell us about these plants? Do you know their names, or if they are:

Toxic or Not?
. . . . .

Edit: Wed., Jan. 16

So, from the dearth of responses, I can see this is not a popular topic. Tell you what we are going to do. I'm going to give you some more time to research this one, because it is a toughie, and because I am going to be off the air for nearly two weeks (see next entry.) Here are some close-ups of the six plants in question, and I added some hints to the comments section to help you out.

Answers after I return on January 27.

In Group 1, we have the following three plants:

A. Philodendron

B. Dracaena marginata

C. Dieffenbachia

And, these three plants are in Group 2:

D. Aucuba japonica

E. Parlor palm

F. Syngonium podophyllum

See you in a couple of weeks. Have fun!

. . .

----- Answers -----

It's Jan. 27, I'm back, and here are your answers:

A: Philodendron. A very common household plant, the philodendron is in fact toxic. It, like many of the plants shown here, is a member of the Arum family (Araecea), and the toxic element is an oxalate. (more on oxalates below) Personally, I have had many philodendrons over the years and many houseplant-eating dogs and cats, and I have never had this one be chewed by pets. Neither have I seen a case of toxicity related to Phil in my practices.

B. Dracaena marginata. There are many types of Dracaena, some of which are called "Corn Plants." Most Dracaenas are nontoxic, as is this species.

C. Dieffenbachia. Also called "Dumbcane" for its potential to cause vocal cord paralysis and temporary loss of speech. Listed as toxic, this member of the Arum family also contains calcium oxalates.

D. Aucuba japonica goes by many common names, including Gold Dust Plant, Japanese Aucuba, and Spotted Laurel. It is toxic, too, but here the agent is a glycoside found in the fruit and leaves.

E. The Parlor Palm's Latin name is Chamaedorea elegans, but it is sold as Neanthe bella. (Go figure.) It is nontoxic.

F. Syngonium podophyllum, or Nephthytis, is often called Arrowhead Plant, Arrowhead Vine, or Goosefoot Plant. It is related to Philodendron, and as another member of the Arum family, contains oxalates, making it toxic to pets.

What does all this mean for your pets and mine?

The glycosides found in the Gold Dust Plant are minor toxins. Mild GI upset, vomiting and diarrhea, might be seen if a pet ingests this plant.

Calcium oxalates, the toxic principle of three of the above plants, and the Peace Lily seen in the back right of the first photo, cause oral irritation, drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, and perhaps a loss of voice from vocal cord paralysis. It is rare that a pet would ingest a sufficient quantity to cause serious health risks or death, however.

I am not concerned about keeping any of these plants in my house with my 4 cats and 2 dogs. Interestingly, the two plants receiving the most abuse from my plant-loving cats are the Parlor Palm and the Dracaena, the two nontoxic plants. Is that because they have tried the others and found the bitter taste and oral irritation to be repellent? Is it because the thin leaves look and feel like blades of grass? Or, have we just been lucky? In any event, I do try to keep my cats from chewing the plants, not so much for the cats' sake, as for that of the plants.

The take-home lesson from this exercise is to Know Your Houseplants. You can see this is a challenge, since one plant can have many different common names and even the scientific names may vary. Please, if you have house PETS and house PLANTS, take the time to learn the names of your plants. Do it now, before Fido shreds that thing you got as a housewarming gift from Aunt Fern.

I have two reference books, one by the Sunset publishing house (you can find it at the big box hardware stores) and one by the American Horticultural Society, and I wish I had more. You need at least two books, because no one book will have photographs of every species or variety of houseplant out there. When you buy or receive a new plant, save the care tag that comes attached to it, or at least write down the name.