Dental Health

Greys are known plaque formers. To prevent gum disease, tooth loss and other diseases linked to poor oral health, we brush our greys' teeth every night, they have occasional dental treats and once a year dental cleaning (sometimes once every 2 years, well, they are expensive!).  I am just thrilled that they tolerate the brushing, yep, they don't offer  much in terms of struggle.  Louie even looks forward to it (I bet it's because of the peanut butter flavored toothpaste!).  There are some biting the brush but so far, I still have all 10 fingers intact.

Hanna just had her dental cleaning done last Friday.  Couldn't help but admire her  cleaner & whiter teeth after the procedure (our vet did a great job).  She has gingivitis and some periodontal infection so we were sent home with some Flagyl and Royal Canin dental diet kibbles.  The pics below are her post -$416 teeth cleaning shots.

Winter Has Arrived!

We are used to several months of long dark days, bitter cold and snow for a good 4-5 months of the year. This year is a different story. No white Christmas, no bitter cold in fact we have a mild winter so far (knock on wood). It's not that I am complaining (it has actually been good for our heating bills) but the plants and trees are probably confused. My daffodils & crocuses are already feeling spring (they are coming out). Then the snow came in all its glory this weekend-yup, all 12 inches of it...



So Hanna, our snow dog, has been so happy trotting and skipping on snow. Louie on the other hand, our pup from the Florida rescue group, is obviously not too thrilled about it. Their winter coats really help in temperatures like these. I would feel bad if I am all covered up while my 2 pups (with probably 0% body fat) are not. The hood that I made from an old sweater sleeve also helped in preventing the tips of Louie's ears from bleeding. It is always such a production getting ready to go out but I say the pups are both so worth it all. Here we are getting ready to go out.

Ringoniscing

Green & Gold

were Ringo's colors. His eyes were green and he exuded a regal aura that commands respect, hence the gold. He passed away in his sleep last August. He didn't get sick at all. We just found him on his favorite spot on his bed one morning. We still miss him, he was such a great cat. But Sebastian seems ok, we were worried about him since he refused to leave Ringo's side that morning. He knows Rings is gone but I think he is stepping up to make sure we don't miss Ringo so much.

Kindred Spirit

There's a new greyhound in our neighborhood, well, different street but we occasionally see him during our walks. His name is Marco, a 2 year old male grey with the same colorings as our Louie, not to mention the same friendly, "are-you-here-to-pet-me" attitude. It is always great to see rescued dogs and it feels great seeing another greyhound make it to a good home.

Hanna's paw ulcer resolved after almost 2 months of nursing it. We never had this issue in our old neighborhood making me suspect the tons of ash tree seeds scattered all over our sidewalks (they have a needle-like pointy tip). But husband has figured out that maybe, just maybe, having 4 boots on Hanna will protect her very delicate paws from getting cuts (that turn into nasty ulcers) again. She is very patient when we are putting all four booties on but it is such a production....

It is Louie's turn now to nurse an abrasion that is actually almost non-existent if it weren't for his constant (almost obsessive)licking. I have to duct tape a sock/fabric over the vetwrap so he wouldn't lick it raw.

Tip for cleaning paw wounds: povidone-iodine wash. This was what our vet advised us to do when Hanna first got her paw ulcer. Some povidone-iodine plus warm water just enough to make a tea-colored solution and just enough to immerse the paw in--done for 15 minutes 3X a day.

Hanna's Paw Ulcer (The Continuing Saga)

Yep, it is back. On the other paw. I kept beating myself why I didn't buy 2 more Thera-Paw booties instead of additional one only. My theory is that since greys are very thin-skinned, Hanna is a typical example, and with all the ash tree seeds with pointy ends (more like needle-like) everywhere, her paw got scratched, got licked and wet and voila, got infected!

We are now on day 4 of having 4 booties on her. We are doing conservative management (conserve money of the owners, kidding, just keeping the wound clean, disinfected and dry) because the first 2 episodes in the other paw racked us up a hefty vet bill to the tune of more than 2K (vet fee, diagnostics, blood work and antibiotics). We love our critters but they get expensive.

So I am keeping my fingers crossed. Even our very experienced vet is puzzled by this. Last thing I want is another hole on my dog's skin (FNAB of lymph node).

Summer & Early Fall Flowers

Our backyard is still a work in progress but husband & I enjoy seeing everything in good health and just going nuts with flowers.







Calendula-started out as a seed from my Seeds of Change packet.


Gaillarda-bought from the farmers' market around July in a 3 inch pot. This is one of our favorites because it has gotten bigger and has flowered abundantly since we added it to our flower bed.


Lobelia-tiny dark blue flowers that just kept going (planted around late spring)


Cosmos


Scarlet zinnia with cayenne pepper (the deer has decimated some of my zinnias and i'd like to enjoy at least some of them, the zinnias, I mean).


Purple coneflower