Random Stuffs

[jmo1012]

The first years started school on Monday... one of them apparently recognized me from my blog that I hadn't updated in about a year. That was kind of a strange moment.

i just sent someone to my blog the other day and realized that its been 4 years since i started it (because it was for vet school) and its been over a year since i updated. ugh. old!

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[deleted498041]

i just sent someone to my blog the other day and realized that its been 4 years since i started it (because it was for vet school) and its been over a year since i updated. ugh. old!

Wow! The first year motivated me to update mine last night. Not sure how well I'll keep it up.

 

[jmo1012]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

 

[deleted498041]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

We talked about this at school... I think it's more worthwhile to take X amount of money and put it in an emergency fund than it is to have pet insurance. Just my $.02 though; I haven't done a cost analysis but someone at r/frugal may have.

 

[DVMDream]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

I mean, you know an emergency can happen at anytime. It really is up to you. The other option is as rww stated and put xx amount into savings each month. The only issue with that is you'll be limited by how much you can save up by whatever point you need it.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

I think the $1000 i spend per year for premiums on my 3 dogs is WELL worth it. I have gotten my money out of it for sure!

 

[dyachei]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

Some things to think about....dogs here are pretty apt to get derm issues. Allergies are awful here. If a foreign body or random disease were to hit, what would you do? What about if new canine flu or something? Just something to think about. I mean, it is a vets dog. They seem most likely to get the weird stuff.

 

[Rainheart]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

My take on pet insurance- it is going to be for big events that I wouldn't normally be able to pay for (foreign body, CCL tear, chemo, etc). So, a very high deductible works for this situation and would lower your monthly payments by quite a bit. Just my two cents, anyway. Especially with us being in the veterinary field- a lot of the basic things we won't need a lot of it for since, in my experience so far, we already get discounted veterinary care. I DO think it is absolutely worth it from that aspect- for major events!

 

[orca2011]

Question for those of you with pet insurance - my employer has a deal through Trupanion that would mean that health insurance for my 2.5 year old aussie mix would be $20 a month while i'm employed here (they pay 50% of the $40 deductible). i cant decide if its worth it. i cant imagine my dog needing significant health care in the next 10 months. he's always on a leash outside, we dont engage in risky behaviors (other than walking outside in florida?), and has no previous medical history. if i wasnt being paid $87 a day, i'd probably be all over this, however, money is obviously tight as an intern. is it worth $200? we dont do any GP here, and he's UTD on vaccines and wont need preventative care during this time. [my gut says its probably worth it, because even with my Dr. discount it would be extremely hard to afford reasonable care if somethine were to happen, i just cant really foresee something happening, and i've heard stories of insurance companies being evil]

I have it for my guy and I currently pay like $30 a month for him (started at like $24 when I first go the plan). The reason I did it is mainly for the scary big things that I wouldn't expect --foreign body, crazy diagnostics, chemo, internal fixation, stuff like that. Anything else, I've planned on paying and have done so without submitting a claim. I guess my take on it was that with selecting a higher deductible I could pay that and then get away with putting the charge on a credit card and being reimbursed before I have to actually pay off the card. That way i'm also not limited if something happens early on as I'm trying to build up my "emergency" fund for him.

Plus, being in a city, god knows what he's going to pick up off the street.

 

[Trilt]

I have pet insurance on my cats not because I couldn't afford most things that might come up, but so that I don't have to worry about the cost of a really good work-up/treatment if it does. They're both young and healthy so it's 100% worth the (not much) money for me, and I just really hope I don't have to use it.

 

[Coquette22]

I have the cats insured. I see previously "perfectly happy healthy" animals every day that that need a huge work up due to some unforeseen circumstance and even in general practice the costs of diagnostics alone pile up. I don't want money to be a deciding factor if one them gets sick.

 

[WildZoo]

What kind of pet insurance would you guys suggest? I have a one year old kitty and I'd like to get insurance for him.

