Pawcurious: With Veterinarian and Author Dr. V

Celebrating the truth that pets make people better.

Daily Life

On the eve of a ten year reunion

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My ten year vet school reunion is coming up this weekend. I'm not going, not because I don't want to, but because I just couldn't manage to get the weekend away. It kind of stinks because I really did want to go and see what everyone has been up to over the last long decade. I'll admit I wrestled with feelings of inadequacy in the months leading up to this. I have friends in the CDC and friends heading prestigious academic departments at vet schools and friends running huge practices and me, ... Read more »

The start of a beautiful conference

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When Mike Arms asked me to speak at the first ACES International Conference here in San Diego last weekend, of course I said yes. One, I always like the opportunity to get to speak about social media, one of my favorite topics. Two, I was honored by the invitation to contribute to a really exciting endeavor. And three, well, I really just wanted to go to the conference. Helen Woodward Animal Center has been running ACES conferences for years, a series of lectures designed to help shelters and ... Read more »

Not featured in the Martha Stewart Home Fragrance Collection: eau de Koa butt

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As you may or may not recall, we've had our house on the market for a while. It has been a horrible experience, if I'm being honest, and it's turning me into an unpleasant person. The last five months of constant chasing around after two kids and two dogs, keeping an immaculate house for strangers to paw through at whim before dismissively walking away, has taken its toll. We've decided that this is the last week, and after that we're taking a break and pulling the place off the market until ... Read more »

Talk Like a Pirate Pittie Day

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Ahoy mateys! Aye, it be Talk Like a Pirate Day yet again, and in honor of the blessed day, me friend Estelle - that's Cap'n Estelle the Mighty to you, ye land lubbers, and we're here to remind ye all it's Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week. Estelle has a soft spot in her heart for pirates- after all, they share an awful lot in common with the types of pets being featured this week. A motley yet lovable crew, misunderstood, maligned by a society that values attributes they have no control over. ... Read more »

SuperZoo- Trends for Fall

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Another day, another Vegas conference. I don't what it is about Vegas, but even when I go for work and behave and don't stay out late and don't do anything more titillating than eating nachos at 11 at night in the 24 hour cafe, I still come back feeling like Axl Rose after an all night bender. I guess this is what getting older does to you, when the simple act of walking around a convention floor all day wipes you out. Nonetheless, it was a good show. I have to say, there was nothing ... Read more »

The dog, the barge, and the scars I’m going to have a hard time explaining

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Well, we did it. Brody and I survived our first surfing competition. Let me start by saying I never would have dared even show my face there had I not known the local surf dog community previously. They're an accomplished bunch, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and setting world records and getting on Times Square billboards and the like. They are also really good surfers. Next to them, Brody and I with our handful of goes on the board and our lackluster ability, were total rubes. But ... Read more »

Surf Dog Take 2: NO ONE KILL THE POWER AGAIN OK?

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A refresher, if you haven't memorized all the details of my life, and I hope you haven't: Last year, Brody was scheduled to surf in the Helen Woodward Surf Dog Surf-a-thon. We had lessons. We had a board. And, of course, we had Evan the Surf Instructor:   Who is probably blissfully unaware of his cult status in the pet blogging world. But I digress. At the very same moment we were out practicing our wave technique, someone, somwhere, hit a button they weren't supposed to and some Very ... Read more »

My Name Is and the 3 Things all PR people should know

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This is an open letter to anyone who writes a pet blog, and there are a lot of you out there. I get asked for advice about blogging a lot, and the number one thing I will tell you is this: Your blog and your time have value. It's ok to remind people of that when they ask you to work for free. I've seen plenty in the almost four years in the blogosphere. To stick it out this long requires a clear understanding of why we're doing this and what we're about (neither of which, incidentally, have ... Read more »

Using snakes to light a fire

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I think I could have been very happy as a biologist. It was the direction in which I was headed, though always with the intent of turning my bachelors degree in biology into a professional degree. I chose to ignore the fact that I really loved biology as its own pursuit, fascinated with taxonomy and utterly enchanted with the concept of sitting on a smelly pile of rocks in a harbor by Marina del Rey counting mussels. I understood this, the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, trying to get a ... Read more »

The naked dream would have been less stressful

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I am a recurring nightmare kind of person. Always have been. They come in waves, depending on what my stress du jour is, where I am in life. I remember my first recurring dream well: I am running from someone, something, bad. I do not know what it is but I know that I can't let it catch me. I run along the side of the house, bright in the midday sun, and my feet turn to lead, sticking into the tall summer grass as though it were quicksand. I open my mouth to scream, and nothing comes out. ... Read more »

3 Tips for a Happy Cat Vet Visit

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It's National Take your Cat to the Vet Week, which ranks right up there with Get Your Annual Prostate Exam Week and Pull Off Your Toenails Week on the fun scale. I know it's not fun, for you or for the cat. It's a necessary evil, one of our first lines of defense in catching disease processes early before they are crisis situations. In fact, most vets recommend taking your cat in twice a year, though we know from surveys that less than half of you take your cat in unless he or she is sick. Do ... Read more »

SQUIRREL! Or, close enough

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When you're a dog, there are certain things you learn to do early in life. Like ask to go outside. This is something every dog does differently. Some jump insistently at the door jamb, scratching at the glass. Others have learned to ring a bell. Some, like Koa, wait until they are positively bursting at the seams, sit silently for 30 seconds and, if no one comes in that time frame, go and pee on the floor. Dogs like Brody are stoic, waiting patiently but insistently at the door and nudging ... Read more »

Bad houseguests

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We had a lovely time on our vacation, and by all accounts the pets had a lovely vacation from us. Apollo, who had the run of the place while we were gone, has most of his fur back from the chicken incident- no opportunities to sneak people food when there were no people, of course, and the dogs had a blast at Grandma's, where they were spoiled, treated, and brushed into oblivion. Even Koa had to work to muster up some enthusiasm when we returned. For the most part, they were good, was the ... Read more »

Wordless Wednesday: Aloha

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Confession: I'm on vacation this week. A real, honest to goodness, pack up the family and go somewhere really fun vacation, which we haven't done in a while so was very needed. I thought I would be using this time to stir my creative juices and knock out the rest of the Mt. Meru posts, boom-boom-boom, but the only thing I can bring myself to stir is the ice in my mojito. Can you blame me? I do so love the beach. If you get up early, before the 5,000 other people on vacation here get down ... Read more »

It’s getting hot in here

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I went out for a run on Monday and left Brody at home. He was not thrilled, but I saw we had some extreme heat advisories in place for the day and I was worried that even starting at 7:30, it would be too hot. When I began, it was 82 degrees in the parking lot. When I finished two hours later, emerging onto the asphalt even as some ill advised people were just heading out, it was 102. And some of them had dogs with them. I'm a fan- obviously- of being active with your dog. That is a good ... Read more »

Crabby Con

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My husband loves Comic-Con, which if you don't know is a yearly event here in San Diego in which an ever increasing number of people ranging from normal to deranged descend upon San Diego for the weekend. It started out as a comics thing, but it's expanded and exploded to a Hollywood event with TV stars, movie stars, and famous authors appearing for insanely crowded panel sessions on such topics as "Creating the Dothraki language" and a meet and greet with the guy who plays Masuka on ... Read more »