I should have gone to Veterinary school.
At the rate that we’re forking over money to the local vet clinic, we could pay for one in a few years. JayJay, Booger, and Baby are all less than one hundred percent right now, suffering from a variety of nagging issues. It’s sad to say, but the vets, the vet techs, and the front counter girls know us by name.
JayJay is still pooing piles of light brown Tastee Freeze soft serve. It is very unusual for him; normally, his turds are firm and almost black. It’s going on 7 weeks now that he’s either had diarrhea or has pooped out the custard that looks like a liquified version of his food. Other than that, he seems perfectly normal, full of energy. His eye ulcer is healed, and he’s got those shiny, enthusiastic, fun-loving orbs. He’s JayJay except when he’s squatting.
But, Charlie and I, and our vet, Dr. Lenehen, are puzzled by the crappy poop. JayJay is going to have some diagnostic tests run today.
It’s been a long and wet Winter and Spring here in Mesquite (it’s raining again today, and we’re almost in June…in the friggin’ desert!), and the flowers are in full bloom. That means that it is pollen season, and, according to the vet, one of the worst in a long time.
Poor Booger and Baby are, evidently, allergic to some of the pollens that are being spread around by the regular desert breezes. Baby is constantly licking her paws and feet, and she has been getting crud in her ears, which drives her nuts. She spends a good part of the day, when she isn’t sleeping or playing, scratching her ears, her back, etc. or licking her extremities. The vet has put her on antihistamines and ear ointment to get her through this rough patch with the pollen.
Booger has had a mysterious issue with her private parts. We thought it was a urinary tract problem but the vet didn’t find one. Yesterday, Charlie and I discovered a bunch of reddish, scabby patches on her stomach and legs. This morning she saw the vet, who opined that her problem may be a type of staph infection. She’s going to be treated with oral antibiotics and some topical antibiotic gel. She’s already on the antihistamines for her allergies, gets anti-inflammatory medicine for her arthritis, and receives eye drops for chronic conjunctivitis.
Both Baby and Booger seem pretty normal when they aren’t itching or scratching or having boogers in their eyes (that would be Booger herself). Like most dogs, they lay around a lot, in between playing, begging for food, and pestering me to take them for a walk or ride in the car.
Here’s Booger in her hidey-hole:
Today, all three of the beasts got blood tests preparatory to starting up their heartworm medicine for the Summer. The last thing we need is for one or more of them to get parasites in their heart while we are camping in mosquito country. We only have them on heartworm medicine for the duration of our annual RV trip, so they’ll each be taking one pill per month for three months to protect them from Mr. Thirsty.
That’s one more medicine for me to keep track of. Every morning, when I prepare their food, I put Meloxicam in Booger’s dish, give JayJay his Enalapril pill (for kidney issues), put fish oil and flaxseed oil in JayJay’s food dish (for his eyes), and dose each of the dogs with glucosamine/chondroitin for their joints. Following their meal, I put eye drops in JayJay’s eyes: four different drops, one every five minutes.
That’s just their normal medical regime, when they are pooping regularly and not suffering from allergies, staph, cataracts, eye ulcers and the like.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a bother, but we love our little wards, and they return the favor in spades. “In sickness and in health…”, as the saying goes.
