Thankful for Animal Rescues

Poor Lahela was an outdoor cat, living around a trailer park. She’d already had a hard life, having recently given birth to a litter of kittens who didn’t make it. But she did have a neighbor who left food out for her and the other local outdoor cats. And that turns out to have been her saving grace!
 
 

 
Because one night, Lahela was seriously injured by a coyote a coyote. It was the woman who’d been feeding her that saved her, running out to scare the coyote away. The coyote dropped Lahela and fled. But she was badly shaken. Not just emotionally, but physically. She’d been literally shaken hard!
 
As a result, Lahela, when taken to the vet, was diagnosed with a traumatic neurological condition.
 
Her eyes were not dilating in light. She couldn’t walk without falling, and there was brain swelling. Thanks to the support of a local rescue group, Lahela got all of the emergency vetting she needed. The bite wound healed easily, and the brain swelling reduced. But the neurological problems wouldn’t vanish; she was still had a disoriented gait and very limited vision. Clearly, Lahela clearly would not survive if she were put back outdoors. That’s when the rescue group had to decide what to do. Lahela had always been an outdoor cat, so she wasn’t affectionate. Add that to her medical condition, and there just wasn’t any home willing to take her.
 
So she went to Best Friends, for extremely special care. Guardian Angels, please welcome Lahela! This is a cat with a lot of odds stacked against her. And she’s going to need the healing power of the Sanctuary as much as any cat ever has!

Hairy-kiri?

A pod of 61 whales beached themselves at Farewell Spit in New Zealand on Monday. Officials decided to euthanize the 18 that were still alive Wednesday. It’s not clear why whales beach themselves, but one theory holds that when a sick individual heads to shore to die, the others follow. Is suicide a thing in the animal kingdom?

Sort of. There is plenty of evidence that animals engage in self-destructive behavior. In addition to the beached whales, ducks and dogs have been observed drowning themselves, cows have walked off cliffs, and naked mole rats (like some insects) leave the colony to die when infected with a communicable disease. It’s not clear that any of these behaviors are comparable to human suicide, though, because suicide involves a set of higher-order cognitive abilities. It requires an awareness of one’s own existence, an ability to speculate about the future, and the knowledge that an act will result in death. There are indications that certain animals have some of these capacities. Dolphins, many primates, magpies, and elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror, suggesting self-awareness. Some animals know how to pretend during play activities (PDF), which indicates an ability to imagine counterfactual worlds. Still, no one really knows which animals, if any, can combine these capacities to perform an act similar to human suicide.

Victorian scientists were particularly interested in this question, according to historian Edmund Ramsden in a 2010 article. Humane societies were eager to prove that animals experienced humanlike emotions, and animal suicides offered proof. A series of such stories began to appear in periodicals in 1845. One involved a depressed Newfoundland dog that repeatedly leapt into the water, kept its limbs still, and held his “head determinedly under water for a few minutes.” Other dogs drowned or starved themselves after losing their owners. A deer jumped from a precipice to avoid capture by hunting dogs. A duck drowned itself after the death of its mate. Scorpions were thought to sting themselves when surrounded by fire. Researchers engaged in a fierce and ultimately inconclusive debate over whether any of these behaviors should be considered suicide. (Except for the scorpions, which clearly were not attempting suicide—they’re immune to their own venom.)

Even when scientists can explain the neurobiological basis of an animal’s self-destructive behavior, it’s still not always clear whether it’s fair to call the act suicide. The parasite Toxoplasma gondii affects the brains of rodents and causes them to be attracted to their mortal enemy—the cat. It would be easy to dismiss this kind of rat suicide as irrelevant to our own behavior if not for some hints that infection can play a role in human suicides as well. In a 2009 study of patients with recurrent mood disorders, University of Maryland researchers found that those with high levels of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies were more likely to have attempted suicide. This study is preliminary, though, and there’s no sign of a causal connection.

No matter the motivation, self-destruction appears to be something that exists in even the simplest life forms. Single-celled marine algae engage in programmed cell death when exposed to stresses that they’re fully capable of overcoming. Researchers recently discovered that the “suicide” of some cells promoted growth in the survivors. Like infected mole rats or bees that abandon the colony to prevent an epidemic, algae die for the good of the community.

Horrible... A Vet should value life more than this.

Allen and Alison Holmes let their Border Collie/Corgi mix out in the backyard to enjoy some pleasant weather a couple of weeks ago. Allen took a picture of her drinking from a metal wash basin at 12:06 p.m. The dog, Basie, was like their child; they’d had her since she was a puppy, and they doted on her. “She was just a delightful dog,” Allen Holmes told The Patch.com.

“She was actually doing pretty well that morning,” he said. “She’d eaten. She’d gone to the bathroom. She was drinking out of the washbasin. I thought that was cute. She did have trouble moving, but she was able to walk.”

When he went out 15 minutes later to see how she was doing, she was gone. It was baffling, because at her age, Basie was not a fast mover. In fact, the Holmeses didn’t think she could or would leave the yard on her own.

