House call veterinarian
Earlier this month, I spent an afternoon making house calls with John Slaughter -- a stockbroker turned veterinarian who started a private practice in Baltimore last year.
We started with a retriever in in Glen Burnie, and ended up with two Great Danes in Hampden.
In between, we dropped by the home of a beagle in Ridgely's Delight.
Slaughter, who works three days a week at the Banfield Hospital at the PetSmart in Bowie, devotes much of the rest of his time to his new practice.
The son of former University of Maryland Chancellor John Slaughter, he's also an author, having written about his extensive travels to Africa in the book, Brother in the Bush, An African American's Search for Self in East Africa.
The story in today's Sun (you can find it here) is about both his life as a house call vet, and the events that led up to his change to a slower-paced, kinder, gentler career.
Those include his adventures in Africa, the shooting of an intruder in his home, and watching the headquarter offices of the company he worked for, Morgan Stanley, go down in the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Slaughter's website for his private practice is www.camdeninnerharborvet.com
Comments
Thank you, Mr. John, for this touching, insightful and educational story that I first read in print and then saw, at the end, that it was written by you. I should have guessed sooner! I moved to MD from a vibrant, "with it" part of a midwestern state about 2 years ago with my 4 dogs and found the many vet practices near me very rigid and especially "urban." How in the world would I get my four BIG, FLOPPY dogs packed into my car and walked thru a busy parking lot just off an even busier, scary highway into the vet's office? I web-surfed and found that Maryland, unlike the state I left, had a couple "house call vets." Well, what a complete treat! My vet and her business partner, who accompanies with a laptop and printer and all of my dogs' histories, are just the best....rolling around the floor and rubbing my dogs' bellies and giving kisses on their heads while slipping them vaccinations and providing a gentle, thorough annual exams. Mr. Slaughter's story is even more poignant in how he finally came to realize his calling in life. I am so enamoured...Bless him! If I weren't so happy with my own house-call vet, I would surely be calling him......as I hope and encourage that many of your readers do! And as a final "plus," let me just say that my annual doggie costs with my home-vet are about HALF of what I used to pay for office visits. The home-vets have little overhead and can pass on savings for multiple pets, etc. I just know that this is a growing industry! Thanks again for bringing this to your MUTTS Blog folks!
Posted by: EighteenPaws | May 13, 2008 6:58 PM