The Incredible Dr. Pol - General Discussion

[LittleIggy]

OMG! Beagle puppies! 🥰 And the two puppies playing with Tater…❤️ Did they say Dr. Nicole got two beagle puppies? 

[Minivanessa]

20 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

OMG! Beagle puppies! 🥰 And the two puppies playing with Tater…❤️ Did they say Dr. Nicole got two beagle puppies? 

Yes, they did. At first she was shown getting one. Then we saw two puppies playing with Tater. Then later in the episode they said she'd bought two. She said their names, both starting with "R." I think the first was Rupert but don't hold me to that; Ruger* -  she said he had a sweet disposition. The other one is named Remington; she took him along on a farm call as her sidekick. I can't see her doing that on emergency calls. TBH I think an energetic puppy would be a distraction on most farm calls, so I think it was just a thing she did for the cameras although she said she was "training" him to be her helper. 

Beagles are cute but as Dr. Emily said, when a beagle is following a scent they are completely oblivious to anything else including what their owner is trying to tell them to do. Dr.  Nicole said that she was given a beagle puppy for her sixth (IIRC) first(?) birthday, and she was clearly drawn to these pups. 

*Edited after I re-watched the episode. I think she said her first birthday present was a beagle. And, they're named Ruger and Remington. I see a theme. 🤣

Edited March 7, 2022 by Jeeves

[LittleIggy]

One of the vet techs got a beagle puppy, too.

[Minivanessa]

3 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

One of the vet techs got a beagle puppy, too.

Yes she did! I re-watched the episode this afternoon. I'd missed that the first time, got distracted by a call. So the vet tech adopted I think a female, then Dr. Nicole got a male, and then she ended up with another male. Quite the shopping/adoption spree at the clinic that day. 

[Minivanessa]

I understand that Dr. Pol is old school, he runs a practice in an economically un-prosperous area, and says he tries to keep the costs of treatment affordable for the folks there. I don't recall getting my nose out of joint over his treatments as shown on the show. Until the other day. Lately the Nat Geo wild channel is running a load of repeats of this show, and I've been streaming most of them.

There was a case in a repeat episode a few days ago, where a dog was having abdominal symptoms, suspected of eating cloth (or something soft), and nothing showed up on x-ray. It was Dr. Brenda's case. She ordered a dye (barium?) test involving giving the dog a solution with the dye and then taking a series of x rays over a few hours to trace its flow (or not) through the system. It disclosed a blockage in the intestine, so Dr. B did surgery later that day, and removed something or other from the intestine and the dog recovered.

So a day or so later, I'm watching an episode where a large dog comes in, abdominal symptoms, the owner says "he may have eaten a dishtowel." Pol took an x ray which showed nothing - and sent the dog home on antibiotics and told the owners to watch him. Sure enough, another two days at least passed, the dog was no better, Pol FINALLY did surgery, and pulled fabric out of the dog's intestines. 

Holy sh*t. Pol was too cheap or lazy to order the dye test so the dog got to suffer with a blocked intestine for more days until he did surgery. Maybe there's a reasonable explanation for that but it's not immediately obvious to me. Damn.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Jeeves

[CrazyInAlabama]

In the second case, I bet the owner didn't want to pay for multiple x-rays, and the barium test.   I'm surprised they agreed to surgery if it was a matter of money.    

[AZChristian]

43 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

In the second case, I bet the owner didn't want to pay for multiple x-rays, and the barium test.   I'm surprised they agreed to surgery if it was a matter of money.    

We just started watching Dr. Pol a few months ago.  We are amazed at how many people claim that their dog is the center of their life, but they haven't even bothered with basic vaccinations for their beloved pet.  Nor teeth for themselves.

[DonnaMae]

2 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Nor teeth for themselves.

I've noticed this on quite a few pet owners who bring their pets to Dr. Pol.  😏

[Bastet]

18 hours ago, Jeeves said:

sent the dog home on antibiotics

I'm not surprised; he hands out antibiotics like lollipops. 

