This year has been an annus horribilis, in every sense of the phrase.
In April, J's beloved grandfather passed away. A couple of weeks later, in May, his stepsister also left us. On Memorial Day, my father had an aneurysm burst while on a tour in Sedona, Arizona. After being in a coma for four weeks in a Phoenix, AZ ICU, he also passed away.
My dad's death has come right in the middle of our purchasing a house. Unfortunately, my dad had moved to Arizona from Germany only a year ago, after taking a job here. He was a US citizen, he had been living in Germany on a work visa, but he lived there for about six years, and still had bank accounts and a flat there. As well as bank accounts in Australia (where he lived before Germany) and who knows where else.
After flying to Arizona twice, I will now need to fly to Germany to get probate started there, and to clean out his flat and ship everything back here.
Considering everything I need to do with the new house, settling my dad's estate, and regular life things (which have fallen woefully by the wayside even though I am valiantly struggling to keep up with everything), it is unlikely that I will get back to regular blogging until the fall. Possibly late fall.
I will try to keep everyone updated and post a thing or two, even if it is totally unrelated to Inus.
I'm sorry to my regular readers, and I hope in light of everything, you will forgive me and see fit to become regular readers again when I can once more become a regular blogger.
I hope everyone is well.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
American Pets Are Fat
American dogs are fat. 90% of the dogs I see in the clinic could stand to lose at least 5 pounds, and practically all the dogs I see have a weight gain over last year.
Like their owners, American dogs eat too much and don't get enough exercise. And just like their owners, the ultimate results of being chronically overweight can be the same: Diabetes, joint problems, breathing problems, heart disease.
I noticed Science Diet has a type of "Jenny Craig" program for dogs - pre-packaged portions in a box.
The host of TV's The Biggest Loser has come up with her own weight-loss program for pets, after being informed that her Boston Terrier could stand to slim down.
"Everyone wants to fix the problem without having to change habits," she said.
I agree.
Fat dogs and cats are SO alarmingly common that many people who have pets in the normal weight range come to the clinic with concerns that their pets are too skinny. Of the 10% of people who have animals with a healthy weight, more than half of them will express concerns that they think their companion isn't eating enough, isn't eating a food with a high enough calorie content, or that something must in some way be wrong with them because they believe their pets are underweight. What's even more shocking, to me, is the fact that all of them, upon being assured by a veterinarian that their animals are at a great, healthy weight, express disbelief.
It's interesting to me that in a culture where body image issues are so prevalent, and we have more people than ever being diagnosed with eating disorders because they think they are too fat is the same culture that can look an obese pet and see nothing wrong.
Weird.
The flip side of the problem is the fact that pet food companies try to make a One-Guide-Fits-All feeding table on every formula, and it doesn't work that way. It causes confusion, which often leads to overfeeding.
I hope the Biggest Loser Pets program raises awareness about pet obesity. So many companion animals could be living much longer, healthier lives with less money spent on chronic health problems if their average weight was, well, average. It's really very sad to me when I see someone who has an obese Labrador and they proudly announce, "My dog weighs 140 pounds!" As though it is something amazing, to be boasted of when really the poor dog is about 70 pounds overweight and can barely move. The American Bigger is Better myth pervades, and it is costing our pets years off of their lives.
Like their owners, American dogs eat too much and don't get enough exercise. And just like their owners, the ultimate results of being chronically overweight can be the same: Diabetes, joint problems, breathing problems, heart disease.
I noticed Science Diet has a type of "Jenny Craig" program for dogs - pre-packaged portions in a box.
The host of TV's The Biggest Loser has come up with her own weight-loss program for pets, after being informed that her Boston Terrier could stand to slim down.
"Everyone wants to fix the problem without having to change habits," she said.
I agree.
