Clark-Marathon Veterinary Service

07/29/2025

Dr. Hannah Dassow is the newest addition to the CMVS team!!

Dr. Hannah graduated from UW Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2025. She previously studied Dairy Science at UW River Falls. She grew up in Medford, Wisconsin. Hannah loves cows! She grew up on her uncle's small dairy farm and worked on other farms throughout high school and college. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside, hiking, being with friends and family, playing with her dog and cat, reading, and watching movies with friends.

If you see Dr. Hannah out and about, be sure to give her a warm welcome!!

10/30/2024

Dr. Natalie rocking her first c-section with CMVS today! Unfortunately, the calf was dead, but the cow should do fine!

It was a very large calf and mom didn't dialate like she was supposed to. C-sections aren't very common, but sometimes necessary. Lucky for her, she had expert care and will have stellar aftercare in the hands of this farm!

10/12/2024

Stolen from Dr. Mike's super cool YouTube channel...

I ran this call this morning. It turned out a little better than the last one! ...

09/26/2024

It was a beautiful morning in Wisconsin! I got to go to an "old school milk fever out on pasture". The farmer said, "There she is, Doc", as he pointed out to the open area of lush green grass. "Do you think you can handle it? I'm going to keep milking."

"Not a problem. I've got it all under control!", I replied.

On my walk out to see my patient, bucket and halter in hand, a few things occurred to me. I thought, being on-call can really sucks sometimes. However, this particular situation is one of those "reasons I love being a vet" moments. The solution to this cow's problem is simple. The results are almost immediate. The weather is as close to perfect as it could be! A warm sunrise on a wind still morning in late summer!

The dairy industry has come a long way in understanding milk fever (low blood calcium at freshening). We feed cows differently than we did way back when. That, and calcium boluses are readily available and quite effective! Furthermore, dairymen have gotten proficient at treating many of the remaining ones themselves! This is all great news, as it leads to better cow health and fewer calls to the vet! It's a win-win! Good cow management and I don't have to get my sorry butt out of bed! Lord knows, I need my beauty sleep!!

I would, however, be lying if I didn't say that this whole experience left me a little saddened. It left me thinking, one day I'm going to do my last "milk fever out on pasture on a beautiful summer morning". Whether it's because we finally figure out how to prevent these last few stragglers and I become a little more obsolete, or I get too old to perform the task...and become obsolete! Will the next generation of veterinarians get to know the joy and satisfaction of this particular call? How much longer will we be out here "jugging" cows? Is number 18 my last one I'll ever do? Gosh, I sure hope not!!

Either way, #18 is up and rejoined her herdmates! A job successfully completed! My heart is content, knowing I made a difference today. I'll worry about the future of the profession tomorrow! Today, I'll bask in the warm glow of the morning sun and the warmth of these fond memories!

07/22/2024

So, you never can tell what you're going to find yourself doing in this profession!

I had a good friend/client that called this morning. He said a bald eagle got hit on the road and it was alive. The short version of the story is, he called the police...they said call the DNR...the DNR said call a wildlife rehabilitator...the wildlife rehab people said they'd take it if he could get it to them. So, he thought who do I know that's A) interested in this sort of thing, and B) crazy enough to help me try to pick up a bald eagle?! Apparently, Dr. Dave is the first person he thought of! I wanted to be mad, but he wasn't wrong!!

Once she was loaded up, he took her to REGI (Raptor Education Group, Inc.). They believe she'll make a recovery and are going to let us know when they are going to release her! Hopefully we can update with some positive release videos in the near future!!

06/20/2024

Meet Helen the heifer. Helen was being a typical rebellious teenager today. Against her owner's wishes, she went out and got a piercing! She will recover from her antics, but I can't guarantee she learned anything from the experience!!

The real irony of the situation is that it's an "eye" hook that she's got caught in there!!😂😂

I apologize for that...I'll see myself out...

05/07/2024

You know that one person who always sticks their nose where it doesn't belong?! This is the jersey heifer version!!

Poor gal had a run-in with the barn fan...in spite of having it protected!🙄 She'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, she learned her lesson, but I wouldn't bet on it!!

04/03/2024

Power floating horse teeth? Yup, we do that too!!

03/29/2024

This farm dog is livin' the good life! He's got his own personal masseuse!!

02/23/2024

As far as jobs go, it's tough to beat being a dairy vet in Wisconsin! However, some days are more...comfortable than others. Snow flurries blowing in while doing a DA surgery...less than fun!