[LittleIggy]

Glad Dr. Pol is back. Poor Amish horse. 😢 
Glad the horse with the injured hoof turned out okay. 
The baby reindeer! Squee! 🥰

[Rammchick]

Here we go again.  Re: guinea fowl with a fractured leg: "It'll heal up but it may be crooked."

God forbid he should take an x-ray to check the alignment.

[Bastet]

Even though I quit watching this show because so many things about it bother me, since I had seen a lot of it, I watched the 200 episode special.  It was just okay, but I'm still laughing at Diane watching the clip of Dr. Pol plopping down into the kitchen that partially-formed blob he'd pulled out of a cow's uterus and asking:  Is that my pie plate [it's sitting in]?

I also liked Dr. Brenda ending her reluctant participation with "Okay, I gotta get back to work".

[parrotfeathers]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

Even though I quit watching this show because so many things about it bother me, since I had seen a lot of it, I watched the 200 episode special. 

I saw most of it and it was pretty decent I agree.  I do think it's amazing it has been so successful.  I think most of it is the personality factor of all the participants.  Dr. Emily made great episodes as does Dr. Nicole.  I do admire Dr. Pol. He's very old school and could never make it in today's world of animal care.  But in the area in which he practices it does seem to make a difference to the animals and their owners.  Now vets stress preventive care instead of waiting until it's almost too late to treat an animal.  For some people burned motor oil is still the best treatment for mange.

Dr. Pol is in "his best place."   Dr. Erin's practice would never make it there.  

Edited July 19, 2022 by parrotfeathers

[Minivanessa]

Dr. Nicole and Dr. Pol tweeted some photos of the 200th episode celebration hosted at Hopewell Ranch. Since they aren't private social media I think it's okay to share a couple of screenshots. Am I the only one who thinks the Dr. Pol twitter account is actually run by Charles? (NBD if it is; the doc has better things to do than create social media posts.)

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

I saw most of it and it was pretty decent I agree.  I do think it's amazing it has been so successful.  I think most of it is the personality factor of all the participants.  Dr. Emily made great episodes as does Dr. Nicole.

We used to have a tongue-in-cheek tradition.  Whenever Dr. Emily would frown and say, "That's not good," we'd take a swallow of whatever beverage was within reach.  We were well hydrated.  LOL.

What impressed me about the 200th show was having the crew talk about how much they enjoyed working with the family and staff.  One cameraman had been there from the first episode.  

But the retired admin in me still wants to go into their office and tidy up and review their processes.  Too much paper and clutter!!!!  

[parrotfeathers]

Charles may need to push back from the supper table a bit.  Tummy weight is the most dangerous for men.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:08 AM, parrotfeathers said:

I understand that Dr. Pol is old school, he runs a practice in an economically un-prosperous area, and says he tries to keep the costs of treatment affordable for the folks there

I used to take my (late) dogs to a very large animal hospital in my suburban area.  It was pretty much like a people hospital - all kinds of animal specialists, a fully staffed hospital and emergency room, whatever equipment was needed, pharmacy etc. It was EXPENSIVE.  There were times I had to ration certain care for my pets because of the cost (i.e. I had to wait to treat one of my dogs for a benign facial mass until I saved up the money) I imagine if a person didn't have money for dentures, they didn't have money for expensive pet care. 

Is it just me, or am I the only one that still enjoys the commercial with Dr. Pol with the lightning bolt across his face? :D

[LittleIggy]

On 7/17/2022 at 9:21 PM, Rammchick said:

Here we go again.  Re: guinea fowl with a fractured leg: "It'll heal up but it may be crooked."

God forbid he should take an x-ray to check the alignment.

Maybe the owner couldn’t afford to pay for X-rays. 🙄

[BookWitch]

2 episodes in the new season and we've already had 2 more dogs hit by cars. Neither dog was leashed or collared. The little shih tzu dog with bites all over. Seemed like a reaction to something to me. More antibiotics. 

Goat with swollen scrotum. Not sure how big they're supposed to be. Poor thing. 

Bull with sore foot. Here's a thought-maybe if you cleaned out the stables so they're not knee deep in their own shit and tamped down on the flies a bit....

[CrazyInAlabama]

It's a rural area, people let dogs run.   I bet most of the owners don't even have a leash, unless they have one to take the dog to the vet. 

