Shawn M. Finch, DVM

To all of the Pet Savers in Omaha and beyond…

Thank you for all you do to help pets!

I think that you are great.

Happy May Day!

Learn as much as you can about <rabbits> before you adopt one.

Do not surprise the kids with a <holiday> <pet>.

Whenever possible, rescue your new pet!  You are saving two lives, that of your new pet, and the life of a pet who can use the resources that the rescue or shelter now has available.

I was going to go on and on about those three things, but you already know all of that!  And if you do not, you will after hopping around today’s awesome blog hops!  Instead, I will tell you about my favorite rescue organization, Nebraska Humane Society.

Sometimes the Nebraska Humane Society has super cute rabbits up for adoption.

OK, I didn’t have as much to say about that as I thought, either.  This is going to be a short post!

Happy Hopping!  Happy Easter!

Thank you Carrie for hosting today’s Easter Rabbit Adoptathon!  Visit Carrie’s awesome blog, All Things Dog to see some very cute bunnies up for adoption across the country as well as her own very cute bunny Robby.  Her Help Page has great rabbit information too!

Today I am hopping with the Always Awesome Saturday Pet Blogger’s Hop and the New-to-Me Easter Rabbit Adoptathon.  Feel free to join in both.  Thank you for stopping by!  And thank you Blog Hop Hosters!

Every once in a while, I post a list of posts (mine or other ones that I think are fun).  That way, you can click the ones that look interesting, then click links on those posts…until you are completely immersed in pet information and lost on the internet…you know, Bunny Trails.  Fun!  Today’s Bunny Trail is a list of posts on the veterinary website dvm360.

And speaking of bunnies, my Saturday’s Pet Blogger Hop post this week will be about rescue bunnies and whether it is a good idea to surprise kids with REAL bunnies on Easter and will be linked to a NEW blog hop on the All Things Dog Blog.  Thank you for the kind invite Carrie!  Click this super cute picture to learn more about All Things Dog Blog’s Easter Rabbit Adoptathon!

Along the bunny theme, here is a picture of one of my very favorite and cutest patients, Sophie Voss.  She is an English Angora Rabbit.  Her color pattern is called “broken.”  Isn’t she gorgeous?  And so soft!  She was the first bunny I ever spayed.  Thank you so much Stephanie for trusting me with that “first!”  What a trusting friend, huh??

I called my veterinary school classmate, Anne Belshan, DVM and Micah Kohles, DVM, Oxbow’s veterinarian and a small animal practitioner in Lincoln Nebraska, (who had both done more rabbit spays than zero) for words of wisdom, and they were both SO helpful and encouraging.  Sophie did wonderfully and everything went without a hitch!  As ovariohysterectomies go, rabbits are actually easier than dogs, cats, rats, hamsters and mice!

…and along the bunny trails theme, here is a list of posts on dvm360…

Twitter

Conflict Resolution

Season of Joy (the Puppy)

A Dramatic Wellness Exam

Do Pets Mourn?

And finally, along the Easter theme…Remember! You can have cats or Easter lilies, but not both! Lilies are very toxic to cats’ kidneys.

May you have a wonderful and blessed Easter season.  Send me pictures of your own gorgeous bunnies (and other pets!) and I will post them too!

Dr. V has a Brody Signal - it is a picture of her super cute pup that she puts over a flashlight and shines into the night.  Other pet lovers the world over see the signal, get the message and join her in her mission to make the world a better place.*

Today’s Mission:

“A Virtual Fundraiser to Aid Animal Relief Efforts via World Vets”

I do not think we even know how bad this tsunami and earthquake disaster in Japan is yet.  Not everyone is found.  The nuclear scare is not over.  I cling to stories of individuals because the big picture is just too much.  Everyone seems to be two degrees from loved ones in Japan.  Or one.  Or zero.  World Vets is in Japan, helping with relief efforts.

Sometimes people rescuers need to focus on finding and rescuing people and need pet rescuers to come along side of them to rescue the pets.

Sometimes pet owners need to know they are loved, and we understand how awful it is to be be seperated from and even lose loved ones.

Sometimes communities need to know that we care and that we long for a concrete way to show that and that we would do anything to make the situation better, even though we cannot fix it.

Sometimes people cannot take in the horror of an entire country in pain and need to hear one encouraging account of a rescue…a reuniting…a hopeless situation that ended happily.

Pray for Japan

Reach out

Support World Vets

“Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Mourn with those who mourn.”**

*Dr. V does not have a Brody Signal.  *sigh*  I wish she did.  But her super awesome blog Pawcurious works just fine when pet lovers need to be gathered for a common goal.  I think she should do both.

