The American people overwhelmingly oppose Trump’s plan. In fact, a recent poll found that only 14% of voters support cutting social services to fund an extension of Trump’s tax cuts. That’s why Republicans passed the bill early in the morning when no one was watching — because they know how wildly unpopular it is. This bill is NOT a done deal. It still needs to pass the Senate. It's important that we get in touch with our senators and tell them to vote NO on this bill. Keep calling. (202) 224-3121

I use 5calls.org which makes it pretty easy. I've been calling and bothering my reps basically every day since January because it makes me feel slightly better. Today, it's essential we flood the phones. Don't make this easy on them. Make your voice heard!

There is no excuse for gutting basic support for those in need to give those with more than enough a little bit more.

So for anyone interested in attaining higher education, this bill would utterly gut all of our student loan systems we currently have and replace them with things that are much worse, like lifetime caps on borrowing (have fun trying to do medical school on $150K lifetime!), even longer repayment windows, and eradication of our current income-based repayment plans.

This could wind up quadrupling my current income-based payment, which would result in nearly a full paycheck just to loans every month. That’s just me, and I could survive it… but anyone doing an internship right now? Anyone trying to get into veterinary or medical school without independently wealthy family? Anyone repaying loans on their own without a partner or with a rural job?

SCREAM AT YOUR SENATORS TO STOP THIS NOW!

Killing and hatred and violence

DESTRUCTION AND DEATH

Seasons do not change on their own. They do so because this dog dismantles them piece by piece.

DOGE just froze funding to vital Federal and Indigenous conservation programs devoted to supporting the very delicate and tenuous existence of the black-footed ferret.

I fell in love with these animals as a kid traveling to our National Parks. Their rarity and ferocity made me sharply aware, even as a child, of just how much of a responsibility we have toward our environment. I can't bear the thought of them being a fucking casualty of Trump and Musk.

Look at them! They do war dances.

Okay I don't want to end this on doom and gloom, so I'm also going to add that the Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance was one of the indigenous-lead organizations who were supposed to receive a $1.1 million dollar grant that has since been frozen. But they do have a website and they do accept donations.

seriously please keep your cats inside

bird flu is extremely contagious and can be deadly for younger or older cats. the current strain that is spreading isn’t transmitted to humans, but there’s always a chance of viral mutation. if you usually let your cat out, please take this as a sign to keep your cat indoors for their sake and everyone else’s.

The majority of sick cats we have been seeing in the US have been indoor only cats being fed raw milk or raw poultry diets. Outdoor cats can certainly be exposed to bird flu by hunting wild birds or by roaming on farms, but indoor cats can and have died.

Please feed your cats cooked diets, whether canned, kibble or fresh cooked. If you are absolutely dead set on feeding a raw diet, switch to fish, pork, or other non-poultry/non-beef based diets! And nobody should be drinking raw milk, animal or human. Avian influenza is only one of many pathogens that can be found in unpasteurized milk, it’s just not worth the risk.

Indoor cats died of influenza after exposure to raw milk or raw diets

Bird flu from cat food? What to know to protect your pets : Shots - Health News

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/22/nx-s1-5270042/cat-food-bird-flu-raw-milk

Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species.

Please reblog for a larger sample! I'm only running the poll for a day.

It was kind of unavoidable 😂

SHIT.

Please reblog!

If you went to this event, or know anyone who did, take action IMMEDIATELY.

For those who don't want to read: animal adoption event in Colorado recently, one of the puppies had RABIES, they're trying to track down everyone who might have had contact to get them medical treatment ASAP (because RABIES), this is a very straight forward "oh shit signal boost just in case someone who needs to see this does" chain

I've never really given much thought to ingrown tails before but

Sincerely, what the fuck.

Oh yeah, I've been in a screw tail surgery before, and it's very weird. Since the tail is tucked in so tight, you basically have to go into the body to remove the tail, which makes it vastly different from a regular tail amputation. Here's a rough diagram of what the surgery looks like:

And like talesfromtreatment said, the surgery has a high risk of complications, like fecal incontinence. Just another reason why I don't like bulldogs.

Here's a before and after of the surgery too, as a treat (not my photos)

There are so many tragedies in bulldogs and this is one of the most painful and chronic ones there is. I know so many bulldogs who are sweet gentle souls but react with snarling and biting if their tails are touched because this just hurts. All the time. It’s infected. All the time. It can never truly be cleaned and it’s just a seething cauldron of bacteria, yeast and inflammation, and many times that bacteria winds up resistant to antibiotics because of previous efforts to control the infection.

People never ask us what puppies they should get… they only bring them to us once they’ve already chosen. But if anyone ever asked me, I’d say run, run, RUN far away from English bulldogs, French bulldogs, and Pugs unless your breeder is daring enough to breed away from the “breed standard” and is mixing them them with things that give them longer snouts, better breathing, and more normal spines. Of course, any such breeder is likely to be ostracized for not toeing the line of how the breed “should” look, and is probably not charging nearly as much as the idiots breeding “fluffy” Frenchies (still just as misshapen but now with weird hair), “lilac” Frenchies (now with even more skin problems!) or “micro” Frenchies (a pretzel that can’t breathe and might have hydrocephalus too). Please please don’t buy these poor creatures, and if you feel so moved to rescue one that has been given up, make sure you have a side hustle going to pay for the extensive medical bills that are sure to follow. 😪

"Watching my dad (a GP doctor) watch House is more entertaining than the show"

Fun fact this also works with veterinarians since so many of the diseases they were stumped by were zoonotic like this one 😝

The Bronx Zoo has just released Flaco's necropsy results.