Where I used to live it was a subdivision built on what was once farmland.    We did have 1/3 to 1/2 acre plots of land, but it was a busy road in front, and definitely not rural.    The number of new residents that moved there, and let their dogs run loose was disgusting.     After the first week, either the new residents would fence the dog, or doggy was gone.    

[parrotfeathers]

2 hours ago, BookWitch said:

Here's a thought-maybe if you cleaned out the stables so they're not knee deep in their own shit and tamped down on the flies a bit....

I've never found cow or horse poo objectionable, but this kinda irks me too.  It gets me to wondering are all of the smaller beef/dairy farms like this in the barn/paddock area?

[Rammchick]

On 7/24/2022 at 6:51 AM, BookWitch said:

Bull with sore foot. Here's a thought-maybe if you cleaned out the stables so they're not knee deep in their own shit and tamped down on the flies a bit....

Which then made me wonder how long that bandage with copper sulfate was good for, considering the bull went right back into the wet muck.

[Medicine Crow]

Do we have a Bitbulls and Parolees forum?  It's my latest obsession!!!

[AZChristian]

7 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

Do we have a Bitbulls and Parolees forum?  It's my latest obsession!!!

I didn't see one.  A new show forum can be requested, but I think they have to be filming new episodes for a forum to be created.

[Medicine Crow]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

I didn't see one.  A new show forum can be requested, but I think they have to be filming new episodes for a forum to be created.

Actually they are filming.  You should check it out.  Great premise with terrific stories, although sometimes painful to watch (humans you know).

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Medicine Crow said:

Actually they are filming.  You should check it out.  Great premise with terrific stories, although sometimes painful to watch (humans you know).

Here's how to request a forum.

[Minivanessa]

10 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

Do we have a Bitbulls and Parolees forum?  It's my latest obsession!!!

I found a forum for the show here: 

ETA: it appears to be active, with the most recent posts in June. (My original post was wrong, I didn't see that there were posts after 2021 - but I looked again and saw them.)

Edited August 1, 2022 by Jeeves

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Jeeves said:

I found a forum for the show here: 

ETA: it appears to be active, with the most recent posts in June. (My original post was wrong, I didn't see that there were posts after 2021 - but I looked again and saw them.)

Good job!  I searched under "Pitbulls" (all one word) and didn't see anything.  

It's Monday.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  LOL.

[Medicine Crow]

1 minute ago, AZChristian said:

Good job!  I searched under "Pitbulls" (all one word) and didn't see anything.  

It's Monday.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  LOL.

That's exactly what I did, so don't beat yourself up ... LOL.

[Minivanessa]

39 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Good job!  I searched under "Pitbulls" (all one word) and didn't see anything.  

It's Monday.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  LOL.

37 minutes ago, Medicine Crow said:

That's exactly what I did, so don't beat yourself up ... LOL.

I've never made friends with the search system here. I went to the TV Show Index page and found the PBP forum. But that wasn't straightforward. If you click on a show name on that page, you only get the popup box to follow the forum. You don't get a link to the forum itself.

So I followed the PBP forum, and then went to my home page where all my follows are listed - and went to the forum from there. Which is how I was able to supply the link. 

About Pol, I've been watching the new episodes. Their new mare Delilah is gorgeous. It was sweet to see Diane with Delilah; they seem to have a bond. 

So sad about the dogs hit by cars. It's not always because the dog owner was negligent. 

[BookWitch]

Seems to be a lot of dog breeders for money this season. 😑

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, BookWitch said:

Seems to be a lot of dog breeders for money this season. 😑

Even more than in previous seasons?  (Because that was one of the many reasons I gave up on this show, but I still like to read commentary here.)

[CrazyInAlabama]

They've always had a lot of large scale breeders.   They tend to concentrate in rural areas, because they have a lot of room for the animals, and no close neighbors.     You can still be a backyard breeder, and a pet store supplier (aka puppy mill in a lot of cases), because it's more profitable than running a farm.      There might be some quality breeders of limited number of litters, but not the ones we've been seeing laterly.    I think the numbers of breeders are the same, they just weren't showing them as much.   That's another reason I stopped watching.    

