�I caught Anastasia drinking fish water tonight. I have been keeping the lid ajar to let more air in (but also I have to refill a bucket of water once a week due to evaporation), and I guess Anastasia finally figured out there is a huge new water bowl in the livingroom. And of course Anastasia being completely positive trained, she's bold and confident, and she did not even stop when I pushed her away. Her persistent nature had her come back and try to continue drink out of it over and over again, finally I closed the lid. Oh well.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Update from Jeffrey�s mom, �We are all doing just great! I plan on taking some pictures this weekend and will send you some. Jeffrey is a delight - funny, very loving and great with everyone. He loves going to puppy day care and they told me there isn't a dog he doesn't like. We start obedience classes next week. My major problem is his jumping up on everyone in his enthusiasm and not coming to me when I call him. We got him micro-chipped right after he came here and he weighed in at 56 lbs. Quite large for the lap-dog that he thinks he is! The only other problem I really have is the pool. He is in it all the time and swims laps along with my granddaughter. The cat tolerates him and actually likes him except when Jeffrey wants to wash his face. He is adjusting to crate time quite well when I have to be gone for two to three hours. However, it is unacceptable at night - favorite place is on the bed next to me!�
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I was on a weekend school trip, and left the three with the new sitters. The day before the trip, I decided to move Oscar�s litter box into the bathroom too, and moved the baby gate from the bedroom to the bathroom door, so both boxes can be blocked off from Tara. I elevated the gate off the ground, so the cats can have just enough space to crawl under it to use the litter boxes easily. I�m sure Oscar can jump over it with no problem, but I�m not sure Anastasia would be able to do it several times a day if needed. Actually, even after I elevated the baby gate, it took Oscar about a week to get used to not having to jump over it anymore. And it took Anastasia about a week also to get comfortable crawling under it. But the best news is I don�t have to worry about Tara raiding the boxes anymore, although I did trip over the lower bar the first night and bruised my leg, so I guess I needed time to get used to it too.
The sitters said Tara was fine until the first night, when she started getting anxious when she realized I wasn't coming home for the night and started pacing around the apartment. The sitters stayed at my apartment during the 48 hours and played and cuddled and petted the three. When I called on Friday afternoon, the sitter said she just woke up from sleeping on the livingroom floor and cuddling with Tara. Tara was happy to see me back home as always, and the sitters did a great job cleaning and putting antifungal medication on Tara for the three days. They did tell me they had to wash her belly on Saturday because she had a lot of brown spots (and also I wonder if she stepped on poop, because I smelled it on one of her paw). I didn't have them give any dietary supplements during the three days, but after I came home, I started giving Tara the coconut oil again. The Whole Dog Journal had an article about it and said to start out low amount, because some dogs are not used to the oily stuff and might get diarrhea. So we did one teaspoon per meal for two days, then went up to the recommended amount (one teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight), so Tara now gets 2 teaspoons for breakfast, and 3 teaspoons (which equals one tablespoon) for dinner, so far she has had not digestive problem with it, and she just loves the smell of it. When I bought the jar of coconut oil home, it was a block of solid, and on the jar it says it would change to liquid phase between 74 and 78 degrees F, but it's safe to be stored in room temperature. Well, I set my thermostat at home to 78 degrees, and by the time I got home from my weekend trip, the whole jar had turned all liquid. The temperature outside also has increased (over 90 degrees during the day), and now the Butt Paste is turning semi-liquid too on the livingroom table. So now I have to store it in the fridge. Tara's fungal infection is slowly getting better, we just have to be consistent about putting medication on it twice a day, and not wipe her skin too hard when we clean the area.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Last night I found Oscar had peed outside of her litter box. Both litter boxes are now in the bathroom to prevent Tara from raiding them, and they are positioned side by side in front of the human toilet, because I really don't have any other empty space in the bathroom to put them. Anyways, last night I was shifting through the boxes and found urine next to Oscar's box, right against Anastasia's box. Not sure why Oscar peed outside, if she did it intentionally or just missed.
Oscar still throws up hairballs about once every one or two weeks. And she sheds so much! The cat tree hole, her favorite spot, is not covered with her black hair, even though I vacuum it once a week. That on top of her vomiting, sometimes on the cat tree, I'm not sure I will take the cat tree with us when we move. We might just get some type of climbing apparatus for the cats that is easier to clean and washable.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Today I took Anastasia to the vet for her annual rabies vaccination. Since it was just one vaccination and simple wellness exam (no poking around her mouth or blood drawn), Dr. Kathy did the exam instead of Dr. Pete. Both the vet tech and Dr. Kathy said Anastasia�s very pretty and so soft. Anastasia behaved very well today, let the vet tech hold her without resistance, and did not even move when Dr. Kathy used the stethoscope on her and injected the rabies vaccine. Anastasia definitely behaves better with Dr. Kathy than with Dr. Pete, I think she just has too many bad memories of him sticking needles into her and prying open her mouth. The vet tech said Anastasia�s 7.5 pounds.
Update and photos from Jeffrey�s mom to Millie, �Here are some recent pictures of Jeffrey. He is doing great and we are now both going to obedience school. He weighs 60 lbs. now and still thinks he can be a lap dog. We are doing positive reinforcement in training. I do have a soft quick-release collar on him for training only so he will learn to stop pulling. His problem is that he wants to play and visit with all the other dogs in training as many of them share his time in "puppy day care". But, like you said, he is so smart that I won't need the collar too much longer.�
