Well, I would not call it cooking per se. Rather, I have been able to reduce Money Hole Dawg's kibble diet to a mix of kibble, pumpkin and water and she eats it heartily. In other words, she is still alive after I've had to process her food for each feeding since Tuesday. Kibble, for those who don't have dogs, is like little gravel pebbles with similar texture but they are much harder than gravel. Amazingly, they are actually food. I don't know what form of cement they mix in with the food, but it makes each little kibble rather, umm, indestructible.
It turns out I take her normal feeding amount of kibble--2/3rds cup-- throw it in the blender, throw in a huge tablespoon of pumpkin from the can and cover with water. I am now a master at the controls to reduce this concoction to the consistency of a thick pea soup--only I have prepared a pumpkin-kibble soup any dog would love.
To feed her, I put the pill and one half in a Pill Pocket as an appetizer, load the liquid medicine into a small bowl with the pumpkin soup and voila! Money Hole Dawg's dinner (or breakfast, its the same without the liquid medication.)
Feeding a dog with an Elizabethan scratch prevention collar is not easy. So, the concoction is put into two smaller bowls that I then hold under her snout while she eats (bowl #1 has the medication in it.) If you are ever in the position to do this, do not wear good clothes nor plan on doing anything with your hands without a rather vigorous, aggressive cleaning. Dawg drool, pumpkin, medicine and cement like kibble make for a rather disgusting layer of crud on one's hands.
As for her medications, what would you take if you had 14 teeth removed?
Clavamox is amoxicillin with an extender that makes it broader based than it normally is.
Metacam is an aggressive form of anti-inflammatory for dogs, i.e., a doggie NSAID.
Tramadol is a narcotic pain reliever.
For those who have experienced Money Hole Dawg, aka Wiggles, you know she is a perpetual motion machine. On these drugs, however, she is more like Keith Richards after a particularly hard night partying!
The bottom line is that she is doing well. When the drugs wear off, she is full of P&V as always--she wasn't nicknamed Demand-It Dawg for no reason. Once the collar is off, she then can go in and out of the dog door on her own so she will be much closer to normal behavior. Because she cannot go out on her own right now, I take her for walks every few hours. It is amazing, she pees three doors down, she does number 2 between houses 8 and 11 and then she pees again at house #16. Just a regular little clock she is!
During all of this, Shawna exhibits absolute boredom. She is doing fine although the vet did a quick look see while I had them boarded during my working hours this week. Another mass was found under her skin and two of her yucky under skin things have enlarged. At her age of 17+, all we do is monitor her to see if there is discomfort. So far, no indications of that.
That is all for now!
P
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
A 'Hole in My Pocket' Dawg
The Vet ended up taking 14 teeth from "Hole in My Pocket Dawg". It averaged out to a mere $96 per tooth.
Ouch!
She is wearing one of those collars that prevent her from scratching her face. That is the good news. The bad news is that she cannot get through the doggie door to the dog run to do her business. So, I dropped her (and Shauna) at the vet's today for doggie day care. After yesterday, this is small $$ but it is more money. I have to leave the collar on until Sunday. That means more $$ for Thursday and Friday doggie day care while I am at work.
And the Vet said her throat was such that she did not think it was cancerous. Hence, she went ahead and did the dental surgery. She did take a biopsy sample and we'll hear the results from that no later than Monday. I certainly hope she was right about the throat condition. I'd hate to find out we put Layla thru this miserable procedure when she has a bigger problem (cancer) with a different time line.
When I picked her up last night, she was still heavily drugged. I had to carry her to the car and then into the house. I managed to get some water into her using a syringe and she ate a small meal (pulverized dog food). This morning she was all P&V and she chomped down the full breakfast portion (pulverzied) in record time. She then wanted to eat part of Shauna's bowl too but I quickly stopped that. She did bark a couple of times as we prepared to go to the vet. But, that was obviously painful--probably due to the cut for the biopsy material.
The staff at the vet's showed me how to get the medicine into her--"Pill in a Pocket" by the same people who do greenies--and both dogs love greenies. She wolfed everything down compared to spiting the pills out at home. Who knew?
Anyway, another round of canine care. Just when I thought things would get a bit simpler. NOT!!
Ciao,
p
Ouch!