The couple scoured the area for her, plastering signs everywhere, and talking with neighbors. But by about 3 p.m., unknown to them, it was too late. Their dog had already been euthanized by a nearby veterinarian.

At a local animal shelter the next morning, they found what was left of their beloved old dog: just her cremated remains. They are devastated.

The last photo of Basie, taken in her backyard within three hours of her euthanasia (Photo: Allen Holmes, via The Patch)

“The shift supervisors gave us the exam record and they said that she arrived at 12:20 p.m. The picture that I took was at 12:06 p.m. It’s about a 10-minute drive to the shelter,” Allen Holmes told the Patch.
“We had no chance of finding her in that time,” said Alison Holmes. “When we did find her, it was only because of our tireless searching. No one called us.”

“To give us no opportunity to be there is horrifyingly wrong,” Alison said in an interview with WUSA-9.

The story they’ve been told is that the dog was found in the woods (actually some rows of trees, the couple says) near their house by a woman who brought the dog to her own veterinarian, Crosspointe Animal Hospital, in Fairfax Station. The Holmeses think the woman was probably concerned about Basie because the dog was very thin, despite the high-quality diet they fed her.

The veterinarian checked out the dog, found no collar but plenty of ailments of old age, and euthanized her. According to Virginia Code 3.2-6507, it’s legal for a veterinarian to euthanize a sick or injured dog without the owner’s permission if the owner can’t immediately be located.

The Holmeses say her neck was irritated by the collar (old dogs can have sensitive skin) so she wasn’t wearing hers.

The couple said Basie was not ready to die and that they were not ready to part with her. They are haunted by the idea that she was alone, without them, when she was killed. “We wanted to be there if she was euthanized. We didn’t feel like it was quite the time, but somebody else did,” Allen said. They have not decided if they will take legal action.

Animal hospital management claims staff immediately tried to contact the Prince William County Animal Shelter (the shelter for the county where the dog had been found), but the shelter refused to pick up Basie. But the next day her ashes were at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. It seems somehow someone had transported her — or at least her body — from Point A to Point B.

Basie (Photo: Allen and Alison Holmes, via The Patch)

The vet may have seen a decrepit old dog and figured she had no decent home, but if s/he had looked at her well-trimmed nails, or inside her mouth, where the Holmeses say Basie recently had a tooth extracted, there were pretty good hints that the dog had a home.

“We really took care of her,” Allen Holmes said.

So did the veterinarian …

A veterinarian should value every animal's life. Give it every chance to live. Not decide it's fate within ten minutes of seeing it. I've had old animals and I've known how badly they looked but I also knew that their spirit was still there and not going anywhere anytime soon. I can only imagine how horrifying and traumatic this experience would be.

Vegetarianism... Not Quite.

How can I fight so hard for the protection of animals and nature while I eat meat every meal?

Why am I not a vegetarian?

Animals taste really good. Sorry, I really don't have a better reason than that. I do have my justifications though. I feel that we are capable and able to eat meat without impacting the environment. If we select our protein sources well.

I feel that if we breed and raise domestic livestock then we are entitled to eat it. We take care of these animals to end up as food. This type of agriculture is found in many different animals. Termites, ants, bees.

Damselfish farming activity can have profound effects on the structure of the algal community. The territorial fish protect their dense stands of filamentous algae aggressively from other herbivores, thus reducing grazing pressure and increasing productivity. Non-destructive cropping of algae, which promotes exponential growth, is often observed, and some damselfish even selectively weed out indigestible algal species. These fish do in fact maintain farms of algae that are harvested for food, with management techniques.

Much like how we raise our food. Pigs, cows, and chickens are commercially farmed for food. Even species of fish are farm raised for food. We farm our food. Just like we farm the fruits and vegetables that are a part of our diet.

Now, I do still believe that the livestock used for food deserves humane treatment. I feel that slaughterhouses should treat every animal with respect and give them the best care possible. There are many dark blurry videos of PETA members hiding in slaughterhouses, watching chickens be killed by wringing their necks or cattle being killed by blunt force trauma to the skull. And it makes me sick that the animals are treated that badly. Slaughterhouses like that should be closed down.

In terms of fish protein, it may be the simplest and most beneficial protein source. Fish are full of omega-3 fatty acids which have been proven to improve brain function. It is also commonly farm raised if you're willing to work for it a little more. Salmon is readily farm raised. But farm raised fish aren't always readily available unless you look for it. But don't you think it's worth it to protect the world's oceans?  Think of all the animals caught up in fishing nets that die.

In summary... EAT ONLY FARM RAISED PROTEIN SOURCES AND IMPROVE THE CONDITIONS FROM WHICH THOSE ANIMALS ARE KEPT IN.



Pet Insurance Fraud

HUNDREDS of pets are being killed and maimed by callous owners to get insurance cash, investigators revealed yesterday.

Fake compensation claims quadrupled last year — with almost £2MILLION worth of fraud detected.
Some owners bump off their pets so they can claim an early-death payout. Others deliberately harm their animals — then claim they were injured in accidents.

Some cats and dogs also disappear mysteriously to cash in on policies that pay out if an animal is lost or stolen, says the Association of British Insurers.

