Do Veterinarians Suffer from Nightmares?
15 May 2012 Leave a Comment
Lately, I’ve been having frequent nightmares involving my own pets or animals I don’t know who need my help. Clearly, ongoing stress can cause one to have insomnia or bad dreams when sleep does arrive. I’ve had both in the past several weeks. The stress I’m suffering is unrelenting as my family has lost to death 2 beloved pet cats in 5 months; I am ill myself with a gastrointestinal disease and will soon be undergoing surgery; and the biggest stressor of all: my husband is battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (a type of blood cancer), and the treatments that were previously shrinking his tumors no longer seem to be working.
(UPDATE: May 9, 2012) Caged Bobcat Shot in Texas
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
UPDATE:
Rally planned
http://voiceforthemurphytexasbobcat.yolasite.com/
This is the website for the organization- Voice for the Murphy, Texas Bobcat
We are going to unite all animal lovers in Texas to get Murphy, Texas Chief of Police G.M. Cox fired or force him to resign………………….for authorizing a police officer to shoot and kill a bobcat, while it was locked in a cage. 210-391-2537…
Celebrating Annabelle’s Life: August 2001-March 30, 2011
30 Mar 2012 2 Comments
Dear Annabelle,
My sweet friend, it has been one year since you’ve been gone. March 30, 2011 was undoubtedly one of the saddest days of my life. And now, on the first anniversary of your return to your heavenly home, I review the impact your life had on mine.
For a long time, I thought my broken heart would never heal from this loss. Without my little Annie Belle to sleep beside my pillow and softly purr into my ear in the early morning, how could I face the coming days? How I would miss the games we played, especially “Hide and Seek”, when I would hide, call your name and you would always find me. I knew I would miss your loud and sassy meows; I called you the Ethel Merman of cats, and rightly so. I would miss watching you jump up on the kitchen counter to drink water dripping from the sink’s faucet. Although you’ve been gone for a year, all of these and more precious memories are ever-present.
I had a tough time struggling with my grief, Annabelle. I wrestled with every emotion inherent in the grieving process. My sadness lasted a long time, but anger simmered within my soul even longer. Over time, the anger dissipated as I gained more insight and was able to transform the anger into more constructive energies. A blanket of serenity covered my soul as I finally realized and accepted that you were at peace. You weren’t the first loved one I’d ever lost and grieved, and you won’t be the last.
However, you were an important teacher for me. Only through the experiences of loving you, watching you suffer through illness, witnessing your physical death, and living with the aftermath of mourning did my heart open to receive certain lessons. If you had not been in my life — if our paths had not converged — I would have missed so many important opportunities to learn and grow. The insights and knowledge I’ve gained in the past year have enabled me to have more understanding, more compassion, and even more awe and admiration of the animal world. I was humbled to learn that special animal souls like yours come here tenderly to help humans learn to be a kinder and wiser species. I am honored to have received such love, friendship and inspiration from you. I am now a better pet-parent because I benefited from all the lessons I learned from your life’s experience with me. Due to your influence, I believe our other animal friends who live with us have better lives, as our human insight, intuition and knowledge have increased.
As I continue in my spiritual quest to become the better human being you believed I could be, I allow myself to be open-minded. I allow myself to be guided by your love, by cherished memories of you, and by the inspiration that your spirit still provides. Thank you, Annabelle, for having shared your life with me. I feel the presence of your enduring love.
Love always,
Mommy
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Reiki for Animals (and Humans too!)
18 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in animal reiki, cancer, cat care, Cat health, cats, disease, dogs, energy medicine, grief, holistic medicine, meditation, Pet Health, pet loss, pets, Reiki, Uncategorized
Hello readers! My lack of a recent post indicates how busy I’ve been lately. I have some personal news that may be of interest to pet-parents and animal-lovers.
Very recently, I received training to become a Reiki practitioner. I am now qualified as a First and Second Degree Reiki practicioner trained in the Usui/Tibetan Reiki Ryoho tradition through the International Center for Reiki Training. I am so very excited to have undergone this training and am looking forward to giving Reiki to those who would benefit from it.
As defined in my training manual, Reiki, The Healing Touch, by William Lee Rand, Reiki is defined as “…a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It was discovered by Mikao Usui in March 1922. Reiki is administered by ‘laying on hands’ and techniques such as this have been practiced for thousands of years.”
