Shawn M. Finch, DVM

Friday, September 25, 2009…visiting a very fun 4H group…skipping puppy class…seeing just how efficient my veterinary team is–they are scary-good…mourning my friend and doggy nephew, Buddy Rasmussen, the very sweet, very cute, very goofy Rat Terrier…praying for Buddy’s family……getting Noodle groomed by Alicia Weiland at Maple Petsmart–He looks ADORABLE!! That whole grooming team is awesome…saying HI to Marty Weverka at Maple Petsmart.  If you see him, don’t tell him how very much I miss working with him.  You can tell him that I said his baby boy is very cute!  Congratulations Marty and Jayme!…cheering for Cancer Hamster…waiting to hear how his tumor removal went…already getting defensive about the just-a-hamster comments that probably will not come because my friends seem to get it…appreciating how very blessed I am to have such a rich network of support at the six area Petsmarts–you guys are great….appreciating how very blessed I am to have the even broader general network of friends and family that I have–you guys are encouraging–I don’t even know if you know all of the stuff you have walked me through just by being kind and standing by me…THANK YOU……enjoying time with Mom and her high school friends and my daughters–I love the women in my life…enjoying a night out with my family at the  Westroads RAVE theater–THANK YOU for the tickets Paul Hughs!  That was so nice of you!  Hello to your kitty…already fighting a weekly panic attack about going to church–this has been going on since April, something needs to change…Maybe I need to get over it…admitting a little more each day that I am in a safe situation with a boss who is an ideal medical partner and a kind person……enjoying seeing my friends and family and their pets…Janie and the piggies…Amanda and Jayden and her cousins…MY cousin Kris Massengale, who I had not seen for YEARS…Hi…Good to see you……planning a Christmas trip to see my brother Bill and Cara and their new baby who is negative two months old…Looking forward to October First because:  It will have been three months that I will have been an “official” member of the Papillion Banfield team, though I have been hanging around for over two years, my article on “Best of the Best” clients (you) comes out in the Banfield Journal AND a good friend Jeff Hug starts his October project, String Thing, at Empty Room……hoping that if you do not yet know how special you are, you will after you see this article coming out next week…wishing you an incredible week…

We would not choose to love less so that this would hurt less

(You know, if we could choose.)

Goodbye Good Dog.  You will be missed.

Buddy Rasmussen

1998-2009

 

 

This just in from Riley (Great Dane) and James’ (Mastiff) owner:

“Anyone want two %$#& dogs that steal your food, rub their poopy paws on your clothes, dance on your dining room table and drool all over everything?  Why do we feel compelled to live with and provide for these wild animals? They are of no value to society as a whole! They seem to torture me more than anything. Yet I love them! Madness!”

 

 

 

Friday, September 18, 2009This just posted by Nebraska Humane Society on facebook: 

This has been a very rewarding week at work!  I have seen two of the cutest kittens, a sweet little black Lab mix, a great little Sheltie, a wonderful Bull Terrier…I can’t help just petting those guys on the forehead.  I get so mesmerized by their interesting faces, I tend to ignore the client and they have to repeat themselves.  Bull Terrier owners don’t seem to mind though.  They know how cool their dogs are!Aahh!  I got sidetracked by him again, and he is not even here!  What I meant to say here is that this week, I am working on putting together a newsletter for Petsmart employees that outlines all of the discounts they get at Banfield Pet Hospital.  New team members have been asking, and I knew we offered great stuff, but didn’t know what exactly.  Petsmart gives Banfield team members 15% off at Petsmart, Petshotel, and the Grooming Salon, which has literally saved me hundreds over the years!  THANK YOU PETSMART!Turns out Banfield offers the same to Petsmart, and more.  You will want to work at Petsmart when you see this!  It is some good stuff.  I will quit rambling and start writing the newsletter!  Ok fine people, here it is!Also, I will be at Papillion Petsmart’s team meeting Monday, September 21, 2009 to tell you guys about it and give you hard copies of the discount information.  I would love to take credit, but it is national policies on the parts of both Petsmart and Banfield.  So if you work at a different Petsmart or Banfield, I hope the information is helpful to you too.Hey! Who else needs a printed copy of these benefits? I can bring copies to you this week, or send them to you if you are outside of Omaha/Council Bluffs. Let me know!Monday, September 14, 2009Things I love to hear…especially when I need to send a friend in with a poor sick dog on a day I am not at work…“Wow, I just love Dr. Wittler!  And your nurses are incredible!  It is good to have a good veterinary team when you need one.  I have never had that before.”