**Romans 12:15 (New International Version of the Bible)

March 18, 2011 Veterinary Practice News Article:  Vets, Animal Groups Rally to Help in Japan Relief Efforts

March 15, 2011 is…

Adopt the Internet Day.

In honor of Petfinder’s fifteenth birthday, pet lovers/bloggers everywhere are spreading the word about adoptable pets.  Here are some fun ways you can help…

If you have a website, write a blog post about Adopt the Internet Day.

Dedicate today’s Facebook status and picture to an adoptable pet from Petfinder.

Adopt a pet!

Share an adoptable Petfinder pet on twitter with the hashtag #adopttheinternet.

For more great ideas right from Petfinder, click the super-cute badge.  (Also, you can cut and paste the badge into your own blog post if you would like.)

Happy Birthday Petfinder!

May the next fifteen years bring you even closer to obsolete.

(I mean that in the nicest every-pet-has-a-forever-home sort of way!)

Thank you for being a Pet Saver on the grandest level.

Also, just as important, today is my Mom-in-Law Karen’s birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

While I wait for life to get less sad, I have been writing considerably less than usual.  After Fuzzy and Wuzzy Rats and Piggy the guinea pig passed away, I could see where this season was heading, and put a few Very Favorite Writing Projects on hold (The Wagging Tail Blog and Omaha.net) and cut down my writing here to a much slower pace.  My Carefresh Ask-a-Vet project is still full speed, but that one is Q&A - much easier, and a good respite from the sadness.  Good call on the slowing down thing, though.  Ebony Dog and Princess Gerbil passed away soon after.  Russ has gotten me “I’m a winner” stickers that I wear every day I get out of bed since Ebony died.

100% success so far.  I am a winner.  75% success staying out of bed.  I am STILL a winner.  I still get a freaking sticker.  (Yes I really wear them.  Unless we just met, and even then, really, it should be obvious what a dork I am.  I LOVE the stickers.)

Anyway, that is all my prelude to my Super Awesome List I have for you.  Until I can get back to writing more regularly (and even then), here are some MORE great veterinary blogs I found thanks to veterinarians on my first list of great veterinary blogs. If there are more veterinary blogs you love, let me know! Yes, this is getting out of hand - I love it!  And yes, we should be out saving and preserving lives.  We take turns.  You know, as a worldwide veterinary community.  Save-write-sleep-repeat.

More Great Veterinary Blogs

Also, I included a few blogs from human medicine, because they are just awesome.

can’t spell, dvm

CantSpell, DVM

Funny Vet

Dr. Scott

The Real Housecats of Orange County

Dr. Kelly Wright

The Story Behind the Pictures

Dr. Leslie Brown Sheridan

VETBLOG

Toronto Vet

A Vet’s Guide to Life

Dr. Chris Bern

Vogue Vet

Vogue Vet

The Weird Veterinary World

C. Todd Dolen, DVM

and 2 people blogs…

Dr. Grumpy in the House

Dr. Grumpy, MD, Neurologist

33 Charts

Bryan Vartabedian, MD, Pediatric Gastroenterologist

And, of course, remember to visit the wonderful pet bloggers in the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop…

Coming Soon on Riley and James (and quite a few other blogs, I have a feeling…)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Adopt the Internet!

Happy 15th Birthday Petfinder!

Thank you Pet Savers everywhere for all you do to help pets!!

Our herd is down from eight to three, 37.5% of capacity, and we are not repopulating.  Fortunately, Max the Cat, Noodle the Poodle and Joy the Puppy all tolerate hugs*, because they have been put on Grief Duty.  I find myself asking “Who’s next?” and waking the poor things up if they are sleeping too comfortably.  Noodle has been known to sleep with all four paws up on occasion.  He has been the recipient of the rudest awakenings.

In an attempt to back off from this dangerous path, I am making the conscious decision to appreciate my pets on a day-to-day basis and enjoy the time I have with them.  Yes, approximately 67% of the remaining herd is oldie-old, but they are also all healthy, and probably tired of being included in my late night panics.  So hold me accountable.  There is much grieving yet to do, but I do not want to miss out on today.

I can’t really pull myself out of this of course, even with all of your wonderful support (And you ARE wonderful - thank you so much for walking through this with us) - This is going to take the power of God Himself.  While I hope you are in a happier season, this next quote is a good reminder to us all, and then a word of “encouragement” from my very favorite singer ever, Rich Mullins.  And then, I will come visit the blogs of other pet blogger friends on the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop.  And then…I am going to go hug my cat.

