Posts Tagged ‘Piggy’

Square Foot Gardening!

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

I cannot even tell you excited I am about this article published today by Mel Bartholomew on his website!

If you have been to our yard, or seen my pictures, or gotten excited with me about the first chives of the season (chives!) or let me help you plant a kitty garden or had my husband Russ build you a Square Foot Garden box…well, you know how much I love gardening and especially love Square Foot Gardening.

Thank you Thank you Thank you to Kevin Espiritu of the Square Foot Gardening Foundation who said “nice picture” and I said “thanks” and he said “Do you have more?” and I said “Do I?” and next thing I know he and Mel apparently stayed up till 2 am and made THIS…

Gardening with Pets and Pests

by Mel Bartholomew

Thank you guys!  I love it, and I have been waiting for a chance to tell you…I love Square Foot Gardening!

Yay.

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Posted in What I am Doing This Week, WITW does this have to do with pets? | 1 Comment »

CareFRESH Blog!

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

I am SO excited about my newest writing project!  I have been working with CareFRESH for a little over a year, and the team decided to start a blog on the website.  I love it!

Lavender CareFRESH bedding complimented Fuzzy and Wuzzy’s gorgeous skin the best of all the colors…

With this project, I will be less able to just go with my random kicks, and need to focus on themes and schedules and such much more than I do here on Riley and James, which, honestly, will be very good for me!

I am fairly disciplined, but (I have only ever told Russ this, and just very recently…) a large part of my discipline is extrinsic.  For example, I love having a made bed every morning, but if FLYLady did not tell me to make my bed, I probably would not!  I love being a veterinarian, but if I had not had the structure of veterinary school, I would not have learned all that I have.

And I love writing about environmental enrichment of <hamsters>, but if I were not led to write about it, I probably would not!

I will write somewhat shorter posts than what I normally write here, focus on small pets – rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rabbits and ferrets - and send the team every single picture I have of Fuzzy, Wuzzy, Princess and Piggy!  Feel free to send cute pictures of your Warm Fuzzies too!

Wuzzy in her Classroom in a Box

I will let you know where on the CareFRESH website the blog is as soon as I know.  It will probably attract a similar crowd to the Ask-a-Vet part of the CareFRESH website (kids and adults who are in love with small pets – two of my very favorite subsets of humanity!)  It will be an interactive blog, which will be very fun.  I hope you will come join me as often as you can!

For now, will you help me come up with topics? Do you have questions that would be best answered in a longer post than the Q & A of Ask-a-Vet?  Are there things about your own favorite small pet species that you think everyone should know, but may not yet?  THIS is going to be fun, people! :)

Princess Gerbil

 

 

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Posted in Exotic Pets, Thoughts, What I am Doing This Week | 12 Comments »

Coming Soon on Riley and James…

Friday, April 8th, 2011

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Skills for Communicating with Patients – Five Stars! This may be the most helpful book I have read from the  Veterinary Economics 25 Books List.  It is an excellent communication book written for MD’s, though the authors have worked with veterinarians too, which I thought was cool.  It is a medical school textbook and is taking me FOREVER to read!  SO worth it though.  I will review it for you as soon as I finish it!

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Summary of my Favorites from the Veterinary Economics 25 Books List – Very fun project…I am finishing the last two books.

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Anesthesia for the Pet Practitioner – Five Stars! This will be a two part review, the first part here and the second part on Wagging Tail.  Anesthesia for the Pet Practitioner is a wonderful veterinary anesthesia book that I have used for years.  The third edition was recently published by Banfield Pet Hospital, and that is the one I am reviewing.  It is also the best one yet!

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The Complete Cat’s Meow by Darlene Arden – Five Stars! OK, I just started this book, but it has a gorgeous Max the Cat cat on the cover and is written by one of my Very Favorite People AND Darlene mentioned me in the acknowledgements.  (Thank you Darlene!!)  What’s not to love??  Even though I am only a few pages in, I can tell it is also an EXCELLENT resource for cat lovers.  See, I can be objective! : )

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Love Wins by Rob Bell – Just kidding!  Different blog!  I do love it though.  The topics covered in this book are ones I have been struggling with and studying Scripture about for the past few years.  Just reading the intro sitting with Abby in the bookstore allowed me to breathe a deep cosmic sigh of relief.  Not that Rob Bell is the end-all authority on truth, or even claims to be.  He IS, however, very good at making a person think, and tackling Ideas That Shall Not Be Mentioned head on.  At least one Christian leader has been fired over saying he liked the book.  But I am a vet.  I like the book.  And now…back to pets!

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Why all the book reviews?

