Where have you been hiding all my life?
Our Stonecrest location has several resident cats: Lily (aka, the Matriarch), Lulu and Tweed.
Lily was an unexpected new employee who sneaked into my heart and joined our team. I opened the hospital in January of 2000, a cold, snowy and icy month. When I got home one evening during the first few days after we opened, I heard a cat meowing in the stairwell of my temporary apartment. I called out, and a cute head peered over the third-floor railing and looked down at me. By the time I climbed the first landing, this adorable brown tabby cat – doing her best imitation of a Garfield face – came to greet me without any fear. I told her that I was going to my door and if she wanted a warm place and some food for the night, she should follow me. She tiptoed and zigzagged effortlessly through the melting ice, being sure to step only on the bare patches and not on the ice.
The next day, I put up signs everywhere in the vicinity looking for her owner. Several days later, a message was left on my machine by someone who had been feeding her for two weeks during the snowstorm and who was hoping I had found her owner. The owner never responded to the fliers, so I made the easy decision that Lily would become the first of a line of cats to find a home at my office.
You can still see Lily at the office lightly tiptoeing and navigating among buzzing employees, in between mops and around dogs with swishing tails to make her way to her favorite of all favorite spots – a newly emptied cardboard box. I hope that you enjoy seeing Lily from time to time as much as I enjoy scratching her daily under her Garfield jowls.
~ Ken Schoolmeester
The most affectionate creature in the world
The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog. – Ambrose Bierce
VPI, the largest pet insurance company, recently released the 10 most common health problems for dogs and cats based on its database of more than 485,000 insured pets. Looking at the ailments for dogs, it’s not surprising that an ear infection is the most commonly reported problem. I see more ear infections in the summer for several reasons, but one main one is: Dogs love to get wet! They swim to exhaustion, splash through muddy puddles during a downpour or run through the sprinklers trying to drink at the ever-elusive source. I’m sure this is not a revelation to the owners of any Labrador retriever. (It’s funny that with all this love for water, just mention the word “bath” to any dog and you’ll have to chase him around the house first before wrestling him into the tub.)
Remember, whenever the top of a dog’s head is wet, its ears are also wet. Dogs need to be dried off, especially in the ears, to help prevent infections. One easy way to do this is to squeeze a small amount of rubbing alcohol from a cotton ball into the ear and rub for a few seconds; the alcohol causes the water to evaporate.
Remember this simple tip when you are lounging around the pool or lake. Your dog will be happier, and so will you – because you won’t be visiting me as often.
~ Ken Schoolmeester
