Brother's 42nd Birthday

We celebrated my brother's 42nd birthday early today. His birthday is tomorrow. He's busy studying for his board exam for Family Practice. He's the ''real'' doctor in the family :)

A Happy Clean Elaine

Elaine drying out after her bath. Bathing her is a big mess. She's too heavy for me to lift her into the bathtub. Besides, she's so strong, I don't know if I can safely keep her in the tub if she freaks and jumps out of the tub. She does fine on the floor. Good thing we have a floor drain. As it is, I'm soaked by the end of her bath.

I think she actually likes the baths. Or the poor girl is just happy that she's getting some extended time and attention from me.

Time to go play with clean Elaine!

Memorial Day

My father brought the flag out for me last night. I almost dropped it as I reached overhead to mount it on the roof.

I wish I can just remember those who gave their lives for us.
Celebrate them.
And not think of the sad reality that they are needed in the first place.
I wish I can go through today without shedding tears.
Oops, too late.

Disagree all I want about the politics and whatfors.
To give me opportunities and keep me safe,
There are men and women out there
Doing what I can't, won't, nor want to do.

Willingly, knowingly, or not,
They are fighting for me and you.

The recent wrongs and atrocities,
Committed in the name of our safety,
Makes me shameful and angry.
But still remains this ever present fact -

There are men and women
Dying for our countries.

Our actions and beliefs
Are not without consequences.

We need to remember
Some would say.

Yes, but I still don't like
Memorial Day.

Rusty

March 19, 2002

The day I first met you.

Your dad carried you in

All 12.7 pounds of you.

You were only 8 weeks old,

Long legs sticking out every which way.

Your mom smiling,

Looking on lovingly.

I wondered if it was too soon.

A month earlier,
I met your older brother --

Bear or Baron
As we also knew him.

We had to say good-bye to Bear

Just days before you came along.

Too soon? Who knows?

I just know

You brought smiles
Back to their faces

And joy to their days.

You also brought a few gray hairs

Not only to them, but to me, too!

Demodex
Allergies

A skin mass called histiocytoma

Ear infections

Skin infections

And more ear infections

Remember when Samantha came along

And gave you kennel cough?
Oi!

Then you had to decide

To repeat everything
Two years later ---

More allergies

Demodex again

And another histiocytoma

You must have liked these
Histiocytoma

As another one came
In twenty-o-six.

Luckily,
No surgery needed.

You hurt your paw last summer.

That was crazy

With both you

And Samantha limping around.

We got you through that

Then came the weight
And thyroid issues.

And who can forget
The worry over
The numerous growth removals.

You were the Patchwork Kid

With checker boards
Across your body.

As the years passed,
And Amanda and Dylan
Came along,
I knew you were getting older
But to me,
You were still that gangly pup.

So much over the years,

We overcame it all.

So it's hard to believe

We won't see you this fall.

I'll always remember the last time

Your dad was able to carry you in -

At 6 months old,
You were over 70 pounds.

You were their big baby.

And I remember that terrible day
When they returned from your training camp.

That was a disaster.

Your mom was in tears

Over what the trainer had said.

You were well-loved,

Let's not say spoiled.

What was that all about --

Not letting your parents
Clean your paws?

And being picky with your food?
But only with the diet food,
Not with McDonald's
Egg McMuffins.

I was so proud of your folks

When you shed those pounds.

I was proud of you for

Finally learning to stand

For us to trim your nails.

You could have easily
Thrown us around

With your strength and size.

But you never did --

Well, maybe only once or twice.

Your years with us were far too few,

But we know they were filled

With unconditional love.

They would do

Whatever they could

To keep you here with us.

You know that.

But they love you

Too much to keep you here

If it means

Pain and unhappiness
For you.

They had to make

A difficult decision

To let you go.

It was an unselfish,

Loving decision ---

For you.

I hope in time,

Your mom will forgive herself

For having to make that decision.

May your family

Find peace and comfort

In the many
Loving memories of you.

You may be gone

From this physical world.

But you touched our lives

And will live on in our hearts.

May 18, 2009
The day we bid you farewell.

