Shawn M. Finch, DVM

Ebony Dog was recently diagnosed with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), actually by the numbers, a pretty mild case.  A visiting doctor even said, “She can’t be too sick, her tail is still wagging.”  I said that that was not a sign of the severity of her disease, it was a sign that she was awake.  That’s Eb.  She has always been happy.  She started out nine years ago as Russ’ puppy, but she has been my anchor ever since.

Before she could say “Hey, Cardiff, guess what?  Me too!“ she developed respiratory complications - some difficulty breathing  - from the IMHA or an as yet undiagnosed underlying cause or an unrelated disease - yesterday.  She is scheduled for thoracic radiographs - chest x-rays - at 7:30 am.  I woke up just now and thought “Oh, good!  She made it through the night,” and got up to get ready to take her in.  *sigh*  It was 1:00 am.

She seems to be doing much better right now.  yay.  I have no idea if I should post this.  This is supposed to be a fun gathering space for pet lovers, not a place to balance a great week with depressing stories.  That has been my theme this fall and winter, and I do not like it.

So here is my “The Best of Weeks…” part of the post.  Liz Marsh of Firstline wrote an article…

Top 5 Veterinary Blogs

…and included the Riley and James Website.  Thank you Liz!  Thank you Firstline!  Thank you DVM360!  Thank you Other Bloggers.  I think you are all awesome.  That was my bright spot of the day yesterday.

Oh, and here is another short story…

I hate mortatity.  I love my dog.

And…I WILL post this, AND my Valentine’s Day post.  I can already sense people getting depressed about Valentine’s Day.  You sure didn’t need my sickie dog story on top of this weekend making it worse.  Here’s to a happy Valentine’s weekend.  And here’s to Eb’s happily ever after.  We are both going back to bed, and I will let you know in the morning what we find out.

Ebony Dog

Ebony Update 2/12/11:

Thoracic radiographs were taken (right lateral, ventral-dorsal, left lateral if needed-it was not)

My radiographic interpretation:  Oh wow.  This sucks.

Ebony had evidence of metastatic neoplasia throughout every lung field - cancer that had spread from a still undiagnosed primary lesion.  Russ met the girls and I and we had her euthanized.  She could not breathe, but her tail was still wagging.

Yeah, it was that fast.

Dr. Wittler reviewed the radiographs with me and euthanized Ebony for us.  I could have done it.  I am grateful she swooped in to take care of us though.  The veterinary team rallied around us also.  And now our family and friends have as well.  In the day since we lost Eb, my radiographic interpretation has been confirmed.  This sucks.

Happy Birthday Sal!  Happy Birthday Rhonda!  Happy Birthday A.C.!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRISCO CAT!!

Anyone else?  February 4?  Best day of the whole year?

cake that Rhonda’s niece and our co-worker Abby Vadnais made, 2009

Last year on my birthday, I posted fun links to songs and veterinary posts I love. I think that is an excellent tradition.  And “Second Annual” always sounds more legitimate than “First Annual.”  So…

Second Annual Riley and James February 4 is Awesome Day

Happy Birthday Friends!  May you be spoiled to just this side of rotten as I always am by my wonderful family, and may this be the best birthday in your whole life so far.

And everyone else…my birthday is awesome because of you.  To say THANK YOU…here are some fun links…

Cat Herding

This video is still hilarious!

They Might Be Giants - Older

My favorite “birthday” song!  The cartoon version is gone.  *sniff*  Puppets scare me, except Muppets, which, of course, are awesome.  I will ONLY watch other puppets if they are associated with TMBG and singing a TMBG song.

*3/21/11 update - I just found the “official” TMBG video and put that in the link.  Trying to be careful about that sort of thing.  I would be embarrassed if TMBG showed up at my door and arrested me for linking to an unauthorized video…but then I would get to meet them.

Prolific Studios

(Tell Sal HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)

…and finally, a super cute picture of a piglet with a heart spot…Oh yeah!  I’ve got more where that came from!  I will post the rest of my favorites for Valentine’s Day!

I realize this entire post is bold, centered and in difficult-to-read colors.  Imagine that you took me out for a birthday dinner to one of those restaurants with crayons in glasses - Now move my water glass away from my left elbow and whisper to the other adults, “Let her continue!  She’s being quiet and she seems content!”

