Oh no! It's midnight. Good God, what was I thinking? So much more to go. In the depths of the night, I resort to haiku. I need more coffee If I am to have a shot At staying awake. I have a bag of treats from Biscuits By Lambchop for the first comment in haiku. (If you donated. :) ) About Biscuits by Lambchop: Biscuits by Lambchop hand-craft sensible treats for the sensitive dog. A healthy treat for most any dog but formulated with special dietary needs in mind. They are ... Read more »
Daily Life
Hour Six: The weirdest job ever
The thrill of live tv, as it were. I had this post written in its entirety, and then published an old autosave that lost the entire second half. This was supposed to be my hour 5 story. One of my requests was for me to continue the background story about going to veterinary school, which I started, did one post, and then never got around to finishing. I'm sure doing it in this context won't do the story much justice- I could write for quite some time on this one- but it will do. ... Read more »
Hour Five: By request: ER dos and don’ts
I've alluded to the fact that I worked in a veterinary ER for a year or two. I learned a few things, namely, that I'm not cut out for emergency medicine. I vaguely remember a few things: the frenetic pace, the adrenaline rush of a HBC (that's hit by car for the non-vets), the sleep deprivation. I'm much better suited for day practice. Another thing I remember are the calls. Man, you think manning the phones at a regular clinic is a challenge, try doing it in an ER. Receptionists become ... Read more »
Hour Four: The aftermath
It really wasn't that bad. Truly. I was shocked- it kind of smelled like refried beans, which is what I told myself as I ate it. FWIW the brand was Evanger's. I did a test run of a different brand of vegetarian dog food earlier this week and it was quite a bit grosser. Someone asked me during chat what I thought about vegetarian diets for pets. Obviously I'm glad they exist, because otherwise I would have had to eat something much more horrific, but I have been known to ... Read more »
Eeew
Free Videos by Ustream.TV If it's not playing, I'm setting up and will be going in the next 5 minutes or so. This will also be recorded. :) ETA: Tech support forgot to hit record. So those who were here witnessed the epic event, complete with commentary. Because I am THAT dedicated, I recorded myself eating one more bite a SECOND time. Because I don't want anyone calling shenanigans. So that is why I am sitting there with my head in my hands, shortly after having a talk with tech ... Read more »
Hour Three- The dreaded dog food post cometh.
Got to get it over with. It should be up and going within the hour. We had an amazing chat with Ana, hosted by Annette. Thank you again! I will try to do it one more time in the morning sometime. Right now I am posting to check out the placement of the donation badge in the post. Both Dr. Janet and my husband have put in a ridiculous amount of time helping with behind the scenes stuff and I owe them hugely. Normally I would be doing test posting behind the scenes but ... Read more »
Hour 2: Heart dogs
Every pet that enters our lives has a special place in our hearts, without a doubt. I can rattle off the list of the menagerie I've lived with and tell you stories for hours. But within that hierarchy, there is always that one special one- your heart dog (or cat or horse...), as Dr. Crosby has so aptly described it. The one who really taught you what this whole pet-having-thing is all about. I can talk about all my departed pets with a smile and a wistful remembrance. But when you ask about ... Read more »
See ya tonight!
... Read more »
The must see blogging event of the year details!
OK, maybe that is a wee bit of hyperbole, but I'm not Pioneer Woman here, OK? I can't just post a picture of a cow and get 500 responses, or be dooce posting a picture of a pillow with 800 gushing responses. I'm still in the promotional phase here. Speaking of hyperbole- OK. Onto important details: INAUGURAL PAWCURIOUS BLOGATHON SUPPORTING NATIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER APPRECIATION WEEK 1. START TIME: Friday at 6 pm PST. 1 post hourly until 5 pm on Saturday. 2. Topics: All sorts of ... Read more »
It’s payback time…
Having suffered the humiliation of being stuffed into a fleece suit for the entertainment of the masses, Brody's first thought was apparently, "Wild Thing? Seriously? You have NO IDEA, lady. I'll show you wild thing." The end of daylight savings has its disadvantages. Namely, when a dog goes outside for his evening ablutions, one can no longer observe his activities. Generally speaking our yard is pretty safe. He can't squeeze between the bars on the fence, the plants are dog-safe, and the ... Read more »
National Shelter Appreciation Week!
