A Dog Owner's Best (Cleaning Tool) Friend

This carpet spot/stain remover and Clorox wipes have been my dependable tools when cat or dog accidents happen.

Random Cuteness

Winter Has Arrived

and Hanna is loving it! Hanna is not in this picture, I haven't mastered the skill of holding 2 greys' leashes on one hand and a camera in the other while trying to catch Hanna's happy walk on the snow...

Synchronized Napping

Tattered Tail

A long skinny greyhound tail, a closing door, and an inattentive human just don't mix.



It has been more than 3 weeks since it happened and yesterday was the only time I could muster the courage to take pictures of the havoc I have caused on my pup's tail ;( The povidone iodine bath, daily wound care/dressing and the tail shaving demo I got from our vet helped.








I hope my pup has forgiven me....

Fall Colors

A Classic Sign of a Greyhound Owner

The couch is not primarily for the human's use. We either sit on the rug, on another chair or elsewhere or share the couch with 2 sleepy couch potatoes.

Our Duty & Right to Vote

Trees take years to grow so it is always such a pity when I see a big and majestic tree go down. We have this really tall and healthy oak tree in our yard (the tree in the background) which was cut down last week to give way to the installation of water drainage pipes. I don't mind having tons of leaves to rake during the fall, I just want my trees. But I guess it's that or our yard will be flooded come spring.

Well, I guess another advantage of having that tree cut down is having more sunshine in our yard--our bonsai trees will be very happy.

Bastian's favorite perch

It wasn't his birthday (since he & Rings were rescued, we don't really know their exact bdays) but he decided to sit on my chair just as I was preparing a brownie. I just think he is so cute.

Nasty Toe Situation

A week ago, I suddenly noticed Hanna's toe (rear paw, right) looking like it was going to burst--it was shiny red and three times as big. I didn't hear her cry (if she stepped on something sharp or injured it while running/playing) or seen her limp. No visible signs of trauma or foreign body. It was just like she grew a big vine tomato on her toe (tomatoe!)... It didn't help that it was raining the whole week (the Pawz rubber bootie kept getting punctured). I was thinking infection so I nursed (povidone-iodine and topical antibiotic) it and kept it dry (those Wegman's medicine plastics proved to be very useful!). Fearing that it would get worse, we brought her to the vet 3 days later. Vet was stumped. She'd never seen anything like it in her decades of practice. At this point, there appeared to be a slight oozing from a small cut at the base of the toe. The vet also considered osteomyelitis. CBC was normal. Wound discharge culture was done. Hanna was started on Baytril and an anti-inflammatory. We did Betadine baths (soaking paw in Betadine & water solution) for 15 minutes 3 times a day. Hanna was such a trooper, just very patient.

Fast forward to 3rd day of antibiotic, + slight decrease in toe swelling. On 4th day on oral antibiotics-there was marked decrease in swelling and redness. On our check-up, we learned that the wound culture grew E. coli ( must be from the sidewalks where we walked on). The toe continued improving but our vet placed us on 4 weeks of Baytril just to make sure.

It helped that Hanna loved peanut butter so giving her the meds was so easy.

Lesson learned: inspect paws daily for cuts/bruises.

Carlashes

Saw this amusing Carlashes product in Jeanne Moos's CNN segment. It is hilarious especially if you imagine seeing a pair in one of those muscle cars, Hummers or trucks. It would really look adorable on a mini-cooper, I must say. Seriously, it's like putting a pink flamingo in the front yard, but then again, it's just me....I could just hear hubby say, "ah, NO!"....but hey, to each his own, different strokes for different folks.

Adopt a Penguin

As a birthday gift to our nephew ( a future marine biologist!), we gave him an Adopt A Penguin gift last January. For $49, our nephew had the privilege to name a (his adopted) penguin, he also got a book about this majestic birds and updates on its progress from being a chick to being a juvenile. The updates are very detailed and sometimes make us want to adopt them all . It is a great gift idea, very educational, and it made us more aware of the plight of these birds and what we could do and shouldn't do to ensure the perpetuation of species. Suffice it to say, our nephew's adoptee is coming back to its colony next month (to lay eggs) so we are looking forward to more updates (yes, the gift-givers get copies of the updates too).


http://www.seabirds.org/adopt.htm

Good Purchase

Got 2 of these beds (the round blue beds-for smaller dogs) for 9 bucks each from a local store-not for our greys but for our 2 male cats so we can reclaim our favorite Stickley chairs. These are cheap dog beds but very well- built and easy to wash too. And most importantly, the critters obviously love 'em.