The sick scam mirrors the "cash for crash" claims made on cars that are deliberately damaged for the insurance payouts.

Insurance experts say the pet payouts swindle is now the fastest growing area in the industry — and believe some vets must be involved.

One trick is to include claims for vet treatments that have not been carried out. Some healthy pets have even been deliberately put down to claim the insurance.

Fraud investigator Carys Clarke said £420,000 in bogus pet claims was detected in 2009, but this jumped to £1,929,900 last year — and the true scale is probably far higher.

She added: "The deliberate destruction or maiming of an animal can be disguised as an accident."
Last year there were 2.3million cats and dogs insured.

The ABI is now arranging a database of information about insured animals to help detect fraud.

November Feral Cat Clinic

The November Feral Cat Clinic was exciting.

I got there early and helped draw the three in one vaccines before the clinic started. The three in ones had to be done differently then the rabies. The sterile dilutent was drawn into the syringe and then squirted into the powdered vaccine before being drawn back into the syringe.

Annika was involuntarily volunteered to be the one to sedate the cats. It was amusing to watch her because everytime a cat moved, she would almost shriek. It was entertaining. Kim got there later to give the anesthesia.

I opted to be the one who transferred them from the sedation room into the room where everything was going on. I think I like that area the most because I can see the cat's personalities. Some come in scared stiff to the point where injecting the anesthesia is incredibly easy. Others come in angry at the world and angry at us for taking them from their angry world. Others come in as stray pets that simply miss being loved and rub against fingers and syringes. Two came in with collars but no name tags. One had a microchip but it hadn't been registered. We checked for ear tips to show that some cats had already been through this trauma once already.

This time there were really little babies. They looked so tiny in the feral cat traps. Their personalities were so different from the adults. They seemed scared but inquisitive, as if they hadn't learned not to trust humans yet. They accepted it as an adventure.

Three had been sedated and surgery performed on but it was difficult bringing them out. So three others about the same side weren't done. It was risky. Because we couldn't guarantee that they would be caught to have a second chance.

It was an extremely long clinic. Last month, we did four hundred and nine cats over both Saturday and Sunday. But this time, we had four hundred and eleven dropped off. And we were doing them all in one day.

There weren't as many veterinarians as there were last month. For most of the day there were four but at one time there were only three. It was definitely daunting because last month there were like six. Dr. Henderson, Dr. Lalor, Dr. Wagner, and Dr. Goodman were performing the surgeries.

Most of the other volunteers and Kim left at four but I had decided that I would see it through to the end. I took over the bookkeeping aspect, logging down the genders of each of the remaining hundred or more cats, writing down which vet performed the spay on the females, and any medical conditions.

The genders were being shouted out by two other volunteers, Debbie and Rich, once the cats were sedated enough to be removed from the cage. Some had already been fixed.

Males were able to be done quickly because neutering is almost completely non-invasive. The scrotum was slit open and the testicle was squeezed out. Knots were tied in the tube and then the tube was cut. The knots were tucked back into the empty scrotum and stitches were done. Ocassionally there were some interesting neuters like undescended testicles which the doctors refered to as high flanking.

Females weren't as easy or quick. The surgery was delicate. An inch long slit was placed through the skin and abdominal wall. A hook was used to withdraw the fallopian tubes and ovaries. The pedicel was tied off and cut first. The uterus was drawn out and a knot was placed around the cervix. Once knotted, the entire uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries were removed. Stitches were placed in the abdominal wall followed by subcutaneous stitches. A small line of Vetbond was glued over the stitches. One female had a torn pedical. Another female had something called uteran unicornus which meant that the female only had one ovary.

Once down with the respective surgeries temperatures, breathing rates, and membrane colors were checked. The vaccines were distributed. Females and males with undescended testicles were given Buprenorphine for the pain post-op. Medical conditions were looked for and noted during that stage. Ears were tipped to show that they had been surgically sterilized to reduce the feral cat population's growth.

It is a myth that fleas can't occur in Vegas. But for some reason, they aren't seen in the pet population only the feral population. One of the kittens that I was warming back up after coming out of surgery had a flea on her.

Fleas were treated with Frontline, ear mites were treated with Ivermectin, and if they needed to be reversed out of anesthesia it was done withe Yobine.

The cats were then taken to another room where they were bathed and brushed. Some required some extra attention as they woke up. Ideally, they should be twitching their ears, blinking, or licking at their lips when placed back in the traps. But then again with so many cats, it was hard. So some volunteers watched them while they woke up in their traps to ensure everything was going okay.

It was alot of fun and exciting.

My Mission

A lot of my thoughts really don't make sense in this. I understand that. My train of thought is more like a train wreck. So I think I need to blatantly share my mission.

I want to change the world. The world of animals.

I want...