I also have an 11 year old kitty but i don't know if she would be covered...she has a few pre-existing issues.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

What kind of pet insurance would you guys suggest? I have a one year old kitty and I'd like to get insurance for him.

I also have an 11 year old kitty but i don't know if she would be covered...she has a few pre-existing issues.

I love Petplan, which is what I have. Also heard really good things about Trupanion from the office that files all the insurance at the vet school.

 

[Coquette22]

I have Petplan, haven't had to use them yet. My sister has PetSecure on her Chihuahua, they've been good to deal with. Most companies won't cover pre-existing conditions, but will cover older pets for future new conditions. So for older pets it might end up being a toss up.

 

[Rainheart]

I've had Petplan in the past. Now, I have Embrace. They have an annual deductible, not a per incident one, which I find nice.

 

[WildZoo]

Thanks guys! I'll have to look into those and figure out which would work best for me.

 

[Gwenevre]

How many cats does it take to become a crazy cat person or household?

 

[DVMDream]

How many cats does it take to become a crazy cat person or household?

It isn't the number that matters (though it does help), it is an attitude.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

How many cats does it take to become a crazy cat person or household?

Most self proclaimed ones have at least three, but I definitely believe it is possible to have one or two and still have that type of mentality

 

[orca2011]

Finally caved and bought wrist wraps for my overhead lifts because my wrists have decided they hate everything. Holy crap do they make a world of a difference

 

[Gwenevre]

Looking for phone recommendations. I want to upgrade to a smartphone, but still keep that slide keyboard.

 

[orca2011]

Looking for phone recommendations. I want to upgrade to a smartphone, but still keep that slide keyboard.

As in the slide out keyboard? Does anyone still include those? Anyway, I've been with Samsung since this bad boy http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa179/cubssuck34/Samsung_A737Blue_color_openRight.jpg and have basically been with them since. I haven't been disappointed by the Galaxy line yet (well, maybe with the 6 because it's basically the iPhone and got rid of the features I like) and I think they had a Galaxy phone with a slide out keyboard. Probably only going to find that on ebay right now though.

 

[battie]

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ariz...s-sold-in-pet-stores-will-come-from-shelters/
Thoughts, comments?

Designer puppies shouldn't be sold for insanely high prices. There shouldn't be pet stores selling purebred puppies. If you want a purebred, go to the breeder, discuss with them. I don't feel any bit of sorrow for a pet store going out of business that sells "designer puppies" or purebreds that the breeder couldn't hold on to until they found a suitable home. Good breeders aren't selling their puppies to pet stores, they are holding on to their puppies until the appropriate home is found. And a good breeder is willing to take back that animal should anything go wrong and the "adopter" is unable to care for the puppy. So, yeah, I don't cry any tears for a pet store going under because they can no longer sell things we don't need.

Not saying a yorkalabrapoodle should go for $1500, nor do I necessarily feel sorry for those who purchase from mills losing profit. If these businesses can't afford to drop down to the dirt cheap shelter prices and end up going under, then what's the point of forcing them to carry shelter animals? I wonder if they'd get a piece of the funding so they could afford to feed/care for a pet and still sell it for $60.

Edit: @batsenecal, thoughts? If this were required of your pet store, what do you think would happen?

Sorry that I'm bringing this up again; I started my new job as an RD on the 4th and the girl running my building for the summer had nothing done before I got here, so I've been trying to get everything ready for 310 residents. Classes got started, so a lot of my time has gone from full to free, thankfully. But I did want to add my two cents. As PP mentioned here, and I've mentioned a few times, my family owns pet stores who sell dogs, cats, etc. I can give that perspective as that's been my life and is the number one reason for wanting to become a veterinarian. I understand how people feel about pet stores in general, and I understand that. I'm just going to give my perspective on the situation from how we run our stores.