A 5.0 earthquake hit Hawthorne area at 8:39 pm. Not far from Torrance. Elias and Jeremy felt it way more in Long Beach than I here in O.C. No alarm call yet.

Addendum 5/18/09
Turns out to be a 4.7 shaker. No serious damage done.

More on Medical Records

I got bit by the writing bug tonight (or is it last night since it's already past midnight?) and sat down to compose the follow-up to Elias' medical records post.

Had a little problem keeping it concise and not too wordy but am quite happy with how it turned out. Think it got the point across on how I feel about medical records.

Kobi --- Waiting and Waiting

It has been a busy and crazy week. Kobi has been neglected and missed seeing me in the evening. Found him huddled in the blankets on my bed.

Caught him by surprise and got the picture before he jumped all over me. Quite a nice welcome after another full day.

Don't they always know how to cheer us up?

L is for ...

My family thinks I'm a perfectionist and am often my worst critic. I don't know about the perfectionist part. Take a look at my dusty dirty old Subaru and you'd be hard pressed to believe perfection is even in my vocabulary.

What I am though, is very particular about certain things. I don't care if my car is dirty. I'd only wash it because I feel bad that those I give rides to seem embarrassed by it. But a pet goes home with a food-stained e-collar? Not if we can help it.

As for being my own worst critic? Nah. I'm actually pretty easy on myself. I expect a lot from myself. But because of that, I also tend to be very understanding when things don't go as planned. Odd, huh? What I do then, is re-examine my expectations. Are they realistic? If yes, are there ways I can do things differently to meet those goals? I would only kick myself if I keep doing the same failed approaches.

So why the L?
It was a tough and busy day. Little things added up to knock down my morale. I was not as timely as I like; clients had to wait. I did not have the lab box up in time for the courier. I didn't feed the cats until late..... And the list goes on --- nothing major but still demoralizing at the end of a long day.

I tried telling myself that at least, the surgical patient is doing well. But overall, it was a crummy day. I didn't spend any time with my Elaine, just let her out in the back to do her business.

My sweet Elaine turned around to tell me what she thought of me --- she pooped an L.

L for Loser?
Nah. L for Laughter (didn't I say I'm not my worst critic?)
On a day like this, you just gotta laugh or you'll crack under the pressure.

Well, off to clean up the L and get some shut eyes. Early day tomorrow. Hope Elaine learns some other letters of the alphabet.

Thank You, Engler Engineering

FedEx delivered the polisher handpiece for our dental unit this morning. It was sent off to Engler Engineering in Florida last week for repair and maintenance.

New cord, new brushes for the micromotor, plus a good cleaning/lubricating and we have ourselves an as-good-as new handpiece.

It's great to have equipment from a company that still service and repair their products. Definitely a plus that for $106.75, we have returned to us an excellent handpiece. The alternatives of either 1) getting a new handpiece for $560, or 2) getting a new dental unit for about $2000 would have been tough at this time.

Polishing teeth after scaling them is important to the complete dental procedure. We would not be able to provide the care we want without the handpiece. Thanks, Harvey (from Engler Engineering).

Of Treo, SMS, Emails, and Blogs...

Taking a break before finishing up today's records and prepare for tomorrow's surgery. Using this opportunity to test the text-to-blog feature as Game 5 starts. (sent via txt)

The ability to directly send text messages or emails to the blog is becoming a great asset. I find it simple to snap a picture and email it with a brief write-up to post on the blog. I can always go back and edit the post to my heart's content.

So often, something would catch my eyes: "That would make a good blog post," I'd tell myself. When blogging time comes, I would have forgotten about the idea or it's buried under several other more recent ideas. Emailing or sending a text message with the main points of the post as the ideas come to me will enable me to capture these thoughts. Missed or uncaptured thoughts may have more undesirable consequences than missed opportunities. After all, I may not even see the opportunities if I did not note-to-self to follow-up on that thought.

Text messaging may not be as useful due to the 160 characters limitation. If I have a thought that short, I may tweet it instead. May be a good idea to still send a text here, though --- consolidating into one collection point.

