Shawn M. Finch, DVM

Ever since my brother Dave (Secret Penguin) suggested I start a veterinary newsletter four years ago, and built this website for me, I have absolutely loved writing!  I had no idea writing could be fun, having only written school assignments and medical records in the past.

Thank you for all of your support!  It is the interaction with family and friends and other fellow pet lovers that makes this so fun!

My Most Recent Article…

A good friend recently asked me to help him find a home for his dog.  This is the (counting…) fifth time I have recently been asked to personally help someone rehome a pet who, in my estimation, already has a wonderful home.  Sometimes pets do need to be rehomed, and then, heartbreaking as it is, I will do everything in my power to help all involved end up in the best situation possible.

Sometimes, however, the existing situation can be changed a bit to accommodate the pet and his or her changing needs or circumstances.  Most pet owners do that without even thinking about it…60% of pets keep the same home they started with.  If we can increase that percentage just a bit, I think we may have found the key to solving pet overpopulation in America.  Anyways, that’s why I wrote that article.  It is at Omaha.net…

Pet Overpopulation and You, Well, Let’s Just Start With You

Have I oversimplified the issue, or is that really a valid way to continue to address pet overpopulation?  Let me know what you think!

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Here is a working list of articles I have written that are located other places…

Omaha.net-The Wuzzy Chronicles - Omaha.net gave me my own monthly pet care column!  YAY!

*January 2010:  My Rat Wuzzy

*February 2010:  My Rat Wuzzy - Part 2

*March 2010:  Pet Overpopulation and You, Well, Let’s Just Start With You

Banfield Journal

September/October 2009 pp. 6-7:  Overcoming Team Conflict - Learning From Our Canine Friends

*November/December 2009, pp. 9-10: Seeing Our Favorite Clients - How to Create a Win-Win Situation for All

The Wagging Tail Blog

*December 2009:  Recommending a High Level Standard of Care is Still the Best Idea

*February 2010: Self Evaluation

Dancing Dog Blog - Mary Haight had me do a guest post.  Serious topic, but very fun to work with Mary!

*February 2010:  Debarking

Dog Time - This site has a copy of all of the blog entries here at Riley and James.

Some awaiting approval and/or publication…

Veterinary Leadership

And some I am working on…

Medical Case Review of Wuzzy’s Abdominal Exploratory Surgery

The Changing Demographic of Veterinary Medicine

And a bunch in my head!

And finally, a discussion group on which I will be a guest:

#dogtalk Monday, March 29, 2010 at 8:00 pm Central Time on twitter - “Cosmetic Surgery and Pets”

Dogtalk is a fun discussion group on twitter that meets every Monday night.  If you use the hashtag “#dogtalk” you can follow the conversation, and join in.  Since I found this wonderful group, I have rarely missed a Monday, and I have learned quite a bit!

This week I am looking back at my Riley and James posts and realizing that I have not posted an actual original, informative newsletter since October 3, 2010!  And you are still here!  Thank you!  I will try to be more intentional about the exotic pets series that I started with Taking Care of Your Guinea Pig.

Here is my lame excuse/exciting happenings this winter…

I have been writing for several other sites and publications, which has been very rewarding.  I am going to list them in the next posting, so you can look through them if you would like, but also so I can keep track of all of them, and what I am supposed to be working on now!

Till I have something of more substance to say, here is a picture of Joy the Puppy on the day we adopted her, January 30, 2009…

Nothing much!

I wrote this a while ago though, and Banfield published it today…

http://thewaggingtailblog.com/2010/02/24/self-evaluation/

And they left my Scrubs link in!

That totally makes my day!

Thank you Banfield!

This week I am mourning the loss of Russ’ wonderful Grandma, Norma Jean Everingham.  She is one of my very favorite people ever.  I will catch up with you all soon.

Russ’ sister Jodi (another of my favorite people ever) and Grandma Norma

I Wish You Were Here

The only things you had in common with my own Grandma Amanda were that you were both beautiful and I always wanted to be where you were.

You walked me into your family as if it were my own.  And indeed it is.  You let me call you Grandma.  You always said, “I sure love you.”

And then, years later, old and full of life, you walked from this life to the next as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  And maybe it was.  From my perspective, it was not.  I am left holding the Valentine cards my children made for you, angry and sad you are gone.

Today I am not relieved you are no longer in pain.  Today I am not in awe at the perfect heaven you are now a part of, that you have been longing for.  I mean, I am.  Of course I am.  But today I miss you acutely.  I need you here Grandma.  Today I will mourn.  Later I will rejoice.  Later I will say, “Wow, how blessed I was to know this incredible, wise wonderful woman of God.”

Today I will spend with the people you and I love, drinking drinks (Is that ok?), eating pizza, remembering you and thinking of all of the things we loved best about you.  It is going to be a long night Grandma.  I wish you were here.

The Road Trip to Stromsburg Nebraska for Grandma Everingham’s Funeral

Russ said, “What are you thinking about?”