If this passed in Colorado, we'd simply adapt to it as it would be law. There's no way around that. We would pick and chose which shelters we helped, however. We would most likely go to the shelters out in the boonies as those would be the shelters that are the least known in the state. Everyone knows about the Denver Dumb Friends League. No one knows about the tiny Cavalier rescue down by Pueblo. The DDFL is also super sketchy to begin with, so they would be our last choice. There's 256 shelters or so in Colorado, so it isn't like there wouldn't be anywhere to go to find dogs, cats, etc. We would probably pay the shelter their normal adoption fee (60-100$ is the norm for boonie shelters), jack it up 300% like we do now to 180-300$. Our employees would be straight minimum wage, with the possibility of our kennel techs being volunteers instead of paid employees. We also wouldn't offer the free veterinary exam or health guarantee we offer now. Currently, we do a free health exam and cover anything/everything found in the exam, six month hepatitis/distemper guarantee if vaccines are up to date, and a 12 genetic health guarantee. In the case of shelter animals, we would probably follow the protocol that area shelters use, which is 10 days. If something infectious comes up in 10 days, the shelter will cover it. Beyond that, then you're on your own. We would also work with veterinarians to contract for lower health care rates than what we currently have since we wouldn't be making as much overall. On average, it costs $250,000 to open a store and $65,000 a month to keep it open if your spaces is 1,500 square feet. I don't really foresee that happening with using shelter pets, but it would honestly depend on what sort of help we get from the department of ag, the shelter, veterinarians, and each other. It could potentially work, I honestly don't know.

Now, that is if it passed in Colorado. During the process of that becoming a law, we would fight it, and we do on an annual basis. We feel that no one should be able to tell us what we can or cannot sell if we can show/prove that our animals come from humane places. Every year, some city/town/county has a provision to not convert pet stores to "shelter stores" but to close us altogether. They never pass because we're able to prove that our animals come from humane places. There is one town in Colorado, Fountain, where the retail sale of animals is illegal, but the pet store there was grandfathered in (isn't our pet store; owned by a previous associate of my grandpa's). We've never closed a store because of pet store laws, animal rights groups, etc. Any store we've closed we did cause the mall died or, in one case for my mom's most recent store, the mall got a better offer on rent for the space.

If we saw the tides turning strongly, we would most likely swim with the tide (to a certain extent). But if the provision came from PETA, the HSUS, ALF, or any similar group, we would be completely against it as we don't want the agenda/opinions of any of those groups to gain further ground on principle alone. If it was state shelters says, "We need help. Can we work together?", it would be a different discussion altogether.

I'm not going to really get into anything further from there unless people want to. I know this is a topic that people feel strongly about and I don't want this conversation to go downhill due to different feelings. But in this situation, this is what we would probably do and, to a certain extent, why.

 

[epivetlove]

Any other SDNers attending ExoticsCon this weekend? Despite some of this semester's professors being kind of dingus-y about my skipping class, I'm still super excited to attend!

 

[WildZoo]

Any other SDNers attending ExoticsCon this weekend? Despite some of this semester's professors being kind of dingus-y about my skipping class, I'm still super excited to attend!

I wish! So jelly.

 

[epivetlove]

...of dingus-y...

Bwhaha, I forgot SDN censors curse words. I love their replacement.

I wish! So jelly.

I'm fortunate to only be 2 hours away, otherwise it probably wouldn't have happened. That said, it's taking place in Portland next year! I've always needed a good excuse to visit the Pacific Northwest.

 

[Caiter92]

@batsenecal

Honestly, even if you get your animals from "humane" breeders (I strongly disagree a breeder is humane when they are sending puppies site unseen to new homes, and breeding enough to keep a pet store stocked, but I digress), what about contributing to the over population of cats and dogs we have in the states? Millions and millions of cats and dogs are euthanize ever year, and people continuing to purchase from pet stores instead of adopting is a contributing factor. Having shelter animals only in pet stores would help significantly.

Obviously we are going to have a difference of opinion on the ethics of pet stores, and that's fine, but I'm honestly curious how you feel about that side.

