Veterinary work is an emotionally charged field. Rarely are people in an ambivalent, steady state sort of mind the way they are, say, at the gas station, or buying bananas at the grocery store. They are either happy because they have a cute young pet getting routine care, or stressed because their pet is ill/expensive/having surgery/waiting too long in the exam room. You get the picture. So I'm used to dealing with stressed and angry people. You have to be. There are ways to defuse ... Read more »
Musings
Them cookies are serious business, people.
One of the reasons many vets give for choosing their profession is, "I like animals better than people." It's not a good reason, mind you, and those with misanthropic tendencies learn to cover it up pretty quickly or else have a rotten career, but I will tell you from experience that well, it's true. I've been working on it. I actually get along pretty well with people, as far as I can tell. But every once in a while I experience one of those penultimate human experiences that I'm supposed to ... Read more »
A pet’s worth
We didn't get a whole lot of education on the topic of the law while we were in school. Too much other stuff to cram into four short years to spend much time on something that changes with some regularity. But at the time, the general consensus was this: from a legal standpoint, pets are property, and as such, your liability in terms of the law is limited to the replacement value of the pet. That has changed with some rapidity. A Texas court is just one of the most recent cases in which a ... Read more »
Bostons, Breeders and the surreptitious obtaining of important phone numbers
I think it's interesting that the newest competition at the AKC/Eukanuba show in December was called the "Breeder's Stakes". I know they meant it one way, but really, there is a lot at stake, and I'm not talking about the cash prizes. It's defining 'good breeder'. There is a circular conversation going on in the world of animal lovers about what constitutes a "responsible breeder." Most people who breed their dogs call themselves a responsible breeder, even if they're not. Even if they are ... Read more »
Epic Bad
We had a great New Year's Eve. Well, some of us did, at least. My parents offered to watch the kids so that my husband and I could go out for the first time in a decade. Being well past the expiration date for things like heading downtown with the hordes, we decided to check out a new restaurant in our area that was opening on New Year's Eve instead. So we got there, only to find that it was technically a private event for family and friends. No matter, said my husband, and somehow talked ... Read more »
Merry Christmas
I love Christmas. But I hated Christmas working emergency as a veterinarian. I euthanized more pets in the two weeks surrounding Christmas than I did in the surrounding three months combined. This is a consistent, repeatable phenomenon common to all clinics- a combination of holiday stress, low funds, and the uncanny knack of pets to get very sick at the most inconvenient of times. Yesterday, in a clinic in the Pacific Northwest, a woman went into the emergency clinic with her beloved dog, ... Read more »
Low Cost Spay Neuter Myths and Facts
I'm here, I'm loving Orlando, and I'm sick as a dog. Which stinks, to put it mildly. So, I'm focusing my energy on things like standing up and walking, but the posts will come. Make sure to check out Facebook and Twitter as well, where I'll be posting lots of candids. In the meantime, I have a post about a topic we got into a big discussion about a couple of weeks ago: I loved Dr. Becker's recent article about whether or not vets should offer spays for below cost. His answer, in a ... Read more »
The Road to AKC/Eukanuba: Dress for Success
Here's the thing about dog shows: They are a to-do. I'm not the pro source about dog shows, as you know. I'm learning as I go, and the more I learn, the less I know. It's fascinating, the work that goes into becoming a champion, the hours spent grooming and training and driving from place to place and competing in the hunt for titles. But at the end of the day, for me, it boils down to this: people who are really into showing dogs are absolutely, 100% nuts for canines. And that I get. I ... Read more »
A Very Macabre Christmas to You and Yours
Among the many things I inherited a love of from my mother, such as books and weird medical cases, are Christmas ornaments and crafting. Every Christmas since I was little, we would get an ornament in our stocking, and when I moved out, I took my collection with me. It's a lovely way to have a little nostalgia every December when we set up the tree. I have done the same for my kids, so when they are older they can survey their pile of Tow Mater and Barbie ornaments the way I look over my ... Read more »
My Type: Strong, Silent and Hairy
I went to the gym this morning, although it's not my favorite thing to do, because I know I need to accumulate a little exercise karma in advance of all the pigging out that's going to be happening tomorrow. Such is life. I joined the Y this year, giving up my 24 Hour membership for a variety of reasons: The Y has lots of stuff for kids The 24 Hour has been overrun by Pauly D wannbes who hog all the machines and are generally totally obnoxious If there's one thing the Y has going for ... Read more »
Have you hugged a vet today?
