Free Give the Dog a Bone by Leslie O'Kane Page B

locations around the world. By the way, another patient of yours could use a thorough check-up soon. T-Rex.”
    “T-Rex? The Lab mix?”
    “Do you have more than one patient by that name?”
    “Yes, I do. An iguana, actually.”
    “Well,
I’m
referring to the dog,” I snapped. “He’s been overmedicated. He was in a drug-induced stupor this afternoon.”
    She stopped stroking Maggie and gave me her full attention. “How can that be? I gave his owner the right prescription for that size dog.”
    “Yes, but I don’t think Ruby, his owner, can read. She got acepromazine confused with Clomicalm.”
    “Oh, Jeez,” she muttered under her breath.
    Maggie began to wail, having realized that the extra attention from Joanne Palmer was not getting her any nearer to her beloved owner. Joanne got out of the car and brushed past me without a word.
    I trotted after her. Over the dog’s cries, I said, “I don’t want us to be adversaries. I’m hoping we can work together.”
    She scoffed. “I have some samples inside my office. I’ll give you those, and if Ken finds that she needs more, he can bring her back to get her regular prescription refilled.”
    “
Re
filled?”
    “Yes. Maggie’s already on a regular dose of Clomicalm.” Dr. Palmer added under her breath, “Though she obviously hasn’t had any recently.”
    “That’s odd. Ken didn’t mention anything about that to me.”
    “Probably because he could tell you’re irrationally predisposed not to use it.”
    “That’s not true. I haven’t said
anything
against the use of Clomicalm, which
combined
with behavior modification, is effective.” I fisted my hands and crossed my arms. My professional reputation was on the line here; a Boulder veterinarian bad-mouthing me could put me out of business faster than anything else. “Frankly,
you
seem ‘irrationally predisposed’ to dismiss me and what I do for a living.”
    She frowned and searched through a large medicine cabinet, grabbing a small two-pack sample.
    I went on, “The only difference between us in our feelings toward Clomicalm is that, as with my own medications, I try to use drugs only when absolutely necessary. I try hard to give behavior modification every reasonable chance to work before resorting to meds.”
    “Of
course
you do, since you can’t prescribe them.”
    “Even if I could, I’d feel the same way. We don’t need to drug out dogs simply because they’re pack animals and we’re not.”
    “And yet you came running to me for pills for Maggie,” she said in a haughty voice.
    “Yes! Like all medications, Clomicalm has its uses. And its limitations. T-Rex is currently suffering from ACP’s limitations right now.”
    She glared at me. “I don’t think you and I will ever be able to work together.”
    I clenched my jaw to prevent myself from spewing venomous remarks that would only make matters worse. And after all, however vehemently I disagreed with her having told dog owners not to hire me sight unseen, I’d come to her for help after hours, and she was obliging me.
    She pivoted and strode toward the door. “Where
is
Ken, anyway?”
    “At the police station.”
    She froze, then met my eyes. In the softer tones that she’d so far reserved for Maggie alone, she asked, “Does this have something to do with his ex-wife?”
    “Why do you ask?”
    “Because he thinks he killed her. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did. And frankly, having met the woman and heard a few horror stories, I’m not even sure his actions weren’t justified.”

Chapter 6
    I said nothing, and Dr. Palmer held the door open for me. “Here,” she said, as I started to walk past her. She thrust a two-pill sample packet into my hand. She then shut and, with more noise and vehemence than necessary I thought, locked her door behind me.
    “Thank you so much,” I grumbled—but with a smile. I returned to my car. Maggie was howling at the top of her lungs.
    I got a soft dog treat out of a bag in my