• Wordless Wednesday: July 4th Pet Safety

 Dozens of tips to keep pets safe on July 4! 

• Wordless Wednesday: Double Dog

• Wordless Wednesday: Best Buds

Isis and Thor  ~  Mother and Son

• Wordless Wednesday: Carma Poodale

My fur-iend Carma Poodale

• Burnham is the Newest Angel

Guinea pig Burnham was a "foster fail"—an animal that a foster parent adopts. Burnham's mom is one of my pet sitting clients.

"I think of Burnham and taking care of him as so typical of what Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue (MGPR) is all about, and why so many of us fosterers are drawn to this form of service," said Burnham's mom, a MGPR volunteer. "While there are many lovely and sweet piglets in our care, we also have the Burnhams of the guinea pig world—they come to us with serious health conditions, as well as quirky personalities and hostile behaviors that make them difficult to adopt out. Burnham was all of these, terrified of or hostile to other guinea pigs, and chomping without predictable cause at human fingers, faces, and noses. I don't know how much of this was due to his illness and discomfort. But he was unadoptable; so after fostering him for months I took him in, finally, as my own."

After she adopted Burnham, his mom wanted answers to a concern she'd had: his small size and weight. She took him to the University of Pennsylvania Ryan Veterinary Hospital, which, as a veterinary school, has CT scan technology for sonograms. (Most vets in the D.C. area don't have that technology.) The results were devastating: Burnham was riddled with aggressive liver cancer.

"I was shocked to learn he was terminally ill," said his mom. "But I'm glad I was able to provide him with hospice care. In his final days, Burnham was so loving, and wanted constantly to be held and stroked. I assured him that there were many MGPR piglets who had proceeded him to Heaven who would welcome him and show him the ropes, as well as my family members who had passed on who loved animals, especially my father. I asked him to, in turn, take care of guinea pigs who are being neglected on earth, and those who will eventually join him in Heaven . . ."

"Burnham is the newest angel."

• We Have a Winner!

I'm excited to announce that Janet Roper is the winner of a $50 credit toward a visit to an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital!

The credit, which I won at BlogPaws, was announced in a previous blog post. Blog visitors entered the contest simply by commenting. 

My hamster, Winnie, picked the winner!

I wrote numbers 1 through 28—one for each comment—on slips of paper. I spread out the papers, blank side up, and waited. Winnie did not disappoint. Immediately she selected and chewed the number 10 slip of paper. We had a winner—Janet Roper, who made the tenth comment.

People who commented on the blog were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the AAHA. "It's a mark that helps you know you can trust someone," said Life with Dogs and Cats. "I just learned the Vet clinic that I have been taking my kitties to is NOT AAHA accredited," said Laurie Smith. "I have found the list of clinics in my area that are; this summer I will be making sure my fur kids have a doctor/clinic that meets these guidelines!"

Veterinary student Carolina summed it up. "All veterinary hospitals want to treat your pets the best they can but with AAHA-accredited animal hospitals you KNOW FOR SURE they are performing the best care for your pet. These clinics have to follow certain rules and regulations to keep their accreditation and as a former employee of an AAHA veterinary clinic I can assure you that being accredited makes a clinic run more efficiently because technicians as well as veterinarians and receptionists work as a team to give the client and their pets the best quality service."

Janet Roper goes to an AAHA-accredited vet. And so does my Winnie. To find an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital near you, go to the AAHA-accredited hospital locator. 

• Wordless Wednesday: Road Tripping

• BlogPaws 2014 in Photos

Lights, cameras, action! Check out my photos of BlogPaws 2014!

• Win $50 from the AAHA!

One of the prizes I won at BlogPaws 2014 is for you! The American Animal Hospital Association asked me to give one of my readers a $50 credit toward a visit at an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital.

What is AAHA?
The acronym is easy to remember: Ah ha! The AAHA is the only organization that accredits veterinary practices in the U.S. and Canada. Unlike hospitals for humans, veterinary hospitals don't have to be reviewed by an outside regulating agency. Some veterinary hospitals, however, choose to undergo the rigorous testing process by AAHA, an unbiased, outside organization. Being accredited means the hospital is meeting, or exceeding, standards in a variety of areas. A hospital must prove to the AAHA that it provides the safest quality care.

High Standards
AAHA sets standards of quality veterinary care on many fronts, including one that interested me: preventing the spread of disease. Care is taken even before an animal arrives at the hospital, throughout its treatment, to its discharge and follow-up, to ensure the environment is sterile and to prevent the spread of disease to other pets.

To help relieve some of the risk associated with anesthesia, AAHA requires anesthesia monitoring equipment for your pet's safety. The equipment tracks a pet's vital signs and alerts to potential problems. AAHA standards also ensure pets receive the best surgical techniques and sterile practices. AAHA-accredited hospitals must follow protocols for preparations for emergencies, dental procedures, exam facilities, medical records, and much more.

How You Can Win
To be eligible to win the $50 credit toward your pet's visit to an accredited facility, comment below—that's all you need to do!

I was pleased to learn that Old Dominion Animal Health
Center, where I take my hamsters,  is AAHA accredited.

Only one comment per person will be counted. Anonymous comments will not count. You may comment to win until 11:59 pm Mountain Standard time on May 31, 2014. Winnie, my hamster, will pick a winner at random. I will announce the winner publicly in my June 4 Wordless Wednesday post.

Your comment could include feedback that the AAHA might find helpful, e.g.:
• Before you read this post, were you aware of the AAHA and what it does? (Before I researched this, I was not.)
• Did reading this post make you want to know if your veterinary hospital is accredited by AAHA? (It made me want to know.)
• Is your veterinary facilitated accredited by the AAHA? You can find out at the AAHA-accredited hospital locator. (Whew, yes, mine is accredited.)

I'd also like to encourage you to follow the AAHA on Facebook or Twitter, or to subscribe to their newsletter, Pets Matter. If you win and your veterinary practice is not accredited, you must find an AAHA vet and register with them for the appointment.
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• Wordless Wednesday: Spy Vs. Spy

That's Austin Powers on the left and Bond— James Bond.