Archive for the ‘health’ Category
Feeling the puppies kick
Tonight is the second night of our new mama’s (Honey?) time with us, and she is settling in. She is so young – clearly a puppy still herself. She is so happy, lots of wags and excitement each time she sees us. And she has a surprising amount of energy given her “condition” and her very malnourished state. If she didn’t have whipworms and hookworms she’d be out with my other dogs, romping in the big yard by now. But we need to get her cleaned up inside first (and get rid of her fleas) before letting her interact with my dogs.
She is a funny looking dog! I hope to get some photos that really capture how she looks in 3 dimensions. It’s strange but she looks different from different angles. Sometimes she looks just like a hound, a coon hound or such but then you see her short legs. Tonight she reminded me of our dog, Brandy, who died this spring. Brandy had a similar look to her face, in the eyes and the ears, but normal length legs. This mama looks like she’s been cut off at the knees. I said that to her tonight, “Mama, who took your legs? Someone stole your legs and left you with these little stumps!” But she is unaware of her unusual look, and just radiates love and happiness. I love that about those foster dogs – how adaptable and agreeable they are.
Last night and again tonight I laid my hand on her side and felt the little puppies moving around. They are strong – kicking and squirming. It won’t be long now and we’ll have a whole bunch of little ones running around. Wonder what they will look like?
Choosing your dog food
I was sent this email from a friend who trains at my club, the Fox Valley Dog Training Club. It is helpful information and something to be aware of. Personally, I feed my dogs either Canidae or Blue Buffalo – just fyi.
Subject: Feeding Healthwise, Innova, EVO, Karma or California Natural to pets? Read this…
Ken and I just learned that in early June, Natura (makers of Healthwise, Innova, EVO, Karma and California Natural) were purchased by Proctor and Gamble. And at about the same time the plant where the foods are manufactured has been expanded. Google news only reveals 2 articles on this, so it wasn’t widely publicized.
Now there are many fine P&G products in our home right now: soaps; toothpaste; dish washing liquid; etc. But we spent a lot of time and energy selecting a dog food that we felt would meet our dogs’ nutritional demands. We’re worried that as P&G clearly plans to expand the distribution of these products, quality control may not remain intact, ingredients may suffer…or both.
If you’re happy with your food, don’t mind the change and plan to continue feeding these products, I’d watch the ingredient labels closely for changes, should fillers and chemicals start to creep in over time.
We’ve decided that we’ll either seek out another brand or cook for them ourselves.
Feel free to share the heads up with your friends feeding these products.
Barb
Furminator Love
Today I ran my hand down Lollie‘s back and got a literal handful of loose hair. Yuck. The best thing to do when they shed like that is to get out the brush, and not any old brush, but the mother of ALL brushes – the Furminator.
I love the Furminator for many reasons and the main one is that once I furminate my dogs I don’t have to do it again for at least a week, usually more like a month. Really it is that effective. With ordinary brushes I would brush and then that night it would seem like they were still shedding just as much. Now I really see the results (gobs of hair coming out on the brush) and these results last.
So, if you haven’t explored the wonders of the Furminator, I encourage you to check it out. It is one of my all time favorite dog related tools.
 Pile o' fur 10lbs of hair lighter! |
 10lbs of hair lighter! |
Rubi has surgery for obstruction
This disturbing report from Rubi‘s family (of Willow‘s litter):
Really wish I lived closer. If you ever do a get together of all of Willow’s litter mates, we will hopefully be able to do something like that. It would be neat to see how Rubi Red reacts. 🙂
A quick update on her. Lets see, how do I make this quick. 2 weeks ago, Rubi started throwing up her food which is very odd as she doesn’t throw up. It wasn’t every time she ate, but when she started to get a tiny bit lethargic, it started to get us to really think. From Wed to Fri, she threw up 3 times and I decided to take her into the vet on Saturday morning just to make sure.
Good thing I made an appointment because she threw up on Saturday morning. They took x-rays, but thought maybe she just had a poop build up. They sent me home with that prescription bland diet and gave her an anti-nausia shot. She did NOT get any better and was drooling like crazy. On sunday, she stopped drinking water and eating. There’s no messing with that and we brought her to the emergency vet. They took more x-rays and were about 80% sure that something was stuck in or around her small intestines. So, they did immediate surgery. Turns out, she had eaten a part of the blanket she lays on. It filled an entire sandwich bag. She stayed at the vet for a couple days for observation as her pancreas was a little swollen from the blanket that was jammed in there. She was slowly getting better that week, BUT on Saturday night, she stopped eating and drinking again. ugh. We brought her back to the same emergency vet on Sunday and they figured her pancreas might be a little inflamed still, so they put her back on antibiotics and gave her fluids and some anti-nausea just in case. Poor Rubi.
Her staples are out and she’s back to bouncing off the walls! I guess that wasn’t a short update, but I’ve been meaning to email you and update you on what happened with her.
Oh MY! I am SO happy that all is ok now. What a scary situation for you both. Good job acting fast and keeping on it. I’ll post this as a cautionary tale to those with puppies out there.
-Kristin
Much ado about nothing
Ringworm is contagious. Yes that is true. And there was enough of the fungus on Fluffy‘s hair to grow a culture in the dish. Yes, that is also true. But does that mean the pups HAVE ringworm? If they show no signs does that mean they have it? If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it fall, did it really fall? Ok, maybe that is taking it too far. But really, as I prepare myself mentally for the yellow puppies and the smell of sulfur, I must ask myself, “why?” If we hadn’t tested the flaky skin on Fluffy we would not think they were sick. They don’t have any symptoms. We haven’t caught anything, nor have our dogs. Really, all we have is part of a story…a beginning line so to speak. But a very compelling one to many people. Sigh. So, I will dip the puppies tomorrow. I will withstand the smell and mess and unsightliness of it. I will do it because it is the right thing to do. Then I will bleach the heck out of the room and bathe my dogs with a anti-fungal shampoo. Because it is the right thing to do. But I keep thinking, if it weren’t for that opening line, I’d have a completely different story here, “The puppies are so healthy and ready to go!” Something to think about.
It’s day by day for Brandy
The end of the road is nearing for Brandy. I find myself conflicted on deciding when is her time to go – if it should be my decision at all. She could die naturally, but seeing her decline is so hard for me I wonder if it is not kinder to put her down.
I bought Brandy from Animal Kingdom on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago in September 1994 when she was 6 weeks old. She was always a fairly high energy dog who loved to run and jump like most dogs but I will always remember how she seemed to love the wind. On windy days she would stop in her tracks to face the wind, sniffing, blowing her floppy Snoopy years backward. After a short time, she would bolt from that position and run around crazy – sometimes just I circles – as if to celebrate. This is a vivid but now distant memory. She is old now, arthritic, and increasingly losing the muscle needed to remain standing on all fours. Her legs will frequently slide out from under her in all directions just while she is standing or leaning over to drink some water. I’m sure she wishes we had carpeting to assist rather than our wood and tile floors.