(Thanks!  I am.)

I have most of what I want to share with you here planned for February…Usually when that happens, I just put it out there, but I am trying to be more organized this year.  We will see how that goes.

Here is what I have coming up…mostly this is just an excuse to say “hi” because I SHOULD be writing (counting…) five articles and working on (counting again…) three projects (not including laundry and dog baths.)  Anyways, maybe after this, I can get some stuff done, so there are actually things here to read in February!

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For now, check out this hilarious post by Dr. V at Pawcurious on dog baths and yoga and the rest of Saturday’s Blog Hop from this past weekend!

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Tomorrow - “Happy Heartworm Free February” your monthly reminder to give your pets your heartworm preventative medication - Woo!  I love preventative medicine!

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Friday - “You Say It’s Your Birthday…” I just found out my friend Sal’s birthday is Friday too!  We should all celebrate by storming his website!  (But stop just before it is overloaded and crashes, because I have heard from my coworkers this week that crashing computer systems are not fun.  And THAT is the downside to super awesome computerized medical records.  Glad I missed it!)

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Saturday - a thing about a thing - still waiting on permission to post it.  Hey!  Thank you Nebraska Humane Society!  THAT was fast!  Woo!  You will love this good news all!  Also, Saturday Blog Hop!  That has been a fun new project this year!

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Valentine’s Day - Pets and farm animals with heart spots!  How cute will that set be??  (Super cute)  Also my take on why Valentine’s Day does not necessarily suck.

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A series through the second half of February of Stuff Written for Veterinarians.  I got to thinking maybe some of the stuff I write TO vets would apply to Normal People too - like stuff on gender pay gaps and work-life balance.  It’s a bit longer material, and more serious, but I try to balance that with a Scrubs link whenever possible.  And usually vets are pet owners too, so there is a bit of overlap here (Hi Guys!) but we are rarely normal : )

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Beyond Riley and James…

Piggy - an article on Omaha.net - Wuzzy Chronicles on Piggy (Honestly, he’s about all I can think about some days - probably a big part of my writer’s block!)

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Pet Tips for National Pet Dental Health Month - We had a wonderful continuing education meeting yesterday led by Dr. Barron Hall, DVM, Diplomate, American Veterinary Dental College.  Here is one page of mine and Erika’s notes:

Labrador Retrievers were mentioned more than any other breed - go figure.  We were sure Poodles or Greyhounds would have won.  (We were listening!  It was a very good talk and meeting!  I have eleven serious pages of notes!  THAT’S what I will try to summarize for you before the month is through!)

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Carefresh Ask-a-Vet Pet Questions - If you (or your kids) submit more Ask-a-Vet questions for Carefresh (here or there) I will be able to answer another round, which is super fun, so keep brainstorming!

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Happy Valentine Month

National Pet Dental Health Month

If We Can Get Through This It Will Be Almost Garden Season Month!

I know I ask you this at least once a month (I would apologize if I thought I could stop), but…HOW GORGEOUS IS MY CAT?? My Dad had a thermography assessment of our house done by thermographer Tom Fauble as a gift (Thanks Dad!  Thanks Tom!).  The goal of the assessment was to identify areas of inappropriate heat loss and any dangerous electrical situations.  My layperson interpretation of the very detailed report:  Not bad for an old house.

Tom came while Russ was at work and I was home, so as cool as I thought the assessment was, I did not fully appreciate it as Russ would have.  For you veterinary types, it was probably as disappointing to Russ as it would be to us if our spouse were invited to watch a limb sparing osteosarcoma surgery on a big beautiful dog, while we were stuck at the laundromat.

I tried to keep up, but I lost focus when I saw this GORGEOUS cat!  ”Can you see Max through that lens?” I asked.  Not only did Tom show me, he photographed him and sent me the photo with the rest of the report, let me use the picture here AND offered to track down information he has about applications of infrared thermography in veterinary medicine!

So I meant to just show you this awesome picture of Max in all his (now confirmed) cozy warmth, but it seems the next thermography post may be even better…than this post, I mean, not better than Max, because that, of course, is impossible.

