Pawcurious Vet Blog: Pet help, stories, and information with Dr. V

*I don’t know what is going on with Flickr- the pictures are randomly not showing up here and there- each time I refresh different ones become available. Hopefully it will be working more normally later on. Curses!!

I divided the weekend pictures into two parts but I’m actually going in reverse chronological order. The first part, “Baking With Brody”, will go up later this week because a couple people asked for the recipe for his birthday cake. The second part is just us being silly having fun with a party. My motto in life is, “Celebrate Everything.” And we do.

The table was set with care with all the panache a 5 year old can summon.

The cake waited nervously. It had come under attack by the birthday boy already once, earlier in the day. It knew the stay of execution was temporary.

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Did you enter the contest? It’s not closing until Sunday night, so you still have time! I’ve been too busy partying to do anything else.

I am afraid this is not the last time I will be subjecting you to party pictures.

We took a lot of pictures, you see. I’m just getting started.

The making of the cake was a story in itself. I even took pictures. Let’s just say I’ve been spending too much time here and leave it at that.

Do any of you remember when Oprah used to do those “Oprah’s Favorite Things” shows? She’d come out in front of the audience who thought they were there for ‘10 ways to dress thinner’ or some other Oprah-esque show, and then boom in her resonant voice, “It’s my Faaaaa-vorite THINGS, PEOPLE!!!” and everyone would burst into cheers.

Well, we’re a small outfit here, and while I won’t be giving away any Burberry dog coats or cars or anything, I did want to give a little something back to all of you for being so wonderful and supportive of the blog over the past year. This list is by no means exhaustive- an entire list of favorite things would be 10 pages long, but you gotta start somewhere. Hopefully I can make this a regular bit!

So without further ado, let’s get on with Brody’s FAAAVORITE THINGS GIVEAWAY!

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One year ago today, I was in an emergency room with my vomiting daughter fighting with an ER doc about the most appropriate course of action. It was a bad day.

Several hours north of us, a little Golden retriever was giving birth to a litter of puppies: 8 robust golden beauties and one, slightly darker, rusty puffball. One year later, he is a 65 pound whirlwind of trouble, fur, love, and goofiness resting under my feet. He is a reminder of what is important, what is real, and what can be reached on a countertop.

At the time, May 26th 2009 seemed like a bad day. But my daughter was OK, unlike many other parents who have ill children who do not get to come home the same day they go in. And Brody was born. It was a good day. A very good day.

Happy Birthday, Brody. I love you, dude.

Brody’s first birthday is tomorrow.

I’ve got some great recipes to use for a birthday cake. The kids wanted a birthday party- it’s all their fault, I swear- so we will have one this weekend.

I had a nice long list of all sorts of amazing luxury collars and various sundry goods that I wanted to get for Brody for this once in a lifetime event- and honestly, this is the first time I’ve had a young one year old dog to celebrate a first birthday with, so this really is an unusual thing for me. But I changed my mind.

Last week, I had to go to the shelter to get dog licenses in order. While I was pulling in, I saw a sweet little pit bull peek up from her resting spot in her cage. She stood up hopefully, wagging her tail as I walked by, and as I joined a line of people passing her by, settled back in to wait some more.

I think this was her- Roxy. There was just something about her, a longing mixed with resignation.

There were several people in the office, all inquiring about the same dog- a little chihuahua puppy. No one was inquiring about the little redhead girl with the inquisitive eyes. What can I say? I didn’t either.

And in that moment I remembered what the primary directive is, of our lives together, of the experiences we all share with each other. We need to take care of one another, and remind ourselves each day why we work so hard to make the world better for animals. Because they make the world better for us.

So yes, there’s another donation badge off to the right. I hope if anyone feels moved by the Birthday Spirit, they will consider tossing in some spare change in honor of Brody, Roxy, and all the pets waiting to make life amazing and bright for someone else.

Instead of buying a pile of presents for Brody, I’m going to buy some of my favorite things we’ve come across this past year and share them with you all. There will be giveaways, oh yes, there will.

In addition, if I get at least $50 for this shelter, I will also buy a Kuranda dog bed to donate to a shelter in need. Or more than 1. Who knows.

When my daughter’s class went to Sea World earlier this week (I know, don’t get me started) I was not asked to chaperone. That was OK with me, for several reasons:

1. I got to chaperone the awesome trip to the wildlife preserve in January.

2. You all know how I feel about Sea World.

One other reason: I found out that many of the parents invited to chaperone were so asked because the teacher was afraid that without direct parental supervision, their children would end up running around in the penguin exhibit. In other words, not being invited was a good thing.

So off I went about my day, pleased that I have raised such a great citizen, and off I went to work. The dogs got to enjoy doggie day care, per usual. read more >>