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Holy cow!

Photo of a cow
Veteran Roy Cadwalder named his newest calf after his primary care doctor, Barbara Trautner, M.D., Ph.D. to thank her for the excellent care she has provided to him for more than 20 years.

Army Veteran Roy Cadwalder recently surprised his Houston VA physician with a very special honor. The surprise? He named his newborn calf after her.

Cadwalder, a farmer from Cleveland, Texas, named his newest calf after his primary care doctor, Barbara Trautner, M.D., Ph.D. to thank her for the excellent care she’s given him for more than 20 years.

“I have always adored Dr. Trautner,” said Cadwalder, who served in the Medical Corps in Vietnam. “She has been my doctor since right after she got out of med school and has taken excellent care of me over the years.  I wanted to honor her, and I thought having one of my precious cows named after her would make her smile.”

Trautner is an infectious diseases clinician-investigator and is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. At the Houston VA, she works with the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt). She has two productive branches of investigation, one in health services research and one in microbiology translational research.

When Cadwalder had a new calf born in his herd a few days after his most recent medical appointment with Trautner, he decided to name her “Barbara.”

Calves are the future of the herd, so farmers are committed to making sure every calf is healthy and safe from harm – like Trautner does for him.

Trautner was surprised and thrilled to hear about her new namesake.

“This honor is written on my heart. It really has been a privilege caring for Mr. Cadwalder over the years and I know him well enough to know how much his calves mean to him,” said Trautner.

For Cadwalder, naming the new calf after Trautner was an easy decision.

“It’s always a sign of love to name your little one after someone in your family, and I consider Dr. Trautner to be a part of my family,” said Cadwalder.

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