...To stop pain and suffering
...To end animal abuse so that no animal is ever touched in a cruel way.
...To end neglect and ensure that every pet will be fed and watered, granted access to a warm bed, and lots of love.
...Educate people on the proper care of their animals.
...Find a way to make veterinary medicine affordable so that no one will allow their animal to suffer on the
...Every stray and homeless pet to find homes so that feral cat clinics and animal shelters no longer need to exist.
...Make sure that the animal shelters that must remain have enough funding to find every dog a home.
...To end kill shelters.
...To bring animals back from the edge of death when no one else thought they would survive.
...To give every animal a chance to survive, no matter how big or small it is.
...To breed endangered species and bring those species back from the edge of extinction.
...To stop the illegal poaching
...To stop the destruction of natural land

I really don't want that much. Hahaha.

I don't know how I'll accomplish all of it but I'm gonna try.

Veterinary Medicine...

Last week, I went to a vet school presentation by a speaker from Cornell Vet School in New York. It was an informal presentation but it kinda got me thinking...

HOW CAN WE BE SO CONCEITED?

How the hell did I come away with that conclusion from a vet school presentation? Let me ask you this, what do you feel is the primary goal of a veterinarian?

This speaker continually refered to veterinary medicine as helping animals in order to better the lives of humans. Horse health became important when they were needed for transportation and work. Livestock health became important in order to create better quality food. Small animal medicine became important when pets came into our homes.

Why can't animals be cared about just because they exist? They have every right to live that we do yet we constantly threaten that right. So instead of taking care of animals so that they may better our lives, can we just better their lives? Without some human-related end goal.

The One Health Initiative was also mentioned by the speaker. One Health is a program that looks to combine all angles of medicine. Because everything is linked together. Humans rely on the animals for food while animals rely on the environment. It makes sense that in order to get a smooth stable world, each aspect needs to be worked with.

I just wish that humans weren't always the top priority. I want to do veterinary medicine because I want to change the lives of animals. Not just so that the animals can benefit the humans.

The Rat Pack

I was never a big fan of rats. Don't get me wrong I have a reason. And I think it's a really good reason.

At Petco, I would come in to see a rat lifting it's head out of the ribcage of a partially devoured dead rat. That image was forever implanted in my mind.

It didn't help that I was bitten by a Rex Rat when I worked at my current pet store. Rex is not short for T-Rex. But it would have fit considering how much blood he managed to draw. My manager thought I had murdered something. Rex Rats are known for their curly rough coat and curly whiskers.

After a while, I began to warm up to them. They weren't evil, gross, or carrying the Black Plague. But I still wasn't going to consider keeping one as a pet.

Until I met Six. Six came to me after killing a snake. The owner of the snake then wanted to kill him. So I took him. He was a mess. Covered in scratches and blood. The vet at Banfeild told me it was a neurological issue. But then Melissa taught me about rat mites. After treating him with ivermectin every three days and cleaning his cage every day, he was better. The name Six came about when Mom suggested Subject Six, the surviving rat from I Am Legend. He was a blue and white fancy rat. He was my grumpy old man but he rocked.




Six after taking a bath


Dopey was the second rat. He was also used at snake bait but surviving by killing the snake. I fell in love with his big Dumbo ears that moved as he ate and would pout with him if I passed the cage without giving him a treat. He was a gray Dumbo rat.

Black Rat was the third. He was actually Dopeys brother. But he had been isolated for what looked like blood coming from his eye. Rat tears are actually pigmented with red so it wasn't blood. Just a really teary eye. He went to the vet once in the five months that he was in isolation for some antibiotics that had no effect. When it got to the point that it was euthanization, I decided to bring him home. We had a lot of trouble with his name. I considered Sewer Rat, Bilge Rat, Scabbers, etc. But while I considered names we just called him Black Rat and it stuck.

Dizzy came next. He was a special one with that definitely had some neurological issues. He walked in circles and swayed his head back and forth. His name was pretty easy to think of.

Sadly, Rats only live a couple years so all four of the originals have passed.

I have two at the moment. The brothers that were dropped off at my doorstep in a bank box. At least I think they were brother because they were the same age and had very similar markings.

Weasley is a gray and white chunk of a Dumbo rat with a white stripe down his face. He is a greedy gut with a lot of spunk. He likes to chase the dogs and tease the cats.

Potter is another problem child. The black and white Dumbo rat has a white lightning stripe down his forehead earning him the Harry Potter name. But he never got chunky like his brother. Because his bottom incisors are growing too long and stabbing into the roof of his mouth. Causing infection and definitely making it painful for him to eat. My mom and I have been trimming his teeth frequently. In theory, if I kept his bottom teeth short, his upper teeth would come back in. But they haven't yet. I'm beginning to wonder if he even has upper teeth. So I'm hoping to save up some money to get him x-rayed to find out.

Puppy Mills Leave dogs with long term psychological damage in addition to physical

We all know about the deplorable conditions at puppy mills, where puppies are mass-produced for sale in retail pet stores or online. The breeding dogs are confined in small cages or enclosures for their whole lives, get virtually no exercise or kind human contact, and usually sleep in their own excrement and urine.

Sadly, on the occasion that these breeding dogs make it out of the mill and into foster or adoptive homes, life doesn’t just automatically turn around for them. According to a study of 1,169 dogs formerly used as breeders in puppy mills, the psychological damage can be long-lasting — or even lifelong.

