Being an animal lover comes with its share of stigmas and stereotypes. Perhaps there is some truth to the idea that we are more likely than our un-petted counterparts to have some stray cat hair on our clothes, for example, but to assume said clothes are more schlumpy than those of your average person is just not right. I prefer to think of it as fashion-forward: cruelty free fur. It's a revolution, actually. I would say my time in the frumpy world of yoga tracksuits had more to do with two ... Read more »
Daily Life
Got Recipes?
OK, so I got a bee in my bonnet to collect recipes for dog and cat treats. Why not? It will be fun. Then we can do an old-fashioned recipe exchange, kind of like those cookbooks we used to do when we were in elementary school and it would be "Mrs. Jones' Famous Peach Cobbler" featuring canned peaches, marshmallows and graham crackers. I think my mother still has a couple of those cookbooks falling apart in the pantry. If you have a treat, cookie or dish recipe you'd like to include, you can ... Read more »
Happy Day!
I hope everyone is as happy and as stuffed as we are! I'll be out watching Harry Potter and giving the dogs a post-Thanksgiving Furmination, so I'll catch up with you all on Monday. In the meantime, get ready- next week is going to be exciting! Debuting Monday and continuing for the week is the Pawcurious Holiday Gift Guide 2010, featuring reviews, a giveaway a day, and the debut of the 2011 Pawcurious Calendar! ... Read more »
The fish curse continues, sorta
I went to feed the new betta tonight and I couldn't find him in the tank. I fully admit that I cursed like a sailor as I peered around the tank (at least the kids weren't around to hear it.) Then, I spotted him- chilling in the little filter: you know, the little box that hangs off the back of the tank? How the HECK did he get in there? The only thing I can possibly fathom is that he got sucked up the tube that pulls water into the filter. He seems like he would be too big for it, but ... Read more »
Give thanks
I was recently asked, "What are you grateful for?" Well shoot, what am I not grateful for? I am blessed with a healthy family and people and pets who love me. The rest is gravy (to start throwing in Thanksgiving puns.) But I think the question was more specific to veterinary stuff, so let me start with telling a story: When one of my dogs was diagnosed with melanoma, I did what any good general practitioner would do and bundled her off in the car to the specialist. In our area, we are ... Read more »
Your Questions Answered: Funniest Exam Room experience (and giveaway!)
It's late and dark, so I'm going all Blair Witch on you. Your turn! It's time for another FETCHING TAGS giveaway! To enter, you can either: 1. Tell me a funny experience from your own work or 2. Ask another question for me to answer. ... Read more »
All the world’s a vacation
When you're a dog, life is pretty good. You get up, eat, run around, eat some more, play, go to sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. There are no job responsibilities, no mortgages, no bills to pay. Life is at is most simple and best when it is the same, day in and day out. So when dog owners go on vacation, they find themselves stumped at how to top perfection. For all its pretty packaging, high end "dog resorts" are usually some variation of the same formula: staying in a kennel with twice a day ... Read more »
Even dog-girls get the blues
I weighed Kekoa on Tuesday and I am happy to report that she is back on track at 74.5 pounds- one more pound gone! She really is a trooper. She has this great talent of utilizing her lower center of gravity to butt Brody out of the way when they are jockeying for position at feeding time, so despite her shrinking weight she still had mad leverage skills. We ran into someone who hasn't seen Koa since shortly after she came to live with us in March. He was floored. "She's so shiny!" he said. ... Read more »
CSI San Diego: Ichthycide
8 am: Call from residence. Hysterical woman claiming discovery of dead body. Police dispatch to scene. 8:10: Arrive on scene, met by disheveled homeowner. Led me to kitchen and pointed to metal dog food bowl. Called for backup. ... Read more »
Mercy, not mercenary
A client whom we have never seen previously arrived at 6 o'clock to euthanize her cat. "Who made this appointment?" I asked, miffed. My staff, usually well versed in how to handle these situations, made the appointment without so much as a "Why?" Or, even better, "Let me make sure that's OK with the doctor." "I told her she needed to talk to you first," said the person who made the appointment. "That is not the same thing," I re-explained, "as telling her she needs to talk to me to ... Read more »
Home For the Holidays: let’s make some magic!
I despise the week between Christmas and New Years. Why? Because without fail, I see piles upon piles of new holiday pets. Pets from pet stores, whose owners overpaid for them and can then not afford to treat them for the parasites, distemper, or congenital disease they all too often wind up with. It happens every year. In 1999, Mike Arms at The Helen Woodward Animal Center decided to change that. With 14 local shelters, they launched the "Home for the Holidays" campaign to encourage ... Read more »
Braiiiinnnsssss
Humans aren't the only ones susceptible to turning into the walking dead. I'm just sayin'. Ack....blerg....brains.... see more dog and puppy pictures I have the same reaction to cupcakes. Even the vegetarians can turn into brainivores. Happy Halloween! ... Read more »
Behold your awesomeness
The Pawcurious Flickr group has gone gangbusters! I want to try and show off as many Halloween costumes as I can before the holiday but be sure to check out the group for the entire amazing collection. I tried to make sure I included at least one picture from everyone who submitted public photos. That's a good lookin bunch of pets you all have here I'm trying to decide if he is the dragon or is being eaten by the dragon. :D Plenty more behind the cut: ... Read more »
Picture of the day: Life size ladybug!
She's as cute as the real thing, and just about the same size too. :) ... Read more »
Fun With Google: Doing the Pigeon!
Today, a client called in a panic because her dog ate a bluebird and she was concerned that the dog would get rabies. "Birds don't get rabies," we told her. "Oh," she said. Then, hopefully, "Distemper?" Dogs are, at the end of the day, dogs, and one of the imperatives of dog-dom is eating stuff they're not supposed to, including dead things, things with eyeballs, and entrails. While there are specific instances that cause concern- a dog playing with a dead bat, say, or eating a rat that ... Read more »
Be careful where you’re rubbing that thing
I absolutely, positively adore the Veterinary Information Network. It is a subscription-based website open to veterinarians with a whole wealth of specialists, bulletin boards, news bits, and resources. I can check the dosing on a rarely-used medication, see the prognosis of a particular type of cancer, or ask my colleagues for an opinion on an odd case, all without leaving the treatment area. In an office where I am by myself 99% of the time, it gives me real-time access to a group of like ... Read more »
Picture of the day: Lobster bisque
I've never thought crustaceans were that adorable, but this may cause me to rethink that assessment! ... Read more »
Lions and spiders and bears…
After my post about spiders last week, Marcie from Helen Woodward Animal Center reminded me that their Fall Harvest Tour was happening this weekend. I remembered seeing the haunted house as it was being set up on my tour with Mike Arms a few weeks ago, and I was really excited about getting a chance to take my kids. Like everywhere, we have our usual assortment of pumpkin patches, hay rides (but in San Diego, that translates to a ride on a tractor around a cement parking lot) and the like, ... Read more »