Straydog UPDATE posted SUNDAY 3/30/03 at ~8:47 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

SUNDAY MARCH 30 2003

Julie is much better

      Julie, who had the upset stomach and diarrhea yesterday, is feeling much better today, and during her six p.m. meal, she appeared to be back to her normal self again, gobbling down her food at her normal super-speed.

Snowflake is having a hard time getting around now

      This sweet little old dog had severe arthritis and hip dysplasia and was nearly totally blind and deaf when she was rescued over a year ago from the median of highway 175. Shortly after her arrival to our Happy Home for Strays, she was diagnosed, by our previous vet, to have chronic renal failure and given just two to three weeks to live. With the help from another vet, we stabilized her kidney problem and Snow has lead a happy life for over a year. Her hip problem has been mild until now.

      Although Snowflake has been taking medication to help with the arthritis and hip dysplasia, it's now becoming increasingly difficult for her to get around. When our doctor showed me her x-rays a few weeks ago, he was amazed that she could walk at all, let alone run as she sometimes used to do. (There's a video on this website of her running a month or so ago.)

      Maybe this is just a series of "bad days" for Snow. We give her medication for her achy bones, just as a human would take on the days when his or her arthritis kicks up, and we can tell this little old dog is happy. But we are very concerned that she can't get around very well now.

Snowy "snags" a GRUB!

      Yuck! While I was outside with Snowflake this evening so she could "take care of business," she was slowly walking around the big play yard sniffing the lawn when suddenly she lunged forward and grabbed something in the grass right in front of her. I was right beside Snow, and when she took the lunge, I glanced down and saw what looked to be a Big, White, Slimy Grub!

      To try to grab anything from Snow's mouth, such as a juicy grub, is a foolish and very dangerous thing to do, so I quickly picked Snow up hoping she'd drop the goopy, fat "worm," but this just made Snow chomp on the thing all the harder and then swallow it! I know I saw a big smile on this beatiful little old dog's face when she looked up at me!

Blind dog, Freckles, is going for eye surgery tomorrow

      This sweet little dog, who has no eyes, will be going for surgery tomorrow for the doctor to permanently close her eyelids. She gets painful infections so easily because of her partially opened eyelids, so to avoid further infections the doctor said Freckles needs to have the lids permanently closed.

      Freckles' surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning, and the only thing Freckles will be upset about (having to go through this surgery) is not being allowed to have her early morning meal!