A mobile veterinarian wins the hearts of pets and owners.

Fluffy the cat had bad teeth. A veterinarian gave Fluffy steroid shots to decrease the pain. The steroids turned Fluffy—whose name has been changed to protect his identity—into a diabetic, so the vet put him on an antibiotic to treat his diabetes. Every time Fluffy’s owner went to pick up a refill, she was charged for a visit; moreover, Fluffy wasn’t getting better and his owner was tiring of all the trips so, desperate, she called Dr. Jim Claghorn, small animal mobile veterinarian.

Claghorn has been traveling from his home in Prunedale to treat Monterey County pets for 22 years. He uses two vans to do it—one fully outfitted for surgeries, the other serving as his primary vehicle, stocked with vaccines and such.

“I like house calls,” he says. “I like the whole atmosphere. It sounds low key, and in some respects it is, but a lot of times I’m just driving my rear end off, rushing here and there.

“It’s not something you would do because it’s easy. It’s something you would do because you like the feel of it, you like seeing the animals in their home environments rather than in the stress of a vet office.”

During his visit to Fluffy’s, Claghorn took a look at the feline, who was foaming at the mouth and had red, irritated gums, and quickly diagnosed the cure: removal of his teeth. Fluffy’s owner was surprised. “You mean there’s a cure?” she asked. Apparently the previous vet hadn’t suggested one.

Hard-luck Fluff was also sneezy. Claghorn made his diagnosis on the allergy a little less conventionally. “I’ll bet you anything that cat has hay fever,” he said after leaving. “Every time I’m in a house where the animal has allergies, my nose starts running, my throat starts to close up, and I start to lose my voice.”

Claghorn then took an antibiotic—the same type that he says the original vet mis-prescribed to Fluffy; he later prescribed a natural cure, an Omega-3-6 fatty acid supplement, for the cat.

Claghorn, who says he uses such natural remedies whenever possible, anticipated his career avenue long ago. “I never wanted to do anything else, even as a kid,” the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native says. “My first job was with a veterinarian. I’ve always loved animals, dogs and cats, primarily.”

After three years in the Army, Claghorn attended Penn State University and was ranked first in his class when he applied to vet school. Despite his credentials, the University of Pennsylvania rejected him. The Keystone State’s loss was California’s gain, as he moved out West on a whim because he remembered liking California on a visit during college. Claghorn completed his undergraduate degree at UC Davis and was accepted to their veterinary school.

He says that after graduating he gravitated towards smaller animals because most large animals are farm animals—and he felt his personality would be most valuable in working with animals and people who share more of an emotional attachment.

His visits show that he was right. Claghorn’s gentle and respectful manner puts his clients at ease—and, most importantly, their animals seem to feel the same way. He takes time to let animals move freely, rather than pinning them down.

On one visit—to a first time client who had requested his services because their alpha dog could not be controlled at the vet long enough to receive a vaccine—Claghorn entered the home gracefully, and not a bit of the dog’s dominant characteristics surfaced.

His sensitivity can mean everything at some of the most difficult times for pet owners, including moments when they are faced with the reality of putting their companion down. His mobility allows pet owners to avoid having to drag a weak and dying pet into an office.

“You either fix ‘em, or you put ‘em down,” says Claghorn. “The one thing I will not do is watch an animal suffer—I don’t care about money [compared to suffering]. If there’s no money, we’ll work around it.”

Claghorn’s talents aren’t limited to medicine—he has also written four poetry books. The first three form a trilogy, and the fourth is an epilogue. The first, Heart Quake, was self-published; the other three are yet to be published. Heart Quake is not about animals, except for the occasional reference; it’s about the struggle and acceptance of the good, bad and ugly of love.

The poems reveal a thoughtful and caring individual. It’s not hard to reconcile the poet with the veterinarian.

VET HOUSE CALLS can be reached at 373-6948 or at vethousecalls.net; claghorn’s poetry can be found at jimclaghorn.com.