Happy Holidays to the Lake Isabella Animal Shelter: the full story on the KRV Pet Blog

Thank you to the Lake Isabella Animal Shelter for all their hard work helping get homes for the stray, lost, starving, sick, and injured pets in the Kern River Valley.

It was all hustle and bustle at the animal shelter this week, located on Hwy. 178 in South Lake across the street from Sierra Gateway Market,  as people remembered the homeless pets over the holidays.

Pictured above, Kim Manning, hands over a grateful pooch to his new owner.

Full story on the KRV Pet Corner. (see link on left side)

These two pups still waiting for their new home, put on a show for me as the camera was filming their antics. A couple of sweet small dog mixes.

Diedra Morrison and her crew of compassion do all they can to catch the attention of potential owners for all the animals who come through the shelter.

Morrison says the hardest job is finding homes for the cats. With a valley full of feral felines, the cats wait long stretches before adoptions and some are not adoptable because they were never handled.

This inquistive cat below saw me coming with the video camera half way across the room.

There are still many left waiting for the right owner to come walking in. If you've got a warm house for a cold, stray cat, or a large fenced yard for a big dog to roam, there are many animals with special needs who need an owner to match.

The shelter is open Monday through Saturday, from 9 am to 4 pm., and the community is welcome to come by and visit, and donations are always accepted.

You can reach the shelter at 760-378-1131

Happy Holidays to our pet friends...the shelter will be open the day after Christmas on Saturday the 26th. Next week the shelter will have shortened hours on Jan. 31 and will be closed for the first. But it opens right back up, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010.

Have a happy holiday then come back for the new year preview

What I have been doing:

After hours of selecting, sorting, crumpling, laughing out loud, cursing dramatically, I have almost finished the monumental task of organizing all of the Kern Valley Healthcare District paper trail I have collected over the years. (Amongst other things I promised you this year. Always late but worth the wait)

(Oh, yes, it's been the quiet before the storm.)

Please have a happy holiday and a safe one.

The New Year preview coming up next week. What we saw in 2009 and upcoming events such as the January 5 court dates and the monthly board meeting.

Drive thru Seasonal flu shots tomorrow, Wed. 9 am, at the KVHD hospital/ Physical therapy I like it's range of motion

If you haven't had the seasonal flu shot, it's ready and waiting for you tomorrow at the Kern Valley Healthcare District hospital beginning at 9 am.

As we creep into the heavy flu season part of the year, there are still shots left, and still places to find the vaccinations.

The cost of the shot will be $10 and that includes the painful prick and soreness around the shoulder and muscles.

Rehabbing the reporter: Physical therapy at KVHD

I finally made my appointment with the physical therapy department on my quest to recover some of the lost strength and muscle, as well as addressing the pain issues.

When I first walked in to the department, I made a mental note, that the PT department was almost as big as the Emergency room, but nicer.

Since I only contain little hope these days about making a full or partial recovery from my injuries and illnesses, I really didn't expect much from the therapist.

But after explaining my situation, and the things I'm doing to mitigate the pain, like writing in bed rather than sitting up, the therapist was in agreement that there are a lot of issues to deal with, including my weight.

Since everyone in the world seems to think they're fat or overweight or flaccid, or whatever, it's tough being the one in the crowd who disappears when I turn to the side.

I'm not taken seriously that I'm 90 pounds, in fact, I get compliments. These people are crazy in my opinion. Everyone wants to be underweight like me.

Here's a few caveates: first, you won't be able to sit comfortably because you have no cushion on your built in chair, AKA, your butt. You can eat and eat and eat and never gain an ounce. Wow! And then you realize that when you don't eat, during those times we're down or we can't get to food, you're a mess, you have to have food.

Then there's the great relief of being skinnier than everyone else, and having anyone heavier than you begin talking about why your skinny. "Don't you eat," I've heard that from people who don't know me, and even from a couple doctors.

"Oh is that the reason," I always say sarcastically. "And I guess that logic would apply that everyone  overweight eats too much." (The incredible intelligence of modern medicine)

But my Physical Therapist was much more interested in how we can put weight on this body while utilizing exercise and stretching.

He never said to me, "do you eat?" Right off the bat I had respect because he didn't say anything stupid (we will be getting to stupid, when I finally finish the story on the Rurual Health Clinic. I apologize, but my dog died, and my grief is great, so I've gotten behind on things.)

So far, I'm impressed with our service, rehab, physical therapy, at the hospital, and the people working in that department are upbeat and compassionate.

I'll be going on a regular basis so that maybe one day I'll walk into the hospital board meeting looking more like myself, a little plump, and wearing my own clothes, not from the children's department.

Remember, there are some problems with the district, but there are other areas where they are going strong.

So, let's take a walk down physical therapy lane together and see how it goes...

And I'll be back for more soon...