I still need to publish a real post about Mr. Stix's full backstory, but this feels more pressing. For nearly 18 months, Mr. Stix's permanent nakey spot (from unknown injuries before he was rescued, including 15 fractures and this big patch of coat missing) has featured several inflamed, peeling areas. Initially I tried to fix it myself at home with things like aloe vera, vaseline, a veterinary ointment called animax that the shelter had give us while we fostered him most of 2019, etc. It's sort of a combination of steroids, antibacterial, and antifungal stuff. I took him to see our main veterinarian in spring 2020, when there was a 2-month wait to get into see a board-certified veterinary dermatologist. It has been quite a journey since then, and it's nowhere near over. Here's my best advice for dogs with skin issues. 

I recently ditched my affiliate relationship with a major / famous pet site that's owned by a huge pet products mega company -- both because I literally never earned a dime because their terms sucked so much and because I realized they sell (and lately promote a lot) shock collars (some of which now masquerade as GSP devices and dog activity trackers to mask their other purpose -- to train dogs using pain). So, if you're looking for new places to shop online, please consider K9Cuisine.com whom I have new affiliate relationship. Ditch the megastores. Support small biz.

I wrote 5 articles for a major veterinary organization in 4 days about the ways veterinarians must adapt to the reality of COVID19 pandemic. Based on the interviews and research I did for those articles, here are 5 ways the COVID19 pandemic may affect access to veterinary care for your pets. 

One-third of veterinary hospitals will be up for sale within the next 10 years. That's nearly 8,600 spots with big changes in veterinary hospital ownership. Some will indeed sell -- most likely to a big corporation or multi-state veterinary group. Some won't. Either way, it'll affect pet-loving consumers. Here's how.