It's National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week! November 1-7 marks a week to honor the people who do so much for some of our most vulnerable animal friends. It is a tough and often thankless job. Romeo, the wonderful cat fundraiser extraordinaire over at Romeothecat and founder of the pawparty on Twitter, has issued a challenge: do something. Anything. So, I'm trying to come up with ideas. I was mulling a Brody calendar (or even better, a calendar of multiple pets we've come to love) but I ... Read more »
Be grateful this post has no pictures
I was going to tell you about my day, about the poodle who collapsed in full blown anaphylactic shock 5 minutes after getting rabies vaccine and how insane it was, but to be honest I'm a bit exhausted so I wanted to cover an inane topic instead. I found one. My normal days, the ones without those life threatening allergic reactions and the like, are composed to a very large degree of three things: ears, skin, and poop. Because of that, you get inured to it after a while, and when someone ... Read more »
Ode to the Ocelot
I have a black cat. Most of you met him a couple of weeks ago. His name is Apollo. We also call him Squeaks, Smelly, and "STOP MEOWING AND GO TO BED I ALREADY FED YOU!" When we adopted him, I had the brief uneasy rumbling that being mildly superstitious might bring when one adopts a black cat. It didn't last long, though. Honestly, black cats seem kind of lucky to me- as my neighbor so ominously noted when we first moved in, "the black ones last longer." (If you don't know what I am ... Read more »
On being a diplomat
Wars are won and lost on the powers of diplomacy. Some people are born with the gift, while others need to work at it. Some people never learn. We all have one of those acquaintances, the one who is proud of "telling it like it is"- the one who says your butt looks big in those pants, she can tell you gained a few pounds, your new haircut makes you look like a Chia pet, and that your kids are being hooligans. Those people are usually pretty lonely, as a general rule. Such champions of the ... Read more »
Dr. Pansy at your service
"Well, Ranger looks great," I said to his owner, straightening up and brushing off my pants. "His pyoderma is completely cleared up." "Great," said the owner, an older guy- maybe a few years into retirement. "Hey doc, since you're here-" he held up his hand- "do you think this is blood poisoning?" I peered at his finger and reflexively gave the stock answer I am required to provide when asked for human medical advice. "I don't know. You should ask your doctor." I looked more closely at the ... Read more »
Aiming to not meet your expectations
Just so you all know, my daughter was constipated and not inoculated with H1N1. Being grateful that my kid is constipated is a first in this household. Pass the Miralax! We had a new client today- well, let me rephrase. Potential new client. He made it clear to the receptionist that he has interviewed 4 veterinarians already to see who he would choose to spay his dog, and I quote, "none were up to his exacting standards." He was here for a consultation to maybe do the spay with us. Gratis, of ... Read more »
Flu, flu everywhere
I'm not sure if it's the media, the hype over the impending swine flu H1N1 pandemic, or the fact that things really are bad this year, but we simply can't escape talk of the flu, can we? In my town, a healthy little 5 year old girl came down with H1N1 last week, and died. Where I'm not normally the kind of person to hover over my kids and go running to the doctor at every little sniff, this week I'm on edge. And hovering. Sniffle? Might be a cold. Might be swine flu. Stomach pains sending my ... Read more »
This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
When no less an auspicious blog than the Huffington Post tackles the topic of pet Halloween costumes, you know you're onto something. (Go look at the 3-headed weinerdog. It's awesome.) No longer do we need to hide in the bowels of PetSmart at Halloween, surrounded by other fringe element pet people. Pet costumes have gone mainstream- humiliate your pet with pride! ;) Eh, who am I kidding. The average dog loves the attention. Cats are perhaps a tad more debatable, but I digress. Before I had ... Read more »
