More Reaghan

Reaghan is probably the sweetest dog ever.  Which is why she can get away with naughty things like sitting on the end table, chasing the cat over the buffet table and the back of the couch or carrying around one of my socks.  Overall, she's a good dog though, and we really like her.  She will make someone really happy.  She's also an A+ snuggler, but gives a lot of kisses.  She's starting to play a little with the other dogs, and has thought about playing with the toys, but so far no real interest.  She does seem pretty food motivated and can be quite athletic if she so desires.

She is also, very cute.

Our "little" surprise

Reaghan is our new foster dog and is 25 lbs of adorable and sweet.  We don't know what she's mixed with but she sure is cute!

This little girl came from a rural shelter after she had been picked up for running loose as a stray for several days and and went unclaimed.  Cheri picked her up for me on Sunday and we got her on our way home from Oklahoma Sunday evening.  

Naturally, she was in full blown heat when she arrived.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to have an intact dog but after only one day I know I wouldn't!  I took her in and spayed her Monday afternoon!  

So far we don't know a lot about her.  Since she was in heat, and subsequently recovering from surgery she has spent most of her time in a crate.  But she does seem crate trained.  She's been a little timid and unsure of herself but I think she will show more personality every day.  I'm sure  I will have more to post about her soon enough.

The name Reaghan is Celtic for nobility, in case you wondered. 

Almost

Well, no NATCH this weekend, but we at least had one very lovely "almost" NATCH run.  Overall, given their lack of training over the winter I thought they did very well.  Lyric was only entered in Regular, Jumpers, and Tunnelers.  She didn't weave or discriminate well but ran fast all weekend.  She also took a few off courses.  But she did end up with two really lovely jumpers Qs and one Regular Q.

Legend definitely started off a bit rusty.  She was entered in everything and ended up with two ugly regular Qs and two nice Jumpers Qs.  Chances the first day was a total bust but it was a pretty hard course.  It was also pretty tough the second day but she put together a very valiant effort with only one off course.  I was proud of how she did on it.  And there's always another trial for NATCH.  She also ran with nice enthusiasm all weekend and did all her contacts (well, no refusals but she did bail one a-frame down contact).

And we got to see lots of friends we have not see in  months.  Oh, and Lyric finished her Superior Elite Jumpers Certificate.

Here are a few videos...

Legend's better of her two jumpers Qs

One of Lyric's jumpers Qs.  I think her other one is faster but there is no video.

And finally Legend's "almost" NATCH run.  You can tell by my videographers reaction where she goes off course!

And tomorrow, a little surprise!

The lighter side, aka The Unusual: Part 8

1.  Client brings in a dead cat they found by the road and wanted to know if it had been hit by a car.  While I am not psychic, I advised that was the most likely scenario.

2.  Owner wanted to watch her dog be cremated.  She was advised cremations were not actually handled by us but that we were fairly certain they would not allow that.  She then requested the video of her dog being cremated as she had seen or read about this and knew there would be a video.  I don't believe our crematory has or provides video.  But feel free to call.

3.  Owner presented her pet for possible heart attack.  When I diagnosed back pain she asked what made the dog cry out in pain.  I suggested it was the back pain.  She responded with "so, not a heart attack?"  I was unaware that crying out in pain was the predominant sign of a heart attack, which does not really even occur in dogs anyway.

4.  Owner refused to let us pull retained baby teeth in her dog.  She somehow felt this would be fatal.  But she allowed us to anesthetize and neuter him.

5.  Owner scheduled an appointment at 4:10 because that's the only time she could come in.  She arrived at 1:45.

6.  Owner repeatedly referred to a blood transfusion as a surgery.  Made for a very confusing conversation.

7.  Owner thought their cat was either hit by a car or fell out of a tree.  I'm not sure how often cats fall out of trees but it's not usually in my top two differentials for trauma.

8.  A staff member at a vet clinic asked if you induce vomiting in dogs by sticking your finger down its throat.  This person is no longer employed at a vet clinic.

9.  Owner wanted to euthanize a horse themselves but didn't want to shoot it so asked if we could send something home with them to do it.  They failed to understand, after multiple explanations, that it was illegal for us to send home with them any quantity of a lethal injectable drug, much less enough to kill a horse!

10.  A young man asked me if his "dog's balls were developing ok" since they seemed small.  It was a 16 week old puppy.

11.  Client wanted meds for a cat we had never seen.  When we explained that was not an option she called back in attempt to talk to a different staff member and requested a "refill" on meds for a cat we had seen.  FYI, this does not make you clever or tricky, but it does get your file flagged.

12.  Owner dropped off pet for vomiting but claimed no diarrhea.  Upon pickup owner declined meds for vomiting because the pet is not actually vomiting after all but did have diarrhea.  I'm unclear as to why they made the appointment since at that time they did not think the pet had diarrhea (made a point to say so) but later also insisted the dog was not vomiting, which was the reason listed for the appointment.

13.  Upon arrival for her appointment owner repeatedly asked is she should let her 100 lb dog off the leash.  Why would we want you to let your huge dog (really any dog) loose in our lobby?

Five

Sometimes it's hard to believe she's already five, but then again at almost 4 feet tall it can be hard to believe that she is only five!

She wanted a pony, this is as close as it gets!

Hoppy St. Patrick's Day

The seriously never ending winter

It's doing this here today. It will melt tomorrow. But for today, it's yucky.

Dogs are unimpressed. 

But it gave me the chance to do a few projects. 

First I took our old mattress pad (memory foam) and all our leftover pillowcases and and made several small pet beds. 

Most of these will go to the shelter. But a few will stay here. 

I also made these super easy, yummy peanut butter cups. Seriously, they were ready to eat in 15 minutes. 

