… helps the medicine go down…
Mary Poppins had the right idea, but it’s not sugar in our house. Mugsy likes the chewable Rimadyl just fine, but neither dog cares for the ointments in their lives. You see, Tuesday was the dog day around here. Both dogs went to the vet. Mugsy was still not himself, and Sissy had a couple of issues too.
The short version is, Mugsy is now back to normal.
THAT kind of normal. Yes, he’s an old, arthritic dog, so he’s content with just a couple of shorter throws these days, but last week, he didn’t even want to carry a ball around in his mouth, much less play fetch. We were thinking dire thoughts and hoping at worst, it was an adjustment to going blind in one eye and perhaps a bit of depression. Wrong! His active, accident-prone youth has just caught up with him. This time, the vet ran bloodwork galore, did a glaucoma test and some sort of “stain” test to assure the tear duct in that eye was also working, and performed another thorough physical exam. All tests came back normal, so he still has some vision in that eye, and after whatever they gave him on Tuesday and 24 hours on the ointment and Rimadyl, he’s perky as can be!
Sissy, on the other hand…
I don’t know that SHE feels like she’s behind bars, but I sure feel like I need to go to a doggie nutritionist school. SIGH. Her redneck woman status is in jeopardy, because I don’t think you can be rough and tumble AND high maintenance, and girlfriend is indeed HIGH MAINTENANCE. (Above, she’s squirrel hunting, her favorite pastime.)
Grab a cold beverage, or skip ahead. This is a long story.
Despite Sissy’s farm girl roots, she missed the houndsaren’tfinickyeaters part of her heritage. Princess has always been a very dainty eater, a very PICKY eater. We never did find a puppy food that she’d eat with any gusto, and two months into the adult food world, the struggle continues. Only now, it’s complicated by her HIGH FIBER, mucho-premium brand needs, due to serious anal gland issues. (It *IS* Dogs on Thursday, so just in case some of you care…)
Sounds straight-forward enough, right? Well, there are a few problems, starting with the fact that most high-fiber dog foods are low-cal. Gretchen-Danica-Diana doesn’t need a lower caloric intake, by any means. So, with the help of my personal canine wiki-woman at Lapdog Creations, the Knight and I have been searching the net and calling our local vendors in an effort to secure a couple of options for Missy Sissy Princess Painintheneck to try. Ha! If it has a good review, it can’t be found in hicktown. We really don’t want to order in bulk until she’s eaten it for a few weeks, because she’ll generally eat a new food (mixed into the other gradually, of course) with gusto for a few days, and then her real reaction kicks in.
The vet also said to add canned pumpkin to her meals. Yeah. The Prince gets a cup or so of green beans with his handful of kibble, and the Princess gets a heaping spoonful of pumpkin. We look like the school lunch line at doggie dinner time at our house. Problem is, Princess has turned her nose up at pumpkin, so I think I’m going to have to bake pumpkin treats for her instead, AND try sprinkling Metamucil on her food (also “prescribed” by the vet) until we find a food that works. The Prince treasures his green beans though, and we highly recommend that “diet” for any dog needing to drop a few pounds. I think it’s now a lifestyle for the Prince; he can be picky about kibble too, and we’re pretty sure he’d stop eating without his little green happiness atop every bowl.
Last, but not least in this epic update about my pampered pooches, Sissy and her neighbor Abby are going to school together, obedience school. (New, cute Abby photos are sure to follow!) The Knight and Neighbor Dude are starting a betting pool as to which dog gets sent to the principal’s office first, and when. (It’s a four-week class, if you want in?) Best Thing (as in, best thing that ever happened to Neighbor Dude) and I will be selling tickets to the shows – er, classes – if you care to actually watch the Girls Gone Wild of dog schools in person. We figure between the two fundraisers, we’ll have enough money to re-enroll the dog(s?) kicked out at another facility in the area.
You think we’re kidding? Sissy’s adorable, but has no boundaries, because when we try to enforce them, I end up laughing. She’s just too darned cute, and despite having successfully shown dogs in obedience trials from my ‘tweens on, I need an intervention. Abby is just bad. I’m not talking about her behind backs; her owners know it, and that’s why when Neighbor Dude learned I was taking Sissy to school, he had me email Best Thing the info., and BT immediately signed Abby up within about five minutes of that email leaving my computer. Abby doesn’t like strangers – humans or other dogs – so the first class is going to be a tremendous struggle for her. Sissy’s never met a stranger, so for very different reasons, she’s going to have her own reality check. My goal is to survive this class, and then in a few months, we’ll take an agility class. I think the inner Danica would really enjoy it.
So, that’s this week’s update. If you have any doggy pumpkin treat recipes to share, that would rock. We’ve got a handful of foods we’re trying to find in hicktown, and I’m going to call the local pet food baker and see if she ever does a custom blend and what it would cost… (She makes great pumpkin treats, so it might be worth the insane price if she could make Sissy a pumpkin kibble…)
Now you know why I’ve been quiet. I’ve been researching dog foods and probably know more about what the locals have in stock than their own cashiers. I think at least one store has blocked the main office number, but luckily, we have four lines if you include the fax, so I can call around a lot more before that’s a real problem. There’s been some multi-tasking retail therapy going on too, but you’ll just have to wait for the reports as the therapy products roll in!
I also whipped out a quick sweater for Abby. Remember her? She used to be a neighbor, she took basic obedience with Sissy, her dad is the Knight’s assistant…
Needles: My zebra wood #9 straights. That’s a whole 3 sizes smaller than what the pattern suggested, but I went down one size because I knit loosely, and then I didn’t have any #10 straights, so…
Chan Knits 