February Review

Wow, February sure got away from us. Here it is the last day and we have a Chewy review for you. This month we tried Newman's Own Organic Salmon Skin and Coat Snack Sticks.  That's a long name!

For years my dogs have enjoyed various Newman's Own treats. After reading about how Newman's Own products are made, I felt virtuous giving them to my pack. Then I decided to try Newman's Own food and though I felt good about it, my dogs didn't like it. Oh well, you can't win them all. Still I looked forward to trying these skin and coat sticks.

As I've mentioned before, Norma Jean and Sebastian are both itchy. We don't know why exactly, but I suspect it's more habit than a skin problem. I do give them both antihistamines each morning just in case. When I see a treat made with fish and high in Omega 3, I'm pleased to give it a try.

These treat sticks are perfect. The first ingredients are salmon, chicken and chickpeas. The sticks are a nice size but can be broken for smaller dogs. They are not hard chews. My dogs aren't allowed hard chews such as antlers since we went thru three root canals. Now we stick to softer chews.

So today we braved the wind, we're on tornado watch, to see what the canine members of the household thought of these. As I was opening the bag and getting ready, I had an audience on the other side of the door.

Rob offered to distribute the treats while I manned the camera. Ready?

Each dog got a stick.

 Everyone came back for seconds.

 The Newman's Own Skin and Coat Sticks were a resounding success. All nine dogs agreed they are to be added to our list of favorites.

 If you'd like to try these very excellent treats, just contact Chewy and they'd be happy to deliver them right to your door.

Chewy sent us this bag of Newman's Own Skin and Coat Snack Sticks at no charge to us in exchange for our honest review.

Belated Birthday

Hi Everybody,
I am feeling so much better!!

I'm still in resting mode and Mom won't let me climb the stairs, but I can get on the couch now to snuggle with her and I can roll on my back and do my daily stretches.  Today Mom cut back on my pain pills,  but I can do just about everything I could do before my beck started hurting so badly.

Unfortunately, I am now on a diet. I don't get as much dog food as I was having, but I get lots of tasty green beans along with my food, so that's Ok with me.

Sunday was a nice day and I was feeling good, so Mom and Dad decided that I should have my birthday party. Because I can't do steps yet, some of the other dogs and I went onto porch for our cupcakes. 

 This picture is funny. Dad turns the cupcakes upside down after he removes the papers. He says they're easier to hand out that way.

  The girls were in the back yard, so some of us had our cakes, them Mom put me back in my safe place and they took the rest of the cakes to the yard for the girls.

 

 Everybody thought they were delicious.

 

There was one cupcake left over and even though I'm on my diet, Mom said I should have it because birthdays only happen once a year.

 So while the others watched in envy, I ate the last cupcake complete with sprinkles.

It was a nice party, but the best part was being rid of that really really bad pain in my back. 
Your pal, Fudge

Fudge Update

Fudge came home this afternoon. He's groggy and wobbly from the pain meds, but he's sleeping comfortably in the living room where I can keep an eye on him.

The great news is that there are no masses on his vital organs. Yeah!! That was my worst fear.

The less great news is that he has a disc problem in his back. It looks from the xrays as if we caught it pretty early and Dr B thinks he should make a good recovery. He's taking anti-inflammatory meds and pain pills and if he isn't feeling better in a couple days he'll get some muscle relaxants. We're hoping he won't need those. He'll need strict bed rest for a week.

 The boy has gained about 10 pounds in the last six months and as soon as he's feeling better, we'll do a thyroid test. The extra weight may be putting too much stress on his weak leg and his spine. It also may be putting pressure on his bladder as he's experiencing some leakage issues. If weight loss doesn't help, he'll need to take some hormones to fix the embarrassing problem.

It may sound like a lot of bad stuff is going on, but they're probably all related and controllable.

His birthday party has been delayed for a couple days till he feels more like himself. He should sleep better tonight. I know I'll wake up dozens of times to check on him, but that's what moms do.