Free Nail Trim Weekend at Papillion Banfield was a great success!  That was very fun, and good to see all of you and your awesome pets!  Smallest was a finch at 13 grams.  (Don’t you just LOVE finches?!)  Largest was a Mastiff at 130 lbs.  ALL were incredibly cute.  Let us meet again for a similar event soon!  Here is hoping all the beautiful kitties and “Little White Dogs” and Bostons found wonderful forever homes.Sunday, September 13, 2009 

FREE NAIL TRIMS!

Papillion Banfield is partnering with Papillion Petsmart (and all Petsmarts across the country) to celebrate “Fall National Adoption Weekend-Second Chance to Love.“Today (Sunday) BOSTON TERRIER RESCUE and LITTLE WHITE DOG RESCUE will be at Petsmart.  Come see their cute adoption candidates.Banfield will be providing free nail trims to ALL pets who need them!  NO LIMIT!  Bring as many pets as you can handle!  If you bring your exotic pets, I will mention them here next week, and even post pictures if you would like me to.  Bring your dogs and cats too.  It should be a fun weekend!There will also be cookies, frisbees and “free exam” coupons for your next visit.  Come on over to Banfield (inside Petsmart and all the way at the back, next to Grooming) during these hours this weekend:

Sunday 2 pm – 4 pm

I have included links to other major fun events going on at Shadow Lake Towne Center this weekend, Nebraska Beer Fest and Arts Alive! With all that and the Husker game, it should be a great weekend!

Information on

Nebraska Beer Fest

provided by Paul Kavulak of Nebraska Brewing Company

Information on

Arts Alive!

provided by Sarpy Arts

AND I JUST FOUND OUT…Papio Bay Aquatic Park is having “Dog Day”

(swim with your dog)

from 1-4 TODAY (SUNDAY)

to raise money for a Papillion Dog Park. Thanks for the info Jody!

THERE IS A RECALL ON TWO LOTS OF WORMSHIELD. Wormshield is the Banfield brand of monthly heartworm prevention medication.  The lot numbers are #090073 and #090095.  If you have either of these, call the Banfield from which you purchased it, and you can trade the entire package in for a new one.  The affected lots are NOT dangerous, but the levels of ivermectin (the medication that prevents heartworm disease) in them will decrease to possibly lower than effective doses before the expiration date.  You should have gotten a phone or e-mail message about the medication if you purchased it.  Fortunately, not much was sold before the problem was discovered!My big project today is to get the September Riley and James newsletter out to you.  It is going to be BORING.  Woohoo!  I love well pets.This week I am doing mostly preventative care.  (How cool that I could copy and paste that most every week!)  Don’t get me wrong, I love sickies too!  There have been some of those guys this week also, among them a gorgeous Ball Python who will not eat.  I am anxious to get in tomorrow and see if he has gained weight.Jack the Rat, who had suffered a serious back injury resulting in partial hind end paresis, is WALKING.  Yay Jack!Bella, the Rat Terrier who has been struggling with a long term neurological condition, is almost back to 100% healthy.  About six weeks ago, she came in with severe tremors that she could not control, a very unsteady gait, a heart arrhythmia and vomiting and diarrhea.  We had suspected she had eaten chocolate, but still do not know how she could have gotten into any.  She may have gotten into a different toxin, though she is very well supervised.  We treated her with supportive care and she is still on some medication.  My working diagnosis now is idiopathic neurological disorder.  Ha!  In vet school, they taught us to remember the word “idiopathic” (which means “unknown cause”) because it has the same base as “idiot.”  I don’t care about the fifteen-year-old insult, I am just so happy she is well!haha  I just realized I put poor Jack between a snake and a Rat Terrier.  Sorry Jack!  <:8Tonight will be week two of Joy the Puppy’s Intermediate Puppy Class with Jeanie at Papillion Petsmart.  Very fun so far.My friend from Oakview Petsmart, Tammy Hall, started in the grooming salon at Papillion Petsmart this week.  Yay Tammy!  Come tell her hi.  (She is the one whose nametag says “Tammy.”)  Another friend from Oakview Banfield was sad that everyone seems to be leaving Oakview.  I said “Papillion is like a giant vortex, sucking you in.” ha!  I only hope I end up working with all the same friends!  Until then, I will shop at all six Petsmarts in the area so I can still see everyone!September 4, 2009Good news on the Ernie Dog treats!  (Science Diet Jerky)  They UPSIZED their packages and made them black, but they are the same treats!  YAY Science Diet!  And Thank You PetCo guy for helping me find them and confirming that they were indeed the same treats Ernie loves.  Phew! 