 

[battie]

@Caiter92

I'm just going to go through point by point.

First, we buy from 50 different breeders on average. That comes out to 16 dogs per year per breeder. Depending on the breed, that can be a single liter of puppies from a single breeding pair. So it isn't us buying from one breeder with 200 breeding pairs. 16 dogs a year is pretty doable for a lot of professional dog breeders. Dog breeders are also starting to get twitchy in this part of the country. The dog breeder my boyfriend's mom went to does background checks among other things because two animal rights activists came into her facility wear clothes contaminated with parvo and killed half her puppies one spring, which came out to 18 pups, I think. Thankfully her lawyer got those two jail time. But breeders are getting more and more sketchy about clients and customers in general and some we work with prefer for us to take that risk. It's harder to wipe out our kennel than a breeding kennel due to our regulations and our own personal rules. They trust us to make the best decision for the animals at that point.

Second, as far as the site unseen situation, isn't that something that shelters regularly engage in as well? Out of the 236 shelters in Colorado (sorry for mistaking the number in the original post), not even half do home inspections simply because they don't have the funds to do so. And yet, according to our department of ag, their return rate isn't significantly higher than the shelters that do. So why is it okay for shelters to adopt out, sight unseen, but yet breeders (through pet stores) doing it is inhumane? (Just being Devil's advocate here; not trying to be a b****) Our return rate is better than that of the most well funded shelters in Colorado. 92% of our puppies placed remain in their first home and that number jumps up to 98% when you add in the second home (so original customer gives dog to friend; dies so family inherits; etc.).

Now for the overpopulation: I have the best data for Colorado, so I'm going to talk Colorado specific since that's where our stores are. I'm willing to discuss national as I do have some points on that. But I know Colorado best. All my stats will be dogs, also, since that's definitely the chunk of what we do.

According to PACFA (pet animal care facilities act, which is the overriding guidelines for breeders, stores, and shelters in Colorado), approximately 101,911 dogs were taken into shelters through all the shelters in Colorado in 2013. 76,242 dogs were either returned to owners (23,678) or adopted (52,564). 1,999 dogs were dead on arrival, 439 died while in care of the shelter, and 6,968 were purposely euthanized. So while 9.2% of dogs that entered shelters left it dead, only 6.8% of those were purposely euthanized and over half of those were euthanized due to health or behavioral issues (that last bit was said verbally at a PACFA meeting sometime in 2014; unfortunately PACFA does not report in their spread sheets why shelters euthanize, so we had to ask that question specifically). So, 3.4% of dogs in Colorado shelters were euthanized due to space issues.

Now that 3.4% sucks. No dog should have to die because of space. However, there is another point I want to make on that. More than 8 times as many dogs were sold in the newspapers of this state, specifically the Denver Post, as were sold in all 10 pet stores combined. That's over 65,000 dogs sold in newspapers. Now, I did that math for an agriculture seminar class, and the way I did it was by assuming only half the puppies available for sale were sold per week and that 5% died of some reason or another. I also used the top 25 newspapers in the state and only included people who were not registered breeders with the department of ag in Colorado. I honestly don't know if I still have the sheet where I calculated it all out somewhere, as it's been two years since I've seen it. Even if I'm off by 10%, that leeway is still between 58,500 and 71,500. Being off by 20% is 52,000 on the low end and that is still 6 times what pet stores sold.

Pet overpopulation, in Colorado, is significantly more influenced by back yard breeders than anything else.


Now for on the national scale: there are approximately 500 pet stores in this country that gets most profits from the sale of dogs, according to the report that the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association sent my grandpa a in 2013. According to the ASPCA, 1.2 million dogs are euthanized per year and 1.4 million dogs are adopted. That's 2,400 dogs euthanized per open pet store. The average pet store sells less than half that many dogs per year. The current average according to the Pet Industry Distributors Association is around 1,000 dogs per store, per year. Approximately 500,000 dogs per year are sold in pet stores in this country (as far as the statistics that have been reported to us).

