Interesting Links to good information

In an ongoing effort to share information, I have some links I have used the past week that I would like to share. Not all are pet related, but some are.

Data Pig Technologies has some very good video tutorials on Excel and Access. Many are very helpful even for little things you might do every day, and some then will show you better ways to do things you are already doing.

Our vetsource Home Delivery Internet pharmacy is also very helpful. We order several medications weekly from here and this gives us the chance to have a wide array of medications to dispense to our clients at a very reasonable price. If we order some of these medications, the minimum then has us keeping drugs on the shelf, and the medicine goes out of date, and we have to throw the medicine away, thus increasing costs. This way, your pet gets the medicine, at a lower price, we all win.

University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Open House On Saturday, April 4, the college will hold it's annual Open house. If you have never been to the teaching hospital at the University of Illinois, but thought it would be interesting - please go. It is a very cool experience, with many hands on demonstrations, and cool things to see. It is definitely worth the trip.

And if you go to the Multiple Listing service in Decatur, IL, our house in Maroa is on the market so we can move closer to our community here in East Peoria. We have many fond memories in our home - 4 of our children were brought home there, and the stories we have will stay with us forever. After all, isn't that part of what owning a dog and cat is about? The wonderful memories that we create and share and treasure?

That's what life is about, I think.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Birthday fun

How much fun is a birthday?

My guess is depending on the age of the reader will depend on whether or not you enjoy celebrating your birthday. I spent part of the day on Wednesday with my daughter, Mary, celebrating her 12th birthday.

It was a nice fun day - just some family time together, reliving the day she was born (I think it's a girl thing ;-)) and celebrating with her favorite foods for breakfast, lunch and supper.

But one of the surprising fun things was I got to sit next to another daughter I usually do not sit next to - my youngest, Therese. It was a bunch of fun, and just an enjoyable day to try to relax and enjoy the day.

We did do some work on the house trying to get it ready for the market so we can move closer to East Peoria. It's all the little things we never got around to doing that will now get done so someone else will get to enjoy.

Why is it we don't allow ourselves to enjoy the present time - "We'll be happy when I'm done with...." It's like we program ourselves not to enjoy the present time - it's always in the future.

Part of the reason why I enjoy our dog (Adena) and cat (Oliver) is they enjoy the present time. They don't wait for something later, they have fun now. Adena (a retired seeing eye dog) loves her ball, and will get it whenever someone comes in. Oliver loves to cath a fly on the run!

So much fun, so little time. :-)

New opportunities from education

As we all know, an ongoing commitment to education is important to improve in anything. And we here at Lakeview Veterinary Clinic are aware that is important especially in the field of medicine.

At the regional veterinary meeting that Mallory and I attended, we received a lot of good ideas as to how to improve the lives of our patients, - your pets. We are putting together how to integrate this into the practice, so be on the lookout in the upcoming weeks and months the opportunities to keep your pet healthy, and prevent easily preventable diseases.

If you have not signed up for the monthly email newsletter, go to the main page of the web site and sign up - quick link here: quick link here.

For example, we are offering basic obedience classes on Saturday morning using the technique's Dr Rolan Tripp recommends where you learn how to show your dog that you are the leader. This greatly minimizes the stress and confrontation in the house. Call 699-6443 for either the free 2 part puppy class, or the basic obedience class.

education is important

I was at the Mississippi Valley Veterinary Medical Association convention on Wednesday and Thursday, and I was reminded of why our staff and I need to attend 'ce'.

We don't want to use the same things if they do not work, and diagnostics have helped tremendously in our ability to prognosticate (look into the crystal ball and see if the pet will get better).

And we also need to talk to our colleagues in the area to learn of the diseases that they are seeing locally, so we can inform you of those diseases and suggest ways to prevent them.

When you allow us to attend these conferences, we improve our knowledge base, and improve the quality of life for you and your pets.

I learned new thought directions about anemic cats & dogs. And most important, what economical tests to run, and which tests _not_ to run because they are not useful, and a waste of clients funds.

I also was reminded of liver disease in cats and how it can be associated with Pancreatitis and Inflammatory bowel disease.

More on those later, and if you have a cat with those disease, call us and we can get some symptomatic care.