In some of my past blogs, I’ve mentioned a few times my husband’s battle with cancer and how it has impacted our entire family, including our pets. All of the past stress I’ve experienced brought me to the point where I sought solutions beyond the scope of traditional, Westernized medicine. In particular, the tragic loss of Annabelle, this blog’s namesake and reason for existence, was the trigger event that made me first question traditional medicine (for our pets and ourselves). When we lost Annabelle last March, my husband had already been a cancer patient for about 8 months, dealing with the effects of chemotherapy. Cancer in the family is bad enough, but simultaneously experiencing the loss of a beloved pet (and family member, as far as I’m concerned) was a tremendous, additional burden for us.
Therefore, I turned to meditation to calm my nerves as I tried to deal with so many fearful events and losses hitting me from all sides. Meditation lead me to become interested in the concept of energy healing, which, in turn, lead me to find Reiki. I began receiving Reiki to balance my entire self, embracing it with an open mind, as I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find how peaceful and centered I felt after my Reiki treatments. Adding meditation and Reiki into my lifestyle certainly brought me a serenity and feeling of balance I had previously lacked as the storms of life tossed me about.
So, as soon as I received my Reiki training, I immediately began to practice on my husband and my pets. So far, their responses to receiving Reiki have been interesting or even amusing to observe. Of course, our pets can’t verbalize what sensations they may feel from a Reiki session, but they certainly had observable reactions. I tried several times to give Reiki to our Black Smoke Persian, Ashley, but she would have none of it. She kept getting up and walking away, so I finally left her alone. 
I successfully gave Reiki treatments to our male cats, Lucky and Vincent.
Both of them reclined comfortably and let me “treat” them. Our Red Persian Vincent especially enjoyed his session, as his purr-motor never stopped; he’s a very loving, “touchy-feely” sort of cat anyway. 
Then I tried to give Reiki to our dog, Mona. 
She wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to accomplish anything. She kept squirming around, twisting her head this way and that, as she tried to watch the motions of my hands. Maybe she thought we were playing a new, fun game! I think I will try giving her Reiki sometime when she is napping and won’t be able to watch my hands. I still have more practicing to do on our pets and my hubby.
To me, Reiki is so interesting and I’m just at the tip of the iceberg in my knowledge of this ancient healing art. I also successfully sent distant Reiki to a friend living on the East Coast who is now in remission from cancer, but sometimes experiences after-effects of past chemotherapy treatments. I asked my friend to give me feedback so I could know what he felt, as I’m still in my early practice stages. He felt some of his symptoms decrease and he was able to sleep peacefully the night I sent Reiki to him long-distance. Awesome!!
As I’m always trying to pass on helpful knowledge to my readers concerning better health and well-being for both ourselves and our fur-kids, I thought sharing my experiences with Reiki would be worthwhile. As my journey continues, I’ll post more of my experiences.
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
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Are You or Your Pet at Risk of Dirty Surgery?
24 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in contaminated surgical instruments, disease, hospital-acquired infections, hospitals, pet disease, Pet Health, pet hospitalization, pet illness, surgery, Uncategorized, veterinary medicine
In a throwback to unsanitary conditions reminiscent of Civil War battlefield surgery teeming with germs, NBC and The Today Show expose hidden surgical dangers.
“A new report suggests doctors across the country are using surgical tools contaminated with blood and other debris and because the FDA doesn’t require hospitals to report it, many incidents are unknown. NBC’s chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.” Here is the link:
Why am I posting this on my blog dedicated to pet advocacy? Because, as I watched this news story, I wondered how sanitary are surgical instruments used in veterinary hospitals and clinics? As a devoted pet-parent, this news causes me to have just one more worry in my already overflowing collection of concerns and doubts about the competency of veterinary medicine. Heck, this news raises concerns about myself, my family, friends, and anyone who must undergo surgery! If the FDA and hospitals have a difficult job protecting humans from contracting infectious diseases spread by dirty surgical instruments, what precautions are taken to protect our pets who undergo “the knife”?
I don’t intend to be a fear-monger, as my interest is to help inform my readers about topics I feel may be relevant to pet health and care. I would sincerely like to believe that 100% of the time we are all in safe hands when any of us, human or animal, receive medical treatment. Apparently, this is not always a certainty.