Fat dogs and cats are SO alarmingly common that many people who have pets in the normal weight range come to the clinic with concerns that their pets are too skinny. Of the 10% of people who have animals with a healthy weight, more than half of them will express concerns that they think their companion isn't eating enough, isn't eating a food with a high enough calorie content, or that something must in some way be wrong with them because they believe their pets are underweight. What's even more shocking, to me, is the fact that all of them, upon being assured by a veterinarian that their animals are at a great, healthy weight, express disbelief.
It's interesting to me that in a culture where body image issues are so prevalent, and we have more people than ever being diagnosed with eating disorders because they think they are too fat is the same culture that can look an obese pet and see nothing wrong.
Weird.
The flip side of the problem is the fact that pet food companies try to make a One-Guide-Fits-All feeding table on every formula, and it doesn't work that way. It causes confusion, which often leads to overfeeding.
I hope the Biggest Loser Pets program raises awareness about pet obesity. So many companion animals could be living much longer, healthier lives with less money spent on chronic health problems if their average weight was, well, average. It's really very sad to me when I see someone who has an obese Labrador and they proudly announce, "My dog weighs 140 pounds!" As though it is something amazing, to be boasted of when really the poor dog is about 70 pounds overweight and can barely move. The American Bigger is Better myth pervades, and it is costing our pets years off of their lives.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Oldest American Domesticated Dog Was Dinner
Samuel Belknap was looking for food and diet data of ancient peoples when he made an unintended discovery: The fossilized remains of the New World's oldest domesticated dog to date.
The skull fragment and foot bone of the dog was part of someone's dinner 9,400 years ago in what is now Texas.
The remains lead researchers to believe that the dog was cared for by people before it was butchered for food, meaning that it was domesticated. Analysis at the University of Oklahoma confirm that the remains are indeed dog, not wolf or fox.
The skull fragment and foot bone of the dog was part of someone's dinner 9,400 years ago in what is now Texas.
The remains lead researchers to believe that the dog was cared for by people before it was butchered for food, meaning that it was domesticated. Analysis at the University of Oklahoma confirm that the remains are indeed dog, not wolf or fox.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Competition
During my month-long hiatus from the blogging world, I noticed something at work.
We were getting a lot puppies from a place I'd never heard of before.
As it turns out, a new puppy selling store has opened in the farmer's market down the street. I'm not sure if they are referring customers to us or if people are just finding the closest veterinarian within a ten-mile radius and we're it, but for some reason a high number of them are coming through the clinic.
The puppies we've seen so far are in good health.
The myriad of breeders the dogs are coming from are all from PA, and mostly from Lancaster.
One year after the legislation meant to shut down the puppy mill capitol of the world, the puppy mill capitol of the world is still producing puppies. It doesn't logically follow that just because all these dogs are from Lancaster, they must be coming out of puppy mills, or at least not out of puppy mills as most of us who are aware of them think of them. For all I know, the puppy millers have just downgraded their operations. One of the other tricks they use is to use family members as owners. "Oh, I don't own any dogs. These are my son's dogs. Those are my daughter's dogs. Those are my wife's dogs. Those are my dad's dogs." And so it goes. There are loopholes in everything.
What really bothers me is that a lot of people who put their voices against the PA puppy mills have gone silent, thinking that last January's law had solved the problem.
So what now?
The puppies we've seen so far are in good health.
The myriad of breeders the dogs are coming from are all from PA, and mostly from Lancaster.
One year after the legislation meant to shut down the puppy mill capitol of the world, the puppy mill capitol of the world is still producing puppies. It doesn't logically follow that just because all these dogs are from Lancaster, they must be coming out of puppy mills, or at least not out of puppy mills as most of us who are aware of them think of them. For all I know, the puppy millers have just downgraded their operations. One of the other tricks they use is to use family members as owners. "Oh, I don't own any dogs. These are my son's dogs. Those are my daughter's dogs. Those are my wife's dogs. Those are my dad's dogs." And so it goes. There are loopholes in everything.
What really bothers me is that a lot of people who put their voices against the PA puppy mills have gone silent, thinking that last January's law had solved the problem.
So what now?
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