Wednesday Wellness Blog

I want to share with you another article by Dr. Becker. I, for one, didn’t know that blue/green algae could be deadly.  Summer Killer Alert: Please Don’t Let Your Pets Breathe, Touch, Eat or Drink Here.

Story at-a-glance

  • A summertime hazard many pet parents aren’t aware of is toxic blue-green algae, which are found in freshwater lakes, streams and ponds
  • Blue-green algae contain deadly cyanobacteria that can cause severe illness and death, most commonly in dogs who swim in or drink from contaminated water sources
  • Exposure to blue-green algae is a medical emergency and immediate veterinary care is required
  • Since blue-green algae toxicity is often fatal even with aggressive treatment, play it safe by keeping your pet away from any body of water that is greenish in color
  • Not all blue-green algae are toxic; harmful blooms usually smell bad and resemble pea soup, green paint or floating mats of scum

Picture of grass awns credited to Tails Around the Ranch

Also, just last week I learned about a dangerous plant called grass awns at Tails Around the Ranch, featuring Sam and Elsa, two great Standard Poodles. Their Mom writes, “… I know only too well that fox tails are very much alive and well in urban settings and can easily attach themselves to a leg or paw while walking. The result can lead to infection and extensive (read expensive) vet treatment.”  If you, like me, are not familiar with this plant, you can visit Mr. Google or just follow the blog link to learn more about it.

It seems we and our animal friends live in a dangerous world. It’s summer here. Be safe.

 

Friday Foodies and Piper Update

Mom finally realized that the food she bought from Chewy.com was not raw. She had searched their site for raw food, and it popped up and she didn’t read any further. She found this out when she couldn’t find the word “raw” on the package. Upon reading the package more closely she also found that the protein/fat ratio for raw food was way off. It should be 2 parts protein to 1 part fat, and it was half and half. (Maybe ’cause it wasn’t raw, Mom.)  When she called them, they were very nice, said they would fix that search engine, and gave her all her money back. The bag is now sitting in the freezer waiting to be fed on an “emergency” basis. I wonder what kind of an emergency I could have to get some more Tylees…

Then Mom got another revelation.

Yep, she finally looked closer at this danged fish and realized why I wasn’t eating it. She put on some gloves and took a knife to it, trying to just slice off the fin. Ha, ha, that didn’t work so well. It turned into one of Phenny’s DIY projects. I listened for some HBO words, but the worst I heard was, “Ow, that does hurt,” and “I need a sharper knife,” and “I wonder who I can get to do this for me.” She finally got it done with about the same results as in Phenny’s crib. I did get to eat the head and some meat off of it, though.

Anyhow, Mom thought it was time for me to share pictures (’cause I’m not sharing my food) of what else I’ve had for supper recently. In case you didn’t know, I am on the Raw Diet. Mom says it took some time to get her head around feeding raw meat. It took me, however, no time getting my mouth around it. Mmmmmm.

beef, kale and sweet potato

 

chicken, collards, egg and coconut oil

Mom puts down my bowl and I dive in. She has to be fast to get a picture while there is still food in the bowl.

num num num

I want to end with a quick update from Mom on Piper.

Piper is holding steady, even showing some spunk. Yesterday he moved with his Mom (his Dad was already there) to Nashville. Now Piper and his family are only 2 hours away from us instead of almost 6. We are always glad to be closer, and especially at this time in Piper’s life.

Let me snooze, Momma, while you take us to our new home.

Love and wags, Lucy

Piper Update

  • Piper went to an emergency vet clinic at 4:00 Eastern Time. Although we knew Piper’s heart is enlarged, and has been for years, it does not look like he is in congestive heart failure. His liver is extremely large because of his heart problem. His liver is pushing all of his organs, including his stomach, down, causing the distension in his abdomen. His food was just sitting in his very full stomach. The food had nowhere to go since his intestines were also full. The dogtor did something called a rectal (don’t know and don’t want to know) to clear it out. That worked, and Piper went outside and pooped for five solid minutes. He felt much better, as we all would in that situation.

    He went home with instructions to go to his regular vet and have his insulin level checked. He is an insulin dependent diabetic. He seems to be out of the woods for right now. As funny as it sounds, the digestive issue would have been life-threatening if it hadn’t been resolved today. We just don’t know yet what can be done about the enlarged liver and the problems it is presenting. Many thank to everyone for their POTP, prayers, concern and comments.
    Piper was feeling much better, with a smile on his precious face even while his eyes were getting heavy on the way home.


  • Urgent POTP for Piper

    When I woke up this morning I had this text from Piper’s Mom:

    Piper’s been off today. Too much to type but just wanted to let you know we may not make it through the night. But who knows, he may be himself again tomorrow.

