Saturday, September 09, 2006

Saturday Morning Medical Dictionary


This morning I was reading about a condition called "collie nose," which for me conjures up a human with a pointy muzzle, but which actually describes an affliction for dogs with little or no pigment on their faces who are therefore hypersensitive to light. Apparently, the symptoms can become very painful and hard to prevent since you can't really put sunscreen on your pet. Arthur would lick it right off.

But one of the treatments for collie nose is - and I'm not making this up - a nose tattoo. That's right. Permanent black ink is deposited just under the skin and then serves as a shield against the sunlight. Sounds like hokey '60s medicine, but with all the other crazy treatment going on these days, who's to say.

Maybe Arthur could get a big "A" or "I heart Dad" or something like that.

No comments: