There are many things I could be upset about today. The fact that authorities suspect arson in the vast majority of wildfires that devastated San Diego this week, for example. That's a good place to start. Or the trolls whose only response to the news was, "That's what you get for living in a dry place, morons, burn" as though there were a place on Earth immune to Mother Nature in some form or another. But I'm too grateful to worry myself with fools and psychotics at the moment. There is ... Read more »
How to Write a Blog vs How to Write a Book
After writing a blog for half a decade now, you'd think that the transition from blog to book would be effortless; and if not that, at least somewhat intuitive. You'd be wrong. It's kind of like saying, hey, I walk my dog every day, I'm totally up for a triathlon. Some of you have asked how it's going or what it's like. It's not easy, but really, what good things in life are? I'm enjoying the process immensely. I'm Ralph Macchio currently getting edited by my very own Pat Morita. We are on ... Read more »
A Feast For Crows
I am a horrible horticulturist. Dogs I got. Cats I can do. Plants? Fuggitaboutit. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal, and every year an unfortunate crop of plants are sent to their doom as they peer out in horror from the back of my car on their way to purgatory from the relative safety of the nursery. This year, I decided I would bring the kids into the fold and have them start a few seedlings. Maybe they have better juju than I, I reasoned. Perhaps they inherited their father's talent for ... Read more »
Class of 2014: 5 steps to loving your first job
We're about one month away from colleges and universities turning new grads loose on the world, a day of joy and, if I recall correctly, complete, abject fear. 2014 is a rough year to graduate vet school. In my day (cue Dana Carvey Grumpy old man voice), back in the middle of the dotcom boom and a perceived 'veterinary shortage', the world was at our fingertips, a lush green forest ripe for the plucking. Now new grads are being forced upon a Dune-like landscape filled with such ominous ... Read more »
Nobody puts Geeky in the corner
When I was six, my mother enrolled me in my first dance class. I enjoyed it, I had fun, I got to wear cute little sailor costumes and get up on stage and tunelessly tap my feet. The teacher always arranged us in two rows, and this being the early 80s before everyone had to get equal play, she arranged us not by height but by talent. The precocious dancers with the big smiles and the good rhythm were front and center, and those who tripped on their shoelaces or danced with the angry pounding ... Read more »
Dog Trail: Poetry, sheer poetry
People often email me things in the hopes I'll share them: contests, stories, pictures, YouTube videos that tickled their fancy. Sometimes I share them, when I know it's something you would enjoy. I love to write poetry and I think you all know that. I even have a tag: "Bad Poetry." My poems are bad, but lovingly crafted. I know this. But the other day I opened an email from a writer, a real live good one, and it was just beautiful and I think you all would really like it. It's about a black ... Read more »
Moo-eauty is in the eye of the beholder
Ever since my first $5 velvet tiger bought at a flea market when I was 12, I've been a fan of animal art. My mother, whose taste runs more to lighthouses and anything by Thomas Kincaid, was flummoxed but tolerant, as long as I kept it all in my room and away from her floral landscapes. People who come to my house these days are unsurprised at the amount of animal art we have. Sure, it's not the only thing we have on our walls, but in the grand scheme of things one could easily deduce we like ... Read more »
“No Obamacare for dogs”: 5 things you should know about the vet ER
Another week, another veterinary ER under fire. This time, it's the Southwest Michigan Animal Emergency Hospital, now receiving angry calls and even death threats after declining to perform emergency exploratory surgery on a young German Shepherd who developed complications after a spay at a different clinic earlier in the day. The issue was the owner's inability to provide upfront payment. It almost always is. There is no doubt that this is a terrible and sad outcome for the owners of the ... Read more »
Lean On, Over, and Around
March is Women's History Month, if you didn't know. I work in a strange profession, one that has changed quite solidly in demographics from its original incarnation to its current status, graduating classes of row after row of- well, men, mostly- now replaced, to an 80% extent, by women. I spend a lot of time talking about veterinary medicine, and I would say about 80% of the time I am talking about it with women (who'd have guessed?) Does the changing demographic matter? Yes and no. I may be ... Read more »
