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My book review process typically starts with finally being offered a book of interest. I agree to write and post a review. Then, I promptly freak-out about finding the time to read the book. Weather, in turns out, did me a favor. Thursday, May 3, 2018, we got a ton of heavy, wet snow. So much that I didn't go to agility class. So much that we lost power (and phone service) for about 12 hours. I did as much writing work as possible on my laptop and through sparing use of our battery back-up system to access wifi a few times to check email, but there was only so much I could do. So, I read Stephanie Feldstein's book all in one sitting. Here is my book review Animal Lovers Guide to Changing the World - Practical Advice and Everyday Actions for a More Sustainable, Humane, and Compassionate Planet. Details on the book giveaway at the end. Scroll down.
It's that time of year again. I cannot believe that Clover will be 4 years old this weekend. How is that even possible? It's kind of freaking me out how time is flying. We have so much more to do, so many more adventures to have. From the (literally) thousands of photos I took of her in the last year, I selected about 75 of them for this year's birthday tribute video. I like the final photo to be something really special, but I haven't (yet) taken the perfect 04 photo of her yet this week, so we'll stick with a photo of her sprinting so fast that all 4 feet are off the ground. She does fly. Happy birthday, baby girl. Here's to many more!
The veterinary costs detailed inside the latest Nationwide Purdue Veterinary Price Index show interesting drops and increases in what people pay for veterinary care for their pets -- particularly in the immediate aftermath of The Great Recession as well as in the most recent couple of years. My general sense is that my experience overall has been different as a Dog Mom in Colorado, where the recession wasn't particularly bad, with costs going up and up. However, one point about veterinary costs at primary care / general veterinary hospitals versus at specialty veterinary hospitals rings true. Eerily true.
Corporate consolidation in veterinary medicine -- and the pet world in general -- makes me worry. Here is the latest example of how it's changing my experience as a Dog Mom. Recently, I learned that the veterinary clinic I use for primary care decided to drop its AAHA accreditation. This is the latest unwelcome change at the clinic since it got bought out by one of the corporations that now collectively own about 11% of all veterinary practices in the U.S. I'm worried about what this may mean to me as a veterinary client and for the future care of my dogs.
The American Animal Hospital Association updated its Vaccination Guidelines in September 2017. The guidelines include some important decision flow-charts about titer testing and how to respond to the results in a variety of situations. This is an important topic if you want to avoid over-vaccinating your dog. So, I figured it's a good time to talk about Clover's recent titer test results and about titer testing in general since it may be a new thing for you. This is a LONG post. Grab a snack.