This blogpost marks a personal milestone: my 1000th blogpost since I started blogging in 2008. Over that time, much has changed—in our country, at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center and in veterinary medicine. To mark this achievement, I want to reflect on some of those changes and on what continues to matter the most.

American’s First Dog—and My First AMC Blogpost

In the time I’ve been blogging, the United States has had new occupants in the White House three times. My very first blogpost in 2008 focused on the new family in the White House, the Obamas, and the president-elect’s promise that if he won the election, his daughters could have a dog. In that post, I also included my suggestions for choosing a veterinarian for the new furry family member.

Those tips on choosing a veterinarian for your favorite furperson still hold true 18 years later.

While there isn’t currently a First Dog for me to write about, I did use Major Biden’s bite incident as a teachable moment. That post focused on the dangers of dog bites and how to prevent them.

A New Animal Medical Center

In 2008, the physical structure of AMC was the same as it was in 1960, the year our building opened on 510 East 62nd Street. It looked much the same in 1983 when I first toured the facility as a wide-eyed veterinary student. Most clinical activity took place on the second floor, with a few hospital wards on the third floor and the Oncology service and CT scanner on the eighth floor. The walls were painted cinderblocks.

That all changed in 2025 with our four-year, 83,000 square-foot, and $125 million hospital transformation.

Before-and-After of AMC’s Renovation & Expansion

AMC added a second location when the Primary Care Service moved to its new home on York Avenue and 61st Street. At the same time, 20,000 square feet was added to the original 1960 building, allowing multiple services to move into brand new, state-of-the-art spaces. Surgery expanded to occupy all 7,000 square feet of the seventh floor.

In April, we also gained a new state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit on the second floor, along with a Medical-Surgical Unit and an Avian and Exotics ward on the third floor. The fourth floor now boasts beautiful, spacious conference rooms—plural!

In the final phase of construction, the new Emergency Room opened, alongside the Neurology, Diagnostic Imaging and Cardiology services in reconstructed spaces on the second 2nd floor. New clinical spaces for Ophthalmology and Internal Medicine were created on the 3rd floor. Oncology now shares the eighth floor with Dermatology and Rehabilitation, alongside both a CT scanner and MRI. Today, hardly a cinderblock wall remains, and only the fifth and sixth floors are without clinical space.

What Resonates with Readers

My readers have been critical to this blog’s longevity, and they have been clear about what resonates with them. Reviewing the top blogposts over the last two years, I can see what worries pet owners most: common medical issues.

Skin-related issues are especially important. Five of the top ten blogposts focus on dermatologic conditions. Despite being nearly a decade old, the number one most-read blogpost is about lipomas, or fatty tumors, in dogs. A more recent post on the same topic is in the top ten.

Two more blogposts in the top ten cover skin issues, including hotspots (painful skin irritations related to allergies) and changes in dog fur color. The fifth blogpost related to skin highlights mast cell tumors, the most common malignant skin tumor in dogs. Taken together, the top ten list confirms the importance of skin disease for pet owners.

The oldest blogpost in the top ten dates back to 2012 and describes chronic kidney disease in cats—a condition that remains one of the most common and serious feline illnesses today.

Two other frequently read blogposts address questions a worried pet owner might ask: Do dogs and cats really need a spleen? and What causes elevated liver tests in dogs and cats?

The “Why” Behind AMC’s Blog

AMC’s blog supports our education mission. These posts provide information about common pet health problems, alert pet owners to disease outbreaks and highlight new treatment options. A big thank you to my readers for sharing this journey with me. I hope that somewhere in my previous 999 blogposts you’ve found something that helps you better care for your pet.