Hello from Alisha!

Hello to all of you Trailridgers out there! It is truly surreal for me to believe that I have been gone for almost 6 months now. Seems like just yesterday I was saying goodbye. I am loving Los Angeles and the gorgeous weather and variety in culture the city offers. I followed my dreams of becoming a web designer/marketer and now I am designing an ad for the New York Times. I feel fortunate and grateful every day. Even though I have started a new life, my old life as a receptionist at the clinic is always a click or phone call away.

Along with near daily updates on how you all are doing from my old co-workers, I also have the privilege of keeping the Trailridge website up to date and writing the monthly newsletters. This gives me a chance to see pictures and hear stories that have been shared (so keep them coming… not just to share with the world, but to share with me too!) My current day-to-day job leaves me a bit disconnected with the world, which is quite a change from working at the hospital. In fact, I have weeks that go by without an emotional breakdown, (I thought this was a good thing). What I forgot was how much love I felt before feeling that pain, a sequence of emotions familiar to all pet owners. I was reminded recently of these emotions when posting an obituary on the site for one of my favorite Trailridge visitors. As I began to type out his beautifully written obituary, tears came streaming down my face. I began to really sob. You know that kind of crying that makes your belly hurt? That was me, sitting at my laptop, looking at this happy faced brindle boxer in the picture that accompanied the obit. I wished I had been there for the owners and for this dog during his last moments. I guess in the midst of everything, you do tend forget just how attached you become from the other side of the reception counter. Even 1,600 miles away, I love and care for you all whole heartedly. Each of you and your pets changed who I am forever. For that, I wanted to say Thank You. The memories we shared and your willingness to continue to share with me is invaluable.

~Alisha Ahern

TPH receptionist 2006-2010

Never had a good chance

We had a 10 week old Boxer puppy come in on Monday that was very sick.  Labwork indicated a viral infection and by Tuesday, he had all the classic symptoms of parvo virus - something that we fortunately don't see too often anymore.  He was part of a litter of 4 puppies and the only one that was sick.  The owners - who have both the father and mother - had vaccinated the adults but had not had any of the puppies vaccinated.  The only way to treat dogs with parvo is supportive care and pretty much hope they can fight off the virus and recover.  Unfortunately, this morning he had gotten much worse and so we euthanized him.  It is particularly hard to euthanize a pet that has an illness that can be prevented with vaccinations.  All of us who were involved in his treatment will be haunted by his sweet face for quite a while.  Puppy and kitten vaccinations and boosters beginning around 6 weeks are extremely important due to the way their immune systems develop. The antibodies they receive from the mother protect them beginning at birth but these decrease over the next few weeks and the puppy and kitten need to develop their own antibodies through vaccinations.  Because it is not known how long the maternal antibodies will interfere with the vaccinations, we give a series of vaccinations for up to 16 weeks of age.  The owners have let us know today that 2 of the 3 surviving puppies now are showing symptoms of parvo.  Situations like this are heartwrenching for us and it is a sad day.
Jan Hueben, RVT