ABC originally broadcast this episode in black and white.
The Honeymooners, on which the Flintstones is based, had a nearly identical plot line in "A Matter of Life and Death" in which Ralph thinks he has 6 months to live due to a mix-up with a veterinarian's report.
The Veterinarian's Polarock X-ray camera machine is a play on the Polaroid instant picture camera.
Barney compares Fred's overturned car to a "Rockstone missile." This is a reference to the Redstone rockets used for the NASA Mercury missions.