I Lost Tini.....

.... for 1.5 hours.

I was folding laundry when I realized I hadn't seen her in about a half hour. Not unusual, but frightening all the same. I look in the usual spots; under the bed, in her tunnel, the litter box, the balcony, our closets, under the covers....no Tini. I pull my sweater storage tupperware out from under the bed. I pull all the books, magazines, CD folders... everything out! No Tini. Looked in the linen closet, the food closet, under the couch cushions, in the kitchen cabinets and drawers. No Tini.

My neighbors graciously helped me look outside... in all the stairwells, behind all bushes, under cars... No Tini. . I shook her favorite bell toy, rattled her bag of treats... No Tini.

I stayed close to the apartment in case she returned, and continued to check the inside again and again and again. I looked to Bentley at one point, and said.... she's really not here is she???

Then! I heard a faint... meow. I tip-toed toward the sound. It was coming from Josh's closet. But I had already checked there! On all the shelves, in the dirty clothes basket, everywhere. Then I hear it again..... mew. The boxer drawer!! She was in the boxer drawer!!! I was folding laundry and she must have jumped in while I was putting clothes away! I shut her in there myself!! AHHHHH! bad mom!!!

Christmas Card!

Our Christmas card this year included our babies... Tini and Bentley.

In case there was any question what was going on in the pictures... Josh and I took turns taking pictures of each other as we loaded the tree onto the top of the car. Tini was "helping" me wrap Christmas presents (note wrapping paper in the background), and Bentley was trying to eat the rare snowflakes that fell in Baton Rouge.

The holidays were a bit different for us this year. I worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we were happy to at least have each other. I know that sounds sappy, but it works. We hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season.

real quick update....

- Bentley learned about belly rubs. likes them.

- He got his first toe nail trim. didn't really care.

- Tini is still unsure of Bentley, but they're working on it.

- I finished the Emergency rotation and started & finished the Exotics rotation.

- I got bit by a great horned owl. I'm not afraid of them anymore.

- I caught and held a hawk. I'm not afraid of them either.

- I performed surgery on two owls: one soft tissue, the other orthopedic.

- I treated a snake for anorexia. He didn't make it :(

- I treated an African Grey for seizures. She's doing well. :)

- I worked 12-16 hour days then was on call. boo...

- I fed a 42 year old elephant with degenerative joint disease.

- I saw a transgenetic cat. His genes express a fluorescent gene. Mr. Green Genes.

- I treated a goose (2 actually), both are doing well. I miss one of them a lot.

- I've decided I need a goose.

- I've decided I need a cockatoo.

- I've decided I'm not scared of graduation.

- Shelly moved back to the US. Will be teaching at Conway Christian.

- I went to Julie's baby shower. I poked at her belly...I felt Mollie Anne!

- I'm praying for Julie & her dad every day.

- I'm in Colorado. Enjoying an externship. Spaying and neutering left and right.

- I'm loving the time I get with my bff from Kindergarten, but missing Josh so bad.

- I'm freaking out because I start studying for boards in just 10 days.

- I'm freaking out because I take boards in November.

- I'm working to revamp some of the decorations in my apartment- anyone want my old gold/brown bedspread? see it here.

The left inguinal region on the owl. I removed a huge area of necrotic tissue. It was very infected; I don't expect it will hold well.

The orthopedic owl. She had a complete fracture of the left radius and two complete fractures of the ulna. An IM pin was placed in both bones as well as an external fixator placed on the ulna. Prognosis for flight is poor. :(

Feeding the elephant some grapes.

Mr. Green Genes. Read more about him here.

The leg of a goose that was tangled in fishing line. Luckily we cut off the fishing line and saved his leg.

This guy wasn't so lucky. The fishing line strangled his foot so badly that it fell off (he came in without a foot). They don't do well on one leg.

A bird with pox. Can you count how many pox lesions he has?

The new guest bedroom decor.

Some new pillows to brighten the living room.

Tini being cute.

Bentley being tired.

oooooh-weee! girl you're bump is big!!

The most perfect banner Julie received as a gift- it matches Mollie's bedding!

My favorite girls! If any of you are regular readers, you may recognize this fabric. It's what I brought back from Mood in NYC so Mom could play Project Runway for me. Make it work!

Anna Eberle and me going for a run in beautiful Colorado. I don't even break a sweat!

The NEWEST O'Neal!!

We got a new puppy tonight!! Josh and I have been  looking for a loooong time for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.  We have called many many breeders but have always backed out.   But tonight Josh surprised me by taking me to look at a puppy, and sure enough he came home with us!!  We're still working on a name, but the options are Bentley, Boudreaux and I want Mr. Bigg but Josh isn't down with that.  Any ideas?!  Look how cute he is!!!!

look at Tini eyeballing him from under the chair!

