Tuesday night was both fun and educational.
The monthly meeting of our regional veterinarian’s group, South Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association, met in Biloxi, MS, at Mary Mahoney’s restaurant.
The presentation was delivered by my Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Internal Medicine professor, Dr. Ray Dillon.
He is also board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine with a sub-specialty in Cardiology. Dr. Dillon is recognized worldwide as one of the leading specialists on heartworm disease in both dogs and cats. In the last few years he has begun performing surgical implantation of pacemakers in dogs with congestive heart failure due to abnormal heart rhythms.
Dr. Dillon talked at length about heartworm disease and the effectiveness of heartworm preventives.
I was shocked by a statistic he displayed: In the southeastern United States, 56% of dogs are not on heartworm preventive! The number rises to 86% in the Pacific Northwest!
The most important take-home message? “All dogs need to be on year-round heartworm preventive.”
As always, our menu was presented by Bobby Mahoney, proprietor and amateur comedian. Bobby likes to start things out with a few jokes. One of my favorites is one he also tells on a TV spot:
“Four guys from college graduate together and resolve to get together every ten years to reacquaint and reminisce.
“At the end of the first decade they meet at Mary Mahoney’s because the waitresses are so cute.
“At the twenty-year reunion they meet at Mary Mahoney’s because the food so good.
“At the thirty-year reunion they meet at Mary Mahoney’s because handicap-parking is close and accessible.”
“At the forty-year reunion they decide to meet at Mary Mahoney’s. One of the group asks, ‘Why do you want to go there?’
“‘Because we’ve never been there before!’”
See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.
