Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-07-03
ROW DOG DOCTORS THRIVE
Ailing Fidos Keep Veterinarians on
the 0un.
GOLD LEAF SIGNS AND MANSIONS
Once a side Issue to Livery Stables,
the Animal Healer in Now a
Very DiEnified Profess
siOnaI Man.

Hello, hello. Is this DR.. Binks? Yes
doctor, our dog is sick-seerrls to have
fever-wish you'd come over right away
| All right, goodbye"
| This alleged fragment from telephone con-
versatlon is a myth. That is, no such con-
versation actually occurred n SO many
words Yet, for the purpose of illustrating
the growing fad for giving medical atten'
ton to dogs, it is herein set forth-and
after all, there isn't so very much ex-
| aggeration about it.
| The rapid increase of veterinary prac-
tice in this country within the last dozen
years is well worth a passing thought Not
so very long ago. when the family dog
fell i'll, he was left 10 get well as best
| he could. OF course, everybody was sorry
II Bowser had dlstemper-thats the only
name dog disease used to have-but there
was never a thought Of calling a doctor
Nowadays, dogs have long latlnesQUe
names for their ailments, much after the
fashion of men and women. and the mo-
ment Fido shows symptoms of uneasy feel
| ing, straightway goes a telephone call to
| the doctor.
The practice of the old-tims veterinarian
was limited mainly 10 horses. Moreover,
the o. I. veterinarian conducted his prac-
q
enough Of It to yield a living alone. Some
times he was also q proprietor Of a livery
stable, or, perhaps, he owned a feed store.
He might have one professional call a
month or he might have two. but certain
IT was that day after day brought no call
| at all.
Now witness the changel Your veterinary
surgeon is no longer the keeper of feed
w.Efh ha
stable. Instead. he has an office down
town and a classy residence out on the
hill. A gold leaf sign of dignified design
attached to residence front prOciaims the
profession Of the dweller therein. and on
the wall there hangs q beribboned diploms
attesting that DR.. SoGndBo has finished his
veterinary course and that he went forth
from his alma mater with cum lsude H.
oenss to make sick animals we'll. The vet
erinarian Of today Is on the aScendency
Year by year his profsssion-yes, it ii
clearly q profession now-becomes more
remunerativs and more dignified.
The dog population OF Omaha and othel
cities is perhaps no greater than It wal
ten years ago. But be that as it may
the owners Of dogs are more prosperous
than they ever we're before, and It Il
therefore easy, since the doctor idea is 81
firmly set, for the veterinarian TO maxi
his fee. One veterinarian who lives in
$4,000 home in the Walnut Hin distric
told Bee reporter that he averaged from
six 10 ten dog calls a day. From $50 u
! t2.50 per call is the average fee, owing u
distance and the nature OF the case, so
will be seen at this rate that there is goo
money in being a veterinarian And here
another feature OF veterinary practice tina
Is well worth consideration: The docto
who waits on your sick child is expecte
to say nothing about his bill for al leas
month or two, but the man who rushe
, out 10 see B1do finds nothing In his cod
of ethics to prevent him from eollectin
his fee then and there.
So, with dogs coming down with cirosi
} OF the liver, fatty degeneration OF III
heart. mitral regurSitauon. lumbag,
j Brights disease, ANNA pectorls, locomoto
ataxiA and other complaints, why Ahouldn
the dog doctor live in a t10OOo house7