If it's work related, the post can sit here until I can develop it to be worthy of TFV Blog.

Sully wanting equal blogging time :)

Families and friends accuse me of playing favorite with Xander. Can I help it if Xander likes to pose for pictures? Took me less than a minute to snap an image of Xander and post it. Sully may seem like he's all relaxed staring me down in this image, but it took me a while to get this one.

Let's just say he used up my ''free'' time this morning. Better get back to work!

Xander patiently waiting for his breakfast...

... as I cleaned up the enema mess from another cat.

Poor Xander. Like Elaine and the rest of my cats, he sometimes take the backseat to our patients. Good thing none of them hold grudges. They love me as though believing they are tops on my lists (true, though my actions may not seem like it) and understanding that the patients make it possible for me to have all of them.

Other people should only be so lucky as to have a similar understanding from their human families.

How's that for ascribing human emotions and thoughts onto pets?!

When Poop Makes Me Happy

''Shit Happens''
In this case, I'm glad it did. Makes you wonder what kind of life you have when a pile of poop is cause for rejoice. At least the constipated cat is much relieved and feeling better. Now to clean that mess up!

Mother's Day Bouquet in Bloom this morning

Bouquet sent to mom by our youngest brother in Sacramento. Got up this morning to see them all opened in their simple beauty. This Treo doesn't do them justice.

Junior coming up to say good night

Sometimes I try not to think about what goes on inside Junior's head. It's so easy for us to associate intelligence or pet-like behaviors to dogs and cats. But for those of us who've never had a turtle, fish, or other types of pets, we often think less of these pets. I know I did. I only work with dogs and cats so I never experienced the joy of having a turtle in the house --- until Junior. Junior taught me a lot (like how much work is involved in his upkeep!). At times, he sends me tumbling into a reflective mood. I can't help but wonder if Junior exhibits these behaviors, what else goes on in his head?

Sleep tight, little Junior.

Creatures of Habits

We like to think that we know what our dogs and cats prefer. We forget that they are not humans. We can't put ourselves in their place and presume to know what they are thinking or feeling. Of course, with experience, some of us can learn to read the telltale signs and are able to come close to understanding their needs. For most of us though, we delude ourselves into believing we know what they want.

We buy new leashes and collars to make up for neglecting to spend time with them. We get a new fancy diet as a celebration of some milestone. We take them to a strange fun place as a treat.

Then we wonder why they seem quiet after the new adventures. Or why they are vomiting when the tasteful fancy treats are such better quality than their regular everyday kibbles.

We forget that some pets prefer the old and mundane. That their system (or stomach) can't handle sudden changes. That they find safety and security in the familiars.

So don't ask if we would like something if we were in their place. Ask if they would like it. And hopefully, we know them well enough to know the answers.

Constipated Cat

Image taken with my Treo so it's not very clear. But it's enough to see the colon full of feces (poop).

Elaine - Seven Years Later

Fetching her rope toy.

Elaine's Baby Picture

Elaine at 6 weeks. Can't believe that's seven years ago.

Junior's New Furniture

Junior, a red ear slider (RES), is outgrowing his home. Got him a floating log basking place. Will need to upgrade him to a 40-gal tank.

Disclaimers & Disclosures

This is a personal blog written and edited by me, the owner of the blog. The contents are meant to be a journal but at times, may also be informative, entertaining, and educational. Any veterinary details contained in the blog posts are NOT meant to diagnose nor treat illnesses absent of a valid current veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR). Always seek your family veterinarian's opinion before using any advice mentioned in this blog.

Unless otherwise noted, reviews are done on products purchased for my own use; not given, donated, nor borrowed from the products' companies.

The owner of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Results from products and services reviewed are my opinions only; your results may vary. No guarantee is implied with my reviews.

This blog may contain content which might present a conflict of interest. Reviews may be done on products and services that we offer to clients and the public from our clinic (my workplace). Advances in veterinary medicine often lead to differing standard of care among veterinary practices. Certain contents may be influenced by my background, experience, and belief in what is considered quality care for our clients and patients.