Let's imagine, for a moment, that there is a serial killer loose in your town. One by one, he picks little kids off from the local playground, and it's horrible and awful. The police are working around the clock, but the killer remains elusive. But he only ever chooses his victims from that one playground. You wouldn't take your kids there, right? Even if *most* of the kids who play there end up ok, even if the police chief says, well, it might be OK now? Why take that chance, when there ... Read more »
Archives for October 2013
Health
Poke, pay, push off
I used to work in a clinic that offered twice a week vaccine clinics. During those times, we would waive our customary exam fee (at the time it was $45), as long as the client was coming in solely for vaccines and had no health questions. We did this to provide a service to those clients who would go to the weekend vaccine clinic at the pet store instead of coming to us. I know how those weekend clinics work. They are much like the flu clinic I took my kids to last week. You go, you get your ... Read more »
How to talk to your vet about death
I'm getting Apollo's ashes back this week. I still haven't quite processed it yet, because his death lacked that months long painful preparation/ agonizing over a pet in the process of dying: The Infinite Hovering of the Big Hanging Clock. He woke up Wednesday morning, meowed for his food like always, and was dead 12 hours later. Whenever you learn of a terminal diagnosis, that invisible countdown clock that all living beings share suddenly appears. And we know that it's winding down, sooner ... Read more »