Tweeting to Find Maggie a Home, Help and You Win Too

How many people are using Twitter?   Twote, twit, tweeting- whatever.

I know some graphic designers who work from home and they really like Twitter.   It's almost a conversational tool for them throughout the day.  They carry on little conversations with the people they are following. 

I am not as big of a fan of Twitter, since I don't have the page open that often, and I feel like I miss a lot. Probably not, but I don't go back to see what people posted over the past few hours.  So whatever it was- I missed it.    TweetDeck does help since I can see Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

So I want to see if it possible to use the power of Twitter to help fing Maggie a home.   You remember her.

She's the Walker Hound Mix that I posted about a few weeks ago.  Here's her original post. There is a link to more photos there along with a short video.

Her foster Mom isn't having much luck in trying to place her on her own.  And if you are wondering, her foster home has 3 other dogs and 5 cats.  All strays or rescues, so they are about up to their limit.  They are like the Inn at Bethlehem- no more room.  That's why they need to find a home for Maggie.  Not just a home, but preferaby a good home.  Also all the people who wander into my office already have a dog. Or dogs as the case may be.  I did place Maggie's  photos and video on Petfinder. 

But I want to see if I can get the word out and find her a home on Twitter.  Since I can track the re-tweets and give away a prize for your help.    Not a new car or a  5 day Carribean Cruise or anything like that.   But what about $40 worth of merchandise? All you have to do is retweet the message.  Your prize could be one of the new handbags, a totebag, the party servers, metal clutches, pocket mirrors, cufflinks, etc.  That  sounds worthwhile for a little bit of effort and typing RT in front of the message.

Here's the deal- 

1. Follow me on Twitter.   http://www.twitter.com/AndyMathisArtCo

2. Retweet the message about Maggie.  You can retweet it as many times as you like.  As soon, as I hear from the foster home, that Maggie has a home, the last person to retweet the message, wins the prize.  That should be easy enough.   It might take a few days to spread the word, I am not sure.

3. I then post a note here on my blog, and on Twitter, that the gig is up.   I contact you through email, and you feel like you've won the Fabulous Showcase Showdown on the Price Is Right. Well, maybe not exactly, but close.  And you feel better knowing you helped a girl dog out by not having to go to the pound.

And if you are wondering why Twitter, rather than facebook, or email, Twitter is they only way I know to track who sent out the last message, by searching for the hash tag. 

Any questions?  If so, leave them in the comments, or drop me an email.
Thanks in advance for your help.   Have a nice weekend,

I cried like a little school girl.

Over a haircut. That's right, a haircut.

Not my hair, mind you. Who cares about that?

It was about Ellie's hair.

You've seen Ellie since she was about a 8 week old ball of fluff as a puppy. An Australian Shepherd. She boarding for a few days, and her owner wanted her to get a summer haircut. Her haircoat is GORGEOUS as my 5 year old Niece would say. The niece says lots of things are gorgeous, but Ellie really is a pretty dog. And sweet. I don't think she's much of a watchdog though. However, she might slow down the burglars though by throwing herself down in front of them for a belly rub.

Here are her before photos and after photos. I also was able to shoot short snippets of video with dying or dead batteries, of both her and Paco, a little long haired chihuahua who came in for his vaccinations during the hour of sadness.

What's going on?
Whaaaaa . . . . . . Is that . . . . . Are YOU crying too after looking at the before photos? Mmmhhmmpp.

Happy Friday Everyone

It's a good thing Leon has connections.  And connections with access to anesthetic drugs, at that.

It has been 2 weeks today since Leon had his surgery.   To remove Herman.  I intentionally left his sutures in for 2 weeks.  Often times with young dogs and cats, sutures can come out in 7 days.  But I left Leon's in for 14 days.

And everything was perfect when they were removed. Well, for about 15 minutes.  And then this happened.   I'll link it, rather than post it, in case wound photos make anyone squeamish.
If you enjoyed biology class, this photo isn't a big deal.  Looks sort of like chicken. ;)

Here's what it looked like after I anesthetized him again, and sutured it closed.  About the same as 2 weeks ago.

So, these are staying in for at LEAST 2 weeks, and I might remove only 1 per day at that time.


In better news, Beethoven, an 8 week old Saint Bernard puppy, came in this afternoon for his puppy vaccination.  Well,  a vaccination, a tummy rub,  a treat, and a nap. 

 Enjoy your weekend.

Maggie - Another Stray Looking for A Home

Y'all remember Stormy, right?   The little Beagle that wandered up in the storm, hence his name, that was looking for a home a few weeks ago.   Well, he found one.

Now, that same family is looking for a home for this new stray that showed up.  Maggie.

She's about a year and a half guesstimating from her teeth.  She was really wormy and has put on some weight and is looking a little better since these photos and video were taken.  I would call her medium size, maybe a tall medium, :-) - she weighs between 40-45 lbs. Hound Dog, Walker Hound, Mix or something or other.  We don't think she has been spayed.   She seems like a sweet dog, and gets along great with the couple's other dogs and cats.
She is testing slightly positive for heartworms, but that is a relatively easy fix as well. 