She is wearing one of those collars that prevent her from scratching her face. That is the good news. The bad news is that she cannot get through the doggie door to the dog run to do her business. So, I dropped her (and Shauna) at the vet's today for doggie day care. After yesterday, this is small $$ but it is more money. I have to leave the collar on until Sunday. That means more $$ for Thursday and Friday doggie day care while I am at work.
And the Vet said her throat was such that she did not think it was cancerous. Hence, she went ahead and did the dental surgery. She did take a biopsy sample and we'll hear the results from that no later than Monday. I certainly hope she was right about the throat condition. I'd hate to find out we put Layla thru this miserable procedure when she has a bigger problem (cancer) with a different time line.
When I picked her up last night, she was still heavily drugged. I had to carry her to the car and then into the house. I managed to get some water into her using a syringe and she ate a small meal (pulverized dog food). This morning she was all P&V and she chomped down the full breakfast portion (pulverzied) in record time. She then wanted to eat part of Shauna's bowl too but I quickly stopped that. She did bark a couple of times as we prepared to go to the vet. But, that was obviously painful--probably due to the cut for the biopsy material.
The staff at the vet's showed me how to get the medicine into her--"Pill in a Pocket" by the same people who do greenies--and both dogs love greenies. She wolfed everything down compared to spiting the pills out at home. Who knew?
Anyway, another round of canine care. Just when I thought things would get a bit simpler. NOT!!
Ciao,
p
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wiggles!
Vet just called. My 4 year old Cavalier
King Charles, Layla aka
Wiggles aka White Dog, needs 11 teeth pulled plus they found her throat is so
raw it could be an infection or cancer--TBD.
During the last visit, the vet
suspected Syringomyelia too.
As my late spouse said, "This dog is a genetic mess." The vet agrees.
My 17 year old English Cocker Spaniel, Shawna aka Red Dog, turned 17 in September and has no significant medical issues. Ah, the complexity of having dogs! (or pets or kids--I've done that too!)
Oh yeah, White Dog was born deaf as well...
Ciao,
p
During the last visit, the vet
suspected Syringomyelia too. As my late spouse said, "This dog is a genetic mess." The vet agrees.
My 17 year old English Cocker Spaniel, Shawna aka Red Dog, turned 17 in September and has no significant medical issues. Ah, the complexity of having dogs! (or pets or kids--I've done that too!)
Oh yeah, White Dog was born deaf as well...
Ciao,
p
Wikipedia needs your support
Wikipedia is a commercial free, free use resource on the web. They are seeking support in the form of money. If you have ever used Wikipedia, take a minute, click on the image and it takes you to their website so you can donate for all the times you've done research there.Ciao,
Pat
Monday, November 7, 2011
Aborted Trip
I was supposed to be in China this week, flying on Saturday. On Friday, I started feeling terrible--achy, very very tired, stomach uneasy, that sort of thing. When I talked to my direct manager, he said he had changed his mind the day before and he was making the trip too. Well, between my health and cost savings, I agreed to stay home.
A good thing too, I spent Friday afternoon and most of Saturday being a lump. It would have been terrible to have flown to China like that.
I can report that Shauna continues to defy all rational expectation and you can find her dancing, running and playing with white dog for a rather lengthy session on a daily basis. That dog is amazing!
My picture library is a real mess so I have started a project to get it all cleaned up. This involved buying a 2T network hard drive at Costco and uploading all the pictures from all of my computers on to it. I am still uploading. Once there, I have purchased a program that seeks and kills duplicate files. Then I can reorganize by date, etc. and get them all in order.
In the process of doing this, I found this iPhone picture that I took somewhere along the line. The wine is immaterial, its the handwriting that is so poignant. When we remodeled the kitchen, we put in two wine coolers with a collective storage of well over 200 bottles. We then joined several vintner's wine clubs and selectively added wine to the coolers.
With each shipment, Mary would carefully read the vintner's notes and write the "best years to consume" date on the bottles before she laid them down (as the expression is used out here.)
This is a picture of two of the bottles with Mary's handwriting declaring she'd like to drink the one on the right between 2012 and 2014 and the one on the left beginning in 2016.
Maybe it was because I was so down and out this weekend, but I sure felt her absence big time these last few days.
Ciao,
P
A good thing too, I spent Friday afternoon and most of Saturday being a lump. It would have been terrible to have flown to China like that.