    This morning she wrote:

    Still here. Keeps pulling his head to the right. Like a nervous tick. Drinking tons. At one point last night he started twitching when I was trying to trim him some with just scissors. I cut his neck. 😦 He didn’t flinch. (My Note: Normally Piper would have been screaming at Mach 1 that his life was surely over if he got hurt.)

    And a bit later:

    He’s still holding steady. Still wanting food and treats. (My Note: Yes, he is definitely a schnauzer.)

     

    Please pray and give Piper your POTP. He is my Super Schnauzer Nephew.

     
     
     
     
     

    A Dog Grooming Double Entendre

    My Mom was watching videos on grooming tek neeks when her new groom got to the house. She set her laptop on the floor with the you tube video still running. Can you guess what I did? Yep, I watched how to groom shih tzu faces and yorkie faces and malteses all overs and tons of other stuff. Dad put me out in the yard for a while, but I couldn’t wait to get back in to watch more videos. I ran right to the laptop and kept watching until Mom was all done in her groom room and came back upstairs. I hope I get to watch more videos of dogs today.

    Zoe is a Papitese. She is half Papillon and half Maltese. Mom said she was a very, very good girl and got a treat and a fancy bow on her collar. Maybe I can groom Zoe next time, ’cause I have to get some paws-on experience. I will see if there is a you tube video for Papitese grooming.

    Loves and wiggles,

    Lucy

    Friday Food for Thought

    Lately, I have been doing a lot of research on dog-related matters, especially nutrition and meds. Every time I learn something new, I realize how much more I have to learn.

    For some time now, I have been wondering how much harm I have done/am doing by using insecticides in the forms of flea spray, flea baths, flea prevention, heartworm prevention and lawn products.  The question, “Why am I poisoning my dog?” keeps recurring, with the obvious answer of “for her own good.” Huh?

    I want to do better than that, and I believe I can. So, without promoting or suggesting any particular action, I want to share with you some of the things I have learned. I realize you may shrug and say that’s not for me, or, hopefully, like me, be interested enough to dig a little deeper. Today’s link is about worms and heartworms and is entitled Prevent and Treat Bug Bites with These Natural Solutions and includes a link to an illustrated Heartworm Guide.  I am very interested in hearing your thoughts.

    Have a good weekend, all!

    Getting Comfy

    I have seen the people put their feet and even their legs on this thing called an Otto Man when they are watching a movie. I like to watch movies with them, so I thought, why not try this?

    It didn’t work out quite the way I had planned. Darn Otto Man!

    So I went outside onto the patio with Riley and found a much  better way to get comfy with my best guy.

    A Fish Story

    Hi friends! I am patiently – yes, this is my patient look, Mom – waiting for my whole fish supper tonight. Well, it’s almost whole. Someone scooped the really good insides out of it. See, this is what happened: Mom went to the grocery on her way home from work last week and came home with more yummy raw food for me. She is always doing that. 🙂 She asked Dad if he was ok feeding it to me, ’cause she didn’t have the stomach for it. Isn’t that funny? I’m the one who has to have the stomach for it, BOL. To Mom’s surprise, Dad said yes. I could smell something really good, so I followed Dad outside to see what it was. He laid down a long plate in the grass and slid something I had never seen before onto it from a plastic bag. Dad said it was my supper. It was curious looking with eyeballs still in a head still attached to a body that ended in a fin. I licked it for a while, not quite sure what to do. Then I started nibbling at the middle section. I eventually worked my way north and then finished off with the south end. I’m telling you, this fish was almost as long as my tail.

    After that, Mom decided that Monday was my “fast” day. Yes, I run very fast. I don’t know why that means no one feeds me on Mondays until supper, though. Dad said that meant they should give me my next big fish on Sunday night to “hold” me. Yuk! I don’t want no fish holding me. I just wanna eat it.

    Wait, I smell something fishy.

    Hello there, fishy.

     

    Hmmm, you smell a bit different today. More fishy.

     

    Here’s a little kiss for luck (he, he).

     

    Oh, a fishy tail. You could be fun to play with.

    Lucy: Mom, oh Mom…
    Me: What is it Lucy?
    Lucy: I don’t want to eat this fish. And I keep having to chase the flies off of it.
    Jeff: It might have sat in the fridge too long.
    Me: *sigh* Please go wrap it up and throw it in the trash bin.
    Note: Lucy ended up eating chickie breast, Tylee’s Raw Beef Diet, and an egg. We have one more fish that’s in the freezer, so will try it next Saturday.