Happy Weekend!  Visit Two Little Cavaliers, Life with Dogs, and Confessions of the Plume for more fun pet blogs or to add yours to the Saturday Pet Blogger List!

Coming Monday to Riley and James!

Thermography and Veterinary Medicine

Edie Jarolim of “Will My Dog Hate Me?” and Amy Burkert of “Go Pet Friendly” challenged people who blog about pets to answer a set of questions about their site on this, the tenth day of January.

I try to keep up with pet blogs, but was challenged at a whole new level this past weekend, when I joined the Saturday Pet Blog Hop for the first time.  (Yes, I have visited every single one of the 134 140 sites!  Woo!  You guys have some cute pets!)  THAT is where I heard about The Pet Blogger Challenge.

I am always up for a great group project, especially when it involves pets or blogging or both, and don’t tell Edie and Amy, but I think they are awesome, and I will most likely do anything they tell me to do.  Here are their questions…

1. When did you begin your blog?

September 1, 2006

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?

My original purpose was to get pet preventative care information to pet lovers in a broader way than just one-on-one in the exam room, veterinarian to client (which I still think is super important!)

My brother Dave suggested that I publish a newsletter for our family and mutual friends.  I loved the idea!  I tried to talk him into helping me print, staple and deliver newsletters to our friends, and he talked me into putting all of the newsletters onto a website that he offered to design for me.  (Dave, you were right, this is much more fun!)

He and his wife Sara had a gorgeous Great Dane at the time, so we named the site after her, The Official Riley Fan Club.  He even made buttons and fan club cards - so cute!  They still have Riley and later adopted James, the wonderful English Mastiff, and the website became Riley and James.  I went from publishing kind of long, formal entries every other month, to my current practice of publishing about twice a week.

Riley and James and…Riley and James!

3. Is your current purpose the same?

Yes!  The methods have changed over the years, but the purpose of Riley and James is the same, to provide pet preventative care information to pet lovers.  I also want it to be a fun site, and to be able to share some of my own pets’ stories.  I recently came up with a Purpose Statement, at the recommendation of Problogger, and buried it in a long, rambling post.  I will repost it here, and then at the Website Update, maybe somewhere more prominent!

The Purpose of the Riley and James Website:

To Promote Preventative Care of Pets in Order to Enrich the Lives of Pets and Their People

4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the Spirit moves you?

At first, posts were every other month.  In 2010, I posted about twice a week.  Now I am trying to do that (way more fun, and I can post shorter, more random stuff) and I am trying to post on Mondays and Fridays, to give myself a schedule to follow.

5. Are you generating income from your blog?

No, but I hope I am making pet lovers think about important things, and providing good medical information, and that I am playing a part in pets living longer, healthier lives.

I do work for Carefresh, and have written for Veterinary Economics and Firstline.  I do not think I would have met any of the wonderful people involved with those groups if I had not been writing online.

6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular?

I know those of you who do not know me in person do not believe me (because you have told me so!) but I am an extreme introvert.  Unless I am completely comfortable in a group, I will always choose listening over talking.

With the blog, I am able to formulate my thoughts and get them out there, without worrying I will not be heard because my voice is too soft or I am not articulate enough.  I think I have valid things to say, especially when it comes to veterinary medicine and related topics, but I will not necessarily say them outloud in Real Life.  It is great to have this outlet.

7. What do you like least?

I really, really love everything about doing the Riley and James website and all of the writing and online interaction opportunities that have come from it.

8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2011?

I hope to become a better writer, take cuter pictures (That will be hard to do without Fuzzy and Wuzzy), make a dent in the puppy mill and cat overpopulation problems, connect in more ways with the pet community at large…I just think it is going to be a really great year, and I am excited to see it unfold.

Oh!  Also, Dave is updating the website this year! If you know Dave Nelson, or his company, Secret Penguin, you know he does incredible work!  Check back soon for the great updates!  I will keep you posted.

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Coming Soon to Riley and James:

My daughter Abby will review the kids’ book, Marvin, The Golf Caddy Dog, by Harold R. Mann, an Omaha author.  Our friends at Nebraska Humane Society know I like reviewing books and that Abby just read this one, and suggested I have her do a guest post - book review.  Her first blog post, woo!  Great idea, guys!  Thanks!