Stupid people tricks
There's nothing worse than sticking your foot in your mouth. I hate that feeling when the words escape your mouth and hang there, floating in the air, as it slowly dawns on you what horrible thing you've just said. I try to be cognizant of these things in my work as a vet. I'm pretty sure I've said some awful things unintentionally, and the most I can do is hope the person didn't actually really register it. Like when I'm coughing in the middle of a euthanasia, and I apologize by saying, "My ... Read more »
A place of passing
"I'm never going back," I have heard more than one pet owner say. They are talking about the office of their veterinarian, a person with whom they have built a relationship for years, someone they like and trust. But their pet died there, and the painful memories are too strong. So strong for some people that they go and find a new vet, even if they liked their old one just fine. It's one of the reasons I like having the option that I offer, of performing in-home euthanasia and pet hospice ... Read more »
Grumpy Vet is not amused
I was debating going to SXSW this week, but as it didn't come to fruition I needed to rely on my husband's reporting back to let me know all the stuff going on and if it was really worth the four figure ticket price. "They have animal stuff here," he said. "You can get your picture taken with Grumpy Cat." Really? I asked him. "Yes," he said. "There were lines out the door last year. She's here again." "The cat is at a tech conference?" I asked again, trying to get my brain around ... Read more »
It’s OK to laugh
On March first, I hit 'send' and the first draft of my manuscript went flying through the ether to New York to land in the capable hands of my editor. It was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. If any of you watched the Oscars and heard De Niro deliver this little nugget: The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a good ... Read more »
We love you to death
Veterinary medicine, the happiest field on earth, land of puppy butts and kitty snuggles and Pet Doctor Barbies in hotpants, or so they told me when I was 10. Or perhaps it is the land of crushing student debt, clients frustrated that they are priced out of affordable care, and the unending mental strain of not being able to make every client happy and whole at the price they want you to provide it for. Maybe it's somewhere in between, but to be honest it seems to me like it's leaning a ... Read more »
Love Is…Making Moments
I've learned a lot in the process of writing this book, going back and reflecting on what three very special dogs have done for me in my life. It's almost done, the first draft at least, and I can rest easy knowing that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow there's enough for a talented editor to work with so that this, at least, will live on. Happy Valentine's Day, by the way. Speaking of dying and all of that, though, the one thing that really jumped out at me when I was writing, and just living ... Read more »
A Lesson in Love and Heart
One year ago today, we said goodbye to Kekoa. After a month of bucket list indulgences going from kale to turkey and then, that day, chocolate chip bacon ice cream, I said I love you one last time. We pet owners talk a lot about heart dogs, that dog who just 'got' you, the dog who changed you and will never, ever be replaced (you can substitute dog for any pet, of course.) And once you have a heart dog, once you lose a heart dog, you may wonder if you will ever have another one again. I'm ... Read more »
We Will Remember You- Tonight and Always
Yesterday, I was working on a homework assignment for a course I am taking on pet loss and bereavement. I was reading about the guilt so much of us feel after losing a pet, and one of the exercises they recommend we do is imagine a conversation with our pet. I decided I would try this with Kekoa, as I struggled- like so many people do- with knowing if it was the right time to say goodbye to her last year as she dealt with bone cancer. Me: Kekoa, I'm sorry. Kekoa: I love you. Me: I feel ... Read more »
Super Bowl Ads Scorecard
Let's face it, the game on Sunday ceased to be interesting about 15 minutes in so there was more interest than there normally is in the advertisements. There were some hideous ones. There were some OK ones. There were some great ones. Here, in no particular order, are some of the animal ads that graced the screen during our annual American paean to commercialism. Chevy Romance I was very concerned this ad was going to end up in some sort of abbatoir, or a rodeo, or any number of things ... Read more »