These are from yesterday. You would have thought they ran the 15k too!

Also, my foot is much better today, so I'm not convinced the heel pain is related to running. 

Catch up

Penny headed off to her new home this week. Here is a picture from her last night here-couldn't help but share one more!

This morning her new mom and dad picked her up and everyone is reportedly ecstatic about it. Another happy ending and beginning! 

Legend, Lyric and I have an agility trial next weekend. We have not done any agility since November and Legend has a chance to get her NATCH so maybe we need to practice this week! Wish us luck-we may need it. 

Despite intermittent, continued foot issues I decided to run the Shamrox 15k anyway today. My foot doesn't actually hurt while running. At least thus far it only  bothers me to walk. I'm not sure what that means, but I guess for now I'll keep running. 

We got to babysit his little guy last night while sissy went to urgent care. She's ok, just a minor scooter accident. 

Despite Lyric's help, after only 2 hours I don't think we are cut out for parenthood!

Living with an infant 24 hours a day seems much to stressful and exhausting! I will stick with puppies. 

This very beautiful and sweet cat is looking for a home. She has been living at the clinic for 4 months but no one is interested in her because she hides a lot and is 10 years old. But she's really loving if you spend time with her!

The dark side

I thought a lot about whether or not to post this.  But in end, I decided it needed to be said.  As a disclaimer this is not to garner sympathy or express any regrets about my career choice (I may not make the same decision if I had to do it over again, but that's different than regret).  Anyway...

I have, to be very blunt, killed a number of beloved pets while family members stand around me with tears streaming down their face.

I have given bad news to virtual strangers.

I have told people their pet has cancer, that it's organs are failing, that they are too badly injured or sick to help.

I have had to call people and tell them their pet died.  Sometimes it was expected, sometimes not.  Do you know what it's like to make that phone call?  Probably not.  And you are lucky.

Like most veterinarians I spent a large amount of time and money on my education.  Like most veterinarians I am still paying for it.  Some will spend their entire career paying for it.  And these are the things we get to do.  How many people pay to enter a careeer that takes this much of an emotional toll?  

Most of us attend veterinary school with the idea of helping pets live better, longer lives.  And yet every day I see pets go home with less than optimal treatment, untreated chornic diseases, and limited preventive care.  Do you know how many times I write "owner declined" in a day?  Do you know how worthwhile that makes all those long nights of studying seem?  The holidays I missed with my family? The disrupted evenings at home with my spouce?

There isn't one of us who hasn't seen puppies die.  Or kittens.  Or animal abuse or neglect.  Again, what kind of person chooses this for their life?  Veterinarians, as a whole are, people who love animals.  People who are willing to live with the day to day sadness in order to try and provide quality care for pets.  

And there are certainly plenty of people who do take good care of their pets, who appreciate their veterinarian, and many more happy stories than sad.  But there are still days where it's downright depressing to think about all the time and money we spent in school just so that people can disregard science in favor of what they learned on some angry and fear based internet site or facebook post.  I will grant you that there are some veterinarians who are lazy, greedy, or out-dated.  But if you don't trust your vet, find another one. We are largely people who want what is best for animals.  I think the above examples should illustrate that no one who didn't want to help pets would stay in this career, or even get started in it.  It's not like we're all getting rich laughing about all the clients we suckered that day.  It's more like we spend all day working to find an affordable solution for someone with limited funds so that their pet gets at least some care. And there isn't one of us that hasn't taken in a charity case, given away services or adopted a pet that was otherwise abandoned or destined for a preventable euthanasia.  So it pains me that so many people would think that we would recommend medications or procedures that are harmful to a pet.  And it's frustrating to look at all the anti-"x" posts and websites and read explanations that are clearly biologically and scientifically flawed as to why "x" is so bad for your pet.  And some are just plain wrong and rooted in a total lack of knowledge and common sense. 

Modern medicine has vastly improved both the quality and length of life of humans and animals.  Is it perfect? No, but really, what is?  Is it evolving? Yes.  Are veterinarians trying to hurt your pet? No.

Likely the people who already agree with this will continue do so, and those that don't won't have their mind changed.  But maybe they will at least think about it from another perspective before they choose internet rampage over science, school, and the veterinarian that will be there, without fail, the day you are that family in tears.  

Double your pleasure

Aren't they the cutest thing ever?

Product Review: Canidae TidNips

This month we did another review for Chewy.com.  This time we tried Canidae TidNips.

This is another soft, jerky like treat.  I like any of these that are not too greasy and also not too crumbly.  This fit the bill just fine. And they are easy to break into smaller pieces as needed.  As far as the dogs go, you know we don't have any picky eaters here.  However, everyone, including Penny, thought these were tasty enough to nearly take my hand off for.  So, that's eight (?) thumbs up?  And they do contain chicken, turkey, lamb, and salmon so they should appeal to most pets no matter what their favorite meat is!  But with these multiple meats, among other ingredients they may not work for allergic or sensitive dogs.

But, in our house, it's one we would try again!

As always, available online. And they are reasonably priced compared to other high end treats. Enjoy!

All grown up

I've been meaning to post pictures of a full-grown Kahuna for awhile now.  But, I keep forgetting, and he's not great as posing.  But I finally managed to get it done today!

He's now two years old and big, sweet, spoiled boy.  I'm not sure how much he weighs though because as sweet as he is, he doesn't like being picked up and doing so may result in bodily harm.  But I would estimate 15 pounds plus.  I'm not sure if he's as big as Spring was, and he's definitely not as big as the 19-20 lbs they told me he would be, but he's a big bunny nonetheless.

And apparently, one good way to get good pictures is to just hand him the treat bag.  

Penny

While I am not generally a fan of smushy faced dogs, you must admit-she is pretty cute.