Tech support has decided we need a Picture of the Week. My husband promises he will produce one, each and every week. I told him in no uncertain terms that this was a Big Commitment and made him swear on his camera honor that he would keep it up. "Well, you can contribute too," he said. "But I don't want to," I said. "This is your idea and my only good pictures are ones I got because I was lucky. I can't produce good photos under pressure." Then I told him this was a good way to force ... Read more »
Apollo- King of the Jungle (ocelots)
Poor Apollo. He is now presiding over the fifth fur-monster to infiltrate his quiet life. Perhaps there is some secret camaraderie amongst our shadow-shaded friends, or maybe we just got lucky, but this is the easiest doggie transition we've had yet. Kiki/Koa/Ricola is pretty ambivalent about him. I now have TWO pets exceedingly difficult to photograph. That's OK. It's a throwdown challenge for my husband to work with the infamous photographic challenge. I work with a cat lady. I don't mean ... Read more »
So long and thanks for all the fish
I was terribly saddened to read the news yesterday that a trainer was killed at a Sea World park in an incident with a captive orca. It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened- it's not even the first time it's happened with this exact same orca. We live fairly close to a Sea World park, and I view it with an uneasy apprehension. We went a few times in school when I was a kid, and I remember the focus at the time on Sea World's conservation efforts and education. At least ... Read more »
Adjustments
Every time I bring a new pet into the house, I have a week or two of complete and utter panic, thinking I've made a huge mistake, this is a terrible match, and we'll never make it work. Then we figure it out and all is well. Honestly though, I haven't had that moment yet with Kekoa. Granted it's only been 2 days, but she has pretty seamlessly integrated into the house so far. Brody is jealous- make that insanely jealous- but they are getting along just fine, no arguments over resources or ... Read more »
Kekoa
As some of you astute observers noted, the person standing above the black lab in the last picture yesterday was indeed wearing Pet Doctor Barbie boots. 37712 came home with me. And promptly was outfitted with a shamrock hat by my daughter. She is much more compliant with our family's costuming requirements than Brody has been. They say black dogs are the hardest to adopt. They are hard to photograph, they say. Pish posh. ... Read more »
Rescue Stories
Hey man, what are you in for? Biting a kid? ... Read more »
Things that shouldn’t surprise me
For all of my kvetching and moaning and mumbling about how some people are just rotten, the truth of the matter is that I generally have a pretty optimistic view of people. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, to assume their intentions are good, that they want what is best and trust me the way I trust them. I still hold that this is generally the case. I don't know if I am willfully obtuse or just pigheadedly determined to look for the best so I don't renounce my membership to the ... Read more »
The good old days and the new reality
This morning, my awesome tech told me her lab injured his eye while they were on a hike. She brought him over and I lifted his lid, expecting signs of a corneal scratch, maybe a bit of plant material. "Something's wrong," I said, looking more closely with the ophthalmoscope. We both took a sharp inhalation at the same moment as we realized that there was a cactus thorn going straight into his eye, poor guy. We sedated him for a better look, hopeful that the little tiny bit still protruding ... Read more »
Product Review: TazLabs safety collar
We have neighbor dogs. There are three, actually- I guess the other Golden wasn't out on this particular afternoon. They sure do like to bark. These are the same dogs that Skippy liked to think he could vanquish- I think some of the chicken wire fencing is still off to the right, where it was 100% ineffective in keeping him on the right side of the fence. Those were fun times. Like Skippy, and Mulan and Emmett before him, Brody thinks barking right back at these guys is hysterical. First ... Read more »
Flip the lip Part 2: Dental care at home
I will tell you, and I will stand by it until the day I die, that dental cleanings are an extremely important and helpful measure in keeping your pet healthy. My teeth are white. My gums aren't red. My teeth aren't falling out of my head. And I still get cleanings twice a year. Visible disease is not the only sign your mouth needs care. Every once in a while, someone will come in a few months after a cleaning and point out the fact that there is, again, some visible plaque. "How come?" they ... Read more »
Flip the lip!
As many of you already know, February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Do your pet a favor and take a few seconds to take a peek at his or her teeth- a GOOD peek. You might be surprised at what you find. According to many veterinarians (including this one), periodontal disease is the most commonly diagnosed disease in dogs and cats. According to Dr. Brook Niemiec, "By the age of just two, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some form of periodontal disease." As a board certified veterinary ... Read more »
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Brody got his first Valentine today! Thanks Ashley and Pru! I hope you all are having a great day as well! I've spent most of it chasing the kids around making them put their chocolate up high. :) ... Read more »
Sonnet XVII
When I was in high school, I loved to write poetry. Sonnets, limericks, haiku, you name it, I did it. Something about the juxtaposition of the rigidity of the writing structure with the creative challenge of expressionistic thought was very appealing to me. I never said it was good poetry, though. That is why I majored in biology. These days, I limit my poetry to once or twice a year, and I present it with the clear disclaimer that it is bad poetry, which doesn't make it any better but at ... Read more »
C’est l’amour
Ah, Valentine's Day. A day for lovers and candies and cheesy Vermont Teddy Bears. A day for teenagers flush with first love to nervously make reservations at Olive Garden, grade-schoolers to anxiously choose the least mushy classroom Valentines exchange cards, and men the world over to grumble at the price gouging at the florist while simultaneously knowing they have no choice in the matter unless they want to sleep on the couch for a month. It's the lack of sincerity that makes it so ... Read more »
Product Review: Sleepypod Air and Crater Dot
Our product reviews have been heavily skewed towards the dog type items lately. When Sleepypod asked if I was interested in reviewing a couple of their cat items, Apollo started kneading and drooling all over the keyboard. 1. Sleepypod Air The Sleepypod Air is a carrier geared towards those who fly with a pet in-cabin, though it's obviously usable as a regular day-to-day carrier as well. Its claim to fame is the ability to compress length-wise from 22 to 16 inches, which would allow you to fit ... Read more »
A quick clarification
See, here's the problem with being a person who occasionally- just sometimes, mind you- engages in a wee bit of hyperbole, or perhaps an "original interpretation" of things to make a point: When you're being dead serious people still think you're kidding. In regards to the last post, I had several people comment in passing to the effect of "ha ha, you wacky vet you, that is a really silly Barbie trashy waitress outfit that you turned into a pretend actual Mattel product. Good job!" I could ... Read more »
The Trouble With Barbie 2
Most Barbies only come out once or twice: NASCAR Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Spongebob Barbie, etc. But there are some that, for obvious reasons, keep coming back in multiple incarnations for each new generation of starry eyed little girls. This is why I have 5 versions of Pet Vet Barbie. The old ones weren't so bad. Why each successive one has been stranger and stranger is open to postulation, but even I couldn't explain what the heck Mattel was thinking with their latest offering of Pet Vet ... Read more »
2010 Brody Awards Ceremony
It's going to be low-key. I'm sure you all are hung over from your Super Bowl celebrating or whatnot anyway, so no gowns necessary. I tried to get Fergie to perform, but all I could get on this short notice was Pauly Shore so I figured we could do without the celebrities. ;) Thank you SO much to everyone who voted! Despite the many people who voted, some of the winners were only TWO votes ahead of the second place blog out of over 100 votes. Take that as a measure of the quality of all the ... Read more »