He was not thriving, as the people championing the ideal of "freedom" claimed.

He was poisoned.

He was sick.

He was suffering.

"Freedom" would have eventually killed him. A building just happened to do it first.

The naturalistic fallacy kills animals in horrible ways. The romanticism of what humans want to think of as a "free, wild, pure life" cannot be allowed supplant the reality of injury, sickness, and death. Releasing captive animals (or keeping them from being recaptured) because it's "better" for them to suffer untethered than live a healthy, safe, captive life is inhumane and horrific.

Flaco's life didn't have to end in pain, sickness, and suffering.

Flaco's death didn't have to be tragic.

But once the idea of "freedom" entered the chat, Flaco's fate was unavoidable.

While I hate to be glib about losing a beautiful bird I mean, I’m just surprised anyone is surprised…. 😔 It’s P-22 all over again. 😢

PLEASE do not encourage your kitties around the laundry machines! Cats can die in a manner of minutes from hiding in laundry and the machines being turned on, either from drowning, heat stroke or trauma. It is a terrible death and highly traumatic to the owners and veterinary staff as well 😭

Okay folks: I’m working on a presentation about accessibility at zoos for an upcoming meeting.

One thing I’m touching on is the importance of supporting and welcoming real service dog teams. People sneaking their pets in / pretending ESAs are service dogs is becoming a real problem, and the general reflex I’m seeing in the industry is to just make it harder for anyone with a dog, so I want to ask the audience to think about that a little and consider other approaches to solving the problem.

I’d like to include a collage of photos of well-behaved service dogs at zoos and aquariums to help reinforce the point. Which means it’s photo request time! If you’ve got a photo of you / your service dog clearly at a zoo, aquarium, or other similar facility and would be willing to let me use it in this presentation, please chat/ask/email me (whyanimalsdothething @ gmail). I’m happy to block out human faces.

TIA. ❤️ 🦮🐕‍🦺

patron saint of one-way trips and other journeys from which you can never return

this post is about her

these are very wise (and very real) words. believe me.

The most important question to ask when choosing a career or major in college isn't necessarily "do I love this" -- but "does this make me miserable?"

Like if you're lucky enough to find passion in what you do professionally, great. You're lucky as heck. But that's not going to be true for most people. Odds are, it won't be true for you.

But if you work a job you don't mind doing, you can still lead a fairly happy life. Like there are many ways to find happiness, and as long as your job doesn't hinder it, it's okay if it's not the fulfilling part of it.

I don't love my job. But I've been working for this company for fifteen or fourteen years (depending when you consider my start date as a contractor or as a full time employee), and at the end of my work day I'm not tired of it. I'm not exhausted. I'm not, like, super into it, sure. It's not what I'd do for fun in my free time.

But it doesn't drag me down either.

I spend time with my wife and my family and my friends. I find my joy in my hobbies. I help run a convention. I make podcasts. I play role playing games. I write stuff. I watch Star Trek. I take long drives in the countryside. I find ways to sit in a lawn chair staring at a lake in the Wisconsin Northwoods.

All of those are what make my life happy and fulfilled.

My job just lets me live in a way where I have the time and resources to do that other stuff.

Statistically, you will not love your job -- and that's okay. Just try to make sure you don't hate it.

I’d also say that some of the very hardest jobs should be saved for those who do have a passion for the thing they’re doing, because some of those jobs will be crushing if you don’t have the insulation of passion. Being a veterinarian or doctor or nurse or dentist is grueling in both the preparatory work and schooling to get there, and then afterwards in long days, student loan debt, and the difficulties of the job itself.

A lot of people think being a vet is fun because it’s playing with puppies and kittens all day. Actually, sometimes it’s lying awake at night because your patient had an unexpected reaction to a treatment and now they’re hurt or sick because of it and you worry about if the owners are going to organize a witch-hunt online or report you to the board or come down to the clinic with a gun. Sometimes it’s seeing a sweet little puppy dying of a vaccine-preventable disease, covered in its own vomit and bloody diarrhea. Sometimes it’s seeing a senior citizen break down sobbing at their pet’s euthanasia because it’s the last pet they’ll ever be capable of owning and the last link to their deceased spouse or child. Sometimes it’s knowing you tried your best and still failed because sometimes biology just wins; sometimes it’s knowing you could have done more but the owner couldn’t afford it; sometimes it’s knowing you truly made a mistake you can’t take back.

I think most people should find a job they don’t hate just like OP says. But the passion jobs are definitely out there. I think if you do go for the passion job, make sure you LOVE it. Merely liking or kind of being into something like vet med is absolutely not enough to protect you from the hard parts. The passion still may not protect you fully, but you have a much better chance of surviving a difficult position if you have it. I tell people to not even consider being a veterinarian unless you can’t stand the idea of *not* being one, and don’t have any other ideas for a career.

If you just kinda sorta dig the idea of vet med, it’ll eat you alive.

Mr M. was my favorite client. He grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and he wanted to 'recreate' his memories of the 1950s and 60s in paintings.

Newborn calves can look terribly skinny. They fatten up quickly!

He sent me a photo of his dad with him and his sister. I added them in.

Dang, I love Jersey cows! I'm sure glad I got to paint these.

Jersey cows are best cows, you cannot change my mind! Gosh these are incredibly gorgeous 🤩