So assuming that every single person who bought a dog from a pet store would be willing to adopt a dog from a shelter instead, 41.6666% of dogs in shelters could have gotten homes across the country. Yes, that is totally a legit, significant percentage if every single person who bought dogs from pet stores would have adopted instead. However, it isn't certainly not a majority.

There are other things going on that are driving pet overpopulation, and pet stores are becoming less significant because we're dying. Straight up. Retail pet store numbers have been only decreasing since the 80s. My family alone back in the 80s had 39, I think. Now, since my mom lost her lease, we're down to 4, unless my mom decides to reopen. All of us in the pet industry in Colorado constantly talk about how, "pet stores will cease to exist in 15 years," and that's what we seriously think. So, no, I do not think we are the biggest contributing factor in pet overpopulation. That 42% up there would get smaller when you take out the people who would not want to adopt a dog. You're down to closer to a third of dogs in this country getting adopted instead of bought. And as far as Colorado is concerned, we barely are a pinprick. There are other factors.

Again, all this is from the inside looking out. This is how we see the situation because this comes up all the time in department of ag meetings, PACFA, clients, etc.

 

[Trilt]

Any other SDNers attending ExoticsCon this weekend? Despite some of this semester's professors being kind of dingus-y about my skipping class, I'm still super excited to attend!

I'm. SO. jealous! I want to be there so bad, but I scheduled an externship without planning for it.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

So I have been having one hell of a time in anatomy lab this week. Burning eyes, nose running like a faucet, itchy/burning skin. They said the fixative would be pretty irritating for the first few weeks, so I chalked it up to that. Today our lab instructor mentioned that the animals are injected with latex.

I am severely allergic to latex, and that explains all of the symptoms I've been having that no one else has had to the severity I am. I know vessels aren't naturally stretchy like they are in cadavers, but I guess I didn't think they could be latex filled. I'm bad about my allergy....it's not the first time I've been around latex without realizing it.

 

[WildZoo]

So I have been having one hell of a time in anatomy lab this week. Burning eyes, nose running like a faucet, itchy/burning skin. They said the fixative would be pretty irritating for the first few weeks, so I chalked it up to that. Today our lab instructor mentioned that the animals are injected with latex.

I am severely allergic to latex, and that explains all of the symptoms I've been having that no one else has had to the severity I am. I know vessels are naturally stretchy like they are in cadavers, but I guess I didn't think they could be latex filled. I'm bad about my allergy....it's not the first time I've been around latex without realizing it.

I feel like that's something they should have mentioned earlier

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I feel like that's something they should have mentioned earlier

I definitely listed it on all of the health forms they asked of me. Prior to class starting for the year, I was tempted to ask the prof to request students all buy non-latex gloves, but I don't want to inconvenience 130 people when there are only 20 in my lab area. I used to work at a dining hall in undergrad where they used latex gloves, and when it gets into the air, it's hard to breathe. I might talk to my professor and see what he recommends.

 

[thecatastrophist]

So I have been having one hell of a time in anatomy lab this week. Burning eyes, nose running like a faucet, itchy/burning skin. They said the fixative would be pretty irritating for the first few weeks, so I chalked it up to that. Today our lab instructor mentioned that the animals are injected with latex.

I am severely allergic to latex, and that explains all of the symptoms I've been having that no one else has had to the severity I am. I know vessels are naturally stretchy like they are in cadavers, but I guess I didn't think they could be latex filled. I'm bad about my allergy....it's not the first time I've been around latex without realizing it.

Yeah, when you get deeper you can tell, the latex is pretty brightly colored. Gosh though, I'm sorry to hear. Would double-gloving + hardware glasses help any?