Again, the only defense against such catastrophes is to be informed and proactive when seeking health care choices for ourselves and our pets. In my opinion, one can never ask too many questions when it comes to facing surgery or other types of medical treatments.
Unsettling Euthanasia Mix-Up at Albuquerque Vet’s Clinic
21 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in Animal rights, dogs, pet euthanasia, pet hospitalization, pet loss, pets, Uncategorized
Lisa Gossett of Albuquerque, New Mexico brought her Chihuahua, Lola, to a vet’s office because of severe injuries inflicted from a mauling by another dog. The vet’s prognosis was grim and any proposed intervention was presented as being extraordinarily expensive and possibly unable to save Lola’s life. Heartbroken, Lisa opted for euthanasia, signed the appropriate paperwork, paid the vet’s fees and left Lola with the vet to be euthanized.
What followed next is, in my opinion, a case of gross incompetence on the part of the vet and the veterinary staff at that clinic. Instead of being euthanized as Lisa had requested, Lola was handed over to an animal rescue agency and given medical treatment. Fortunately, Lola recovered from her major injuries. But, Lola also went up for adoption after she recovered. When the new owner went through the adoption procedure, she tried to have Lola’s microchip contact information changed. The microchip company contacted Lisa Gossett and explained the situation. Lisa told them they must be mistaken, as her dog Lola had been euthanized months earlier after an accident. The company’s representative said, “No ma’am, your dog Lola is still alive.”
Lisa was able to be reunited with Lola and met the new owner, a very kind woman who had been told that Lola didn’t belong to anyone; supposedly, she was an abandoned dog available for adoption.
Now, Lisa is demanding answers from the vet who allowed this gross act of incompetence to occur. She wants a formal apology from the vet and a refund of the money she spent toward Lola’s proposed euthanasia.
Lisa didn’t realize when she signed the consent form for euthanasia that the legal wording included relinquishing ownership of Lola (for the purpose of euthanasia.) I understand this legalese to mean that because Lola was left at the vet’s clinic for a scheduled euthanasia, her body (dead or alive) then became property of the vet.
Personally, after having had some of my beloved pets euthanized at vet clinics, I would NEVER, under any circumstances leave their bodies there to be disposed of at the vet’s will. God only knows what may happen to their bodies, and the thought of one of my babies’ bodies being desecrated makes me feel sick. I have always brought home their remains for backyard burial, with one exception of having one cat’s remains cremated. The small company that performed her cremation did a private cremation, meaning that only her body was cremated at one time. Sometimes crematories can group together animals’ bodies to save money and time, and there is a chance the cremains you receive could contain cremains of another animal.
Although Lola’s story did have a happy ending, in that Lola survived, and Lisa didn’t blame Lola’s new owner for this tragic mishap, many questions remain for the vet. How on earth could this have happened?
The saddest part of this story is that Lisa’s young daughter was absolutely heartbroken over being told that Lola had died. The family was overcoming their grief when they learned the disturbing news about Lola’s fate and new adopted home.
Here is a link to the story: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/localnews/Woman-finds-euthanized-dog-alive-with-new-owner
In summary, this is just one more example of why I created this blog to advise pet-parents to carefully question and research their veterinarian’s medical ethics, competency, and overall practice management. Our pets depend on us to protect them from such cases of incompetence, neglect, or worse outcomes.
Checking in With Mona-dog, Annabelle’s Beloved Canine Companion
19 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in cat and dog friendships, cats, dogs, Empathic Pets, Healing Power of Pets, pet adoption, pets, Uncategorized
This post is a bit of a departure from my typical style, but I thought it would be refreshing to feature our dog, Mona, today. For those who haven’t yet read about Mona from past occasional posts where I’ve mentioned her, she is our Black Labrador mix dog. Mona is now slightly more than 6 years old. Her once solid black face is now sporting a lot of frosty white fur as shown in this close-up photo. However, she is still quite energetic and continues to love her long walks with us. And she has daily fun time with all of our indoor pet cats. Mona has a full and interesting life! 
