Pilling A "Horse".. or a Normal Dog

I've been meaning to post about these two things for awhile, but I haven't gotten to it yet, or until today in the case of one of those things. Firstly, Jack is undergoing immunotherapy/hyposensitization/allergy shots, whichever you'd like to call it. More on that later, because it's a lot of cool and interesting stuff and I recommend it to anyone with an allergic dog.

Secondly, he had his first little "infection relapse" a couple of weeks ago so we took him into the veterinarian. Luckily, he wasn't itching, which is something new to us. However, it started out with a sudden large, oozing, seeping, nasty hot spot under his ear which we treated by trimming the area and cleaning it twice daily with a Povidone Iodine solution. That was his first "real" hot spot, but he always used to get little dry red itchy patches - about dime-sized - that I called hot spots. Only when I met that oozy thing did I realize the true meaning of "hot spot". I considered posting pictures, but I didn't want to gross you guys out.

Anyways, after it cleared up, which only took 2-3 days, his skin started turning dark and crusty. Rather quickly, little crusty patches started to spread from that side of his neck down to his shoulder, chest, then armpits. The hair on these patches would come off in crusty clumps. Again, he wasn't itchy, so I'd never seen anything like this. Cleaning them wasn't helping, so off to the vet we went!

Luckily, Jack didn't have to take the dreaded prednisone because he wasn't itching. He did get a horse-dose of cephalexin, an antibiotic, though. Two of these giant pills twice a day for three weeks. Look at the size of them! Look at the size of the bottle! Bet you've never seen a prescription bottle that big.

His three week course is over now, and his skin is all cleared up. Yay!

I'll share some tips that I use to pill my "horse" and my other dogs. Maybe they can help you too.

• Cheese. Forget the peanut butter, it's too messy. Plus, I don't know about you guys, but my dogs lick peanut butter, rather than just swallow it like some other dogs do. Eventually he would uncover the pills.
• Feed an insurance piece before the hidden drugs. It helps, I swear.
• Really, you don't need a lot of cheese. Check out the small strip I used to cover up two of those giant pills. It's literally like, 1/5th of a slice, and some of it is going to the "insurance piece".
• Sometimes that fails. Actually, it failed after I took the photos of this pilling, even though it works about 75% of the time. In that case, have your dog sit, quickly open his mouth, push the pills back into his mouth as you can, then hold the mouth shut. Do it quick, because it's really not pleasant for the dog or for you. One thing that I only learned after starting school is that the further you push the pills back, the quicker they swallow. Don't be afraid. Obviously, this is easier on small dogs than large dogs. With Jack, I literally stick my whole hand into his gaping mouth, and end up with slime all the way up to my wrist!
• And just something that I find amusing:

From: The Frog Man

-Cynthia

A Plea From My "House Mates"

Adopt These Kittens

...Before I bring them home!

Seriously, these buggers are about the cutest darn things I've ever seen. I want to bring each of them home with me. Their personalities are all pretty different. One of them is a foodie. Always seems to be eating. The other is super affectionate. The larger one is a bit more aloof, and he's either sleeping or getting into trouble.

Dooo it! Here's their Petfinder page.

-Cynthia

Taste Test: Rocky & Bella

Cat Dose: 1/4 Tsp

Before Mixing

The Rocky & Bella company was kind enough to send me a small sample of their SPARK supplement a couple of weeks ago. SPARK is a whole-food supplement for dogs and cats to give them the nutrients that they may be missing in cooked and processed food.

Since I doubt I would have been able to see any benefits by giving one of my dogs a single dose of SPARK, I decided to let one of our cats taste test it. Cats can be notoriously picky, and that can really be a deciding factor for kitty parents on whether they will purchase a nutritional supplement or not. Our cats aren't quite as picky as some, but there are still some edible things they refuse to touch. Our dogs snarf down everything, edible or not.

Looks like green mush - Yummy green mush!

I was worried that she wouldn't really like it. It changed the color of the canned food, and I thought that that meant it had changed the taste to. Apparently not, or if it had, for the better! She ate with gusto.

Are you interested in SPARK nutritional supplement? Here's a little bit of information from their website and the inserts they sent me.