Bunny Trails: My latest article is up at Omaha.net…

Arthritis in Cats and Dogs

I wish it did NOT feature my own Max the Cat and Ebony Dog, but aren’t they gorgeous??

Happy Weekend All!  I have been watching Two Little Cavaliers and their friends do the Saturday Blog Hop for a while and have been trying to figure it out.  I joined Dr. V’s Blog Hop when she suggested we all post our favorite blog posts of 2010, and that was fun.

The Saturday Blog Hop looks like a wonderful way to meet other pet lovers.  I thought I had met all of the Pet-Loving Awesomes out there, but apparently I have not yet found The End of The Internet.

So if you are visiting Riley and James from the Saturday Blog Hop, thank you for stopping by!  Nice to meet you!  And if you are already a friend of Riley and James, thank you too.  I think you are all great.

My favorite posts often contain pictures of Pets Being Cute, so I thought that would be a fun theme for today.  Here are the Finch pets…

Ebony Dog and Max the Cat

Noodle the Poodle

Joy the Puppy

Piggy the Guinea Pig

Princess the Gerbil

Fuzzy and Wuzzy Rats

OK, so Fuzzy and Wuzzy are not part of our current herd, but they JUST passed away, and I am not ready to take them out of the lineup yet.  That’s Wuzzy in the background and Fuzzy in the foreground, from July 2010.  Weren’t they gorgeous??  And so sweet too.  They are Hairless Dumbo Rex rats.

Nice to meet you all!  I will spend THIS week coming to see your pet blogs!

Shawn Finch, DVM

Finch93 on twitter : )

Coming Soon to Riley and James…

Monday, January 10, 2011 “Pet Blogger’s Challenge” from Edie of “Will My Dog Hate Me?” and Amy of “Go Pet Friendly” (both of whom are awesome and have been mentioned here before!)  I’m in - these group projects are fun!

My first Riley and James post was entitled I Love to be Boring.  (I realize what a dork I am, but I still think that is hilarious.)  My point then (and now) is that I love my pets and my patients and would love nothing more than boring, nothing-to-report wellness exams time after time.  Truth-be-told, I love your pets too, and the pets I read about and the pets I hear about…

I even love the pets in medical journal case studies:  ”The cat presented with this super awesome disgusting lesion and the following history…”  ”Oh no!” I yell and flip to the conclusion.  My family no longer jumps when I yell at my journals, and pats me sympathetically on the shoulder when I cry over them.

I LOVE treating very cool cases.  But do you know what would be even cooler than treating very cool cases?  If horrendous medical issues were so rare, we only read about them in journals!  And do you know what would be even cooler than that??  If horrendous medical issues were so super rare, that we only read about them in history books!

You laugh, but have you ever seen a dog accidently given “blue eye” by a vaccination?  Me neither!  Have you ever seen a dog with distemper?  Me neither!  A cat with rabies or plague?  Me neither!  Ok, those cases are still out there, but they are far less common than they used to be.  With continually advancing medical and surgical care, increased awareness of pet welfare, husbandry and behavior issues, we are approaching boring, and I love it.

Can we fix everything with appropriate husbandry and medical care?  Of course not!  Accidents and illnesses and aging will always be with us.  Life can be unfairly random, and sadly, every pet’s story ultimately ends the same way.  Still, we have to work with what we’ve got, and start from where we are.

I have decided to dedicate this year on Riley and James to The Pursuit of Boring.  Of course it will take more than a year, and of course we can only approach Boring, we can never actually reach it, but maybe, just maybe, someday we can say to our friends:

“Your cat is thirty and healthy?  That’s nice.  *yawn*  Well, I’m heading down to take my dog in for his wellness exam.  They never find anything!  Then I have to stop by the shelter.  They have a dog in that needs help, first one of the decade.”

It could happen.

I should say something profound, on this, the first day of 2011.

Maybe this is SO simple that it is REALLY, REALLY profound.

One of my goals this year is to remind everyone to give their pets their heartworm preventative every month.  (We give the dogs and Max theirs on the first, so that is when reminders will go out!  I am willing to give you personalized reminders on a different day if you prefer…and a hug*, for being as heartworm obsessed as me!)