“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

-Jesus

“It’s hard to be like Jesus.”

-Rich Mullins

*Note:  Hugging most dogs is ill-advised.  Normal dogs do not like hugs.  Hugging most cats is just asking for it.  Our pets are all sorts of special.  Do not attempt this at home unless you are a Trained Pet Hugger.  I am not.  I just have really tolerant pets.

Trying to get back to real time on here.  Today is tough.  I did a three-week postmortem freakout that I had misdiagnosed Ebony’s disease as metastatic neoplasia instead of (still bleak but treatable) systemic fungal infection.  Do not worry.  I did not.  No one is more neurotic, obsessive and self-critical than me when it comes to medical treatment of my patients, which I have never tried to reign in because…well, honestly, it serves me well.

DEFINITIVE diagnosis:  metastatic neoplasia.  Presumptive underlying cancer:  hemangiosarcoma  (That one is an educated guess, not a certainty.  But it sure acted as evil as hemangiosarcoma, wouldn’t you say?)

I will continue through my own special stages of grief…

1. Despair
2. Anger at anyone who has a black/old with white face/cute dog, especially one whose tail wags lazily as they walk
3. Freaking out
4. Sadness

I am kind of looking forward to the sadness stage.  I am sorry Russ and all of you out walking your dogs around Omaha these last few beautiful days to have dragged you through my anger stage with my scowling and growling.  Your black/old with white face/cute dogs, especially ones whose tails wags lazily as they walk are beautiful, and I am glad that you have them.

In fact I have two beautiful dogs of my own.  And a cat.  Which brings me to what I actually MEANT to say today…I love my pets and I intend to consciously appreciate them on a day-to-day basis. (I was going to spare you all the crazy, but I will leave it as is.  Maybe some day it will be fun to look back and laugh at how neurotic I am.)

I think I will come back TOMORROW and post specifically about Max the Cat.  This is quite enough for one day, don’t you think?  I do.  Apparently the internet does not agree.  When I was frantically looking through radiographs of veterinary and human medical sites, (Yes, why?  How do you freak out?) I switched one search (”thoracic” “radiographs” “neoplasia”) to “Images” and this happened…

*sigh*

Eb, you’re gorgeous.  I sure miss you, Friend.

I reached into my nightstand drawer for a pen and accidently jingled the tags on Ebony’s collar. Joy the Puppy came running into the room full-speed, wagging her tail. She stopped and looked up at me. I did not know how to explain to her what had just happened.

Losing Ebony has been difficult.  I am going to take a few weeks in Real Life and just deal with that.  And by deal with that I mean sleep.  And mope.  And take turns saying to Russ “Are you ok?” and “Do I look ok?” and bugging the girls about how they are doing.

Saturday I will post another short story about the human-animal bond.  These have been fun.  I think I will try to write them more often.  The Saturday Blog Hop is a great time to fit them in cuz they just take a second to read and you can hop to the next blog.

This one has Russ in it so I am going to get his permission before I post it.  I rarely ask his permission for anything, but I do try to ask people or at least give them a heads up if I am going to say anything other than “This person is super awesome,” which he is, by the way.  I figured I could at least extend him the same professional courtesy I extend to others.  And also, I try not to do anything Important without running it by Russ first.

We are a good team.  The hitch comes when we are both going through the same difficult time.  Still, it has been so good to have someone who loved Ebony like I did to be with.

Next up after the Short Story is that series of leadership articles written for veterinarians.  I am going to try to fit them all in before March.  I posted the first and my favorite at dvm360 today…

A Dramatic Wellness Exam

I will put the other seven here on Riley and James.

Then March 1 - Heartworm Free Celebration and hopefully by then I will be done with the Veterinary Economics 25 Leadership Books Series and can tell ya what I thought.  (So far I love it!  Less than two books to finish and the last one JUST came in the mail a few minutes ago - woo!)

Then hopefully I will be back to random celebration of preventative care in real time.  It’s what I love best about this site.  But when real life hits, you kind of get dragged through the hard times with me.  I love that you are here, but I do not want to share to the point of discouraging you.  Fuzzy and Wuzzy and Piggy and Ebony were such wonderful pets.  Losing them as little individual family members has been horrible, but having them pass away one after another in a matter of three months has been staggering.  I SO hope I have no news for you when I come back to sharing in real time mid-March.

Here is what I plan to say:

*yawn*  Well, that’s better.  Gotta plant garlic and potatoes, then I will be back to write some super helpful veterinary preventative care information and stories for you…

Happy End of Winter…

Hope it is boring for you and your pets in the best possible ways.