05/22/2026
Storytime!
Once upon a time, when I was small, all I wanted in the world was to be a veterinarian. I loved animals from the earliest memory I have. Mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and birds, all creatures, great and small.
My mom's dog had a litter of puppies two days before I was born, so the runt of the litter, Ruffles, and I grew up together, literally. She was my dog more than she was my mom's. She slept with me, tucked into my armpit like the little bedwarmer only a chihuahua can be.
When I was about 5, an orange cat had kittens in our garage. My mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT, but before she found out, I loved taking care of that mom and her babies. I called her Rosarita, after the refried beans, because that's what color she was, and it was such a pretty name.
I became obsessed with insects for a while, and had hundreds of jars of preserved specimens that I was going to pin one day when I was old enough. We moved when I was nine, and my mom mysteriously left my bug collection behind and discouraged me from continuing to collect them - otherwise, I might have ended up an entomologist.
She did encourage my weird obsession in other ways - she bought me books. I still own about half of the National Audubon Society field guides collection for so many different creatures, and I pored through those books over and over, devouring every detail. She signed me up for the Zoobooks magazines, and I'm so sad that I didn't keep those like I did the field guides, because they were among the best resources for that kind of learning for a kid like me. I especially loved the family tree sections, which sometimes folded out like a centerfold.
So when i got to middle school and I had a Geography teacher who offered us extra credit for doing volunteer work, I hopped on the chance and volunteered at our family veterinarian's office, which is now a VCA emergency clinic. Dr. Law let me do all kinds of things I'd never have had the opportunity to do otherwise. I helped recover animals from surgery, and assisted with keeping a giant breed dog calm while they pumped her stomach after she'd eaten a toxic plant. But when that dog didn't make it, and the process of caring for her, with its sights and smells, was overwhelming to 14-year-old Tabby, and I decided I wasn't cut out for veterinary work.
But I often wonder if I had waited until I was a little more mature to seek out those kinds of experiences, would I have been able to hack it? I'm almost 50 now, so there's no way I'm ever going to pursue that old dream even though I know that Tabby today could handle it - I have handled so many tough situations both as a mom and in animal rescue at this point, that I would not have been deterred by that experience if I knew then what I know now.
So all of this rambling is to say that one of the things that I feel passionately about is knowledge sharing. And making information accessible. You should always seek care from a veterinarian when that is available to you, but sometimes it's just not. My experienced layman's insights or suggestions are not as good as a licensed veterinarian's, no matter what, but in some circumstances, all we have is what we can share with each other, especially in the rescue space where resources are often limited.
So to that end I'm working on some content for my website to provide resources to everyone in the rescue community, both locally and beyond. Sometimes that means taking the miracle on 34th street approach and sending folks to other resources, like Kitten Lady. Sometimes that means providing information based on my lived experiences. But all these things provide value and community in a space where sometimes big opinions from even bigger personalities can make collaboration challenging.
One of my goals is to be a resource to bridge the gap and help people find the help that is available in their communities, or to build their own resources if they don't already exist.
So what would you like to learn about today? How to set up to become a successful foster parent to an animal without foster failing and keeping them as your pet? :D. That's a hard one for a lot of people! How to troubleshoot kitten feeding issues? Something else?
Ask me anything!