I can report that Shauna continues to defy all rational expectation and you can find her dancing, running and playing with white dog for a rather lengthy session on a daily basis. That dog is amazing!
My picture library is a real mess so I have started a project to get it all cleaned up. This involved buying a 2T network hard drive at Costco and uploading all the pictures from all of my computers on to it. I am still uploading. Once there, I have purchased a program that seeks and kills duplicate files. Then I can reorganize by date, etc. and get them all in order.
In the process of doing this, I found this iPhone picture that I took somewhere along the line. The wine is immaterial, its the handwriting that is so poignant. When we remodeled the kitchen, we put in two wine coolers with a collective storage of well over 200 bottles. We then joined several vintner's wine clubs and selectively added wine to the coolers.
With each shipment, Mary would carefully read the vintner's notes and write the "best years to consume" date on the bottles before she laid them down (as the expression is used out here.)
Maybe it was because I was so down and out this weekend, but I sure felt her absence big time these last few days.
Ciao,
P
Friday, November 4, 2011
Whirlwind
What a whirlwind of activity since my last posting!
I've been to Denver to visit my son, daughter in law and two grand kiddies. That was a blast! I'll be posting pictures later.
Last weekend I hoped to get to Arizona to visit Mary's son and grand daughter but that didn't work out. I hope I can get see them before the end of the year.
Last night I hosted a potluck for a group of 8 friends. Our terrible weather (50 degrees and a sprinkle of rain) caused horrible traffic jams last night so no one managed to arrive at 7, but everyone was there by 8. We had the herb roasted chicken from Lundardi's plus salad, veggies and fruit to make a very nice meal. There was lots of laughter and it was a very good time.
Two of my dearest friends are fighting cancer. Both had surgery within the past couple of months (September and October) and both are doing radiation as a follow up. One is almost done with her radiation sequence while the other will be starting her radiation treatment soon. The prognosis for both friends is very good, but cancer is cancer and it can be a sneaky, nasty bastard.
All in all, stumbling towards the end of the year and the holidays.
Ciao!
p
I've been to Denver to visit my son, daughter in law and two grand kiddies. That was a blast! I'll be posting pictures later.
Last weekend I hoped to get to Arizona to visit Mary's son and grand daughter but that didn't work out. I hope I can get see them before the end of the year.
Last night I hosted a potluck for a group of 8 friends. Our terrible weather (50 degrees and a sprinkle of rain) caused horrible traffic jams last night so no one managed to arrive at 7, but everyone was there by 8. We had the herb roasted chicken from Lundardi's plus salad, veggies and fruit to make a very nice meal. There was lots of laughter and it was a very good time.
Two of my dearest friends are fighting cancer. Both had surgery within the past couple of months (September and October) and both are doing radiation as a follow up. One is almost done with her radiation sequence while the other will be starting her radiation treatment soon. The prognosis for both friends is very good, but cancer is cancer and it can be a sneaky, nasty bastard.
All in all, stumbling towards the end of the year and the holidays.
Ciao!
p
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Cardio Report
Just in case you were wondering, I do regularly see my doctors.
Today, was my cardiologist. Her report was very nice to hear. All in all, she was very positive about my health.
Blood Pressure: 115/72
Liver enzymes: Very Good
Cholesterol: Extremely good.
Actually, all blood metrics were good or better than good. One reading was borderline.
She did have a recommendation for me:
If I really do exercise and lose weight, she expects all of my metrics to easily arrive well into the very good (or better) range which is gonzo for an old fart like me.
She doesn't want me to start heavy exercise until after stress test on Nov 5.
The weight and exercise are consistent with what I want to do. I want to make this my kick start so it really happens!
Ciao,
p
Today, was my cardiologist. Her report was very nice to hear. All in all, she was very positive about my health.
Blood Pressure: 115/72
Liver enzymes: Very Good
Cholesterol: Extremely good.
Actually, all blood metrics were good or better than good. One reading was borderline.
She did have a recommendation for me:
- Need to exercise regularly to full sweat.
- Need to lose 30 lbs (I am sure she wouldn't object if I lost more).
If I really do exercise and lose weight, she expects all of my metrics to easily arrive well into the very good (or better) range which is gonzo for an old fart like me.
She doesn't want me to start heavy exercise until after stress test on Nov 5.
The weight and exercise are consistent with what I want to do. I want to make this my kick start so it really happens!
Ciao,
p
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