When Annabelle was still alive, she and Mona were best friends. I don’t know exactly how that friendship came about. Annabelle came to live with us in 2004; Mona later joined our family in 2006. The only thing Annabelle did differently from the other cats was to not run away and hide when Mona approached her. Nor did Annabelle hiss and puff up her fur when the dog was near. Annabelle was a calm, cool, and collected cat. She would allow Mona to stand nearby as she curiously observed this huge, black, often clumsy-footed creature with hot, moist breath and a drooling tongue. While the other cats at first presented attitudes of fear and hostility (or both simultaneously), Annabelle and Mona seemd to have a unique appreciation for each other and no bad vibes ever passed between them. It wasn’t long before we noticed frequent, friendly interactions between Mona and Annabelle. Quite often they would lie next to each other and take naps.
- Naturally, when Annabelle died on March 30, 2011, Mona grieved the loss of her little Cream Persian friend. Things just weren’t the same in our home once Annabelle left. I grieved deeply, but even through the dark haze of my mourning, I could sense that Mona also grieved in her own subtle way. She just wasn’t her normal, peppy self. She also wandered around the rooms of our home as if she were looking for something. I believe she was searching for Annabelle. We had Annabelle’s remains cremated, so I didn’t have a physical body to show our other pets the evidence that Annie was gone. In the past, I have always shown any live pets the deceased body of one of our pets, as I have seen their reactions to “viewing the body” (much like attending a human wake or funeral), and I believe this simple action allows the pets to recognize and accept the change. This was impossible with Annabelle’s remains, as we had requested a necropsy to try to determine cause of death in the event we wanted to file a veterinary malpractice lawsuit. I was strongly advised to have Annabelle cremated, although initially I argued that I wanted her body sent back to me after the necropsy was completed. The veterinary staff talked me out of that idea, although I so wanted to be able to bury Annie’s remains in our backyard alongside our beloved cat Midnight, whom we had lost only 5 months previously.
- Time passed and eventually our hearts healed from the loss of both Midnight and Annabelle. Last October, we adopted a new kitten, Levi, from the local animal control facility. I brought him home when he was only 2 months old and weighed 3 pounds. Since then, he’s been growing like a weed and is a very active young boy. He’s now nearly 6 months old and I reckon he’s close to weighing 7 or 8 pounds, but he works off all of the food he eats. And, boy, does he ever eat! Remarkably, Mona and Levi quickly formed a close bond, and now they are inseparable. They rough-house in play a lot, but Mona has never once hurt Levi, although she nearly outweighs him by a factor of 10.
Mona has been and continues to be a very loving companion to my husband, who has been battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for about 18 months. Although my hubby is always very sick during the weeks he receives chemotherapy, he has been able to keep his job and continue working when he feels able. He works for a local church on the building maintenance staff. It’s a huge church and so there is always lots of maintenance to keep those staffers busy. The church is located on a spacious few acres with lots of open fields where folks who live nearby enjoy walking their dogs. I bring Mona to the church grounds often to walk and let her romp off the leash, as it’s quite safe. However, the highlight of Mona’s visit to the church grounds is always the moment when her “Daddy” (my hubby) emerges from the building to briefly greet us. Sometimes he greets us as he’s pulling a huge trash cart, usually filled to the brim with empty pizza boxes from some church youth activity that just occurred. A few days ago, just before sunset, Mona & I made such a visit to the church to walk and to allow her to visit “Daddy” for a few moments. As the three of us walked out to the church’s trash dumpster to empty trash from the cart, I got an idea. I’ve always fantasized about Mona becoming a sled-dog. Oh, of course, it will never happen due to us living in the Houston, TX area. But, I can dream, right? So, I hitched Mona’s leash to the handle of the empty trash cart and I took these pictures of Mona and my husband walking across the church parking lot.
Look at those happy eyes and wagging tail! I think she’d make a great sled-dog trainee if only we lived in a place where that dream could become reality.
We really do love and our appreciate our Mona-dog and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a bit about her.
Thanks for stopping by!
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From Discovery News: Factory Farming Videos Prompt ‘Ag-Gag’ Bills
05 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Animal rights, Big Agra, Discovery News, factory farms, farmers markets, food supply, slaughterhouses, Uncategorized
Warning: This post contains a slight tone of political dissent, as I’m feeling slightly acerbic today (could be I’m fed up with the government’s b.s. or maybe I’m just circulating too many perimenopausal hormones; take your pick!)