(Ernie Dog Looking Happy)

I am working with Dr. Wittler and Cody to prepare for an Open House Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13.  You are invited!  There are free nail trims for your pets!  And I will see what I can do…no promises, because we have not gotten far in the planning, but…there might be cookies.Papillion Banfield is holding the Open House in conjunction with Papillion Petsmart’s Adoption Weekend.  There will be cats from Nebraska Humane Society, same as always, but maybe more than usual, and dogs from rescue groups.  I am finally to a point in life that I can go to these fun events and WALK OUT, having merely pet pets, not adopted any.  You may find me more credible when it has been more than a year since I have said “Oh, look at the puppy!”…and then brought her home!  But really, I am better than I used to be!  And I think I can safely spend the entire weekend at this fun thing, and keep our pet number at a barely insane eight.If you are afraid to even come close to an “Adoption Weekend” for the same reason that I should be, know that all of these pets will end up in great homes.  And also, Shadow Lake Towne Center is having an art fair the same weekend WITH BEER (from Nebraska Brewing Company plus other local beers).  So make a wide circle around Petsmart and Banfield and check out all the great local artists.  At least then the worst case could be that you come home with an adorable picture of a dog that you didn’t mean to get!(on Ernie’s First and Hopefully Only Hardship in Life)…While I am making the Petsmart rounds, I am hoping I can find Science Diet Jerky treats for Mom and Dad’s Ernie Dog.  They discontinued them and they are Ernie’s favorite treats!  grr.  If anyone knows where they can still be found, would you let me know?  And please join me in asking Science Diet to bring them back.  Those of you who know Ernie Dog know that he is worth keeping them in production.  He is an awesome dog!!  I’ll bet if we sent them pictures of Ernie looking sad, they would make them again:

(Ernie Dog Looking Sad)

Thursday, August 20, 2009This week was a fun week at work.  I saw another Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure-so gorgeous!  And such a sweet bird.  Now I know two Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conures.  If the number of those I personally knew actually did double every week, I would know over a million within the year.  How cool would that be?I saw the Petsmart Bearded Dragon who is on the tail end (haha) of a long illness.  I saw alot of pets for wellness stuff.  If I went into the detail I would like to, you would fall asleep!  But I LOVE wellness stuff!  Cats with no bloodwork abnormalities!  Dogs with ear swabs with NO signs of infection!  Pets with nothing to report on their pet health report.  Woo!And my personal favorite…My own eight year old Lab mix Ebony is HEARTWORM NEGATIVE!!  No, she is not high risk…I am neurotic about her monthly preventative pill.  No, it was not more than her yearly test.  But WOOHOO!  If we can’t celebrate that awesome boring news in this profession, we are going to get dragged down quickly.  So YAY for boring preventative medicine!  And YAY for Ebony!I saw one of my favorite dogs for more allergy-related misery.  She and the other allergic dogs I love, along with my developing pet allergies this year, have kicked me into an obsession about allergy prevention and cure.  Just because we do not live in a world without allergies, doesn’t mean it couldn’t exist!  I have been reading everything I can find, mostly veterinary research, but also articles on what is available now, and articles and books in the human medical field.  If she does not itch, and I can hug a kitty and breathe at the same time, that is good enough for me!More on “What in the world does this have to do with veterinary medicine?”In January I started a project of attempting to walk down every street of Omaha before the end of the year – It was the subject of my January 2009 newsletter, Walking Around Omaha.  If I had made it a decade-long project, I would just be making amazing progress!  We did add a squirrelly puppy to the project (and family) in January, and that has made it both more fun and more difficult.  (See the story of the day I met Joy.)  Now that the school year has started, I am able to take off with the dogs much more easily, and am back on track, if not to finish, to at least cover quite a bit of Omaha.I thought I would let you know how you have been swept into this whole crazy, fun project.  When I walk, I deliberately pray for the families in the homes I am passing.  As I have developed that habit, it is something I find I have been unable to turn off.  So when your pet comes in sick, I pray he would get well and that you would not be too stressed through the healing process.  When he comes in well, I pray that he would stay well and that your family would be well too.And if I have not met you?  Yeah, you too.  And if I do not know your name?  Today I prayed for Cat Lady, Nice Power-Walking Person, Person Walking the Cute Dog (and Cute Dog) and all the dogs I saw in backyards.  I will assume they all three were named “Dog” until I know otherwise.  Last night, I prayed for Poodle Lady (No, not you!  Your name is Janet, silly!  I prayed for you too…and Jeni.) and Poodle One and Poodle Two, whom we met outside of Scooter’s.  Then we actually learned all of their names, so I can pray for them by name.  For several months, I prayed for our next door neighbors Doctor Boy and Mrs. Doctor Boy.  Turns out they have real names…Andy and Desi Palmer (Mrs. Palmer when we are at school, she was a kindergarten teacher at Beals Elementary!)  And our mailman of several years, Tall Mailman, who, it turns out, actually has a real name too.  Wouldn’t that be an awesome coincidence if his name were actually Tall Mailman?  (It is not.)  I call the Sun Conures Guys and the other one Bird.  Which reminds me, I need to ask Ashley what their real names are.  She gives them good names that they can actually keep for thirty years.Didn’t mean to let you in on so much crazy!  I meant to just encourage you that I am praying for you and wishing the best for you.  But sometimes that gets said a lot…I didn’t want you to miss it.  So be encouraged.  Or back away slowly and block me from your facebook and twitter accounts.  But I will still pray for you, Blog Reading Stranger Guy.(on “If all of my clients were people you personally think are awesome, that would be…awesome.”) If you have friends who need a vet, please let them know I am here.  Thank you so much!  I will keep telling you this so you do not forget it…I LOVE your pets, and my career is awesome because of you!(on twitter) Still trying to figure this out.  My name doo-dah is “Finch93” because 93 is my favorite number.  I don’t know why!  It always has been.  Twitter is fun, but I don’t quite get it yet!  Till then, meet me here!  Or on facebook, or at finch@rileyandjames.com.  Have a great week!

