Baby Snookie Jones!
Erika's baby piggy <3
Joy the Puppy as a puppy!
Happy birthday to my best friend, my partner, my husband and my co-parent.
You are the best, and I love you!
Also, you look super cute holding baby animals.
The bread basket from Black Tie and Tails was wrapped with a beautiful sparkly PURPLE bow. So of course I put it on Joy the Puppy. She was a good sport, and left it on for a couple pictures.
This is one strip of a series I created called, "When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Vet" from 2011 - 2012. You've asked if I am going to draw the comic again, and I loved doing it, so maybe. I started the comic to process difficult things in my career, and thankfully, I have not had so much to process once I got this all into comic form!
I will post the next strip of the series every Friday. The entire series can be found at When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet.
Once again Dr. Pete Bashara and his family invited the doctors and their spouses and other special guests to the Nebraska Humane Society party and fund raiser, Black Tie and Tails. It was held on Saturday, April 21, 2018. And once again it was one of Russ and my favorite evenings!
Here is a beautifully artistic super secret picture of the Bashara family. In reality, I just didn't get the lighting right : )
The night started with a silent auction (We won the bread basket and the bird feeder basket!). Next was dinner and a summary of some of the incredible things the Humane Society has accomplished this year.
I hardly got any pictures! We looked pretty dressy, and Dr. Taplett and Andrea Bashara (as always) looked GORGEOUS. The dogs were adorable. The cutest of the dogs was a black and tan Greyhound mix up for adoption (Nope, still holding steady at 2 dogs and 3 fish!)
We had such a good time, and are encouraged about all the Nebraska Humane Society continues to do for the animals and people of our city and beyond.
Thank you Dr. Bashara! We had a wonderful evening with all of you!!
Kelly and her family adopted a new puppy! Her name is Violet, and she is a Vizsla puppy. How cute is she?? And so sweet!
Good night Violet <3
Recently, Hannah called me from the West Gentle Doctor location, and after we had talked said, "Oh you have a package out here."
A package! I was like a kid. Even though the long week was over, I talked Russ into driving out to work to pick up the package after hours.
It was a huge box! I shook it. I heard nothing. Hmm. I tore it open to find...more boxes!
More boxes!
How fun!
Inside each box was...lots of snacks!
It was actually a gift for the team (I DID share) from Dr. and Mrs. Horstman. We had done dental work on their two adorable dogs, and it was a thank you gift.
Abby, Joy and Luna help sort through the snacks.
Thank YOU Horstmans! You totally made my day! You are the best, and we are so blessed to have you in Omaha!
In the midst of their own grief, her Moms made the sweetest care packages for us. They were filled with things that reminded us...and them...of Whiskey, including...whiskey : ) ...and a lavender candle because that was Whiskey's favorite scent.
Thank you Pamela. Thank you Christian. You are among the best of the best, and we love you <3
I took Joy and Luna to Beals Elementary to play. Only Joy was being photogenic!
Thursday was a rough day. I finally worked up the energy to be productive and went into the garden to pull last season's weedy growth off the fence.
No sooner had I started (thinking, "this is easier than I thought it would be!") then I accidentally pulled down a tiny bird nest with three tiny speckled eggs.
I started crying and called Russ, who, along with Jeff and Travis, was working hard to finish building a second story deck.
Russ said to put the nest upright and he would build a stand for it.
And he did.
I hope the birds come back to their nest. I will keep you updated.
This is one strip of a series I created called, "When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Vet" from 2011 - 2012. You've asked if I am going to draw the comic again, and I loved doing it, so maybe. I started the comic to process difficult things in my career, and thankfully, I have not had so much to process once I got this all into comic form!
I will post the next strip of the series every Friday. The entire series can be found at When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet.
Dr. Ethics took me on a ride in his hot air balloon once. It was so fun. I think he really would have loaned it to me to get home. He has some very kind tendencies. Also, it is a hot air balloon going to Omaha, like in Wizard of Oz : )
The other day, just because, the flower shop down the street from the 120th and Blondo Gentle Doctor location brought us this beautiful bouquet of flowers! It brightened our whole week <3
Thank you Stems! We love being your neighbors!
Kelly and I were finishing a cystotomy. This is a surgery in which the urinary bladder is opened to remove urinary stones. I must have removed 99 stones. The dog was only three years old, and she had impressively made more stones than I had ever seen at once.
After stone removal surgery, we always take an x-ray to assure all the stones have been removed. Almost a formality. I always fret a bit though between the surgery room and the x-ray table.
The x-ray appeared on the screen, and one lone stone remained in the trigone of the bladder. I was mortified. This happens in a reported 20% of stone removal surgeries in which x-rays are taken afterwards, but it had never happened to ME.
Back to surgery we went, Kelly reminding me, as she often does, to BREATHE. I sure love that friend. As basic as it sounds, I was NOT breathing, and needed to in order to complete surgery.
We reopened the surgery site, I removed the stone with a hemostat and returned to take another x-ray. The stone was out, and I was glad I had returned for the one last stone.
