The Latest

The weather was perfect here over the weekend.  Bert even wanted to take a siesta at 9:30 am in the grass.  Problem was, while he was lounging away,  3 others were waiting for him to get through with his business, so they could attend to their own.   So to get him to move, I had to promise to take him out later to nap in the sun.  Which he seemed to appreciate. 

I tried to get a better photo of Bert for his petfinder page. Still working on that one.  He won't look in the camera so I assume that he is part Amish.
You can see the whole set here at Flickr.


Jimmy got a Bath on Friday.  Probably his first one ever.  More bath photos are here on Flickr.

The he got his photo taken later.

I love this Photo.

 More photos in this Flickr set. 

Lucky and Maybelline napped in the afternoon Sunbeams. Dragging those cat beds around like a respectful cat owner . . .I am.   More photos here at Flickr.  

And most fun of all-  everyone was feeling frisky with Spring Fever so we had a wrasslin' match on Saturday morning. 




Saturday Mornin' Wrasslin'- 03/10/12 from Andy Mathis on Vimeo.

So that about sums up the weekend.

Yeah, I have no life, I know.

Jimmy got his first bath today

He was okay with the washing part.  Wasn't a fan of the power blow dryer or dryer cage.  So he dried naturally most of the afternoon.  You know- as to not get split ends, or something.

Here is the whole set of photos on Flickr.

I don't think I shared his video from last Friday when he was outside, so here it is.




Jimmy from Andy Mathis on Vimeo.

Have a nice weekend. And if you are in  the US, other than Arizona, I think, don't forget to set your clocks forward Sat. night.

How to Block the Game Requests on Facebook

Consider this a public service announcement.

I don't know about you, but I don't play games on Facebook, and it is annoying to see notifications pop up all the time.  You log in, think you have a notification for something important . . . grrr. 

Here is how to turn those off.  It is sort of hidden. 

Click the Notifications tab button at the very top. And then click on See All Notifications on the Drop Down Menu.

 Find the Notification from the Game that you want to turn off.

 

Move the cursor to the right hand side, and you'll see a little grey X magically appear. 

 

 

Click on the X, and Change to Notifications to "Never, Never, and Forever" 

 

Well, maybe the second Never and Forever isn't an option, but you get the idea. Save the Settings, and proceed to do a Happy Dance around the Room, Desk, or Cubicle. Whatever the case my be. 

U R Welcome.

Harley- Shih Tzu puppy

Harley came in for his puppy vaccination yesterday. 6 weeks old. 3 lbs. Shih Tzu puppy.

Here are his photos in a Flickr set.



Untitled from Andy Mathis on Vimeo.

Happy a nice weekend, Everybody. 

Was that a Venti, Tall, or a Grande?, asked the Barista.

When Walmart and the big box stores changed the landscape of retail,  a lot of mom and pop small businesses were faced with the challenges of trying to compete with them for customers.  Some succeeded,  and most didn't. 

Borders bookstore suffered and closed because they put their online sales in the hands of Amazon and found themselves competing with them, unlike Barnes and Noble who developed their own products for online sales.

Over the past few years the veterinary profession has taken a hit with their own challenges as well.  For years, veterinary fees for services were kept low as they were offset by profit of other services, and the sales of flea and tick medication, heartworm prevention, and other medications.  Office visits that were $12 a few years ago are now $35-40.  Some flea and tick medications can be purchased by customers from big box retailers  (online and off) almost at the same price that a veterinary hospital  pays for the medication.   Add to the problem that veterinary schools are now churning out students faster than older doctors are retiring.

Now the latest challenge comes from the animal shelters operating spay and neuter clinics.  Not to just low income clients either.  And here locally,  is it isn't just spays and neuters, as they also offer vaccinations and flea and tick medication.  I see lots of dogs suffering with heartworms, puppies with parvo, and cats with feline leukemia as no one takes the time to explain to their clients about those things.  Why they even offer a puppy vaccine if only one isn't going to protect against parvo or distemper virus, is beyond me.  Same with cats getting only 1 upper respiratory vaccine and NO Feline Leukemia ( Feline leukemia, which can be fatal, isn't even offered).

They say they just want to help with pet overpopulation.   As veterinarians,  we do to. We would also like to be able to help pets live healthier lives by educating people about preventive medicine and better care.  And we would like to make a living at it without getting a second job at Starbucks.

Here's a rather new article about the problem from Mississippi.

It's supposed to rain here all weekend,

:(   or so I heard on the radio.

Have a nice weekend, where ever you are. Sunny or not.


On Tuesday and Wednesday,  I took the video camera out when Jimmy went out for his walk. Got all these snippets of video and strung them together. You can see him prancing around, and sometimes acting like he wants to play.


Jimmy Prancing Out on His Walk from Andy Mathis on Vimeo.

Jimmy Got Loose Today.

Yes, that's right. He did.  And not on purpose. 

When we first started walking Jimmy on a leash, we knew that we couldn't use anything that he could chew through very easily.  So the ski rope leashes and retractable nylon ones were out.  We were looking for one of the old fashioned chain ones.   As leashes go, they aren't very functional as they hurt your hand to hang onto if the dog pulls away.   I searched at a few pet stores and couldn't find one.  It just so happened that we had an old one left in a box of leftover leashes and collars. 

It's only about 5 foot long.  And eventhough he no longer offers to bite the leash, we were still walking him on it.  Sometimes I would hook the retractable leash to the end, and let out a foot or two of slack, to lengthen his leash just a little.

Well, today . . .  we were walking over in the field,  chain leash on Jimmy, retractable leash in my hand, and I feel it give and drop to the ground.   Jimmy was up front, and he kept trotting right along.  I wasn't sure what he would do or what fun adventure was about to start.  I probably uttered a few choice expletives. 

He got about 20-30  yards from me, and by calling him, I got him to turn around.   I knelt down on the ground.  I am not sure that he realized that he was actually loose or not. I think he might have came back out of curiosity.  I was able to get my hand on his collar, and hook the retractable leash to it.  The rest of the walk was uneventful, but he did seem to like having more freedom to wander. 

You can see where the little clip thing broke in half.

Lucky and Opal

Opal the SharPei puppy came back in the other day for her puppy vaccinations.  Look at what foolishness she had to endure.



In other news, depending on where you live, ask your vet if they get JAVMA. The Journal of the AVMA. (American Veterinary Medical Association).  If they do, and if they don't plan on keeping it, ask if you can have it.  My artwork is on the cover.  the February 15th issue.

George- a Pug and Spitz Mix

George came in the other day for his vaccinations.  He is a Pug, Spitz  Mix.

 You can find his photos here in this flickr set. 

Lucky was not a fan of George.

Nebo- Yorkie Chihuahua Puppy

This little guy came in last week for his first puppy vaccinations. He is a Yorkie Chihuahua mix.  He has these longer tufts of fur on the sides of  his muzzle that is sort of unusual.