When starting my blog, my goal was to inform readers about various topics in veterinary medicine with an emotional connection rather than just numbers and statistics. After a year, I’ve recognized how difficult it is to come up with a topic each month while connecting on a personal level. So, I will start trying to make more frequent but slightly less medicine-related journals because life outside of veterinary medicine is also chaotic. So Journal #1.

First, by popular demand (primarily by my wife) and an update on Stevie, our blind kitten. We have been “fostering” Stevie for a year now, and she has fit into the household perfectly. Around every corner, there is a chance of being pounced on…but wildly inaccurately. But the thought that she came close to attacking a leg is enough for her, and she runs off to plot her next assassination attempt. She has killed more mice than our other two cats, lazy freeloaders. 

Second, my wife and I are starting a new adventure by starting our farm, and T&A Family Farms will be coming soon. That means my wife has gone crazy with chicken egg hatching, and on top of our 19 chickens, we now have a metric ton of chicks. I’m excited to start raising quail and ducks, a couple of beehives, and get back into maple syrup making. 

Third, as mentioned in the Cost of veterinary medicine blog, I tore my ACL and will have surgery in June. In the meantime, I will be fly fishing and building chicken coops!

Last, I look forward to attending a conference to learn (ironically) CCL repair in dogs called the MRIT procedure. I’ll also learn about patellar luxation, limb amputation, and epidural blocks. 

Feel free to comment about how you feel about journal entries vs. topic-based blog posts or case blog posts!