Life is still sad.  I miss Ebony Dog and Wuzzy Rat terribly.  I also miss Fuzzy Rat, Piggy Pig and Princess Gerbil.

Max the Cat is in the beginning stages of Chronic Kidney Disease.  Not always a big deal for an old cat, actually.  (You know, unless he or she is your cat, or…unless it is.)

But then, when Ebony first got sick, I was hoping that if and when we found the underlying cause of her Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia it would not be awful, but it was.  So I am still in a pretty rough season and having a sick cat is freaking me out a bit.  I am writing about all that, but trying hard to keep it upbeat here.

Even so, a Princess Gerbil Memorial is in the works.  She deserves one as much as the other four!  It is not her fault she passed away when I was too exhausted to write One More.  And she was super cute and kind of quirky, so I think you will like it!

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And finally…

Happy Heartworm-Free May!

And then…

I dunno!  A happier season maybe?  Just an idea…

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Posted in Pet Blogger Hop, pet loss, Thoughts, What I am Reading This Week, WITW does this have to do with pets? | 8 Comments »

One More Reason I Will Never Stop Telling You How Awesome My Fellow Veterinarians Are

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

I realize I may be creating a guinea pig vortex, with no opportunity for us to escape, by linking to a Piggy-post about a Piggy-post, but it is a risk I am willing to take to tell you what a nice thing Dr. Patrick Mahaney has done.  And really, would a guinea pig vortex be so bad?  I think it sounds kind of fun.

I also want to say how great you all have been in supporting us through the recent loss of Piggy the guinea pig.  I really appreciate the circle of veterinarians and Normal People I have been blessed to get to know here.

Dr. Mahaney has a great veterinary website that his dog Cardiff helps him with.  I will not tell you my favorite part, because I think you should go look around the entire website and not miss any of it.  (You are right!  My favorite part is Cardiff’s Blog.  That dog is super cute.)

Yesterday Dr. Mahaney dedicated a post to Piggy.  I realized things are turning a corner for me a bit when it made me smile and not cry.

Thank you Dr. Mahaney!  I think you are great.

Memorial for Piggy the Guinea Pig

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Posted in Exotic Pets, pet loss, Thoughts, Written for Vets...Now Available for Normal Pe | 3 Comments »

Boobs and Coffee

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Things that have cheered me this sad week…

You ALL showed up with hugs and encouraging words after Piggy passed away.  And some of you just sat with me and sighed.  You are all wonderful.Wednesday I saw sixteen cats as patients, which I am pretty sure is an all time personal high.

My last two patients of the day Wednesday were two blond Pomeranian brothers, who took turns jumping onto my lap to get squoze then onto the floor to dance in happy circles then back onto my lap again.  One of them had tiny pom-sized sled dog boots.

My patients right before Happy Pom Kids were two of my favorite guinea pig patients.  Angela had to tell me to give them both back.  It was hard to let go.

The day Piggy died, the girls and I started a HUGE photo album project to cheer ourselves.  It is working.  Also, Russ found these pictures of Amanda (2) with Ebony…

and Abby (6 months) with Ebony…

who was just over one year old at the time.  Look how much she looked like Joy does now!  (I took this picture of Ebony (left) and Joy (right) today…

I don’t look for gorgeous black pets.  They just find me.My friend started a blog that I absolutely love.

Long, rambling disclaimer:If you let your kids read Riley and James for the guest posts written by kids, or the hamster pictures or other fun stuff, but you don’t want them to read the word BOOBS, have them skip this post.  The link isn’t kid-appropriate, but only because it is Things Grown-ups Struggle With That Kids Should Not Have To Yet, not because of inappropriate material or pictures.  We try to shield our kids from Almost Everything in the World.  I know I probably overstep, and I will pay for the therapy as they need it, but hilarious names for anatomical parts is one thing we definitely do not shield them from and even encourage them to learn. 

That being said, here is a very thoughtful, sensitive, multi-layered new blog by one of my very favorite people in the Whole Wide World.  It is about Life, but it also has a Cat I Love and a Dog I Love.  In fact, I love the whole family.  You would too if you knew them, I just know it.  Thank you Friend, for starting this blog the week I needed something to take my mind off the sadness of losing Piggy and helping put things in perspective, as you also do so well in Real Life.

Boobs and Coffee

by

Vera Jo

And finally, this Christmas 2010 picture of Piggy that I forgot I had…

AND this picture of Piggy that Dave drew cheered me.  I put it as my phone screen background…

May you have pets in your life as wonderful as Piggy and Friends in your life as wonderful as mine, and may you find reasons to smile, even during the most difficult of weeks.

