Summer School.

Well today was my first day of summer school at TCC. I am taking Anotomy and Phisiology I this session. I had quite a bit of anxiety about this class because I did so poorly in my last science class(Biology for Science Majors I). But now that I have gone to class I realized what I knew in the back of my mind all along. I had a really horrible teacher for my Biology class. My Professor this time is great! She takes time to go through everything and makes sure we understand it. I am really looking foward to class and I am sure I will be able to come away with an A! I need to get over my anxiety anyway if I want to be a biology major and I think this class is going to be my stepping off point for that. I like her so much I am going to check my list for fall and see if she is teaching A&P II in the fall semester. I hope I will have time to keep everyone posted on the blog but this is a hard class and it goes really fast in the summer. We have a test every week in lecture and a practical every 3 weeks in lab. I will keep you all posted on my grade!

Puppy Mills are Evil

I recently watched an episode of Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel that was about Puppy Mills. A rescue organization asked Cesar to come help them with a couple of dogs that they had rescued from a puppy mill that, of course, had some pretty serious behavior problems. One dog was a Pekinese that bit anyone who tried to touch her or the person that was holding her and the other was a Yorkshire terrier that obsessively licked the face and hands of whoever was holding her. Cesar was, of course, able to fix both of these dogs and they found great homes.


There were cameras on the people that went into the mill and the conditions that these dogs live in is deplorable. The adult breeders (that is all they are in the eyes of the people who run these places) live their entire lives in a small cage. They never come out, EVER. The practice is legal but there are some rules; such as the mills are only allowed to have 100 dogs at a time. 100 dogs! The dogs they breed have every conceivable congenital defect there is and yet they keep breeding them. I saw a yorkie that had such bad knees that she was unable to stand normally. I saw a couple of Shih-Tzu’s that had horrible entropian (the eyelashes go into the eye instead of away from it scratching the eye), it was so bad that the dogs had permanent ulcers on their corneas. Both of these dogs had litters of pups with them. Dogs from puppy mills are more likely to have hip dysplaysia (look it up), elbow dysplaysia, and dental disease among many other diseases that will be problematic for both the dog in terms of discomfort and the owner in terms of cost to fix and maintain these problems. Not to mention the dogs get no socialization and the puppies are taken away from their mothers and siblings at four to five weeks of age most of the time to be shipped off to pet stores to be sold. I cannot tell you how bad this is for dogs. They need to spend at least eight weeks with their mother and siblings if not ten weeks. This is the time when dogs learn social skills they need for the rest of their lives from their mother and siblings. This experience cannot be simulated by humans. No wonder the dog whisperer is so popular! He has to help all of these dogs that could have learned proper social skills from their own dog family.



I am really writing this blog to reach as many people as possible about the horrors of puppy mills. The dogs are basically tortured for as long as they can spit out litters of unhealthy puppies and then killed when they are no longer of any use. These puppies get sold to pet stores where people buy them by the thousands every year. As long as there are people to buy puppies at pet stores there will be puppy mills to make them. The pet stores are as much at fault. They sell supposedly healthy puppies to the unsuspecting public…wait, I hate to not put the public on the hook here. They should do some research before they buy any dog. It is best to adopt from a shelter or a breed rescue, these are people that dedicate their lives to rescuing a certain breed from shelters or they get dogs from people that can no longer keep their purebred dog and then match the dog to a better home. If you must buy a dog go to a reputable breeder (these are not online) and ask to see both of the parents. The dogs should be raised one litter at a time in someone’s home. The pups should be clean and happy. The parents should be free of defects and the breeder should have paper work certifying the health of both parents. The temperament of both parents should be impeccable as this is definitely passed from generation to generation. Before you get a dog do a little research. Find out what the energy level of that breed is and make sure if you get a high energy dog you are willing to exercise the dog everyday. Do not get a high energy dog and then take it to the shelter when it eats your couch out of frustration because you can’t or won’t exercise it properly! Do not get a breed that needs to go to a groomer every six weeks or needs it coat brushed every day if you are not prepared to spend the money on grooming or the time on brushing leaving the dog to be matted and filthy all of the time. They don’t like being dirty anymore than you do.