It’s something those who work with puppy mill rescues have seen for years. But this large-scale study, by the Best Friends Animal Society and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, is the first of its kind, showing that even those mills approved by the government can be extremely damaging.

“The results of the study indicate it really doesn’t matter if the breeding operation claims to be shiny and clean, abiding by the laws, or even whether or not they are licensed by the USDA,” says Frank McMillan, lead researcher of the study and director of well-being studies for Best Friends. “This study gives us strong evidence that the dogs kept in these large-scale breeding facilities don’t just suffer while they’re confined there, but carry the emotional scars out with them for years even when they’re placed in loving homes. Many of the dogs show difficulty in simply coping successfully with normal day-to-day life.”

The cages were approx 1.5 feet high and 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide. The cage floors were of approx. 1.5″ x 1.5″ coated wire. No solid surface for support — just look at this poor Mama’s splayed paws, and long, untrimmed nails curling around the wire. And can you imagine how uncomfortable it must be for her to lie down? The piles in the foreground are feces.

The buildup of feces and urine were beyond comprehension … the urine puddle beneath the Mama Doxie was cheeselike in consistency. The collection tray was full of mold. … The foul odor and flies were beyond comprehension. I could not fathom this as being an acceptable, much less humane, way to raise man’s best friend. It made me sick to hear her whimpering as she looked at me … like what did I do to deserve this?

The study shows that former breeding dogs have greatly elevated levels of fears and phobias, strong compulsive and repetitive behaviors like pacing, increased sensitivity to being touched and picked up, and problems with house soiling.

Fortunately, many such dogs are able to overcome the damage with a lot of love and patience. But not all can.

“The saddest stories are those from the kindhearted people who adopt these dogs and work hard for years to give them love and acceptance. They’ll sometimes report that even after several years the dog will simply sit and stare blankly into space,” McMillan says. “They tell me that it’s like ‘he’s not really there,’ or that the little dog is reminiscent of a severely autistic child.”

The word “heartbreaking” does not come close to describing the damages inflicted by these places …

Disgust with Pet Stores... A certain one.

For Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, I am dissecting three lizards to compare and contrast the digestive tract of herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. My specimens are an Iguana, Bearded Dragon, and Savannah Monitor.

Now this wasn't my original intended dissection. Originally I wanted to do a dissection of a reptile with Metabolic Bone Disease to show how the disease affected the skeleton of the reptile.

But finding dead reptiles is surprisingly difficult expecially when wanting such a specific specimen. Vets didn't keep bodies.

So I began to get a little desperate. I decided that I would secure some reptilian specimens and then build a project based on what specimen or specimens I could get. I tried pet stores. And one came through for me. Exotic Pets. Yes, it was beneficial to me but it also disgusted me to know how many dead animals were in their freezer. Two hedgehogs, an anaconda, a ball python, an iguana, a bearded dragon, a skink, and an ornate uromastyx. I found it a little disgruntling. But I needed specimens and now I had them.

I decided to use the Bearded Dragon and Iguana to compare the digestive tracts. Then I came across the monitor completing the three types of digestion.

But out of curiosity, I dissected them all.

The bearded dragon most likely died of an upper respiratory infection because it's lungs were filled with mucus. The lungs had a volume of 50 cc. Thirty of that was the mucus which I squeezed out. If he was that bad internally, then there were obvious visible symptoms that had to have been ignored. Upper respiratory presents with labored bearthing (often audible), mucus (from nose and mouth), and general lethergy.

The skink was a questionable species. I was told it was a schneider's skink. But from references, schnieder's skinks were supposed to be extremely tubular with short legs. The specimen on the table, was extremely thin and legs looked too long. When he was cut open, I released why he was so anorexic. His abdomen was filled with worms. Parastic worms were along the intestine, inside the stomach, and inside the lungs.

Now I know that I probably wasn't getting healthy specimens. Healthy specimens wouldn't have died. But at the same time, these animals didn't have to die either. Both conditions were treatable had the symptoms been noticed. Or worse, maybe they were noticed but ignored.

Now besides their dead animals, they have a lot of audacity.

Every time that I've stepped into their store, there has been something dead. Turtles, snakes, lizards, insects. And they'll insist that it's not dead but it is. Because it's not breathing, it's liver is black from decomp, and it smells something awful.

Then, they'll sell animals close to death. They've sold someone a snake that died within twenty four hours of leaving the store. But that's probably why they don't have a health quarantee on their animals. Because they know it's sick and dying.

What I don't understand it why Ken Foose is so respected by the herpetological world when his store is such a shame. He has an article in every Reptiles USA magazine describing the care of different herp species. Why would someone trust his word when there are so many things dying in his store.

I have stopped going there.

Why I'm doing this....

Not the blog. The blog is for fun.

Why am I swimming upstream?

Why am I knowingly going to school for fourteen hours a day, struggling in math classes that I know I can't get more than a passing grade in, dissecting animals to compare digestive tracts, and researching animals?

Because I need to be a vet. More specifically, I need to be an exotics vet.

There are plenty of vets available to treat your dogs and cats. But there aren't many to turn to when your reptile, small animal, or bird gets sick. I have so many horror stories of vets that will not admit their incompetence but it becomes evident.