The ingredients are: Algae Meal, Beef Liver Powder, Ground Frass, Lecithin, Alfalfa, Fructooligosaccharides, Ground Brown Rice, Rise, Dulse, Dried Kelp, Parsley Powder, Blueberry Powder, Flaxseed Powder, Beet Fiber, Natural Bacon Flavor, Carrot Powder, Broccoli Powder, Spinach Powder, Turmeric, Beta-Glucan, L-Arginine, L-Histadine, L-Isoleucine, L-Lysine HCI, L-Methionine, L-Tryptophan, L-Valine, Condensed Bifidobacterium longum Fermentation Solubles, Condensed Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Solubles, Condensed B. bifidum Fermentation Solubles, Condensed L. helveticus Fermentation Solubles, Vitamin D3, Dried Rhizopus oryzae Fermentation Solubles, Dried Saccharomyces cerevisae Fermentation Solubles, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Sollubles, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum Fermentation Solubles, Ginger, Cayenne Powder, and a source of protease which can hydrolyze proteins.

I like the fact that it provides probiotics and enzymes, but I think that all of the other benefits can be achieved with a lot less cost and processing by feeding your pet whole vegetables and fruit. However, if you are looking for an easy daily supplement for your pet, I would recommend this one! No need to pill, just mix it with food, so it's super-convenient, especially if your pet doesn't like veggies!

Reasons to Let Your Pet Try SPARK:

• Supports healthy digestion
• Aids in absorption of nutrients
• Supports antioxidant function
• Helps maintain a strong immune system
• Nutrients for healthy skin and coat
• Helps maintain strong teeth and bones
• Dogs and cats of all ages love the taste
• Because you Love your Pet!

They also have a couple of unique programs. You can become a Rocky & Bella Representative here, sign up to Direct to Pet and receive a 25% discount by clicking here, and sign up for a free sample here.

Let me know if you try it and if you like it!

-Cynthia

Thanks to Rocky & Bella co. for providing a free sample of their product!!

Wordless Wednesday: Lilly, Radiographed

Back In the Game with a Monday Mischief Story

Jack's nose, Zora's face

Yup, even the rats lucked out w/small rope toy!

Hi guys! Sorry I've been so absent lately. I've missed you all, and I've missed writing! My AmeriCorps term is ending this week, so I figured I'd kick the blog back up into gear. It's a great time to get back into it because I had a freakin' awesome weekend!

For those who didn't know, Thursday was my birthday, and we somewhat celebrated it over the weekend by going to a bunch of fun places. Saturday, we opened up the weekend with a trip to Pet Refuge's annual Mutt March with Zora and Jack as our representative mutts. They had fun, we had fun. And oh, the goodies they snagged!! They're very lucky mutts, and of course they're sharing with Midget.

Right after that, we dropped them off and went to Potawatomi Zoo for the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Of course, that was a great time too. It may have been dog-free, but it definitely wasn't animal-free! I got my first glimpse at one of the new chimpanzees, and the new male Amur Leopard. We are hoping he gives us some babies with the zoo's female! :) I received a wonderful pin, and won a pretty cool notebook. I want to thank Potawatomi Zoo for the great experiences and wonderful opportunities that they have given me! Thank you Potawatomi Zoo!

The rest of the day was spent walking Midget and taking her for a drive to make up for the Mutt March ordeal, and then relaxing at home. However, come Sunday, Jack had managed to mischievously sneak into our plans again! We went on a trip to Mt. Baldy at the Indiana Dunes. It was way too wavy to actually get in the water, so Jack and I sat on the edge for awhile, getting our faces smacked by waves - BOL.

And oh, that naughty, mischievous boy - In a split second, while I was distracted by our picnic lunch, Jack managed to slip his leash off my arm and take off, bounding, after a poor little shih-tzu. Actually, I don't think the shih-tzu was that bad off - her mom was! Of course Jack didn't want to hurt the pup, but a 105 lb dog bounding towards you with his mouth wide open just isn't a friendly sight. The lady had great fur-mom instincts, though, and swooped her pooch up faster than a greyhound. After an embarrassing apology and a prompt recall for Jack, everything in the world was once again well - at least, I hope. Let me just give another apology to that poor, rightfully worried woman and her little dog for my distraction and my big dog's goofiness!

