On the fifth day of clinics, my ref lab sent to me: 4 Gastric grommets 3 Dead Pens 2 Blown up Gloves And a linear Foreign Body! ... Read more »
Features
On the fourth day of clinics
My clients gave to me: 3 Dead Pens 2 Blown Up Gloves And a linear foreign body! Thank you to Jessi J for the radiograph! She writes: "Boo ate a leather drawstring bag, and my only clue were a few remaining pieces of string. The radiograph was our confirmation..." ... Read more »
On the third day of Clinics…
On the third day of clinics, my best tech gave to me: Two blown up gloves And a linear foreign body! Seriously, the agony of a stack of dead ballpoint pens when you just want to finish your records and go home still haunts me. ... Read more »
The Second Day of Clinics
On the second day of clinics, my best tech gave to me: And a linear foreign body! ... Read more »
The Twelve Days of Clinics
I miss singing the 12 days of Christmas with you all, so I'm working through the 12 days of Clinics from a clinic perspective. Feel free to toss me ideas- we have 12 days to work through after all. Shall we begin? On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: Tinsel never looked so sinister. ... Read more »
The Long Dark Twee-Time of the Soul
As you probably know, I have a bit of a complicated relationship with the PTA moms. Not moms in general, mind you, just the small subset of Pinterest loving, glue-gun wielding domestic lifestyle experts whose expectations I can never, despite my best efforts, seem to live up to. It doesn't matter what school we're at, it happens every time. First it was the art project/pooper scooper incident in kindergarten. Then it was the Have a Very Agro Valentine's Day episode. And now it's crudite, crudite ... Read more »
Clean bill of health…
Can we talk about the fainting schnauzer video? We need to talk about it, because if there's one thing I don't get in this world, it's the current trend for pets with a myriad of medical malfunctions or genetic issues becoming internet sensations. You've seen the video, I imagine. A dog is surprised by the owner she hasn't seen in a year or two, and after freaking out for a few seconds she loses consciousness briefly. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the ... Read more »
Live from Vegas: Pet Products You’ve Got To See
FTC Disclosure: featured products provided review product and/or compensation for inclusion in the Product Spotlight. If you’ve ever been to a trade show, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed. A pet show like SuperZoo is an utter cacophony of sounds, sights, and row after row of many things that all look the same after an hour: treats and collars, treats and collars, rinse, repeat. It’s hard for products to stand out in a crowd like that, but when Dr. Andy Roark and I hit the ... Read more »
Dog: World’s Worst Coach
I am training for a half marathon. I thought about training for a full marathon, but then the reality what that was like the last time I attempted it kicked in and I remembered that oh yeah, I don't like to run. I think you can do a full marathon once when you don't like to run, just to say you did (Rock n Roll 2001 for me), but after than there's really nothing to prove other than, "oh yeah, this hurts." A half marathon though, is doable. Still not fun, but manageable. I have decided, ... Read more »
Arya of House Potcake
One thing I've learned about going on vacation, is that I don't like to relax. How can I, when there's so much to do and so little time! I want to see ALL THE THINGS! And most of the time I vacation with my husband he responds with a blank stare and a "why would you want to do all of that?" So this time around we went to Turks and Caicos, a small island chain in the Bahamas whose island upon which we landed is only 38 square miles, so I think he assumed he would have me boxed in by ... Read more »
One Twenty Over Eighty
A few years ago I ran away from my job. At least, that's what I called it at the time, that is how I framed it in my head. I couldn't hack it, I was a failure as a vet. My mind was wrecked, my physical health was wrecked, and my stomach curled up into knots every time I pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't only me who suffered; I knew my heart was not where it needed to be for my patients. They deserved for me to want to be there. It was a bad place to be in. With the gift of ... 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 »
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 »
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 »
On the twelfth day of Christmas AND another giveaway!
My doggie gave to me: 12 Yummers Yumming! Eleven Crunchy Carrots Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you to Annette at Biscuits By Lambchop for bringing up the end of this crazy train :) Treats for all tonight! Speaking of that, for those of you who are still around, I do have another giveaway ... Read more »
On the eleventh day of Petmas
My horsie gave to me: Eleven Crunchy Carrots! Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Kari, that is pretty much the coolest garland ever. I sense a strong food theme to this year's 12 Days. :) I have another giveaway coming up this afternoon! Don't forget to enter the Motorola camera giveaway if you ... Read more »
On the tenth day of Petmas
My tired loves gave to me: 10 Snorers Sleeping! Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! I thought this went up earlier today, but apparently. I was running around all day unaware- four appointments for people to say goodbye to their beloved pets, so forgive me being late here but it was a draining day. Like clockwork, the week ... Read more »