Well, fellow Americans, Big Brother strikes again and threatens us with another form of censorship. This time, Big Agra doesn’t want us to see inside their farms, ranches and slaughterhouses. http://news.discovery.com/animals/factory-farming-videos-120131.html
Also, pay special attention to the last sentence in the article: ”In addition to affecting factory farms, the bills have the potential to shield slaughter plants and puppy mills from legitimate investigations.”
Not that I personally would want to witness slaughterhouse activities. I’ve already heard the eye-witness account of my good friend, the anonymous M.D., and how she was obliged to tour a cattle slaughterhouse as an undergrad pre-med student at the agricultural college which she attended. She told me of the fright she saw in the cattle’s eyes as they each witnessed the slaughter of the animal in line ahead of them. Now, my doctor friend isn’t a squeamish person by any means (unlike one of my fave t.v. characters, Doc Martin, a former surgeon turned general practice physician because the sight of blood makes him nauseous), but she is a compassionate, ”earth-mother”, and natural-born healer. Her account was enough to educate me about slaughterhouses.
This Discovery News story disturbs me because it’s so Orwellian in nature and so representative of the misleading culture in which we live. Why shouldn’t we taxpaying citizens have the right to see (if we wish) the practices of ranchers and farmers? Don’t we have the right to know about our national food supply?
Those who regularly read my posts have probably discerned that I’m a bit of a rebel at heart; well, maybe even more than a bit. Yeah, perhaps I’m a natural-born hellraiser when it comes to demanding personal freedoms as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. I do have a visceral disgust of the government’s attempts to control our every move, including controlling our access to healthy food and water, and pushing us more and more to rely on Big Agra to obtain our food. The older I get, inching closer to my 5th decade on planet Earth, the more I think our government is “jive-talking” us about most issues. 
I like it when the Bee Gees are “Jive Talking”, but I don’t want my elected officials engaging in it.
And speaking of my age category, I was a kid when a movie starring Charlton Heston called “Soylent Green” came out in the cinemas. For those younger folks who have probably never heard of this futuristic film, the plot focuses on Heston’s character, a police detective attempting to unravel a governmental coverup. Here is the IMDB synopsis: “In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.” 
No spoilers here, in case you want to see it for yourself. I sometimes wonder if our society, indeed, if our world, is headed down the path of Soylent Green. Please forgive me for being melodramatic, but I did grow up during the era of the original Star Trek series, and I’ve always been influenced by sci-fi! It’s too bad, though, that more of Gene Roddenberry’s idealistic, humanitarian ideas that he tried to convey through Star Trek haven’t actually gained ground in the 21st century. Worldwide, we’re still suffering from global strife of all types, including famine in most of the world’s countries, and our food and water supplies seem more threatened with each passing year. And if you don’t believe people are going hungry in America, just open your eyes and look around. That’s one reason why animal shelters are now overflowing with surrendered or abandoned pets: folks just can’t afford all those hungry mouths around, so guess who gets the boot?
I’m in favor of the little guy, the average American citizen who still believes in small business ownership. I’m in favor of ordinary, hard-working Americans who want to do the right thing and provide for themselves, their families and their communities, thereby benefiting the world one small effort at at time. I’m in favor of farmers’ markets, small farmers, small ranchers, backyard gardens, and ordinary people having small (clean) chicken coops in their backyards (if only the city ordinances would allow it in suburubs like the one in which we live.) I’m in favor of all things organic.
I’m not in favor of genetically-modified foods and livestock animals pumped full of antibiotics and hormones which we and our pets then absorb when we eat the flesh of such meats and fish. I refuse to eat farm-raised catfish raised on food containing corn (most likely GMO corn), of all things. Can you believe that, catfish eating corn??? What an absurd concept! 
Look, I’m from the southeastern Gulf Coast region of Texas, born and raised not too far from the Louisiana state line. I think I know a thing or two about catfish, having caught some in the local bayous a few times in my lifetime. Wild catfish glide along the bayou bottoms and eat stuff they find there; they certainly don’t crawl out of the bayou and squirm across the muddy bank looking for the nearest cornfield!
Well, readers, thanks for stopping by and I hope I haven’t spoiled your appetite for dinner!
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Animal Legal Defense Fund : What to do when you believe a vet has harmed or killed your companion animal
04 Feb 2012 1 Comment
