Today, we are hoppy to announce our review of the very first book we’ve received that’s written by a board certified veterinary oncologist: The No Nonsense Guide to Cancer in Pets, by Dr. Michael D. Lucroy.

Recently featured in the Tripawds Downloads blog, The No Nonsense Guide is an easily understood, yet comprehensive look at everything a pawrent needs to know when they first learn their pet has cancer. This book will take you from Point A, where your vet suspects cancer, to Point B, by helping you determine how you want to treat it.

Take a minute to get grounded in the facts and download Dr. Lucroy’s 60-page e-book for $29.97. It’s a great starting point for talking with your veterinary professional, coping with what lies ahead, and learning the basics on any treatments that you choose to pursue.

Don’t Miss Live Chat With Dr. Michael D. Lucroy!

Come chat with Dr. Lucroy in the Tripawds Live Chat this Saturday, November 21 at 5:00 p.m. PST (8:00 Eastern). Members must be logged in to participate.

Dr. Lucroy provides basic cancer definitions for the layperson, outlines diagnosis procedures from least invasive to most, and gives an overview of all standard conventional treatment approaches. Dr. Lucroy doesn’t advocate for any one type of treatment or another, he just lays it on the line and explains the procedures, risks, side effects, and benefits.

In a neutral approach, he also educates readers on how to assess alternative and complimentary medical approaches, and discusses how you can find scientific evidence (if it exists) to back up alternative treatments that interest you. You’ll also learn how to effectively work with your conventional medical team, should you choose to pursue alternative and complimentary medicine for your Tripawd.

One of our favorite chapters is “How? How Did My Dog or Cat Get Cancer?”, which discusses many of the risk factors that can cause cancer, which ones pawrents can do something about and which ones are out of our hands because of genetic predisposition, etc. The chapter can go a long way in alleviating the guilt that many of pawrents have felt, thinking we might have done something to cause the illness.

As a gift for purchasing the book, readers will receive a six-page bonus supplement of detailed questions about each kind of treatment, to ask your veterinary team.

A portion of the sales of each book will be donated to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Foundation’s cancer research fund.

Dr. Lucroy is a practicing oncologist at the Veterinary Specialty Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was formerly Chief of Clinical Oncology at Purdue University. He completed his oncology residency at the University of California at Davis, is a graduate of Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, and is a distinguished author, speaker and editorial board member of the American Journal of Veterinary Research and the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. You can read his blog at http://oncodvm.blogspot.com

My pack was lucky enough to meet Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell at the Tattered Cover book store in Denver, CO recently. He was doing his first signing for the new book Guardians of Being, featuring Mutts artwork, the words of Eckhart Tolle, and that strip we love so much.

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Patrick read passages from Guardians of Being and his new children’s book Wag! He also drew some favorite Mutts characters for the crowd and took some time to chat with Jim about the Mutts strip and the Nature program in which Jim mentioned it. René caught it all on video …

As you can see, that lucky dog Wyatt got some good belly rubs from Patrick. Jim and René got their books signed, and owe Patrick a special thanks for the signed drawing of Guard Dog running free. We’ll be publishing a detailed review for Guardians of Being soon in the Tripawds Amazon Selections blog, so stay tuned for that. We just need Jim to put the book down long enough to write a review. But he just keeps reading it from cover to cover, again and again, with a big serene grin on his face!

Update: Don’t miss our in-depth book review for Guardians of Being!

Being huge Mutts fans, they were excited to hear about the new Mutts Treasury from Patrick McDonnell featuring all our favorite furry friends from the funnies. Hoping it might include this strip, they requested a review copy  from Andrews McMeel publishing who kindly obliged. And guess what? Check out page 40!

Needless to say, my people were excited to review Stop and Smell the Roses. And they loved it! Here is what they had to say…

McDonnell has an uncanny ability to say it all, in just so many words. An important task for an artistic novelist whose pages are but frames and panels told over time. A task which Patrick executes exquisitely, and consistently. His new Mutts Treasury, Stop and Smell the Roses is a perfect example.

This beautiful keepsake book chronicles a year in the life of Earl and Mooch, our favorite dog – cat duo from the funny pages. And it does so with thought provoking themes throughout the seasons, along with a selection of gallery-worthy title panels.

We have always thought Mutts was a cute feature good for a quick giggle, or warm fuzzy feeling – like another favorite, Pearls Before Swine. But reading this compilation through made us quickly realize it is so much more.

McDonnell offers profound simplicity through the minds of Earl and Mooch. This struck us first with his periodic selections of quotes and proverbs, including one that Jerry himself could have coined: “It’s a beautiful day for it.”  – A Wilbur Cross quote over a single panel with Earl greeting the day with gusto.

He also offers his own short and sweet gems of wisdom, like when Earl and Mooch watch a butterfly flit all about only to say, “I’ve never seen a butterfly in a hurry.” Or some that require no words at all. Like how he captures the amazing intention of dogs simply by showing Earl’s eye on the baseball pitcher, or a blank frame where Earl beats the reader to the punchline.

It was a pleasure to catch up with the Mutts gang after missing out on our daily fix for the two years we’ve been on the road. And of course we were happy to see this collection includes the strip that means so much to us, where Earl proves that dogs always know what time it is: Now.

But best of all, we got to see new segments of the Mutts saga in their entirety. Episodes, if you will, that we never even knew existed. Being big Lewbowski fans for instance, we especially enjoyed Mooch’s “Dude” phase. The cat on the rug really does tie the room together.

Another treat is the selection of to do lists – both deep and sincere in there simplicity – which gives this Mutts treasury it’s title. One of which, Lalla taught us to live by long ago …

To Do List:

1. Stop
2. Smell the Roses

And another is one which Jerry would be proud if we all followed …

To Do List:

1. Seize the Day.

It also hit home to see Earl and Mooch hit the road in a “Kitty Car”. Seeing them enjoy a road trip like we did with Jerry strengthens the connection we feel with Patrick McDonnell’s work. As do his Shelter Stories about the special needs pets, like the deaf dog or one-eyed cat.

There are two things at which McDonnell excels with his work in Mutts. He addresses important topics – like saving the tigers – without being preachy. And he’ll make you laugh when you least expect it.

So if you’re a Mutts fan, or just want a copy of that now famous strip we spoke of on PBS, check out Stop and Smell the Roses – A Mutts Treasury. And if this is the first you’ve heard of Mutts, now is your chance to see what treasures you’ve been missing.