Finally I would really love to see puppy mills outlawed. This is cruelty to animals and should not be allowed to go on any longer. Most of you are probably saying “Don’t we have enough problems in this world?” This is true but these dogs are innocent that don’t want anything more than to be fed and near us. I think they deserve better. We have shaped them over thousands of years to suit our needs and I think it is time they get a break. I have been a Veterinary Technician for 15 years now and everyday I am at work I see an endless parade of dogs. It is pretty easy to tell which ones came form a puppy mill and which ones didn’t. It makes me sad everyday that this horrible disservice is being done to these wonderful creatures that we are supposed to take care of. I will leave you with a couple of pictures I found online of puppy mills. I warn you I spared you the worst of them but they are pretty sad. If you want to help just type Puppy Mill into your search engine and you will find countless sites that are trying to get this stopped as well as ways you can help. The best way is educating the public on what is really going on and where those cute little “puppies in the window” came from.



Lastly I want to drill this into your head; MILLIONS OF DOGS ARE EUTHANIZED EVERY YEAR!!! SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG!!! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BREED THEM! YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THAT IS WHAT PBS IS FOR! IF THEY NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THEN THEY MUST ALSO NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF A PILE OF 140 DEAD DOGS. THIS IS HOW MANY DOGS ARE KILLED IN EVERY SHELTER IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

Apology.

I want to apologize to any of my new found followers who just received a million emails saying I had posted something new. I did post something new, the photo blog of Doggie day camp. It was really hard and I had no idea that would take forever. Plus it did not look the same on the actual blog as it did in the preview. So I had to go back a million times to redo the wording under the pictures so you could read it. I learned some lessons on photo blogging and hopefully it won't happen again. Again I apologize..please keep reading!!! I love to read the comments you guys leave. Thanks so much for your patience!

Doggie Day Camp at Aunt Lisa's + Dinner for the Humans.

Yesterday I went to my pal Lisa's house for dinner. She made rotisserie chicken, which was quite delicious, and on the side we had some creamy twice baked mashed potatoes, sweet carrots, corn and rolls (it was a carb feast! Lisa's got the pregnant). I was able to see my friend Jeska and her daughter Avery who I havn't seen in a while (Avery is gigantic!). It was really great to see them and we had a great time catching up on stuff and watching Avery bounce on the giant ottoman Lisa has in her living room. We also got to watch some creepy Disney show where some teenage boy slowly turned into a merperson (politically correct term for mermaid) .....really wierd. I hope beyond all hope that I never have to see a teenage boy wearing a speedo again. Anyway while we were feasting, chatting and marveling at the wierd Disney merperson movie inside, the dogs were enjoying doggie day camp at Lola's house outside. I got some great shots of them running and socializing so I thought I would show them off here. I wish I could share some photos of the humans but it is really dark in Lisa's house (think cave) So taking pictures in there is close to impossible especially with my amature photography skills.

I took along the whole pack except for Violet AKA "The Destroyer of the Peace". When we first got there Daddy and Lola RAN!

And ran.....



And ran.....



And ran.....


And ran some more....


And crashed into each other...(Pretty funny)


Then it was time for a break in the pool.



Lily the senior didn't do much running, but definatly enjoyed the pool time.



After the pool break there was lots more running!



Even wee Stan Lee got in on the running, however he didn't last long and was pretty gimpy at the end of the day.




After the running there was some time for nice conversation. I am not sure, but it seems to be romantic in nature.




New alliances were forged.



Stan found a ball and some shade under the trailer in the back. (Lisa is showing her Oklahoma roots no offense girl you know that is funny!)








After all were worn out it was time for some modeling poses. Lily and suki were pretty low key during all of this and I am not sure how I didn't get cute photos of them but oh well there are plenty of those to go around.

Daddy looking quite debonaire.




Lola, quite shiek and very Hollywood as usual.



Stan Lee is REALLY cute here!




All in all we had a wonderful day. I was able to see my friends, that I never get to see, and I had really tired pack of dogs by the time I got home. Thanks Lisa for the great dinner that I didn't have to make myself. It was so good to see you guys! I hope everyone enjoys the pictures! This is my first photo blog....I am sure there will be many to follow!