Anyways, that's the end of my weekend "tail". What were all of you up to this weekend?

And let me just add, I am so happy to be back! Hopefully I still have some willing readers left out there - somewhere? Leave me and the gang some comment luv and let me know you're still there!


-Cynthia

#BarkToSchool at My Household Zoo?

 I am participating in an opportunity to receive a spot as a free sponsor in the #BarktoSchool Twitter Party, to be hosted by Event Barkers on August 12. Event Barkers is a social media promotions group run by http://www.AllThingsDogBlog.com and  http://www.DogTipper.com and their team. In exchange for blogging about their party, posting to my Facebook page about the event, and Tweeting about the theme, I will be entered in a drawing to win a free sponsorship. As a sponsor, I will receive 3 weeks of pre-party promotion at several top blogs such as DogTipper.com, AllThingsDogBlog.com, CatTipper.com, MyPetAllergies.com, and 5MinutesforFido.com, and ParisandJohn.com. In addition, I will be mentioned in promotional Tweets by these sites' handles along with @EventBarkers, receive Facebook postings by their sites, and the Twitter Party will encourage guests to visit my site. Event Barkers will even encourage their readers to sign up for my newsletter. I hope you will join the fun by following the hashtag #BarktoSchool. Wish me luck!

In light of the event, I'll let you guys know what #BarkToSchool means for the inhabitants here at My Household Zoo:

• For me? Not much. I've been #BarkToSchool all Summer long. Okay, I take that back - I had last week off. That's still pretty ruff. Oh well, my Associate's Degree is that much closer!
• I babysit my sisters throughout the Summer, so when they get #BarkToSchool, I'll have more time to volunteer at the zoo, and do other, personal household zoo duties.
• One thing that will actually be ending for me rather than starting is my AmeriCorps term! Yup, that's why the blog's been so quiet. Rest assured, though. I'll be done in mid-August. 

  I hope the transition goes smooth for all of you that live in a student-inclusive family. I also hope I'll be seeing all of you at the #BarkToSchool twitter party! It will be tons of fun, I promise!

-Cynthia

Your Stray Dog Kit

Image from Tesss.com

Stray Dog Kit

From the essentials for your average Samaritan, all the way down to the optional, but helpful things. Use this list as a guideline and check list, and work your way down according to your community's need: if you frequent loose-dog neighborhoods with antisocial residents, you'll need more supplies than if you live in neighborhoods with helpful residents and few loose dogs. Keep these supplies in your glove box, under your seat, or in your purse/bag. Just don't forget them at home because they are then useless!

Slip Lead - The cheaper, the better. Frequently, owners will take the leash with them because they have no other means of getting their loose dog from one location to another. Alternatively, in a pinch, use a normal dog leash and slip the clip through the handle.

Cell Phone and Adequate Phone Numbers: 

• Your local emergency veterinary clinic
• At least one local non-emergency veterinary clinic
• Your local animal law enforcement agency
• Additional veterinary clinics, helpful friends, rescue and shelter contacts

A Strong, Willing, and Helpful Attitude - Owners will give you nasty, or "so what?" responses when you return their dogs. Sometimes, you'll see the same dog loose many times. Don't give up. Just know that every time you get the dog back in the house or yard, you're preventing at least one accident. If it becomes habitual in your neighborhood, call your local animal law enforcement agency.

 An Extra Lead or Gauze Wrap and the Know-How of How to Make an Impromptu Muzzle

 Smelly, Tasty Treats With a Long Shelf Life

Towels and Blankets - To absorb bodily fluids and/or use as a stretcher.

a Carrier

a Filled Water Bottle and a Bowl

 a Non-Electrical Heating Pad

 a Stress-Relieving Remedy, like Pet Essences Emergency(for you and the dog)

This post and list is dedicated to Hannah, the beautiful Husky who was hit by a car this morning. Wherever she is now, I hope she is comfortable and happy, and I send her family healing thoughts. Hopefully, the awareness that this accident created for me, channeled into this list, can help other dogs like her. Other dogs that are scared, loose, or hurt.