DATE: Friday, September 12, 1997            TAG: 9709100210

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   86 lines

PIONEERING VETERINARIAN USES LASERS FOR SURGERY, DECLAWING

The expression ``been there, done that'' applies to Dr. Rod C. Hartwick. In his 65 years, he has been a high school drop-out, a record-setting jockey, a horse trainer and a football player.

Now, he's a pioneer pet doctor.

Hartwick, of Island Wharf Veterinary Clinic in Great Bridge, is the first veterinarian in the country to offer laser declawing for cats, and he is one of only two doctors in the area who uses the new procedure.

Instead of a scalpel, Hartwick uses a pencil-like instrument attached to a $32,500 laser machine. As he makes a deep, precise incision, blood vessels and tissue are instantly sealed. There is no bleeding, swelling, or clamps during surgery, and afterwards only a few tiny stitches are needed to close the opening. Hartwick said the 15-minute operation is much better than dissecting-out the claw.

``Routine declawing is almost a barbaric practice because of so much pain, followed by days of bleeding and discomfort,'' Hartwick said. ``But with laser declawing, the cat is up and ready to eat within minutes of waking after surgery.''

Hartwick began using the laser method in April after noting laser benefits in other types of surgery such as tumor removals and spaying.

``Because there is no bleeding and tight bandages, there is less risk of infections and a much quicker healing and recovery time,'' Hartwick said. ``And, there is little or no pain.''

Since the spring, he has performed more than 500 laser declawing surgeries for patients in the mid-Atlantic region. The laser method costs about $35 more than the standard procedure, but Hartwick said less money is spent for antibiotics, bandages and follow-up care.

In 1993, Hartwick and his wife, Norma, moved to Chesapeake from Chicago to live in a slower-paced area and to practice in semi-retirement. Now when he can find time away from 12-hour days at his clinic, he promotes the declawing laser surgery at workshops and seminars. And in October, Fox Television will film him performing the operation to be aired later in the fall.

``After all I've done, I can't believe I'm going to be on television about a declawing process,'' Hartwick said.

Hartwick's memories are long and varied.

His father was a professional baseball and football player, and each season his family moved from various training camps to team cities. He remembers his father and his grandfather, who was a veterinarian, decreeing that the young Hartwick would also be a veterinarian.

But because he was often sick and in the hospital, his father thought fresh air and exercise would be better than school. At age 11, Hartwick said he started training as a jockey. Although he remained close to his family, he never again lived at home. As he learned and rode, he traveled through Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky, California, New York and Maryland to follow the horse-racing circuits. Each time he checked into the track and signed on, he listed his age as 16.

Three years later and at 86 pounds, Hartwick said he was rated as the leading apprentice jockey in the United States. He also set a still-unbroken record in Hot Springs, Ark., by winning 87 races in 30 days. By the time he was 18 and almost too big to jockey, Hartwick decided to retire. He withdrew some of his savings, paid cash for a new car and enrolled in high school in Coral Gables, Fla.

``I remembering pulling $150,000 in cash out of my pocket when the principal asked me how I was going to manage on my own,'' Hartwick said.

He continued to grow, and after two years of high school football, Hartwick said he earned a scholarship to Michigan State University. After college, Hartwick entered veterinary school as his grandfather predicted.

Now, his animal stories almost rival his hero, James Herriot, the renowned Scottish veterinarian and author. Two weeks into Hartwick's first practice, he was called on to remove a 3-pound cyst from a lion. On another occasion, he operated on a boa constrictor to remove a diamond bracelet.

For years, Hartwick returned to the race tracks, traveling with a double-wide mobile office to care for equine patients. It was in the 1970s that he first worked with lasers to treat joint fractures.

Recently, he said used the laser to remove a 1-pound tumor from a 30-pound cocker spaniel when other doctors said the operation would probably be fatal.

And now with the new laser-declawing surgery, Hartwick claims even the most destructive feline can be declawed and back home with no painful memory of the event. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS

Before becoming a vet, Dr. Rod C. Hartwick, 65, of Island Wharf

Veterinary Clinic in Great Bridge, was a jockey and football player.

Instead of a scalpel, Dr. Rod Hartwick uses a pencil-like instrument

attached to a $32,500 laser machine to remove tumors from a boxer.

Hartwick was also the first veterinarian in the country to use a

laser to declaw cats.

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