...Googling treatments for a hamster with wet tail. Seriously, Google.
...Prescribing Ivermectin to a leopard gecko as a precaution when the medication could potentially kill it.
...Mistaking fecal matter as eggs in a snake that never met a male.
...Mistaking rat mites for a neurological disorder.
...Ordering the euthanization of a rat with red tears.
...Ignoring overgrown teeth as a reason of weight loss.
...Mistaking the hairless spot behind the ear of a guinea pig for ringworm.
...Rather than giving a longshot animal a chance, they immediately want to euthanize it.

Not only are there issues with the diagnoses and treatments but the prices. For an exotic animal consultation, it tends to be fifty dollars. Fifty dollars just to be in the same room as a vet. That doesn't include any testing or treatments.

...Fifty dollars to trim overgrown teeth.
...Twenty dollars to clip bird wings.
...Eight hundred dollars to let a frog sit in warm water til he pooped.

There is also the vet that looks at you and pegs you for a sucker and tries to milk you dry by running up the costs of tests and treatments that may not even be necessary.

Then there is my ultimate favorite. The vet who is seemingly trying to be nice by saving you money. But asks you... "Why not just buy another one."

Why would I rather take my animals to the vet and spend large amounts of money when I could by a new one for a fraction of the consultation price?

Because these are my pets. They are just as much of a family member as a dog or cat. And they deserve just as much love and care.

Scribbles for a Cause

I've been drawing and painting since I could remember and probably before then. I am talented but only with one focal point. Animals. I donate the art to rescues to raise money for their causes.

I have donated my kitten drawings to Homeward Bound and Foreclosed Upon Pets. The artwork is sold to raise money for vaccinations, spaying and neutering, food, and litter. I try to draw or paint cats similar to the ones in their adoption centers when the creative mood strikes. Both rescues take in cats abandoned during foreclosures, financial distress, and marital issues. The rescue gives these cats a foster home when they have none and then finds forever homes for them.

Jackson was a large Maine Coon with special needs due to his allergy to chicken.

Dinah was a sweetheart but terribly afraid of the world and it made her defensive yet through fostering she has come along way.

Colossal Canine Care has been able to auction off my puppy drawings and paintings. Despite their name, they don't take in just the larger dogs but all sizes of dogs are welcome.

They rescued a king malamute named Balto and found him a forever home.

Max Sadler was used as a bait dog for dog fighting rings until rescued by Colossal Canine Care.

Gavin and Pete were two boxer puppies struck by a mysterious illness that required blood transfusions. Colossal Canine Care pulled them through and found them homes.

I have an ocean life series that I plan to donate proceeds to the Sea Shepherds.



I do also have a wildlife series with over sixty drawings of endangered and vulnerable species. Any money from those go to the World Wildlife Fund.

It's not money. I understand that people don't have money to spare. But there are are ways to help without giving up money. Like donating artwork. Every little bit of help counts.

Extinctions...

WWF and the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) confirmed the extinction of the Javan rhinoceros in Vietnam on October 25, 2011.
A WWF report concludes:

• Poaching was likely the cause of death. The last rhino was found with a bullet in its leg and its horn removed.
• Ineffective protection by the park was ultimately the cause of extinction.
• Illegal hunting for wildlife trade continues to threaten many species in Vietnam including the tiger, Asian elephant and saola.

The Javan rhinoceros was believed to be extinct from mainland Asia, but in 1988 one was hunted and lead to the discovery of a small population.
In 2004, a survey conducted by WWF, Cat Tien National Park and Queen’s University in Canada revealed at least two rhinos were living in the park. The report suggests that one of the individuals was lost between then and the beginning of WWF’s survey in 2009.
Hope for Javan rhinos in IndonesiaThere are still Javan rhinos left in the wild. As few as 40 critically endangered rhinos live in a small national park in Indonesia. The protection and expansion of this remaining population is crucial for the survival of the rhinos.
WWF is working to:

• protect the remaining Javan rhinos from poaching
• monitor the existing population
• establish a second population through translocation, which establishes different populations of a species in more than one area

Partners in these efforts include the Indonesian government, the International Rhino Foundation, the Indonesian Rhino Foundation, the IUCN/SSC Rhino Specialist Group, Aaranyak, the Eijkman Institute and local communities.

Once again, we are killing other animals. We need to make a change.... One step in the right direction, was Tiger Summit, a gathering held in Russia by the prime minister regarding the populations of tiger. Every one of the seven remaining species of tiger has been declared extinct. The populations are being decimated by illegal poaching and habitat fragmentation. At Tiger Summit though, it was decided to stop encroaching on the natural habitat and more strongly enforce punishment on poaching. This was the largest meeting regarding a non-human issue. It's a step. But we can't just worry about the animal poster children. Species go extinct before we even discover them. Every life matters, from the tiniest lizard to the largest whale. Even the bugs... We have to care.

Save a life. Adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue.