Rescued (Texas) Greys

These are the links to the websites (of 2 Texas greyhound organizations) about the rescued greyhounds in Texas and the updates about each one of them. These dogs have been badly abused (the pictures will only tell half of their tales) and yet there is no meanness in them just those lonely look in their eyes. I just can't fathom how people who are supposed to be the most intelligent (obviously, also could be the most heartless) beings on earth can torture innocent and helpless creatures like these greys.

http://www.greyhoundsunlimited.org/adopting/SpecialNeeds.shtml#fwacc
http://www.greyhoundadoptiontx.org/help/FWACcase.shtml

Bright side is, they have been rescued and will be on their way to healing, not just their physical wounds, but the trauma that they endured all these years.

I found a picture of our greys taken last winter, all tucked in on their respective beds, and enjoying a much needed (yeah, right! from sleeping all day) sleep. I don't think I spoil them (hey, they don't have body fat, I don't want them getting cold at night hence the blankies ;). Hubby thinks I do. I just love them and give them the respect and care they deserve.

Furball

Amazing how our greys can curl up into a tight ball-given that they are all legs.

Update on Ringo's rodent ulcer

Husband & I are relieved that the ulcer is now very small and not as pink and noticeable, almost two and a half months since it first appeared. Ringo is back to his usual self--very social and loving and very food-motivated. We are thankful that our vet is quite knowledgeable about this (hence saving us the pain of going through more treatments). The clearing of Ringo's dental infection (which caused urinary infection and lip ulcer) and lots of tummy rubs probably helped...he is not in pain anymore but he still won't let me take pics of his lips upclose. Here he is waiting for me to pay attention to him.

Cruel

Got this link from the Greyhound group of CNY mailing list.

http://www.greyhoundsunlimited.org/adopting/SpecialNeeds.shtml#fwacc

The people who did this to these dogs are just cruel and heartless.

Sebastian moments

Sometimes I wonder what Sebastian thinks when he takes over the dog beds or when he decides to play with a sleeping dog's tail. Don't worry, I intervened (picked up the cat) before any tail got injured.

Cool Video (2nd US National Bonsai Exhibition)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDHALrvp2CI

This nicely done video is a testament that American bonsai are world-class.

Unplugged, sort of...

Last year, husband and I decided we didn't need a TV. Difficult at first (especially during the Superbowl) but we managed. It's now almost 1 year and 4 months. If we can choose cable subscription instead of paying for channels that we don't intend to waste our time on, we'd probably still have a TV/cable subscription. It saved us the pain of being exposed to mind-pickling shows that dominate the airwaves, I'd rather spend my time staring at this

Rodent Ulcer

Way back in May, Ringo had his check-up, dental and quite a long antibiotic treatment. On our 3rd week of antibiotic treatment, I noticed a round ulcer on Ringo's upper lip which I later found out to be a "rodent ulcer" because it looks like a rodent just bit the cat's lip off. Being a worry-wart, we brought Ring to our vet and confirmed that it is a rodent or eosinophilic ulcer. Nothing to worry about, it is autoimmune, and just watch/observe. For widespread cases, steroids are given.

Fast forward to today, the ulcer is much smaller in size. Ringo's case may be due to the infected tooth on that side where the ulcer is also located.

http://www.petcaregt.com/catcare/catrodentulcer.html

Love this Website

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/about-the-dogs/

it just cracks me up.

What NOT to do with dog stuff toys

This is Hanna's favorite migrator mallard toy. It was getting yucky with all the drool so I washed it one day and shoved it in the dryer--big mistake. The fake fur got "burnt" and curled up.

So for Hanna's 5th bday, we got her a pheasant migrator toy. And yes, I am not drying it on HIGH again when I wash it.

A Success!

The National Bonsai Exhibition was a huge success! Over 200 plus beautiful bonsai trees from as far as Oregon came. There was a ficus as big as me (yup, in a pot!) and a dwarf jade with amazing ramifications. My favorites are always the shohin and those are really amazing. It was a lot of work but was well worth it. And the icing on the cake was hubby's pine tree winning the Best Classical Bonsai category. This picture of husby's pine was taken May 2010 during the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York show (sorry, no taking pictures allowed during the exhibit).




Yup, I am mighty proud of my husby!

All roads lead to Rochester, NY (bonsai-wise) June 11-13

It will be the 2nd National Bonsai Exhibition next week in Rochester, NY. There will be lots of world-class bonsai coming from all over the country. This just shows that there are excellent artists and bonsai here in the US.

This is my mame (it is just 3 inches tall) bonsai, it is still a work in progress and not even close to the grand beauty of our teacher's (the world renowned William Valavanis) bonsai (or my husband's ;) but hey, I love it and it is so cute!




On the critter side, greypups are both doing well but with the warmer weather comes Hanna's discomfort in walking too long. Must be the black coat. I heard the same is true with another black greyhound in our neighborhood. Louie, on the other hand, loves the longer walks (more time to check his pee-mails (as my dear SIL puts it)). The pups are getting lots of compliments everyday.