An Unhappy Birthday

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. My best valentine, Mr Fudge is having his twelfth birthday today. The cupcakes with sprinkles are waiting on the counter, but Fudge is at the hospital.

He has had a pronounced limp since his stroke a couple years ago, but yesterday he had more difficulty on the stairs and all day he was restless. He couldn't seem to find a place to relax.  He didn't  sleep last night, so neither did I. He paced and panted all night. This morning he refused breakfast and had even more trouble with the stairs.

When we left for his vet visit, he couldn't get into the car and when I tried to help him, he cried out in pain. When Dr B touched certain  spots on his back, he cried out.

Dr B kept him to run xrays to see what we're dealing with. We'll be going back later this afternoon to pick him up and get the diagnosis.

Fudge could use some power of the paw today to get thru his birthday.

Happy Eyes

It was two years ago last month that Noah's eyes were a problem. He had a reaction to an antibiotic that left him squinting and rubbing his very goopy left eye. When Dr B tested it for dryness  we were hoping for a result of 12, but got only a six. That meant he needed treatment.

We tried several different drops, but he couldn't tolerate any of them. I was really worried that the boy would lose his vision in that eye. Finally we tried Optimune which is the canine version of Restasis. It worked for him. He tolerated it very well and his eye started to heal.

At first he needed the ointment twice a day in his eye. After about a year I carefully started cutting back to once a day. Then when he was still doing well, I cut back on the amount I was using. Still no problem. Then a couple months ago I started skipping Saturdays. Still no problem.

Then suddenly on Monday I noticed that his right eye was goopy. Oh no! On Tuesday when it was even worse, we went to visit Dr B. We were both afraid that the dry eye condition was now in both eyes.

First he did a dryness test on the left eye. We were amazed at the reading...16!!! Twelve is considered normal. Noah's is perfect. With the help of the Optimune, he's producing tears. He'll need to continue the drug for his lifetime, but we know that it's working. The right eye only tested at 11, which isn't really bad. Dr B felt pretty sure that it was a minor infection and sent us home with some antibiotic drops to use for a week.

It hasn't been a week yet, but Noah has two happy looking eyes now. No goop, no squinting and no rubbing. I am so relieved that the dryness isn't a problem. Noah, Norma Jean, Tess and Sebastian all love to roll in the dirt in the back yard and I'm sure they occasionally get some in their eyes. Each has been treated for an eye infection at one time or another. We'll just watch them closely.

I know you're going to say, but you can't even see Noah's eyes. Well, Mom sees everything.

Superbowl Star

We're not a football household and tonight we'll skip the televised football game. But, with all the hoopla surrounding this game, we checked with the pack and found that we have our own Superbowl Star, Miss Mackey.

She might be little, but she's fast and ferocious and she doesn't give up.

 So we have named her our game M.V.P. (most valuable pup).

And what about after the game? Snacks, of course.

Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone.

Mom and Me

I love my Mom. She and I do lots of fun stuff together. We used to go to dog shows together and we went to school together and we even did Rally together.

 Now things are a little different. Since my stroke I can't run and move around as easily as I used to, but Mom and I have other things to do together. I help her cook and she says I've gained too much weight over the last few months so now we're dieting together.

A couple days ago Dad said I smelled stinky so when Mom took her shower, she invited me to shower with her. It wasn't exactly fun, what bath or shower ever is, but afterwards Dad said I smelled a whole lot better.

I climb up on Mom's lap every evening and cuddle with her for awhile and in the morning I get on the bed and sleep with my head on her leg. She's always been there for me when I needed her and I want her to know how much I appreciate her.

She had a birthday a couple days ago and a friend gave her some homemade cupcakes. Last night she put extra sprinkles on one and shared it with me. She knows how much I love sprinkles.

 She said that this weekend she and I can go for a little short walk on the trail behind our house. She knew I wanted to go on the big walk a couple weeks ago when all the peeps wore their pink hats but I can't walk that much and she was afraid I'd get hurt. She lets me wear her hat though.

Moms are special peeps and every day we should remember to tell them how much we love them.
Your pal, Fudge