About 50% of the dogs that come into the shelter as "owner surrenders" or "strays",
are purebred dogs. I hear a variety of excuses from the owners of these dogs.
The most common excuses heard are:

#1 "We're moving and can't take our dog/cat with us."
Really? Where is this place that doesn't allow pets? Why not put a little effort into
finding a place where your pets are allowed?

#2 "The dog got bigger than we thought it would and we just don't have the room."
Just how big did you think a German Shepherd would get? Did you even think to ask?

#3 "We don't have time for her".
Why not? I go to school for a fourteen hour day and still have time for my dogs!

#4 "She keeps tearing up our yard".
How about letting her come inside with the pack that is her family?

They tell me :
"We don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her."
How stressful do you think being left at the shelter is?

"We know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".
The odds are your pet won't get adopted.

Let me remind you that your pet has 72 hours to find a new family... that time starts
the moment you drop it off. Sometimes, if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages
to stay completely healthy, maybe a little longer. But if it so much as sniffles, it dies.
Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other confused,
barking and/or crying animals.

It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry
constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, there will have enough volunteers
that day to take him/her for a walk. If there isn't, any attention your pet gets will be from
having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its concrete
pen with a high-powered hose.

If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty
much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.
If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough and is a desirable enough breed, it may
get a stay of execution... not for long though. Most get very protective of their kennel after
about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in
this environment. A dog perceives what happened to him this way: He had a nice home and
it was his job to protect it. One day you brought him here and left him. Therefore, he is in this
kennel for failing to protect his home. The kennel is his home now.. it's all he has and as horrible
as it is, if he doesn't protect it, he will be taken away again. He protects his kennel and now
he will die for doing his job. Would that confuse you?

If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper
respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay
for treatment.

Now that you know that there's about a 90% chance that your dog will NOT leave the
shelter with the loving, forever family you thought it would, will you find a way to keep it?

If not, here's a little "Euthanasia 101" for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly
healthy, scared animal being "put-down". First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash.
They always think they are going for a walk... happy, wagging their tails, until they get to
"The Room". Every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when they get to the door.
It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls lingering in there. It's strange, but it
happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, or held down by 1 or 2
vet techs, depending on their size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a
vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the
"pink stuff".

Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk away. The needles
tear out of a leg and cover me with blood. The yelps and screams are deafening.
They don't all "just go to sleep". Sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate
on themselves. When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large
freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed... waiting to be picked up
like garbage. That's all your pet is now.

So. What happens next? Cremation, taken to the dump, rendered into pet food? Any of these
could happen but you'll never know. Why would it even cross your mind? You left it here to
die... it was just an animal... you can always get another one, right?

9 to 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you
can stop it.

DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

-stolen from unknown author

Desert Tortoises

I have a desert tortoise. His name is Tortuga.

Desert tortoises are Nevada's state reptile.

Not many people appreciate desert tortoises. Every summer, people come across them and bring them into Petsmart to get some more information about them. It is against the law to take a desert tortoise from the desert. But it is becoming more common for the tortoises to cross into neighborhoods as construction destroys their natural habitat. So it's best to be familiar with the species while living in Las Vegas.

My favorite customer interaction regarding desert tortoises... After I removed the desert tortoise from the bowl full of water...
"This is a desert tortoise, an endangered species." I informed them.
"What's endangered mean?"
"That it's in danger of going extinct." I replied.
"What's extinct mean?"
"That if they die, there will be no more." I sighed, cursing the lack of knowledge regarding the fragility of the natural world.

Gopherus agassizii, the desert tortoise, is a tortoise species native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. They are able to live in areas where ground temperatures can get higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit due to their burrowing behavior. They are herbivores that eat grasses, herbs, wildflowers, cactus, and soil. They get their water from the foods they eat and concentrate their urine to conserve moisture which is precious in the desert.

Female desert tortoises lay three to five eggs. Unlike other reptiles who have leathery eggs, the eggs of the desert tortoise are hard to prevent water loss. Ravens, gila monsters, foxes, badgers, roadrunners, and coyotes often prey on these few eggs before they are even able to hatch. they have a high mortality rate as juveniles. Threats to adult tortoises is habitat destruction and illegal collection. The populations have declined by as much as ninety percent. The species is listed as threatened.

Very few baby tortoises survive to adulthood. Please do not risk losing the species by being a danger to those adults that do survive.

It is possible to adopt captive tortoises through the Tortoise Adoption Program.

The Leopard Geckos

Originally, I didn't like leopard geckos. I didn't mind them but they weren't something I was going to keep myself. The little ones always hissed and acted like they were going to bite. They aren't very intimidating when they are only three inches. But I didn't like their attitudes.

