When I walk in it’s absolute chaos. It can’t be helped though. Vanessa’s house is not a big place so when Maggie and Bella – each one large enough to hog an entire loveseat alone – get moving, they cover ALL the territory very quickly. “Maggie looks like a Twinkie,” Vanessa chuckles. I’d have to agree. Bella is no slouch...Read More
Sometimes, in this “business,” you just have to sit down by yourself and feel the hurt pressing down on your chest like a heavy boot. There are good days, though. More than you’d think, really. The kind that bring tears of a different kind and remind you why you do this in the first place. What happened to Moe is...Read More
Pain is one of the fundamental aspects of how we interact with the world, and with our own bodies. As humans, we are generally capable of saying NO OUCH NO or something similar when we feel pain (or yelling, or crying, or tossing out a few choice curse words). When we feel internal pain, we say something about it: to...Read More
In terms of pets, Kansas City has come a long way in the last 20 years. The numbers alone tell the story. At one point in time, we killed more than 20,000 animals each year just for space. These days, thanks to a strong push by our animal welfare community and the supportive citizens who live here, we can claim...Read More
Ever since a country physician by the name of Edward Jenner administered the first documented inoculation in 1796, vaccinations have become an incredibly important, incredibly necessary part of our society. Not only did Jenner’s idea directly prevent millions of people from dying from smallpox, which had already claimed millions of human lives in the 18th century, but it changed the...Read More
Once upon a time we looked at surgery check-in and what that process looks like for us and our clients. Now let’s take a look at what happens on the other side of those mysterious surgery doors… Check-in is in high gear by the time 8 o’clock rolls around. The surgery team spends much of that first half-hour finding their...Read More
A lot of people don’t know what a heartworm is, but the truth is that it’s exactly what it sounds like: a type of parasite that takes up residence in your pet’s heart, doing damage all the while. And though that kind of infestation seems like the type of thing that would be pretty evident, often you don’t see the...Read More
You know this. That life can be tough and random and lonely. But this is not about that. Not even a little. In fact, even with that small reminder that there’s a line somewhere out there we all know about and some of us cross (willingly or not), this is about the power of love. And the power of pets....Read More
It’s no secret that we believe that the bond between people and their pets has the ability to change lives, or even save them. What makes Pet Appreciation Week so special for us is that it’s a chance to really showcase how that bond manifests, because honestly, we see it every day, and we love to share examples of the...Read More
Nine a.m. arrives relatively quietly on this Wednesday. Surgery check-in goes until 8:30, and there aren’t too many people running late, so we’re actually a little quiet in the waiting area. One man is already waiting, though. James has two pups, Finnley and Veda, and he’s an eager pup dad, not super familiar with puppies and a little nervous, but...Read More