♥

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Posted in Exotic Pets, Pet Blogger Hop, pet loss, Thoughts | 10 Comments »

Piggy the Great

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Our guinea pig Piggy died Monday morning.  I held him on my lap and told Amanda and Abby Comforting Things I had very recently told them about Fuzzy and Wuzzy Rats, only this time it was Piggy.

Joy the Puppy walked up to us sideways, wagging her tail.  She kissed Abby on the arm, kissed Piggy on the head, kissed the DVD case next to Abby, kissed Abby again and settled in to be sad with us.  I would take Joy the Puppy over a smart dog any day.  She is one of a kind.

And I would take Piggy over a smart guinea pig any day.  He too was one of a kind.  (Are there smart guinea pigs?  Does anyone know?)  He was sweet and gentle, goofy and fun.  Piggy and I spent almost every morning together these past six plus years.

I found some of my favorite pictures of Piggy.  Some are photographs I took, and some are drawings given to me by the kids at Camp Kindness in the summer of 2008, when Piggy came to help Fuzzy and Wuzzy Rats and me.  A few have fun stories that go with them, and if so, I linked the stories to the photo captions.

Piggy Kissing a Purple Hippo

Piggy as the Zero-Zero Domino, Halloween 2010

(The three black dogs were all Dominoes too, but they were big enough for dots!)

Piggy Eating Cat Grass in the Garden He Shared with Max the Cat

My first (and still favorite) species-specific “pet care” article was inspired by Piggy:

Taking Care of Your Exotic Pet, For Example, Your Guinea Pig, Which is Not Really All That Exotic

We will miss you Piggy.  You were the sweetest, cutest guinea pig I have ever known.

Piggy Finch

May 1, 2004 – January 17, 2010

This is a card my brother Dave made for me several years ago, even after he said “But I don’t make greeting cards!”  Isn’t it awesome?  I still use it all the time when I want someone to know I am REALLY REALLY grateful.  I know some of you have gotten one from me! Dave included his Great Dane Riley (yup, same Riley), his cat Abaye and Piggy.

This next set is the pictures kids drew of Piggy when he went to Camp Kindness at Nebraska Humane Society with me.  How many ways are there to draw a black egg-shaped pet?  (Apparently, as many ways as there are great kids writing thank you cards.)  I like the green pig too – apparently drawing black pets is as difficult as photographing them…a box of crayons gives you more wiggle room than a camera.  Thank you kids…looking through these again cheered me a little.  And thank you Friends, for all of your kind words and love.  You have cheered me up quite a bit.

And one by Abby…

 

And one by Amanda…

And this last one did not include a drawing of Piggy, but it is my favorite thank you card I have ever received from Camp Kindness…

Piggy, you touched a lot of hearts, but you really got to mine.  We will miss you buddy.

 

 

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Posted in Exotic Pets, pet loss, Thoughts | 17 Comments »

Saturday Blog Hop

Saturday, January 8th, 2011

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

Long Live Your Pet

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!

 

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Posted in Exotic Pets, Pet Blogger Hop, Thoughts, What I am Doing This Week | 8 Comments »

Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

You already know to keep your pets safe from scary, scary trick-or-treaters and even scarier Halloween candy.  And you know not to dress up a dog or cat or guinea pig with any objections to the celebration of Halloween, moral or otherwise.*

So instead of a list of pet safety tips, I present you with…The cutest set of Dominoes you will ever see in your whole entire life ever.

*Max the Cat decided to sit this one out.  He would not have matched the set anyways.

Piggy is the zero-zero Domino!  Ha!  I sprayed a quick (non-toxic!) line, snapped a picture and gave him a quick piggy bath.  He was mildly offended, and I was regretting involving him at even that five second level (we both were) until he saw his handful of cornflakes reward.  He is SO on board for participating in Halloween 2011!

Next up, Noodle the Poodle.  He was less inclined to be bribed by food, but was a relatively good sport non-the-less.  He was one-two, but did not want to show his whole costume.  Cute butt though, huh?

Joy the Puppy!

Joy and Ebony…Russ thought we should have them lay down at right angles for a picture (you know, like in a real Domino game…)  I thought they were doing well to lay on the same blanket at the same time without wandering off!

And the (almost) complete set!  By this time, Piggy was already back home happily eating his cornflakes, scruff still damp and sticking straight up.  I’d include a picture of that cuteness, but as you know, I have a difficult time getting good photos of our black pets.  I would say the morning went remarkably well.

Good job Dominoes!

 

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Posted in Exotic Pets, Thoughts | 2 Comments »