Vet Takes Love for Animals on the Road

Whether it’s fish or fowl, primate or pachyderm, Chris Cauble, the Mobile Vet from Glendale, will go anywhere in Southern California and farther, if necessary, to treat his needy patients.

During a recent house call to the Melody Pena-John Alberti menagerie in Sun Valley, Cauble, 34, treated a lame goat’s arthritis and a tortoise’s pneumonia.

He checked the teeth of the couple’s five llamas--which must be filed down from time to time because they’re used for fighting. For two of the animals, Cauble trimmed overgrown toenails with rocks trapped in them.

“There are no other vets to treat llamas nearer than Chino,” Cauble said. “Horse vets usually don’t want them.”

During the Sun Valley visit, Cauble faced a dilemma. He had to evaluate a 450-pound, four-foot-tall, 3-year-old miniature Dexter bull who had become aggressive and was spending a lot of time bellowing.

“His testosterone is pumping, but it would be a shame to castrate him because he’s very valuable for breeding,” Cauble said.

On a previous call to trim the bull’s feet, Cauble was forced to wrestle, rope and hogtie it rodeo-style. But that suited Cauble, a former animal trainer, just fine.

Cauble was a veterinary student at UC Davis. “When I graduated in 1985, I bought a van and began my Mobile Vet practice from my apartment because I always wanted to treat exotic and unusual animals--animals that wouldn’t be cared for otherwise,” he said.

“For example, fragile birds, monkeys and lizards, especially in pet stores, out of necessity require mobile service.”

In those days, Cauble said that to his knowledge he was the only mobile veterinarian around. Since then, a few others have followed suit.

Now, Cauble’s practice is 50% dogs and cats and he spends two days a week at a clinic. He also treats animals at Magic Mountain, Ringling Brothers Circus, Circus Vargas and at Shambala, actress Tippi Hedren’s enclave in Acton.

Cauble and his wife, Christina, who manages the mobile veterinarian business, were married at Shambala. He pointed with pride to a wedding picture showing him with one arm around his bride, the other around a lion.

Besides a 2 1/2-year-old son, the Cauble family includes several tortoises, birds and cats.

Five years ago, Cauble began making monthly visits to South-Central Los Angeles, giving low-cost rabies vaccines and treating animals in an area where veterinarians are scarce.

Cauble also treats animals in Spanish-speaking areas in East Los Angeles, working through pet stores.

“The people are so grateful,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade the mobile life for a life in a clinic giving vaccines every day.”