Today, Joy the Puppy, Ebony Dog and Noodle the Poodle got their oral Wormshield (ivermectin, like Heartgard).  Several excellent oral monthly preventatives are available, as are topical preventatives.  Your pet may also be on the twice a year injectable preventative, Proheart.  Next month, I will post a list of available preventatives, if it would be helpful.  If your veterinarian prescribed it, it is good! Next month, Joy the Puppy is switching to Proheart.

Max the Cat is on the monthly topical heartworm preventative Revolution.

We have no ferrets, but if we did, they would be on the oral heartworm preventative Heartgard, mostly because it is the only one labelled for ferrets, but also because it is an excellent product.

This post is sort of spur of the moment, as in, I jumped up from dinner and said “Oh yeah, it’s the first!” and Abby and I got the pets their meds.  Next month, I will cover heartworm disease more comprehesivly with links and pictures - NOT of a heart with worms floating out of its valves - that is so gross, and so last millinium! I will also cover whatever aspects of heartworm disease that you would like to hear, so let me know!

These days, it seems most pet owners are very well educated about heartworm disease - If there is a barrier to care, it is convenience of medicating. So we will talk about the monthly preventatives and a bit about Proheart, the once every six month medication, and join hands* and thank God that heartworm disease is preventable and that the preventative medication is no longer only available in ONCE EVERY SINGLE DAY form!

*If you prefer, we can leave hugs and hand holding out of all future medical discussions.  I just thought it would be nice.

This week, Ham-Rabbit reappeared, became more colorful and obtained all sorts of new friends.  Finally!  An answer to the question everyone has always asked:

“How do I make a costume for my hamster that is both cute and comfortable?”

The answer to the question

(as is true of many of life’s biggest queries)

is:

“Sharpie.”

Ham-Rabbit

Hamosaurus

The Very Scary Ham-Lion - “RAWR!”

Hamster Head Shark

Hamster Peacock

And perhaps my favorite of all…

Hamicorn!

If you send me hamster pictures, I will post them!  If you send me hamster costume ideas, I will meet with Hamlet and Sparks and their boys and see what we can do.  Then we will post those pictures too!

May your 2011 be fun and colorful and overflowing with friends, family and soft, cute pets.  And may those three categories overlap in every possible way.

Happy New Year!

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Thank you to my two favorite hamsters in the whole world, Hamlet and Sparks.  And thank you to Hamlet and Sparks’ boys, and Hamlet and Sparks’ boys’ brother and Hamlet and Sparks’ boys’ and Hamlet and Sparks’ boys’ brother’s cousins.

You are my very favorite big kids in the whole wide world.

A few years ago, I was bringing a Robo hamster back to her family after her veterinary visit.  Her cute little round face was peeking out from my closed fist.  I had a Sharpie in my lab coat pocket.  If you know me or have been around the Riley and James website, you probably know where this is going…

I drew bunny ears and whiskers on the hand I had around the hamster, and Ham-Rabbit (named by the beautiful and talented Pet Nurse Erika Workman) was born.  SO cute!  The hamster was returned to her family without incident.

However, the next day when I handed the next client’s hamster back, she immediately asked, ”Why do you have Sharpie on your hand?”  Wouldn’t you think her first question would be “Is my hamster going to be ok?” or “What medication do I need to give her?” or something like that?  No…she zeroed right in on my sharpied hand!  Some people are just obsessed with Sharpies!

Knowing she would either think it was as hilarious as I did, or completely unprofessional, like most grown-up clients (and doctors) probably should, I sheepishly asked to hold her hamster again, then hopped my hand towards her with her little hamster in it.  She could not stop laughing to say good-bye and was still giggling as she checked out.  *PHEW*

As we were driving home after visiting our family in Ohio last month, Russ said (after miles and miles of silence), “You know what would be REALLY cute?  Hamosaurus!”

We came up with all sorts of awesome hamster costume ideas that night, and this week we finally had Sharpies and hamsters and nephews who could give us permission all in one place at one time.  So now, I am proud to announce…

Ham-Rabbit.  And friends.

Coming to Riley and James New Year’s Eve.

You will love them.