I said, “I was wondering if being in the presence of the Almighty was so incredible and overwhelming that one could only worship in amazement, or if people in heaven can still see us here, and the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11 and 12 is a reference to our loved ones who have gone before us interceding for us and cheering us on.”

“Oh,” Russ said.

“What are you thinking about?” I said.

“Rum,” Russ said.

“Oh,” I said.  ”Do you want to trade?”

Russ said, “Sure.”

So we did.

Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps-Veggie Tails Yes, I do know all the words.  I have for a decade!

Yesterday was an excellent continuing education meeting at Nebraska Humane Society on vaccines.  It was taught by Richard B. Ford, DVM, MS, ACVIM, ACVPM, Professor Emeritus, North Carolina State University.  More on that soon.  I am still processing, but pretty happy that I have kept up with the best of the field in my vaccine recommendations.

Today, I commented on a very well written and well thought out article by Mary E Haight, on her website, Dancing Dog Blog, “Pet Food Industry & Vets: Undue Influence?”

I thought maybe Mary would let me leave a second comment, but, even better, we will be working together on a “Guest Post” by me on Dancing Dog Blog soon!  Thanks Mary!!  I will put a link to it here.

My very BEST news of the week is SO FAR SO GOOD on Wuzzy Rat.  That’ll be the subject of the second article on my NEW COLUMN at Omaha.net, The Wuzzy Chronicles.  The first article is kind of Part One of the Story of Wuzzy, including the medical issues she is struggling with this week.  Even I, the craziest of rat lovers, am surprised at the different ways and different levels on which my sweet little rat’s story has touched so many different people.

When a company says, “Would you consider writing with us?” and you say “My rat is really sick this week.  Let me process that and then help you start a veterinary information blog, ” and THEY do THIS…

I will support them forever and thank them for being so kind.

(Dear Omaha.net, thank you.)

What I am doing this week is allowing all of my highs and lows to be determined solely on the basis of how the rodents in my life are faring.  Which, if you know me you know, is not unusual.  It just seems that this week, the highs have been especially high, and the lows have been especially low.

First of all, we found out this weekend that our Wuzzy Rat may have a serious illness.  I am still processing it.  And I don’t even know the whole story, just the beginning of it.  However, when I do, I will tell you about it here and maybe on the blog of the awesome website I am now also working with, Omaha.net.

(I don’t know, is there a hairless rat blog section on Omaha.net??)

I will let you know as soon as I know more how she is doing and would appreciate your prayers for Wuzzy.

The good news this week is that starting in the spring, Petsmarts across the country will be carrying Oxbow Vitamin C tablets!! I have been discussing this the past few months with one of Petsmart’s veterinarians who oversees pet care nationally.  I have been asking if they would carry Oxbow Vitamin C 50 mg tablets and telling them why I think it is so important, and for such a large company, they responded amazingly fast.  I thought from the start that it was so kind of them to listen.  I know there were other pet lovers involved in their decision, but from here it feels like I said “Please?” and they said “Your opinion is valid” and more importantly, “yes.”

THANK YOU DOCTOR!

THANK YOU PETSMART!

And in keeping with our rodent theme, here is the “note” I left my friend Jenn yesterday at church…

January 25, 2010  Jennifer VanCleve is my awesome friend who runs Westwood Church’s Preschool Program.  She asked me yesterday to check if her guinea pig Peanut was pregnant.  (She had accidently been left with a male guinea pig at a preschooler’s home.)  She was not.

January 29, 2010 Yes, now there is really is a hairless rat blog section on Omaha.net!  I was kidding about having a hairless rat blog section!  You guys are awesome!  It will be called The Wuzzy Chronicles.  Wuzzy’s first article is up now.  YAY!  I am so excited about this new project!

Talk about an emotional rodent week…while Wuzzy Rat is still not out of the woods health-wise, I just heard today that another Rat Friend has passed away.  He was one of my very favorite patients, and the sweetest pet.  RIP buddy.  You will be dearly missed.

I have been thinking it would be fun to start a “What I am Reading This Week” thread in addition to “What I am Doing This Week.”  I will continue with these random post threads (What I am Thinking, What I am Tweeting, What I am Walking Past…) until you say “Really?  Do we need to know everything??”  And then I will insert a picture of a baby Angora bunny, and you will forgive me and let me continue.

Sophia Rose, cute bunny of Stephanie Voss

When I thought about starting a “What I am Reading” thread, I thought I would talk about JAVMA and text books, and interesting dog behavior books, and then I ran across THIS book, and I do not want you to miss it!!

So let this be a great start to what will hopefully be a year of me very often curled up in the corner with three dogs and a cat on my lap, chocolate coffee on the table next to me and a great book in my hand!  As I close each book and think through how my perspective has changed or widened, you will always be the first to know.  So far, it has been an extraordinary year!

Introverts in the Church

Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture

by Adam S. McHugh

I will come back to this post soon and tell you why I loved this book so much.  For now, know that whether you are a part of the Church or not, whether you are introverted or extroverted, you stand to gain so much by reading this book.  Which is not to say, if you have the same graph in your head that I now do, that you need to read it twice.  However, I plan on doing just that.