Until I met House, the most incredible leopard gecko ever with the most horrible story. Someone brought this leopard gecko into work with his intestines dragging through sand. NEVER house two male reptiles together. It ends badly. His name was Killer and the other gecko had ripped his abdomen open. The owner had allowed the gecko to stay like that, walking around with the aggressive gecko still attacking him and his intestines dragging through the sand for three days, before he decided to do something about it. And what he does, is brings it to a Petsmart. Not a vet, but a Petsmart. My reaction... Take it to a damn vet before it dies, moron. I kept it more PG than what I really said. Of course, being an irresponsible pet owner, he didn't want to spend the money to take the leopard gecko to the vet. So I took Killer. And renamed him House after Dr. House. It was nine o clock and no vets were open. So I used a saline wash and betadine to rinse out as much sand as possible before bandaging everything within the belly. I took him to the vet the next day where they told me that there was nothing that could be done and he was going to die. I couldn't really afford the cost of euthanasia so I took him home. Melissa and I cleaned the wound further and stitched him up. He actually laid really still and did not struggle even though I'm sure it hurt without any sedatives. His lack of reaction either meant he was a really mellow gecko or he was too far gone to even notice what was going on. I fed him Repti-Aid with antibiotics twice a day. His energy picked up and he did manage to hunt crickets on his own but he wouldn't keep the bandage around the stitches to keep the area clean. One cleaning, he struggled and part of the intestine came out through the stitches. the intestine began to turn purple from lack of circulation. The stitches were hastily removed to free the trapped tissue. Brent stitched the wound back up. The wound healed and I removed the stitches. But three months later, he passed. Guessing from some sort of slow building infection. But I tried and that's what mattered. And his tought spirit made me fall in love with him and leopard geckos.

Gojira was intended to be House's girlfriend but he passed before they ever got to know eachother. She isn't as handleable as House was. She's a lot more nervy. But not skittish, not scared. Just sassy and full of attitude. She will let you hold her on her terms and her terms only. But she doesn't bite.

Pudge came from Petsmart with no tail. She doesn't heave a tail. Rather she has this big bulge that one could almost mistake for a second head. She is mellow but a little scared sometimes.

Ghidorah is the male that I got from Jennifer and Charles. He's beautiful with a purple tail and a yellow body. He has been losing some weight since he came to my house but we're working on getting him fat and happy again.

Rodan is a royal brat. She definitely bites. No matter how much I handle her. In fact, the only way to handle her is if she has me in her mouth, then she'll sit happy in my hands. But it's like a pinch and not too painful. I keep her around because she is like a komodo dragon when eating. She eats pinkies and anything she can with a voracious appetite.

Godzilla is a jungle pattern leopard gecko. More spots then any of the others. I stole the name from Jennifer and Charles other leopard gecko.

Kilojara is the baby. A customer had brought in a pair of eggs and gave them to me. I put them in my incubator and waited. One egg began to decay so I didn't have much hope for the other. But sure enough, it eventually hatched out a baby leopard gecko. It is missing part of an eyelid and the eyes are missized but doesn't effect it at all. It loves life.

The Crested Geckos

Spike was my first crested gecko. He isn't the most prime example of a crested gecko. He never can put on weight. But he's a mellow happy little critter. He's an orange tiger.

Trickle I got from Jennifer and Charles. She's a olive green harlequin with dalmation spots.

After a couple months of love-hate relationship, Trickle laid a pair of eggs. Two months later, Sticky and Wicked hatched. They couldn't be more different than night from day. Wicked is a olive tiger with spots with a mellow laidback attitude. Sticky is an orange tiger with spots and he's trouble especially when he climbs up my wall to the ceiling.

Nine I actually got from last year's reptile show for nine dollars hence the name. He's an orange and brown harlequin. He's an infertile male that just chills with Trickle during times when I don't want breeding.

The Corn Snakes

Mouser is an Okeetee corn snake about twelve years old. She was the first snake.

Slytherin is an Anery corn snake. We got him three years after Mouser.

Tavi is the offspring of Mouser and Slytherin. He's dominantly Okeetee.

Ghost is a ghost anery corn snake. Old picture. She's all grown up now.

Butters is the hatchling butter corn snake. Can't find a picture of her at the moment.

Toast is the yearling butter corn snake. She was a gift from Amanda

Sunkist is a motley bloodred corn snake.

I've had two oddball corn snakes. Both hatched out deformed. Pretzel was the original deformity. She was an okeetee hatchling out of Slytherin and Mouser. She had several bends in her spine to the point where she honestly looked like a pretzel. Her scales sealed her in that shape. Exotic Pets told me the most humane thing to do would be euthanize her. But I couldn't. She had an incredible personality. So I force fed her. She could eat the mouse, have it pass through her digestive tract, and then poop. After eight months of forcefeeding, she did decide to eat on her own. She survived an entire year.

SideFlopper is the current deformity. He is an anery hatchling out of Slytherin and Ghost. He hatched out with several kinks in his spine as well but the ventral side of his kinks had no scales, just pink stringy muscle. An even more unelikely survivor. The open flesh was a possible point for infection if the kinks didn't keep him from eating. I was surprised when he pooped the yolk out with no issues. So I helped him shed his first time and forcefed. A little early. I probably could have waited to see if he would eat on his own. But in all honesty, I didn't want to waste time on trying to get him to eat if he would never be able to digest the food. Yet he did. And he's growing nicely with the forcefeeding. he has shed three times and each time he's shed, the exposed pink tissue has been covered by scales. He no longer has any pink showing. The scales are very scattered and irregular there but they cover and protect his tender flesh. Crossing my fingers that he will eat on his own.