VETERINARY MEDICINE: `PART DOCTOR AND PART DETECTIVE'

When you walk into the office of Dr. John Koch, you're as likely to be greeted by a friendly, tail-wagging, furry, four-legged patient as you are the receptionist. That's because Koch is a special kind of doctor a veterinarian.

Koch talks about his patients. But instead of talking back, they usually bark, meow, purr, or make some other unintelligible sound that might help the doctor diagnose their problem.

Koch said that's the challenge of practicing veterinary medicine. "Being a veterinarian means you have to be part doctor and part detective," he said. "You must enjoy a mystery because that's really what its all about. Your patients can't tell you very much, so you find out," he said.

Koch came to Cape Girardeau 20 years ago after his graduation from the University of Missouri School of Veterinary Science. His first position was as an assistant to Dr. Edward Snider at the Skyview Animal Clinic on South Kingshighway.

Later, in 1974, Koch opened his Cape Small Animal Clinic at 210 Christine Street. Today, Koch and his associate, Dr. Ann Seabaugh, continue to treat their traditional canine and feline patients, and some not-so-traditional patients.

Koch said he decided to branch into treating "companion" animals because of his interest in surgery. "There are two kinds of animals in veterinary medicine: food animals such as cattle and swine; and the companion animals, including dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, even snakes," he said.

"Studies have shown that having a companion animal that you can pet or hold such as a dog or cat, does a lot of things that affects your health positively," he said. "People who have companion animals are just as emotionally attached to them as a human friend or child. And they also suffer the same type of human grief when their pet is taken from them by sickness and death."

Koch said similar studies show that single people at retirement who have companion animals, especially ones they can hold, who either lick, bark, meow, or purr back to their human companions, live longer.

Which companion animal is best? Koch said it all depends on the individual and circumstances.

"If you don't have a lot of time to spend with your animal because of work, the cat is best," he said. "The cat does not mind being left alone and is pretty independent. On the other hand, if you desire a more physical relationship with your companion animal, such as a wagging tail, a welcome home bark, and a friendly lick on the face, a dog provides all of that kind of love, and more."

Koch said companion animals are not demanding in the same sense as the demands placed on us by humans. "Companion animals don't require the same type of emotional care," he said. "They are willing listeners. They remain faithful for life, no matter who your are or your position in life. All they ask is a little food, a warm place to sleep, a pat on the head, and tender, loving care."

Koch made his decision to become a veterinarian while in his first year of college. He had considered becoming a medical doctor, but said his experiences growing up on the family farm near Sikeston with his younger brother and sister and as an officer of one of the high school youth agricultural organizations finally pushed him toward veterinary medicine.

Training to become a veterinarian is a lot like becoming a medical doctor, said Koch. First there is four years of medical school followed by two-years of internship with a practicing veterinarian, a kind of "on-the-job" training.

The academic requirements include extensive studies in biology, zoology, botany, physics, math, and verbal communication. Koch said verbal communication is important because a veterinarian must be able to talk with the animal's owner.

Koch said a typical day at the clinic begins with surgery in the morning and office calls in the afternoon. While in surgery, his assistant handles the morning office visits.

Unlike most human doctors, Koch makes house calls mainly to his aged or disabled clients who have companion animals, or those clients with a large number of animals.

Besides the usual cases involving injury or sickness, Koch says a lot of his work deals with skin allergies and diseases caused by a disruption of the animal's immune system.

"For someone who is interested in mystery and challenge, the field of veterinary immunology research is wide open," he said. "That's where all the research is going on. When you treat animals with skin problems or disease, you cannot cure them; you only treat the symptoms. That's one of the frustrations of being a veterinarian. There are a lot of problems for which there are no answers."

But for every insolvable problem, there are also the rewarding cases where a sick or injured animal is brought into the clinic and returned to health.

Besides dogs and cats, Koch treats a menagerie of small animals, including exotic tropical birds, song birds, hamsters, mice, turtles, and snakes. And that often leads to some unusual cases.

Koch recalls two in particular. The first was a small rat sake that swallowed an olive on a toothpick. "This little thing had a problem," said Koch. "In the middle of its body, where it would bend, you could see where the toothpick was lodged."

Using a long forceps, the snake's body was held straight while Koch inserted a long forceps through the mouth and extracted the toothpick.

The other case involved a 1-year-old cat that had obviously been hit by a vehicle. There was major damage to the skin and bone near the left collar bone. "The collar bone was shattered and the leg was dangling by muscle and tendons," said Koch. "There was a large piece of skin completely missing, exposing the muscle and bone.

"We didn't think there was any hope. We thought about putting it to sleep, but while I was holding it, the cat looked up at me from its mangled body with its big eyes and purring loudly."

After doing corrective surgery on the leg, the cat was given a large dose of antibiotics and placed in a cage at the clinic. "Each morning, the first thing we did was to check to see if Smokey made it through the night, and she did," said Koch. "It was touch and go for about two to three weeks, but Smokey pulled through."

Today, Smokey is one of the two cat mascots at the clinic, and has full run of the place. Koch said the cat's front leg has reattached to the remnants of the shoulder bone and the cat is able to walk again.

Koch takes little credit for Smokey's amazing recovery. "We really had nothing to do with the healing process, except for the corrective surgery and medication, and the best care we could give. It was Smokey and Mother Nature that did all the work."

Koch said improvements in veterinary medicine during the past 20 years, along with increased awareness and concern for the welfare of animals, is prolonging the life and quality of life for small, companion animals.

"The two most important things that affect the longevity of a pet's life are nutrition and dental care," he said. "Also, more years can be added to an animal's life by having the females spayed or males neutered. Both prevent the development of life-threatening problems such as breast cancer in females and cancers in the males."