I thought they mentioned this earlier, but maybe I'm wrong. Latex in the veins/arteries is pretty standard for cadavers in dissection labs, so it's possible I was just keeping that in mind and they didn't mention.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Yeah, when you get deeper you can tell, the latex is pretty brightly colored. Gosh though, I'm sorry to hear. Would double-gloving + hardware glasses help any?

I thought they mentioned this earlier, but maybe I'm wrong. Latex in the veins/arteries is pretty standard for cadavers in dissection labs, so it's possible I was just keeping that in mind and they didn't mention.

It's not so much touching it as it is breathing it in the air. Another problem is that a lot of face masks have latex as well. Heck, it's even in some pen grips. Found that one out the hard way haha.

I know there was rubber, but I didn't think about it being latex. Like I said, I'm pretty bad with this allergy. It's not like a peanut one where it could be in everything in my fridge, you know?

 

[WildZoo]

I definitely listed it on all of the health forms they asked of me. Prior to class starting for the year, I was tempted to ask the prof to request students all buy non-latex gloves, but I don't want to inconvenience 130 people when there are only 20 in my lab area. I used to work at a dining hall in undergrad where they used latex gloves, and when it gets into the air, it's hard to breathe. I might talk to my professor and see what he recommends.

Yeah it would be a good idea to talk to him I think

 

[thecatastrophist]

It's not so much touching it as it is breathing it in the air. Another problem is that a lot of face masks have latex as well. Heck, it's even in some pen grips. Found that one out the hard way haha.

I know there was rubber, but I didn't think about it being latex. Like I said, I'm pretty bad with this allergy. It's not like a peanut one where it could be in everything in my fridge, you know?

Yuck. And the fact that the formalin is irritating as hell doesn't help. Talk to the TA's and professor. There's a chance they've had students with problems like that in the past and can help suggest ways to alleviate your symptoms.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Yuck. And the fact that the formalin is irritating as hell doesn't help. Talk to the TA's and professor. There's a chance they've had students with problems like that in the past and can help suggest ways to alleviate your symptoms.

Just emailed our lab instructor I'm hoping he can offer suggestions. As much as I know I should have one handy, epi-pens are awfully expensive. Better safe than sorry, though.

 

[DVMDream]

@LetItSnow

Would you quit leaving your van parked in odd places, you are starting to scare the children....

 

[Skimble]

I'm going to my neighbor's wedding next weekend. It is their second wedding, but their first legal marriage (gay couple). They have been together as long as I have known them, and they have an adopted daughter together. They are also VERY well off, and I'm a poor/unemployed single parent just starting vet school. Should I get them a wedding present? I feel like there isn't anything I could give them that they don't already have. In the past I have made Christmas ornaments out of wedding invitations (similar to image below), but their wedding invite doesn't lend itself well to this particular application. Would it be wrong/rude to show up without a gift?

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I'm going to my neighbor's wedding next weekend. It is their second wedding, but their first legal marriage (gay couple). They have been together as long as I have known them, and they have an adopted daughter together. They are also VERY well off, and I'm a poor/unemployed single parent just starting vet school. Should I get them a wedding present? I feel like there isn't anything I could give them that they don't already have. In the past I have made Christmas ornaments out of wedding invitations (similar to image below), but their wedding invite doesn't lend itself well to this particular application. Would it be wrong/rude to show up without a gift?

In this case, I would probably write a thoughtful card instead of a monetary or other gift.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

Or maybe make an ornament with something else inside? - decorative date of their wedding, something like that?

 

[deleted498041]

Does anyone have a good resource for histopath images? I'm on my rotation at Antech at the moment and getting pretty frustrated at not being able to find good histopath images (or more than one, or at appropriate magnification, etc) for the diseases we're looking at. I'm bouncing between McGavin, Jubb and Kennedy, Cowell, Harvey...

 

[pinkpuppy9]

So our Non-traditonal Species Club sent out an email inviting students to their into meeting. They threw in "FYI for you gunners out there, our purpose is x, y z." Geez, not sure exactly what to expect from this now!