The sad truth is that if Dr. Pol or any other vet refused breeders as clients, or tried to tell them mass breedings are puppy mill behavior, there would be a lot of clients who didn't get medical care for the dogs, because they would walk out of the door and never return.     

Edited August 21, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[BookWitch]

Quote

 I think the numbers of breeders are the same, they just weren't showing them as much.

I think that's what's happening here as well. I would rather watch them heal the injured ones than seeing the endless breeders. You'd think they would try to discourage that kind of thing. Tom kitty was cute tho. Liked that the neighbor adopted him.

[DonnaMae]

20 hours ago, BookWitch said:

Seems to be a lot of dog breeders for money this season.

How do you know that woman was selling the puppies?  Did she say that?

Where was Dr. Nicole?

[Rammchick]

On 8/21/2022 at 7:09 AM, BookWitch said:

I think that's what's happening here as well. I would rather watch them heal the injured ones than seeing the endless breeders. You'd think they would try to discourage that kind of thing. Tom kitty was cute tho. Liked that the neighbor adopted him.

It's hard to say they don't, and maybe we just don't see it (there is a spay/neuter sign up in the office that the camera catches every now and then).  But as CrazyInAlabama said above, if Pol made a lot of noise about it to them (especially on camera), these animals would most likely not get the care they need.  It's very much like the exotic vet show, Dr. K, that doesn't seem to be on anymore.  She doesn't judge, just treats the pets, because she knows that if she gets too strident with the owners, they won't come back.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Quote

They've always had a lot of large scale breeders.   They tend to concentrate in rural areas, because they have a lot of room for the animals, and no close neighbors.     You can still be a backyard breeder, and a pet store supplier (aka puppy mill in a lot of cases), because it's more profitable than running a farm. 

There are a lot of Amish who have puppy mills as well.  I found that out after I ended up with a dog given to me that originally came from a very exclusive puppy store.  When I looked at her papers, she had come from Missouri.  I know they have treated large animals (horses and cows) from Amish folks on Dr. Pol's show. 

[Rammchick]

Duct tape?  On fur?!  Ow!!

[Medicine Crow]

Is anyone else watching "Something Bit Me!" &, if so, is there a forum for it?  The show I watched last night covered a bunch of people being deposited in the Yukon & one guy being attacked by a polar bear.  Only to discover that the place they were camping was literally surrounded by polar bears (16 I think) & they were "sitting seals".  I'd love to see a discussion about some of "the situations" people are in before they are "attacked".

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Medicine Crow said:

Is anyone else watching "Something Bit Me!" &, if so, is there a forum for it?

I've never heard of it, but it sounds like a show that would get a single thread rather than its own forum, so you can just create one in the appropriate section rather than going through the process of requesting a forum be created.

[Medicine Crow]

16 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I've never heard of it, but it sounds like a show that would get a single thread rather than its own forum, so you can just create one in the appropriate section rather than going through the process of requesting a forum be created.

A place where the episodes could be discussed would be great!  Thanks.

[Minivanessa]

I think that all veterinarians in a small animal practice, can face that ethical dilemma mentioned above, when it comes to providing vet care for litters of puppies and kittens. It's not illegal to breed those animals for profit, whether it's the occasional "backyard" litter or a larger kennel operation. (Whether it should be, is I believe a discussion beyond the scope of this forum.)

I believe that an ethical veterinarian would report a filthy cruel breeding operation if s/he encountered one, which is why the nasty puppy mills I'm sure don't have vets doing on-site visits. It's trickier when the owners bring in litters for vet checks, and the animals are basically healthy. I doubt the vets would - or ethically could - withhold treatment just because they suspect the owners aren't providing a clean healthy environment for the animals. 