If you are interested in adopting her, or know someone who might be, please pass along with post and tell them to contact me.  I did post her on Petfinder.com as well, so maybe she will find a forever home.

There is a whole photo album of her at this link.

Leon is still among the Living.

And Herman is floating in a jar.

Everything was rather uneventful.  Worse case scenario is that Herman is a fibrosarcoma.  They are malignant, and have a very high recurrence rate.   From what we can see, it does look like all of it was removed.   I might send Herman to the pathologist. I might not.

Leon is still rather groggy from anesthesia. I am a little surprised by that, but that is fine if he sleeps a little longer than some.  He does have some pain medication on board.

Here's Herman.

Leon has been teased about his husky self all his life.  And spent a lot of the time snacking on diet cat food.  In this case, that might have been a good thing as the tumor is surrounded by fat, rather than muscle tisse.   Plus, that means extra skin to pull closed over what was removed.

Check out what a "Cool" scar this is going to be . . . .  All the other kitties on the playground are going to be jealous.

We'll see what happens over the next few days, weeks and months.   Thanks to everyone for your good thoughts.   Have a nice weekend.

Herman Must Die

If you have been into the office during the past week, you've seen Leon walking around with a clipped spot over his left shoulder.

Leon, back in 2007. 

That's where his little buddy Herman lives.

Leon is my oldest hospital cat.  He's somewhere around 16 now, we guesstimate.  We aren't sure.  He was brought in to be euthanized way, way, WAY back in 95.  So we think he probably was born in 1994.  16 for a cat is about the human equivalent of 80, for a pet his size, if you are wondering. So he's no spring chicken. 

And I am always sort of watching for him to be doing like most old cats-  weight loss, drinking lots of water, urinating too much-  all the signs of old cat problems-  kidney failure, diabetes, hyperthyroidism.  There has been a few times that he didn't want to eat his food, which is highly unusual for him.  But he got over that.

It was probably 2 weeks ago I was petting him and felt something that shouldn't be there. Located under the skin and over his left shoulder blade.  Maybe a little larger than a golf ball, sort of oblong.  It's under the skin but I can pick it up. At this point I don't think it's attached to muscle.  It's close though.  It isn't raised much so it's sort of tough to see in the photo, but you can definitely feel it.

And since Leon is forced to live with a bunch of women- Priscilla, Maybelline, and Sunshine-  he chose to name his little friend Herman.  A little male bonding, you know how it is.

So, what to do, what to do about Herman?
For a 16 year old cat, do you do nothing? Watch for signs of pain, and eventually put him to sleep?
It probably depends on where Herman is,  what Herman is attached to, and how large Herman is.

Some places, some attachment, or with lymph node involvement, removing it isn't possible.
Some tumors are so large that trying to close the wound is a problem.
Then there's the whole issue of a 16 year old cat under anesthesia.

So, I've decided since Leon is fairly healthy otherwise for 16, and since Herman is hopefully not attached to much, to try and laser him off tomorrow at my Cousin's hospital with his fancy "big city" laser.   Herman might be malignant, with a high recurrence rate, something like fibrosarcoma.
Leon might have complications from anesthesia- and it that's the case, then I'll deal with that at the time.   Passing away under anesthesia, doesn't seem much different than being euthanized really.

I am gonna try and minimize the risks by giving him a low dose injectable anesthetic,  top it off with an inhalant anesthetic that doesn't have to be metabolized (it's just breathe in, and breathe out), and maybe use local anesthetic as well.

What's nice about the laser, is that it zaps tissue as it cuts.  No bleeding, no lymphatic drainage that might reseed  tumor cells, and zaps the nerve ending so less pain upon waking up.  

Hopefully, Leon will still be here this time tomorrow.  Without Herman.

If so,  he'll show you his scar and you can tell him how cool it looks.  He'll like that.

Happy Easter- Party Servers Arrived.

Hello Everyone-

Have a safe weekend if you happen to be traveling.  I am headed down to my parents for the annual Mathis Family Egg Hunt tomorrow.   It's a rather bid deal with my family, always has been, since I can remember.  When I was little it was always Sunday afternoon at my Grandparents house. Once my Grandmother passed away, it got moved to Saturday. It's a little easier that way since everyone has other obligations on Sunday.

I was surprised that the trays below arrived this afternoon.  You might have seen the discussion on facebook earlier in the week.  They are Party Servers.  They have a glass cutting board insert that can be removed and/or used separately.  It looks rather pretty sitting on one of those plate easels.

I ordered these with the cat painting, Can We Play Now, Please?, since that image gets requested a lot.  I might do a floral one next.

The cutting board is 8 inches square. Overall the serving tray is about 10 x 19 inches.  About 3/4 of an inch thick.  They are really nice- even I was a little surprised.

I have set up a coupon code at ArtFire that is good for 14 days.  They will retail for about $36 normally.  The coupon code saves  you  $8, bringing them down to $28.
(The cutting boards, by themselves, retail for around $20, so that's like getting the serving tray for just a little more).   

The coupon code is "partyserver".  It is one per person but feel free to share/ email the info around. I only have 10 of these.   Here's the listing at ArtFire.



 Have a nice weekend,