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Is it a thing that 3rd year students are very possessive over lecture hall seats, going as far as labeling them? Also, apparently our 3rd years have been complaining to the admin that us first years are moving their stuff. Mind you, their stuff is left on all of our lecture hall seats (blankets, power strips/cords, lap desks, TV dinner stand things, etc.). We do need chairs....but some girl's power cord did turn up missing.

@bbeventer is this an upperclassmen tradition to move into LAC 100? Lol.

 

[bbeventer]

Is it a thing that 3rd year students are very possessive over lecture hall seats, going as far as labeling them? Also, apparently our 3rd years have been complaining to the admin that us first years are moving their stuff. Mind you, their stuff is left on all of our lecture hall seats (blankets, power strips/cords, lap desks, TV dinner stand things, etc.). We do need chairs....but some girl's power cord did turn up missing.

@bbeventer is this an upperclassmen tradition to move into LAC 100? Lol.

Typically LAC 100 is used souly by the third year class and therefore they dictate its usage. Because it is such an uncomfortable environment people do tend to move into a seat, and stake out their own territory just because it is so hard to relocate. But as far as actually labeling chairs that is definitely a new one, and a childish one if you ask me.

Hopefully things will get better for you guys, and they will finish your classrooms and you can have a place to call home as well. Once that happens the normal ritual of vet students claiming a seat and never moving can continue uninterrupted.

Good luck!!

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Typically LAC 100 is used souly by the third year class and therefore they dictate its usage. Because it is such an uncomfortable environment people do tend to move into a seat, and stake out their own territory just because it is so hard to relocate. But as far as actually labeling chairs that is definitely a new one, and a childish one if you ask me.

Hopefully things will get better for you guys, and they will finish your classrooms and you can have a place to call home as well. Once that happens the normal ritual of vet students claiming a seat and never moving can continue uninterrupted.

Good luck!!

Haha thanks! We had no idea it's normally the 'third year' room so it makes more sense that people expect their stuff to stay exactly where it is.

I hope our rooms our done too. I fully intend on bringing my electric blanket to class, and the LAC 100 electrical outlet situation just won't cut it.

 

[McVet0071]

Haha thanks! We had no idea it's normally the 'third year' room so it makes more sense that people expect their stuff to stay exactly where it is.

I hope our rooms our done too. I fully intend on bringing my electric blanket to class, and the LAC 100 electrical outlet situation just won't cut it.

It's because my class is psychotic! The labels aren't meant for 1st years. The power cords are up for use, just as long as they don't walk away. This place seems to have an issue with things being stolen, which is why no cash or anything you want should be left in your mailbox. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. There is no reason 3rd years leave crap in the seats. My lap desk is against a wall and completely out of the way because I don't think it would fit in my locker.

I hope this situation is resolved soon because I'm tired of hearing how my education is having to be rearranged because of classroom scheduling.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

It's because my class is psychotic! The labels aren't meant for 1st years. The power cords are up for use, just as long as they don't walk away. This place seems to have an issue with things being stolen, which is why no cash or anything you want should be left in your mailbox. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. There is no reason 3rd years leave crap in the seats. My lap desk is against a wall and completely out of the way because I don't think it would fit in my locker.

I hope this situation is resolved soon because I'm tired of hearing how my education is having to be rearranged because of classroom scheduling.

I'm in the zoo med elective, and I was so worried I was sitting in someone's seat and going to get yelled at haha.

Hopefully we can get those rooms back by January.

You're not the first person to have told me not to leave stuff in my mailbox. Kinda sad....you'd hope it was more of a family atmosphere. All it takes is one bad apple.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I've been kind of hooked on those boxed dinner ingredients shipping thing, and I love it! Not the most original recipes, and not the cheapest at $11-12/meal, but I eat much healthier and varied meals with it. It like totally takes out the thinking and shopping which is the biggest barrier to get me cooking.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Welp, officially in debt! It felt good to return the extra money I don't need, though.