We've seen Pol and the others deal with sick un-vaccinated puppies - and they don't hesitate to voice their disgust about people who sell unvaccinated animals. I remember one case where a dad and daughter came in, they'd gotten the pup from somebody on Facebook marketplace, they ended up being assisted by a charity fund for the cost of the dog's Parvo treatment - and I'm sure they'd paid a sleazy backyard breeder for that poor dog (who did survive).  A recent episode showed Pol visiting a kennel operation to do vet checks on what seemed to be multiple litters of puppies. He said he liked seeing that kind of operation, which was clean, and the footage seemed to back that up. I suspect that puppy mill operators - and I've read that there are Amish among them - would avoid a well-known vet clinic, especially one with TV crews shooting footage, like the plague. IMO they prefer to operate under the radar as they ship puppies to pet stores. A pox on all of those criminal scum, including the pet stores who sell puppies.

In a couple of recent episodes we've seen the vets being emotional about their own animals. Dr. Nicole was visibly tearful about her aged beloved Beagle mix, Pepsi. And when Tater was battling an infection, they were professionals and all. But when his final blood work turned up normal, it was so cool to see Dr. Nicole and Dr. Lisa almost giddily sharing the news, and the look on Pol's face when he was told - was all the feels. It was also cute to see how Pol bonded with that kitten (Tom) who found a home with a neighbor and got renamed Sox. Sweet stuff. 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Jeeves

[Minivanessa]

I'm still watching this show too much. I'm at home a lot right now, and I'd rather have Pol repeats (and repeats of other vet shows) running than much of what else is on. I follow the Heartland Docs DVM on Facebook. They just posted this photo with a reminder about the "Vetsgiving" show coming up on Nat Geo Wild. Sadly, I *can* identify everyone in the photo. Note to self: get out of the house more. 🙁

[DonnaMae]

They're all dressed up except the vet from Nebraska.  His wife looks lovely.  Maybe she should have chosen his clothes.

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, DonnaMae said:

They're all dressed up except the vet from Nebraska.  His wife looks lovely.  Maybe she should have chosen his clothes.

My husband is from Nebraska and I've visited there often. That IS dressed up in a lot of the state. LOL.

[Minivanessa]

55 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

My husband is from Nebraska and I've visited there often. That IS dressed up in a lot of the state. LOL.

I'm in Colorado. That's also 'dressed up' around here. Ben's wearing a nice sports jacket and a spiffy cowboy hat. I think if he were standing straight with the jacket hanging correctly, instead of with his arms spread out, he'd look more put-together than he does in that photo. Well, okay, maybe a newer pair of jeans would also help the look.

The Pols look darn near ageless - so vital. He's 80 and I think she's about the same age.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Jeeves

[nitrofishblue]

I just watched the first episode of 2023. I have a question concerning the staff vets.  I was under the impression that Emily left the practice several years ago. Well there she was in last nights show taking part in several major treatments. What is the back story?

Edited January 2, 2023 by nitrofishblue

[DonnaMae]

That has to be a rerun.  The new season begins on January 7.

[Minivanessa]

1 hour ago, nitrofishblue said:

I just watched the first episode of 2023. I have a question concerning the staff vets.  I was under the impression that Emily left the practice several years ago. Well there she was in last nights show taking part in several major treatments. What is the back story?

 

14 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

That has to be a rerun.  The new season begins on January 7.

Yes. I believe that for quite awhile now, they have been repackaging old scenes into "new" or "special" episodes. Which is why we see a lot of Dr. Emily though she's been gone for a year or two. Didn't she leave sometime in 2019? I think the pandemic threw a wrench into production of this series, and probably spurred them into recycling content to keep things going.

One clue, for me, to at least some of the recently aired repackaged/special episodes is that when I look them up on my Xfinity menu, they don't have season/episode numbers. There were several of them with holiday/Christmas-y titles, but no season/episode numbers, that aired over the past week or so. And those were def made of recycled content. 

I'm sure the new season's episodes will feature the current clinic staff. I enjoy Dr. Lisa and look forward to seeing more of her and Dr. Nicole. I also enjoy the way Dr. Brenda talks to the animals, and like to watch her in general. So I hope she was talked into letting them continue to film her, even if they cut back on how often. IIRC not long before the pandemic, it was announced that she wasn't going to continue to appear on the show. But once they started showing footage shot during the shutdown/masked-up pandemic months, she was included in the staff shown, to my delight. 

[AncientNewbie]

I'm all for a Dr. Lisa spinoff. She's my favorite.