Doc's Blog

You can’t escape reading or hearing about disease-causing microorganisms—with exotic names like MRSA and E. coli OH:157—that develop resistance to drugs. Or reports about resistance to antibiotics in livestock and people or weeds’ resistance to crop chemicals.

There is another kind of resistance in cattle, swine, sheep and goats:  internal worms that develop resistance to deworming agents. On this subject, I offer you this true story about a couple of cattlemen and their herd of 200 brood cows out on Cowpath Road.

Lowell was a retired local factory manager. His son, Jimmie, had returned home from Ohio State with a degree in animal science.

I enjoyed talking with them and listening to their unconventional observations. And I was impressed by their astute management of their herd. They used frequent pasture rotations, a computerized heat detection system to determine when a cow was cycling, and artificial insemination, followed up with “natural cover” breeding with bulls for those cows that didn’t conceive and were back in heat.

And during the fall round-up they routinely vaccinated the cows and used a deworming program.

After my columns of the past few months, I don’t want you to get the mistaken impression that I’ve become serious all the time. For this reason, I am switching gears this month to write about the foibles and antics of my three brothers.

To protect the guilty, I’m going to refer to my dear brothers in this column as Daryl, Daryl and Larry. (If you’re old like me you’ll know I’ve borrowed from the “Bob Newhart Show” – “I’m Bob. This is my brother Larry, Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl”).

If you know my brothers and can identify them from my stories here – have at it!

There’s an exciting world out there when it comes to vaccines and their ability to protect us and our animals from disease.

Most of you likely are aware that a vaccine, when given at the appropriate time and by the correct route, stimulates the immune systems of people and animals.

We have vaccines for tetanus, whooping cough, polio, classical swine fever (hog cholera), many strains of salmonella (in animals), Rota virus, some Corona viruses in pigs and calves, distemper, rabies, Herpes I virus in cattle and horses…. The list goes on and on.

A friend of mine is always pushing the positive health benefits of hemp oil for relieving chronic pain. I have been wary of these claims because of hemp oil’s relation to marijuana.

In this column, I’ll share with you my newly found education in the world of marijuana and hemp. I’ll start with Johnnie. He’s a high school student who occasionally does odd jobs for me, like running the Weed eater or sweeping the shop floor.

Since he isn’t old enough for a driver’s license, his father brings him over and I take him home after he completes his tasks. A couple of weeks ago he told me he didn’t need a ride home. His friend TJ would be picking him up.

During our conversation I learned that TJ is 18 and out of school. And on this particular day, TJ was running late. Johnnie called him to determine where he was. TJ said he was getting gas.

Then when he still hadn’t shown up, the story was that he got lost. And then he had a flat tire. An hour later, much to Johnnie’s disappointment, I told him I would take him home.

Later, I learned that TJ was chronically in trouble for smoking marijuana and using other drugs. I also got the message from Johnnie’s father that under no circumstances was his son permitted to associate with TJ.

You likely are aware of former Vice President Al Gore’s book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, published in 2006. Whatever you want to call it – global warming, climate change, changing weather – there is no denying that the seasons are changing from what all of us oldsters, including Al Gore, knew growing up.

The term “global warming” morphed into “climate change” in the mid-2000s after the alleged warming seemed to stop and weather patterns became more extreme. And now climate change is the scapegoat for every unusual weather event.¹

Gore’s “inconvenient” truths are not sound science-based conclusions. They come from a group of scientists who are imposing their opinions, which they base on severely flawed science.

As I reflect on starting our veterinary career in Urbana, it brought up many memories of a number of situations that sometimes were awkward, other times embarrassing or made us question why that incident happened. While proud that my late wife, Dr. Judy and I had successfully graduated from veterinary school we weren’t so confident in starting a veterinary practice. Well at least Dr. Judy would tell you that she was scared. She would have also added that I had more than enough confidence for both of us. I couldn’t help it! My own Mom drilled into each of her four boys that we weren’t to be quitters and moreover to be confident on life and our endeavors.

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