The Wonder of Children and Animals Together

Tags : Animals, blog hop, bunnies, Cats, Children, Dogs, Goats, Horses, Life with Dogs, Mineature Horses

What Animals Teach Use Everyday

Vote Today for Cobb County Shelter!

Cobb County Animal shelter needs your vote to win grant and save more lives

Cobb County Animal Control needs residents’ votes to enter the qualifying heat of this year’s ASPCA $100K Challenge, competing for grants totaling $300,000 from the ASPCA, including a top prize of $100,000. This is the first phase of the competition where registered shelters compete to accumulate the most online votes for their supporters.

The 50 shelters with the most votes become the official contestants for the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge. Online voting begins Monday, April 4, and ends Friday, April 15. To vote for Cobb County Animal Shelter, visit challenge.aspcapro.org/

http://challenge.aspcapro.org/vote-your-shelter

Tags : ASPCA contest, Cats, Cobb County Humane Society, Dogs, kittens, Puppies, Shelter Animals

Here’s a Mother’s Day Idea for Pet Mommies!

Think Mother’s DAY! for the Pet Mommy in your household. They’ll love a canvas of their favorite furry girl or guy.

A free photo canvas is a great gift idea. Canvas Peoples gives you a canvas with family memories on it! The Canvas People offer gives your visitors a free 8×10 photo canvas or $50 credit toward a bigger photo canvas. The way it works is like this:

1) Choose and upload the photo you would like printed
2) Choose what size. (8×10 is free + shipping/handling, or choose larger size and get a $50 discount)
3) Chose any “extras” (framing, etc.)
5) Enter shipping information
6) Pay the $14.95 shipping/handling (this is a GREAT deal)

Click here for more info: http://enlnks.com/SH2HD

Tags : artwork, Cats, Dogs, kittens, Mother's Day Gifts, photos, pictures, Puppies

“Just” a Vet? by Bud Stuart D.V.M.

Years ago, when I expressed interest in becoming a veterinarian, my dear Aunt Mary wrote me a worried letter. She urged me to rethink my choices, since all the working horses in the country were soon to be a memory. Well, despite Aunt Mary’s fears, and thanks to pleasure horses of all kinds, there are now more horses in our country than at that time. Plus, what she was not aware of was that the scope of veterinary medicine is very broad and one can wear a great many hats.

My own career is an example. After graduation from Cornell, I joined a farm animal practice in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. After a year in this position I became an instructor in farm animal medicine at Cornell. Then I worked a few months as a state veterinarian doing dairy cattle milk studies until I entered the U.S. Air Force for two years as a veterinary officer. In the military my duties were food inspection and public health.
Upon leaving the Air Force I moved to northern Virginia where I became director of Georgetown University’s medical research facility for three years. At Georgetown it was my good fortune to be involved in supporting the research of Dr. Charles Hofnagel, who was doing some of the first studies in open-heart surgery. These were baby steps toward total heart replacement and other remarkable surgeries that we have today.
During this time I was a reserve officer at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Here I had the chance to work with the first Rhesus monkeys, such as Able and Baker, who were being launched into space, opening our solar system to exploration. Then I went on to open a pet practice in Fairfax, Virginia, where I remained for almost four decades.
That period saw the beginning of the specialty practices. We now have veterinarians with advanced degrees in dermatology, ophthalmology, neurology, orthopedics, behavior and many other fields. At one time a pet practice covered all household animals. Many practices are now limited to felines or birds or exotics. In farm animal medicine we have specialists in equines or bovines or poultry. There are veterinarians involved in research at many levels. Some are employed by state or federal agencies, while others are on the staff of corporations involved in the production of animal products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture employs veterinarians to supervise international and interstate shipment of birds and animals. In addition, this agency employs vets to maintain the health and sanitation of the nation’s meat and poultry supplies.
As you can see, the scope of veterinary medicine is a broad one. From the many subdivisions of private practice, to state and federal positions, to military service, a lot of ground can be covered once one has that coveted veterinary degree.
Unfortunately the monetary rewards of the profession rank quite low when compared with other medical fields. But as someone who has been at it for quite a while, I can vouch that the personal satisfaction the profession returns is second to none.
If you know a young person with an interest in the field of veterinary science, I would urge you to give that person your encouragement. They will enter a profession which is well worth the effort they must put forth to achieve their degree. Whatever particular career path he or she decides to follow, the person will enjoy challenge, stimulation, service to society and knowledge of a lifetime well spent.