The three Conures are out of quarantine and on display at Papillion Petsmart!  Gorgeous!  I have been getting to know the two Sun Conures.  I think we will be good friends.  The other (around the corner to the left of the Sun Conures) is a Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure (I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget.)  Also gorgeous, but he was sleeping so I didn’t start up a conversation.  I will catch up with him next week if he is still there.One guinea pig left from the herd!  Very cute.  Also, see if you can find the Chameleon.  He is hiding.  (haha)  I met Mary from Nebraska Humane Society.  She brought a bunch of new cats and kittens into Luv-A-Pet.  Don’t worry.  The Banfield staff did a Cat Intervention before I could adopt my four favorites!  Angela and I helped Mary match up the kitties with their descriptions.  The papers had gotten shuffled on the way to Papillion!I met some pre-veterinary Iowa State students who stopped by.  I felt bad I didn’t have more going on to show them, but on the other hand, I am glad I didn’t have more going on to show them…that is a good sign pets are home and well!  I met some more of the business people at Shadow Lake Towne Center.

So when I went to write you an updated newsletter yesterday, I got called in to work to see what became a very sad case!  This week is hard!  But you are awesome!  Thank you for your encouraging words!  I would rather have this week than miss an opportunity to stand by a sad friend or help a hurt or sick pet.

And there were happy experiences too…some of my favorite ratties and ratty owners came in…my awesome family and friends brought their awesome dogs (from Ernie Nelson at four pounds to James Nelson at 132 pounds!  That’s James, in the top right corner of the website.)  Mom took us all out to lunch Wednesday…We started to get the word out to business owners in the area that Banfield is close to them…well, from the perspective of an extreme introvert, that I showed up at Bull Feathers and gave them some free exam coupons and said I was glad they were neighbors…phew, that sort of thing usually makes me have to sleep for a week!  Worth meeting great people but completely out of my comfort zone!  So that’s all I’ve got for now.  The work week was awesome, and I had planned to tell you more about it, but I am emotionally spent (No, not from being an extrovert for five minutes!  From all of the sad pet events this week!)

Last night we went with friends to the art show at Secret Penguin, which is a graphic design company started by my brother, Dave Nelson.  It was a great show and such good art.  All of it was done by skateboarders in Nebraska.  Great talent and great variety.

Also, Dave has some of his cutout art on display at Urban Outfitters and it will be for sale there during the month of August.  If I had a favorite (which I don’t!) it would be the little blue guy with the comb in his back pocket!  haha  He is awesome!

So now you are caught up to today!  Today I am writing you this newsletter, which I am able to do because it is in the middle of a fun weekend, and because of the friends and family rallying around me thing and because the girls are still sleeping.

The rest of the fun weekend consists of going to the Farmer’s Market and to a “Welcome Back to Omaha” open house for Shorty and Heldred Brown, friends who have been gone for a year.  I am happy they are back, and THAT is all I have to report.  Have a great week.  I will come back next week less scattered and ready to write you more stories that deal more directly with pets!