I sure hope they get along!!

Purrrrr-fect :)

Caffeine and Running, NYC here I come!

I drank my first cup of coffee in 2 months yesterday around 3pm.  I didn't fall asleep until after 3:30am this morning.  I am profoundly affected by caffeine- always have been, and I know this... but I was SO wired yesterday.  It got me wondering about the half life of caffeine (how long it takes for half of the substance to be metabolized in the body).   The only information I have in my books relates to cats and dogs, so I referred to the almighty WebMD.  Apparently, plasma levels of caffeine can be detected as little as 5 minutes after ingestion (via gut absorption), with an average half life of 5-8 hours in an adult.  Of course there is significant variation from person to person, but  I must be one of those who is very sensitive to the effects of caffeine with an inability to clear it quickly so it affects me longer... this might explain why I was still hyped up 12 hours after I drank my iced vanilla coffee.  geez.  

I love the running application on my phone that tells me  how far I've gone, how fast I've run, how long I've run etc.   It also lets me view my route on Google Earth.  This is a normal route for me... out around the hospital... but of course my route doesn't get any longer.  So you can see that I have to weave in and out of the neighborhoods and parking lots in order to add distance to my run.   :)  I tried to spell my name by running in circles of letters in the parking lot (hoping it would show up on the satellite), but unfortunately it didn't work. So I looked like a doof in the parking lot for no good reason!

On Saturday, I will be heading to The Animal Medical Center in New York City,  and I'm very excited about it.  I'll be externing on a soft tissue surgery rotation for two weeks.  This is a very large hospital and I'm excited about all that I will see - common or rare.  About this time of year, when the air is starting to feel nice outside all the New Yorkers begin to open up their windows.  This is not so good for some of the kitty cats up there, because they end up falling out of the window!  This happens so much, there is actually a name for it "high rise syndrome"!  The cats present with a separated mandibular symphasis and pneumothorax.  This is one of the reasons I chose May as my month to extern.  Those poor kittys.  There was actually a study done a number of years ago to determine what floor the feline fell from based upon it's injury.  Apparently it became very predictable.  One cat was an exception however.  The cat came in without a single injury, not even a broken bone. A lady found the cat on the sidewalk and rushed it in.  "This cat most likely fell from the 2nd floor," every veterinarian said.  So the doctors scanned the cat for a microchip to retreive the contact information for the owner and gave her a call.  She had seen the cat fall from the window, but just hadn't made it down from her apartment on the 63rd (!) floor before the other woman picked the cat up!  Oh my goodness!!  I will pray for all the cats of the city!!

and now. Just since we're talking about cats.  Here is my chit chat kit cat when she was just a few months old hanging out in Suzanne's lap as well as a current picture.  

she's sticking her tongue out at me!!!

Tini's Photoshoot

3rd Year Equine Labs

I am not a horse person. Let me repeat... I am NOT a horse person. But when you're in your 3rd year at LSU SVM everyone takes a class called Equine Diseases and Surgery. This class is accompanied by a lab where we are allowed (made) to perform a number of various procedures. Here are some pictures of me doing things that made me very uncomfortable.

This was the most mild procedure I did... jugular venipuncture. Very simple. Very easy. The horse jugular is as big as a garden hose, so if I couldn't hit it... well I might as well go home :) This same day I also placed a nasogastric tube, but I don't have any pictures of me doing that.


Here, I am getting ready to make an incision just above the trachea. I am going to insert a cannula, so my classmate can place the tracheal catheter. This sort of procedure is done so we can culture the bacteria in the trachea or lower bronchi. It was very very hard to puncture the tracheal wall!!


I have my placement right, my incision is made...


And I'm pushing as HARD as I can, and I can't get the dang thing to go through! After many attempts, I finally got through. (and yes the horse was sedated as well as having a local block, so she didn't feel it at all).


This was the worst one of all. I was going to lavage the frontal sinus. See that silver thing in my right hand? That's a bone chuck. Yes. I drilled a hole into the horses face.


Here I am drilling away, I'll know I'm in the right spot when the chuck "pops" through.


It popped through all right! I didn't think it would be as dramatic as a pop as it was, but man it scared me! I even let out a little scream, which everyone found very entertaining....

A little comic relief... I was smiling out of relief that it was over.... see my needle in the horses face? (I'm holding the hub of the needle...) well thats going through bone. yuck...


Now for something a little more simple. I am getting ready to take a punch biopsy of an area of skin on the horses back. Ahhh.... something easy and simple.


Here is our group. We all worked together each time during lab. This was not our normal horse, but she was good sport and posed with us.