Tags : NASA, research, Training, Vet

Do You Own a Gold-Plated Dog or Cat?

Have you ever had a medical emergency with your pet-friend? Kitty and I had one a few years ago. My son’s girlfriend took Kitty to the vet for me saying that he needed to be wormed. This is a normal occurrence in the life of a pet. And, it’s a relatively inexpensive treatment.

Not this time.

By the time I picked Kitty up from the vet, we’d accumulated an $800 bill, a feeding tube and had a cat that just came out of surgery. The thing seemed to escalate. First it’s a test, then it’s a diagnosis, then it’s a treatment. It’s kind of like being in the taxicab from hell. The vet meter is running and even though you’ve blown your budget several miles back, you’re still accumulating that fare. And anxiously, helplessly watching it skyrocket.

You’d feel like a heel to bail. But, you’re just a teensy-weeny bit tempted. Especially after you compared your bank account against the new vet bills.

How much is the MOST you’ve ever spent on your animal? Did you dude him up with doggy braces, to the tune of $1,200 or have him ingest some illegal substance that just HAD to come out, via the incision in Fido’s stomach? Would your friends and family be astounded by the amount you dropped at the vet?

Did you feel guilty that you even put a price on your little fuzzy one’s head? Share with the Pet-Peeves community on what your sweet pets put your wallet through.

Tags : Cats, Dogs, Vet Bills, vets

How to Deal with the Grief After Losing Your Pet

Have you ever lost your pet to death? Maybe it was an illness or old age that did them in, but you were no longer able to keep them with you. How did you deal with that loss?

Most people are ill-equipped to deal with the loss of their best buddy. Read this book, written by a fellow Georgian, for the best ways you can employ to grieve the loss of your pet-buddy.

Click Here!

Tags : Cat, Death of a Pet, Dog, Grief, Pet Loss

Pet Mommy of the Year

Parent of the Year

Pet Mom, of course!

Recently while waiting in the waiting room of my son’s dentist, a read a popular magazine’s announcement for Woman of the Year. The winner was a vice president of a major corporation at the age of 33. She was married, had an adorable 18-month-old child, and had made numerous contributions to society through her work, volunteer activities, and gourmet cooking.
I don’t want to belittle her many and varied accomplishments, but the whole thing offended me. All I could think was that most of the women I know could be Woman of the Year with the income and support of a nanny that this woman has. We would all spend our days doing good works and whipping up gourmet meals. But nobody I know has those advantages. Instead we spend our days working hard and trying to do the best we can for our kids and others. Clearly, such everyday heroics don’t merit a Woman of the Year award.

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Tags : Mother of the Year, Parent of the Year, Pet Mommy of the Year

Why I Have Grey Hair – My Kids and Pets!

Our family is unusual. I can prove it to you. First of all, we have seven sons.  How many families have you heard of with that composition. We’re the only ones that I know of in my wide set of acquaintances. My husband, Steve, and I accomplished this by blending our two families. It’s not like I woke up one day, smacked my forehead, and said, “Why not have seven sons? Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Actually, on most days, it’s more like living in a fraternity house. Think, ala Animal House.

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Tags : Burmese Python, Grey Hair, Pediatrician, Rat, Rat Bite, Snake Bite

Mom to Boy – No Terrifically Poisonous Snakes Son

The Downside of Having Venomous Snakes

as “Pets”

Several days after purchasing a highly venomous cobra, a German teenager discovered that it was no longer in its terrarium.

What followed was one of the lengthiest and most expensive pet-hunts Germany has seen in recent years. The walls, floor and ceiling of O’s attic apartment were dismantled and the two units on the ground floor below were also carefully searched. Flour was strewn on the floor in the hopes of collecting tracks. Strong, double-sided tape was installed to perhaps trap the cobra baby. The fire department even brought in mini-cameras to search the tightest and most inaccessible corners.

After the fire department removed and examined all the furniture, a construction company was called in to demolish the apartment.  The house has now been sealed, and other renters in the building have been told they will need to live elsewhere for two months while the cobra (hopefully) starves.  The cost of these interventions is well above €40,000; German authorities will apparently send the bills to the young snake enthusiast.

Tags : Boys, Costly, Poisonous Snakes, teenagers, Venemous Snakes

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