Whenever someone makes a reference to vets, I have to step back for a minute and look at the context. Are they talking about veterinarians or veterans? I am a veterinarian living in a military town, so in my world, it's 50/50. What an honor to share a name with this group, though, isn't it? This weekend is my big blogathon, my biggest fundraiser of the year. I'm going to spend the night at a big cat sanctuary and have fun and shenanigans and post a bunch of stuff and hopefully help out a ... Read more »
Insomniac
I have had the worst insomnia lately. I don't know what the deal is. I lay awake, totally exhausted and ready to die, but my eyes betray me and snap open and there I lay, till 1, till 2, looking at the ceiling and thinking about nothing and everything. I suppose this will bode well for me this weekend, this whole no sleeping thing, but for now, it stinks. Because I'm the zombie. Although I'm awake, I'm useless. I thought I would try to continue the Africa recaps for you but 1. I'm in St. ... Read more »
Faith in humanity, restored
Among one's many obligations as parent to a school-aged child is that most universal of school experiences, chaperoning a school field trip. My number got called this week, when my second grader's class went to the zoo. She of course volunteered me, assuming- correctly- that this was the sort of thing I was up for (as opposed to the kindergarten trip to Sea World), and for the most part I was happy to do it. Until I heard it was going to be raining. Now, laugh all you want, but we San ... Read more »
How The Walking Dead made me a better blogger
Have you seen The Walking Dead on AMC yet? It's a horrible show about life after the zombie apocalypse. The undead have taken over, though no one really knows why. In one day, the world has been plunged into chaos, social norms no longer exist, and everyone has reverted to a state of primal survival mode. Every episode, someone is either shot, transformed into a zombie, or messily devoured in a graphic manner. It's the kind of show you have to watch from between your outstretched fingers lest ... Read more »
Underachieving Moms Club
I am possessed of the vague and disquieting sense of disease that comes from knowing you are incredibly behind in everything you are supposed to be doing. Case in point: I promised my kids a month ago I would make them banana bread. I've tried three times, and every time I go to do it someone has eaten the bananas below the requisite number needed to make said bread. So they have been eating the Frankenberry cereal that one of the grandparents bought when we were in Africa for the past three ... Read more »
The Unsolicited Advice Patrol Strikes Again
Before I left for the trip, I found myself in my local petstore stockpiling food for the pets so my parents wouldn't be stuck trying to figure out what they needed to buy. The dogs are easy, but Apollo's been on the same venison diet for four years now, and they don't always have a lot of it in the store. So I'm in there, minding my own business, when I see one of the employees in an apron edging her way over. I try to avoid her eyes. "Hi there," she says, eyeing the 24 purple cans I've ... Read more »
We all have our talents
I volunteer in my kids' classrooms on a quasi-regular basis. I do it because they need the help, not because I have a great deal to contribute to the average 5 year old. Yes, even now, they still scare me. The first time I went in, the kindergarten teacher had several tasks for me to choose from. One, pull a bunch of papers out of some books and then sort them. Admin stuff. Two, call the kids back one by one to work on writing their names. Uh oh. Interactive stuff. I never know what to do ... Read more »
If I get eaten
I took my kids to see the Lion King 3-D yesterday, which I would have done regardless but has special import to me now. I think that movie is what did me in for the Africa-lust back in high school. They were moderately impressed, though the overall response was, "Forget you lady. You're going there tomorrow. We have to go to school." Which, to be honest, is totally fair. They'll live. So anyway: Auf wiedersehen, my friends. Today, it's a plane to Chicago, then to Amsterdam, then to ... Read more »
