The Glow Ball Search

Wow! Thank you to all of you who searched for the perfect glow ball for Sky. Pet stores all over the country were getting requests from bloggers about starry glow balls. Unfortunately, none are to be found. Shame on Petco for advertising an item that they don't actually carry. There are a couple other balls I'm considering. They're the same size and have raised areas for him to grab. There are also some other glow balls that work on batteries and that worries me so I don't think I'll try them.

The nice lady from Sergeant's, her name is Julie, got back to me and even they couldn't locate one of the raised star glow balls. Yesterday a package arrived from Sergeant's addressed to Sky and inside were a couple of presents. First was this glow torpedo. Julie thought since it was the same material and approximate size as his favorite ball, he might accept it. He did take it from me and carried it into the other room to inspect it.

Then look who decided it was actually a birthday gift sent to the wrong dog.

But there was another little gift tucked away in the box. It's the same size as his glow ball, but it's soft and fuzzy and squeaks. Sky immediately carried it off and he's had it beside him ever since, except when Fudge steals it. We have to keep checking inside Fudge's big mouth to make sure he isn't trying to sneak it outside.

Last night Lynn at the  Rocky Creek Scottie blog gave me a wonderful suggestion. She asked if I'd tried soaking Sky's food in goat's milk. When the pups were little I used to make their food using goat's milk and they all loved it. I always keep a couple cans on hand to use as special treats, but I'd forgotten about them. Last night and again today we used goat's milk on his food and he ate a little by himself. We still had to resort to force feeding him the rest, but it's a good sign.

Today was a lovely day and Sky went into the yard with the other dogs this afternoon. He doesn't have a lot of strength, but he carried his ball around and even asked me to throw it for him. I only rolled it a few feet and he trotted over and picked it up. Then he had to lie down and rest.

 You can see in this shot how much weight he's lost. His collar hangs on him. He hasn't been wearing it lately because of the hair loss on his neck, but we put it on to help hold him when we feed him. I need to adjust it.

We're feeding him three or four times a day with his enzyme soaked food and he's taking a special vitamin B12 supplement twice daily. We'll be visiting Dr B on Monday to see if theres any improvement in his weight.

I saw this on Facebook a few days ago and since that's a Portie looking up at the sky, it reminded me of all the nights that Samba woke me to go gaze at the moon and stars. I miss my little girl.

Hug your dogs tonight and look up at the brightest star in the sky.