Husband came up with the idea of retraining our dogs when it comes to their diet (I add canned food or cooked ground meat with the kibbles). It is always such a big production during feeding time. Suffice it to say that our system now is simpler, cheaper, and healthier. It took several days to "retrain" the pups and I almost gave up seeing that they were not eating initially. But husband was very supportive and firm. We are currently giving them Missing Link as recommended by a friend. Seems to be working well on the pups. I don't have to give them the Lipiderm for the skin & coat and they look healthier.

Dental Health

We brought Ringo, our 13 y/o cat, to the vet last Thursday for his senior medical and dental cleaning. We weren't expecting that we will be leaving him for the night (he put up a fight even before the vet could examine him so vet decided that he had to be sedated to be fully examined) and we'd have a huge vet bill later on.

Ringo has lost so much weight in a span of 2-3 months(13.5 lbs at the vet from 19 or so lbs). We thought the light kibbles are working-he is losing weight and now he can clean himself thoroughly without rolling over. But another concern was diabetes (drinks a lot, pees a lot, eats ok but losing weight). Aside from the weight loss (he used to be 19.5 lbs), he was his usual active and Mr.Charming self. In retrospect, hubby & I felt so bad because Ringo may have been hurting all this time.....

Three extractions and several blood tests later and a thousand dollar vet bill, we got back our cat. He had an infected canine which probably caused the UTI, but aside from that, he is perfectly healthy. He will be on Clavamox twice daily for 4 weeks. Husband came up with a great strategy in giving Ringo his meds. We drape a thick towel across hubby's chest then he holds Ringo close to him. Fuss-free and all meds are where they should be(in his throat), most of the time.

He is recovering /eating pretty well. And has gained 0.9 lbs. Our vet wants him to be at 15 lbs max only.

Stairs

We got Louie straight from the kennel in Florida so one issue we were ready to deal with was teaching him how to climb the stairs. His first day with us was a challenge, everything was new and the stairs were too much for him so husband carried him up and down the stairs. The following day, with Hanna's help, he mastered (and conquered!)the stairs. We laid down treats on a few steps. Hanna was hovering around (as if telling/showing Louie, this is how it's done) and I was pushing/lifting him from behind (as taught by husband). It helped that our stairs are carpeted (some greys freak out when walking on hardwood floors).

Anyway, I just remembered this while reading this grey manual (the link was from our greyhound e-group):

http://www.bayareagreyhounds.org/pdf/greyhoundcaremanual.pdf

Cats & UTI

Our dear friends' cat just had urinary tract surgery. I didn't get the exact details (the cat's urethra was shortened, he couldn't pee well) anyway, the vet apparently was attributing this to the ash content of the cat food. So I "googled" ash content in cat food:

http://cat-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/ash_content_in_cat_

And here's an article about how to encourage cats to drink more:

http://cat-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_get_your_cat_to_drink_more_water

Thankfully, our 2 senior cats (12sh) seem to have healthy urinary tracts (I need to change litterbox every 2 days or so, aside from daily scooping). I have their eating area in the basement so Hanna won't be tempted to feast on the cats' kibbles and leftover canned food. I can't really monitor their "drinking habits" with this set-up though. When we got the pups, the cats started drinking from the dogs' waterbowls. I now know that both cats, based on watching them, love their water, esp. if it's fresh (have to change it twice a day)and in the clean aluminum bowls. Sometimes, Ringo will drink and come up to us with his water beard....

Good to Know (medical) Facts About Greys

Husband found this greyhound rescue group's website

http://www.goinghomegreyhounds.org/

At the bottom of their homepage is an article /handout about medical idiosyncracies in greys. It is a comprehensive listing & explanation of the common (& actually, must know medical facts) health issues among greys. It would have saved us grief when Louie (for a brief period of time) had some incontinence and had to be on some drug that made him lose appetite and when Hanna had bilateral front paw corns.

Here's the link,

http://www.greyhoundadoptionofoh.org/Greyhound_Health_Packet_08.pdf

Health Benefits of Having Pets

Husband & I once had to answer a question from a neighbor, "You feed and take care of the dog but your grey won't fetch slippers or play ball, so what does the dog do for you?"

Having pets have proven health & emotional benefits. The following is from the CDC website:

Most households in the United States have at least one pet. Why do people have pets? There are many reasons. Some of the health benefits of pets are listed below.

