Life is weird right now. The pandemic is not over, but it seems more controlled, at least from where I’m standing. Restrictions are being lifted, more or less so, depending on where you are. As Justin says every time we venture into public, “I don’t know what the rules are!” I can’t say that I… Continue reading What exactly is “normal” life these days?

My Rookie Cookie turned 7 yesterday (to the best of my knowledge- I don’t know if the rescue knew his exact birthday, but it’s close enough since we adopted him at ~4 months old). In the vet world, 7 is the somewhat arbitrary designation for a “senior” pet if you have a dog or a… Continue reading The (unnecessary) worry caused by birthdays

Confession: sometimes, I feel highly inadequate as a dog owner. It’s nice to hear other people, other dog people, admit the same. As I write this, I’m listening to an episode of the podcast “Sexier Than a Squirrel,” and Lauren just stated that she has felt the same at times in her past. This is… Continue reading Unfair comparisons

I’ve done this a few times now. Three times, to be exact. When I go to bring home an animal, I take the last one. Not once have I regretted this decision, as each of these animals has filled my life with love, laughter and joy. (OK, in the case of one of them, some… Continue reading The last one

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my dad’s sister lived with my family for a little while. Because I was only 4 or 5, I don’t really remember the details of how we ended up at a pet store together. I’m sure she must have asked permission to get me a pet, but… Continue reading My namesake turtle

*This post has nothing at all to do with animals, so if that’s what you’re here for, you’ll be disappointed. If however, you like happy travel anecdotes, this is probably for you. I did say the blog was *mostly* about animals, after all. We have a trip coming up, and I am so excited to… Continue reading Perfection in blue skies and quiet

Sienna (fka Noelia- how stupid is that name? Seriously.) was my 3rd year spay dog. We met in the junior surgery kennel area in December 2011. I walked in an excited but nervous student, as I was about to assess my first ever patient for surgery. She was already waiting, a boisterous, approximately 45 lb… Continue reading Sienna Bean

Some days, work is hard. Every pet might be sick on a given day. For some of those pets, there is nothing you can do except to help them move on (or provide the guidance their family needs to say, “good-bye,” with someone else’s help); the world doesn’t care how special the pet is to… Continue reading A little bit of gratitude

Last summer, we had a rising third year vet student work at the clinic for a couple of months. She decided to enter clinics early and chose to schedule an externship for two weeks at our hospital during this time. Those two weeks ended on Friday. As she was leaving, I wished her well with… Continue reading Clinical year flashbacks

I know I’ve said before that training Rook and Magic is a current work in progress. Today is a perfect example of that. When they are together, they have zero impulse control and less than zero recall. In the moment, everything was just chaos. I didn’t see everything happening or take note of all of… Continue reading Rookie and Magic take their show across the road