Category: Pets

Pets, Photography

Pink Sweater

Shelly

100_5659

Miss Freezydog got a new sweater yesterday. It’s a cheapo fleece, but I needed to see how it fit and how it’ll wear, before I order something better quality online. Like, in theory, a large should fit her, but she really needs an XL, because she’s so deep chested. Now I know. This one is okay, though not idea, because the fabric is a little stretchy. Alsotoo, pink. We are not a fan.

She also got a new collar. The nylon one she had was still very nice, but because it was braided, it made the fur on her neck lay funny. We’re back to leather, which I prefer.

Pets, Photography

Nine Years

Shelly

IMG_2817

I got Harriet nine years ago today. It was a Wednesday night, a week before Thanksgiving. She promptly tried to beat the hell out of Elliott, which was hugely intimidating. I’d never dealt with fighting dogs before and wondered what I’d gotten myself into. By the next morning, Harriet was ready to make nice, and though the two had their share of scuffles, they were bestest friends.

It’s been both a long and short nine years. There were times when I wanted to wring her little neck, but mostly, she’s been awesome good fun. And to be fair, even when she’s at her most exasperating, she’s also deeply funny. Boxers aren’t called clown dogs for nothing.

To celebrate her got day, I bought her a new woobie, and we’re having homemade french fries (about the only people food treat she can have these days).

Art, Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Miscellanea

Shelly

1. Harriet’s feet seem to be well on the mend. She’s not trying to sneak off and chew them, and the hair is growing back where it was worn away. Her ears are still sore, though. I don’t know if they’re just going to take longer to heal, or if I’m going to have to go back to the vet for drops. I was dubious about using wipes on her ears in the first place, because they only reach the upper parts, and the real infection is much farther down the ear canal. I’ve got six more days of wipes, so I guess we’ll have to re-evaluate at the end of the week.

2. And about those feet! They are snowy white for the first time in literally years. Very exciting. For all the stupid crap she’s had to deal with the past few months, it seems as if at least the allergy problem has been solved. And since that was, to me, the most difficult one to narrow down, well, I’m doing the happy dance.

IMG_2813

See the shiny white hair between her pads? A couple of months ago, that was stained red, from saliva.

3. WTHIWWP?!: If you’re going to belittle another person’s artistic abilities, you might want to first make sure that yours aren’t laughable. I read a huge screed on another blog about how X, Y, and Z are amateurish dingbats, and then I went and looked at the ranter’s own artwork. My, but that’s a very low bar! Not to mention the weirdness of being that obsessed with other people’s artwork and whether or not they are doing it “right.”

Pets

Good News Bad News

Shelly

I had to take Harriet back to the vet on Wednesday because her rash came back. I started thinking about the timing. It first showed up after she finished her initial course of post-op antibiotics. And then it showed up again after she finished the second course of antibiotics. Given that (and I told the vet this) the spots were filled with pus, the logical conclusion seemed to me to be an infection of some sort, not hives. And guess what? The second vet diagnosed a staph infection. She probably got it when she had surgery.

Harriet is on a 21 day course of cephalexin, with instructions to get a refill and leave her on it for a full six weeks if the rash is not completely gone in 18 days. I also got a bottle of antimicrobial shampoo for her. I haven’t used it yet, because I wanted to make absolutely sure that she was responding to the antibiotics first. Which she seems to be. The rash is almost gone again, except for a few spots on her knees, where the skin was pretty badly broken open. Those are healing nicely, though.

I would be more upset about the initial misdiagnosis, except that the course of prednisone did kick her pre-existing allergies in the ass. She’s not itching at all now, nor is she chewing her feet. I’m impressed! This is the first time in years that her feet have not bothered her. Now, to see if she stays itch-free after the pred is out of her system.