In his blog
HIV and ID Observations, Dr. Paul Sax defends the practice of including pets in medical histories, but it's really just an excuse to show off his new puppy.
Puppies and parakeets and pinworm, oh my! Infectious disease doctors often get teased by their non-ID colleagues for including pets in medical histories. Does this information lead to brilliant pet-related diagnoses? Not really, says Dr. Paul Sax, but it sure is fun. He offers some funny, and yucky, anecdotes taken from real-life clinical practice in his blog HIV and ID Observations. But the best reason to read it is to see a picture of the new Sax family puppy!