Pets can decrease your:

Blood pressure
Cholesterol levels
Triglyceride levels
Feelings of loneliness

Pets can increase your:

Opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities
Opportunities for socialization

_________

When husband & I adopted 2 retired greyhounds, we didn't expect them to fetch our slippers/newspaper, play ball with us for hours, be mean to trespassers, etc.yada, yada...Based on our good experience with our 2 adopted cats, pet ownership is just so much more than your pets being able to do tricks for you (Sebastian has learned how to roll over, though and Louie can now sit, ;). But before we got our 2 dogs, I barely knew our neighbors, now, we know almost everyone in our block. Whenever husband has a bad day at work, the pups & cats will be all over him when he comes home, whether he likes the loving or not, it will be given to him in the form of licks, headbutts, purrs and furballs on his lap. When I am walking with our pups, people not familiar with the greyhound breed tend to avoid us (they don't know, our pups will just lick them a lot). We get more walking exercise and Vitamin D (if the sun ever shows up here in upstate NY). I can go on and on about the benefits, there's just too many to enumerate.

Closing Greyhound Racetracks

There will be tons of greyhounds that will be available for adoption when these racetracks close. Hanna raced at Dairyland (in Kenosha, Wisconsin) and won one race (the difference between a winner and a non-winner is just a hundredths of a second or a full second). We are glad though that she retired early (because of a leg injury). Louie is from Florida and raced three times then retired. He was skin and bones when we got him straight from the track. We're glad that he was retired early too, otherwise, we won't have such good pups.

Greyhounds are very smart, very clean, very affectionate and quiet dogs. If we have the resources, we will open our home to more pups so they too, can have a happy and loving family.

http://bhsdogblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/ma-greyhound-tracks-closing/

http://www.dairylandgreyhoundpark.com/adoption.asp

Great disposable boots

I just reordered these PAWZ rubber (biodegradable & disposable) booties for our greys. I got large for Hanna & extra large for Louie. Whenever they have a cut or wound within the paw area, these booties are very helpful in keeping the wounds clean & dry. They look like balloons but they are made of thicker rubber and what's really amazing is they stay on. Yes, they will get punctured after several uses but I still think they are worth the price. If I remember right, I got the large ones for around $14 (12 booties in a box) and the extra large at around $16 (12 booties in a box). They are good to have at hand esp. for nursing paw wounds.

Thin-skinned

With their long legs and sleek built, greyhounds are very graceful and regal-looking . They are really awesome to watch when they are running in an enclosed area. I am just amazed at the speed and the power...

But imagine a tripping 75 lb slightly gangly, highly excitable and clumsy grey with 4 long legs (that seem to have a mind of their own)--can be funny if the involved grey didn't get hurt and catastrophic if some sharp object or body part is involved--because greys have very thin skin and almost no body fat. We brought the pups with us 2 Sundays ago to visit family. As hubby and I left the pups with their grandps to meet up with our Pop, we got a phone call informing us that Louie got out to greet our newly arrived relatives, skidded the icy pavement that turned into a gravel path and sustained more than 4 cuts in his extremities. Good news was, we weren't there to witness all these, so I avoided a major freak out. Another good news: Louie, despite being off-leash and outside the house, DID NOT escape at all(greys are notorious for fleeing, despite all established bonds, I think it is the sight hound in them). Bad news was his deepest wound was in his front paw, dime-sized and there's even that glistening tell-tale sign of a digit's tendon. The dilema is to have it sutured or not. I learned from Hanna's surgery (Fall 09)that sutures in greys don't last long (they rip up the skin and therefore defeats the purpose of having sutures anyway). So for the past week we have been nursing Louie's wounds and I must say, we are doing well. There is granulation tissue growing and almost closing the wound and no sign of infection at all. What we did was, nightly cleaning with povidone-iodine (Louie can't stand hydrogen peroxide) then topical antibiotic then covered with gauze and vetwrap. Then Louie is muzzled (works better than the lampshade collar) to prevent him from licking his wound. Can't sing enough praises for our plastic muzzle, vetwrap and topical antibiotic. Oh, and we kept his wound dry by wearing a bootie on one and a rubber disposable bootie (Pawz) on the other when we walk outside.



This is a picture of Louie's wound after 3 1/2 weeks of daily wound care.

Hanna

Both red chairs (all 4 critters' favorite) were occupied so Hanna decided to take the blue cat bed...

Happy New Year!

Husband & I spent our 3rd Christmas with our family in Denver. Our nieces & nephews are now mostly taller than me (their human growth chart, since my height is easier to catch up with than my husband's 6'8"). Then we went to Copper Mountain for some quality skiing. Husband & I have now polished our turns, we even ventured out to the top of the mountain where one could really feel how beautiful mother (or father) nature is when taken cared of (left alone or not trashed/destroyed). It was a great vacation which we hope to repeat Christmas 2010!

Wishing you all a healthy, prosperous & peaceful 2010!