The Legalazation of Industrial Hemp

Today I watched a little video on MSNBC about industrial hemp and its current ban in the U.S. I am greatly disturbed by the apparent lack of common sense put forth by the U.S. government regarding its use. We import millions of pounds of the stuff from Canada and France every year but we continue to be the only country in the world that doesn’t grow it. It was made illegal in the 1950’s as the start of the “war on drugs”. Hemp contrary to popular belief is not cannabis (marijuana). It does contain a small amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, but you would have to smoke a telephone pole sized joint to get high and really all you would likely end up with is a whopper of a headache.
The fibers produced from hemp are very strong and the seeds are very high in omega three fatty acids. Hemp is used to make a lot of things including but certainly not limited to; gloves, clothes, soap, lotion and car parts. Here is an example; the American car we know as the Viper (coincidentally built by the company Chrysler…yeah that one that is bankrupt now) gets its door panels from an independent company. This company makes the door panels out of hemp. The company that makes the door panels has to buy the hemp needed for the doors from France and Canada. The CEO of the company says that doing this adds ten to fifteen percent to the cost of the car. Currently all of the money we spend every year on products made from hemp, Millions, goes to other countries that we have to buy the hemp from.
Hemp is cheaper to grow than cotton because it doesn’t need fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides; it basically grows like a weed. As the taxes on tobacco continue to rise in the U.S., hemp is a viable growing option for those farmers as well as the farmers that grow the cotton that makes our clothes. The footprint for growing hemp is much smaller than the footprint left by growing cotton.
There is a bill HR-1866 in congress right now which is co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul for the legalization of industrial hemp; however he is not optimistic it will pass because congress says that hemp is marijuana. So if they vote for hemp, they are voting for marijuana, which means they are voting for hard drugs so then they are pro drugs. Only in Washington could this convoluted thinking thrive.
Of course the legalization of drugs in America is a whole other story and one I believe to be a good decision for this country but that is a whole other blog. However, I will leave you with these thoughts on it. How many of you have tried an “illegal” drug? How hard was it for you to get? How many of you have known a drug addict in your life? How hard was it for them to get drugs? How affected were they by the belief that they were dirty or bad because of their addiction to “illegal” drugs? Do you honestly think there would be more drug addicts if drugs were legalized? How much money do you think the government spends on policing drugs? Try 19 billion dollars a year. I wonder how much more money this country could make legalizing and taxing drugs? How much more of that money would be better spent treating people with the debilitating DISEASE of drug addiction? Think about it.

The hemp plant.

The Trouble With Stan Lee

I wanted to tell everyone about my new little friend Stan Lee. Stan is a Pit Bull pup that, at six weeks of age, came into the AEHNT the first week in April. He had been attacked by two Boston Terriers and had really bad wounds on both of his elbows (for those of you that don’t know, dog elbows are in the same place as people elbows). In addition to these wounds he was very much in shock. The owners of the little pup had already decided that he was “to far gone” and just wanted us to euthanize the little guy. Well as you can imagine that didn’t go over very well with me. So we talked the people into releasing him to the hospital and I decided that I would take on his care and find him a new loving home.
So his treatment started simply enough with an injection of penicillin, pain medicine and his wounds stitched closed, as well as a bath to wash all of the blood off of him. He was started on oral medication for pain, inflammation and one broad spectrum antibiotic. He made it through his first night at the hospital and was doing well. Not really eating the first two days but his appetite improved. On day three he started to smell really bad and the wound on his right leg seemed to be getting worse and infected. He was started on another antibiotic to go with the first one and hydrotherapy was started. I took him home with me on day four and my dog pack welcomed him into the house. The humans that had him first had obviously carried him around every where and did not let him be a dog. He had no clue about the other dogs and he preferred to be glued to me all the time. Which if you know me is not going to happen. He was still pretty sick and spent most of his time in his kennel either barking at the top of his lungs or sleeping.

Here is Stan when he first became part of the pack...you can tell he is not a happy camper.