Luke 15
or something
From a Friend, when I was recently dealing with writer's block...
"Slumps are OK. You know how you let a field lie fallow so it can grow stuff again? That’s you. Your writing is lying fallow."
Thank you Friend. You always know what to say.
For those of you with a weak stomach or no interest in the ins and outs of surgery...or both...skip this post!
Those of you who like the weird and the gross, read on.
One of the coolest surgeries we do is stone removal surgery from the urinary bladder.
Stones can be quite pretty. These look like roses to me.
We take stones out for two reasons - they hurt and they can obstruct the urinary system, especially in males.
Before surgery, we do a physical exam and blood work. When we have patients undergoing anesthesia, we - of course - want it to be as safe as possible.
The day of surgery, the pet is fasted. He or she is sedated and anesthetized. An IV catheter is in and anesthesia monitoring equipment is hooked up.
The pet is placed on their back on the surgery table in the surgery room. Lights are aimed at their belly.
Warning! Here is the gross/cool part...An incision is made into the abdomen and the urinary bladder. The stones are scooped out - I am not making this up - with a tiny measuring spoon. We have three. They say "smidge," "sprinkle" and "pinch." I use the "smidge" spoon, the smallest one.
The bladder incision and the abdominal wall incision are sewn back up and x-rays are taken to make sure all of the stones are out. The stones are sent to a lab for analysis.
And the pet lives happily ever after, hopefully forever stone free.
I received a Kaytee Igloo to review from Chewy.com.
Everyone who has had a rabbit or rodent seems to have had one of these! (It was difficult to find a friend who did not already have one!) And I got a lot of good feedback on the igloo.
Our guinea pig Piggy loved his. He did not climb it as some more adventurous piggies might, but he did like to spend time in his igloo.
From friends on the Igloo...
"My rats loved those things." -Jeremy Coffey
"My rats used them. The guinea pigs never cared to go in them but would push them around. All my rabbits were too big." -Alicia Weiland
"Have one for my piggie. Good quality. Easy clean. Sort of large for a pig, but he enjoys it." -Monica Massengale
"Penelope has some thing similar, and loves it!" -Nicole Dawson
"I haven't used them for my own piggies but we use them at Town and Country all the time!" -Kellie Marie
"I think my gerbils would destroy it." -Sara Tifft"
We always had to avoid these with our gerbils. They would have ingested pieces of it, too. We stuck with wooden or cardboard houses." -Kylee Karre
"I no longer have guinea pigs but when I did, they loved these. They would even move them like little turtles to the food dish." -Angela Bohling
"We had one that the piggies fought over. They loved it and did the turtle thing too--mainly because they knew if they left it, the other would steal it. I never figured out what the knobby things on the top were for..." -Cathy Babcock
Too small for almost any dog!
Luna is not impressed.
For a dog who constantly wags her tail, Joy found the igloo quite restricting.
So there you have it! Too small for (dogs and) bunnies. Not ideal for chewers like gerbils. But for guinea pigs and rats, both of whom appreciate a hiding space, these are a great addition to their habitat!
Pumpkin is one of two Frenchies of our friends the Clarks. Abby met her at a candle party. I love the look on Abby's face when she meets a dog!
This is one strip of a series I created called, "When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Vet" from 2011 - 2012. You've asked if I am going to draw the comic again, and I loved doing it, so maybe. I started the comic to process difficult things in my career, and thankfully, I have not had so much to process once I got this all into comic form!
I will post the next strip of the series every Friday. The entire series can be found at When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet.
I also had a very GOOD job in Colorado, but we did get homesick, so we moved back to Omaha. Best decision ever <3
I received MORE treats to review from Chewy.com! The dogs are loving this!
These treats are Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Treats, Sweet Potato and Venison Formula. Because Joy is allergic to chicken, we need to be careful with ingredients, and these treats were perfect!
At midnight, I woke the dogs and asked, "Are you guys up for a treat review?"
They both said that they were.
Luna loves it...
Joy loves it...
I love this picture of Joy! She is never half committed to anything!
Success! 10 out of 10 - would order again!
Thank you Chewy.com! And thank you Natural Balance for creating treats both our mutts can enjoy.
Dad: Is that the clinic cat?
Me: Dad, that's a Chihuahua.
Recently, Olivia and her person, veterinary technician Allison Parker, helped me with this post on Cosequin Chews from Chewy.com that I received to review. I chose them especially for Olivia!
I love this picture of Olivia!
She said, "meow" and that she enjoyed them very much.
Olivia is normally on Glycoflex Chews, another treat based glucosamine source.
From Allison, "She definitely likes them, but compared to Glycoflex Chews, I would go through the bag twice as quickly!"
Cosequin Chews have 125 mg of glucosamine per two chews. Glycoflex Chews have 300 mg of glucosamine per two chews.
Overall this seems like a very good product, and Cosequin is a brand I trust completely. It is always nice to have treat options instead of pills or capsules for cats!
Olivia, you look like a natural spokes-cat!