Shawn M. Finch, DVM

Tuesday, July 20 was another day of Camp Kindness, a day camp for kids at Nebraska Humane Society.  You know I am super neurotically protective of kid pictures, and Camp Kindness is all kids everywhere…which means of course, more pictures of Fuzzy and Wuzzy!

Still, I didn’t want you to think I ONLY ever take pictures of my gorgeous rats, so I also took one of Kerry Ecklebe, the Director of Humane Education at Nebraska Humane Society…um, holding a rat.  OK, so maybe I am obsessed with my rats!  There are worse maladies to have!

I do not even want to know how many website design rules I am breaking with this layout.  I just love huge pictures of Fuzzy and Wuzzy!  They are so goofy looking, and I love that you can see whiskers and wrinkles and everything in the pictures…

Kerry Ecklebe holding Fuzzy

Kerry is a class act, and one of my favorite people.  NHS is blessed to have her!

July 5, 2010

As far as I know, all the pets in my life got through yesterday with just a little nervousness.  Great job pet parents!

PLEASE vote for Fuzzy and Wuzzy for cutest pet in Banfield’s Pet Photo contest!  Silly as it is, I LOVE pictures of our rats, and these ones are really cute.  The other pets entered are very cute too, and you can vote for as many as you want.  I voted for all of them, because, as you know, I have yet to meet a non-cute pet!

To vote:  Go to Banfield’s Facebook home page, and “like” Banfield.  Scroll down to Fuzzy and Wuzzy’s picture and “like” their picture.  Thank you so much!!  How fun.

July 17, 2010  Thank you everyone for voting for Fuzzy and Wuzzy!  They won third place!  Woo!  Not bad for a couple of ratties, huh?

This week I spoke at Camp Kindness, a day camp for kids at Nebraska Humane Society.  I love doing it!  This is my third summer visiting Camp Kindness with my Hairless Dumbo Rex rats, Fuzzy and Wuzzy.  I told the leaders of Camp Kindness that they are stuck with me and I will show up every summer whether they ask me to or not!  Ha!

Being such an introvert, it is SUCH an exhausting day.  I am not normally much of a public speaker, preferring to educate pet owners either in writing or one-on-one in the exam room, and even that does not come easily.  But I love people and pets SO MUCH and maintaining and restoring pet health is so important to me, that it is all very rewarding.  Anyways, enough of my blah-blahing, on to what you probably came for:  PICTURES OF FUZZY AND WUZZY!!!

And a couple of Josie, the super cute, super sweet therapy dog!

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.