On day five the wound on his right leg had become very infected and the skin that had been sutured closed died and opened up. So off we went on my day off (when I should have been studying) to the AEHNT, where he was put under anesthesia and the dead tissue removed from both front legs. He now had a 1 inch deep and 1 inch diameter hole on his left elbow and a 3inch by 2 inch hole that was all the way down to the bone on the right leg. So his wound was debrided and he was to get bandages on both front legs that had to be changed every 2 days for 3 weeks. So it went that way for 3 weeks. I took him in on the scheduled day (some I was already working on and some I had to drive there special) he got sedation and general anesthesia so that I could remove his bandages check the wounds and apply new bandages.

Here he is after he had been with me for about 10 days... A little happier but he was still pretty painful and still not really interacting with the rest of the pack.



After one and a half weeks the hole on his left elbow was able to be closed and sutured. The right one was steadily getting better and each time the bandages came off his wound was smaller and smaller until finally after 3 weeks it was small enough to leave his bandage off and form a scab.

Only one bandage on now. He was getting a little better acclimated.

So finally poor little Stan who had been living with bandages and an e-collar all this time could have the freedom of no bandages and no e-collar plus he could stop taking all of his meds that he had been on this whole time.

Stan enjoying the drugs he got before another bandage change.



Seven days later he was limping a lot on his right front leg. I took him to see one of the doctors at the AEHNT (they all knew him by then) and of course as I put him on the floor and he ran around like a maniac. The doctor that saw him that day decided that he had just over done it the day before with Daddy and Violet. He did fine until 3 days later when the limping returned and then worsened they next day(another one of my days off of course) So back we went to the hospital and then discovered that the infection had crept back and not only did he have swelling around his right elbow joint but x-rays revealed that he has osteomyelitis. Which is an infection in the bone. Which is not good.
So now the poor little guy has a really sore leg, and has to be on antibiotics for at least two months and maybe more. So to make a long story short… I think I am stuck with Stan. I am not sure who is going to want a puppy that may or may not be deformed, need expensive surgery, and or his leg amputated. We will not know any of this until he is done with his fast growing which is when he is seven months old. By then he will be big….he will be trained but a big burley boy that is in love with me and the pack. How will I part with him then? I know, I know…you are all saying “Cassandra! You don’t need another dog!” But really, do you want him with all of his problems? I didn’t think so. I decided to take on his care and so now it is my responsibility to take care of him. He si fitting into the pack quite well and has turned into a lazy lump just like his big brother Daddy. He even tolerates Violet and Lily likes him as long as he wants to rest next to her. He is a funny little guy and likes to bark with his toys in his mouth. He is as smart as the rest of the pack and has already started his puppy training which is going really well. He walks on a leash really well most of the time and already knows how to sit. Every day his leg gets better and better and he is almost without a limp. Check out the photos section to see some pictures of him. I think this officially makes me “The Crazy Pit Bull Lady”. I will keep everyone posted on his progress.

Here is Stan in his little bed comfy and healing in his new forever home.

My New Blog!!!

Hello!
I didn't feel like I had enough exposure with my blog on myspace so I am moving up to the big time on blogger! I am importing my old stuff from myspace and put them here and will most likely just blog here from now on. Keep checking back for updates, new blogs and of course pictures!

Payday.

So I thought I would share with you the NUMBER ONE REASON I am back at school and have decided to change my profession. I got paid today. Most of you are probably saying Yeah!!! Well actually no, usually this is the most depressing day of the month. After I pay all of my bills I usually have about $130 to buy gas and food for two weeks. Now I am not complaining, it is what it is, at least I have a job and a car and my house and food to eat but come on. Because of our “economic downturn” I can’t work over time at work anymore which is what I usually do on my downtime from school to get caught up. No wonder everyone in this country is in debt to their eyeballs! I have to use my CC sometimes just to buy gas or food. Pretty sad. I just can’t wait until I can get a job that pays a decent amount so I can live my current life comfortably. At first I was nervous about doing something new after being a tech for 15 years but now I am embracing the change. I just want to be comfortable and able to go out at least once a month and have some dinner somewhere or a few drinks in the awesome downtown area that I live so close to. Anyway enough of my rant. Lates.