Strange Dreams

How do I know I've got crochet on the brain?

The other night Meiby had been keyed up all day. Barking at every little noise (not usual for her) so this continued into the night. She sleeps in our bed so every time she thought she heard something she'd get up and bark and wake us up. I tried cuddling her in a way that would keep her calm - which surprisingly worked(!) - but then she got so relaxed that she was snoring extra loud and keeping me awake that way instead.

So I was carefully trying to wake her up enough to get her to stop snoring without startling her into barking. And since I was stuck in that dreamy between-sleep-and-awake state during this delicate process, I was dreaming of some way to crochet something (like a sling or something, I don't know) that would hold her in a position to keep her from snoring but would comfort her enough to keep her asleep so that I could sleep. Of course this would never work (haha) but it struck me as funny when I thought about the dream later.

As a side note, she's been sleeping better since then. Her allergies have been so bad this summer despite the daily Benedryl so we switched her to Claritin and we'll see how that goes. Yea, she's a princess.

all better

Pugtastrophe

Poor silly pug... a week or so ago we took Meiby to the vet with her second bladder infection in less than a year. After being on antibiotics for a week she was rubbing her head on everything and scratching at her face until she injured her own eye. Turns out she's allergic to Clavamox (the antibiotic). So we took her to the vet again today where they switched her to a different antibiotic and then gave us eye drops, pain meds, and benedryl to administer... and an e collar for her to wear for a week. It's pathetic but hard not to laugh at her. It's just so cute. She's tolerating it pretty well I think but keeps ramming her cone into everything. I have to hold her bone for her so she can chew on it because she can't use her paws on it very well.

nares surgery

Yesterday Meiby had her nostrils widened to help her breathe... called laser nares surgery. Basically they use a laser to shave off the inside of her nostrils. She did very well with the surgery. It went quickly and smoothly and actually cost us way less than they had estimated. The inside of her nose (which is now quite exposed) is still very pink and swollen. It should heal within a few days and the pinkness should return to it's normal black color. She looks pretty funny (not that she didn't always) and is making funny noises as she gets used to her new nose and deals with the sensitivity.

This is before:


and after:


you can see a bit of pink when you look at her straight on but her deep fold puts her nose in shadows most of the time anyway so you wouldn't notice with a quick glance. I'll post a photo of the healed view in a few days (or however long it takes to heal.)

who needs a Meiby fix?

some Meiby photos:





We had a little relapse back into Meiby's mysterious issue last week so she's now on a strict prescription diet. So far so good but we're still not really sure what's wrong with her. She's lost a lot of weight through all of this but she seems just as energetic and happy as ever. The vet seems to think it's allergies so the new food is as hypo-allergenic as it gets and we'll keep her on it for at least 6 weeks with absolutely no other food or treats. That means no carrots :(

quick update

Meiby has been doing very well for the past 10 days or so. We switched her to Wellness CORE food and she loves it! Seems to be treating her well. We still don't know exactly what happened with her though.

cooking with tofu

On a whim, I picked up some tofu at the grocery store the other day. We're not exactly vegetarians over here but we definitely enjoy lots of veg. cuisine. Plus, I don't love dealing with raw meat. So anyway, I found this recipe over at Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit (originally from 101cookbooks) and, because I also just happened to have Brussels sprouts in the fridge, decided to try it out. It was delicious! My first successful attempt at cooking with tofu... and Nick LOVED it, too. Besides the chopping it was really quick and easy so I may just have to make it again. So here it is: Caramelized Tofu and Brussels Sprouts (served with leftover cilantro lime basmati rice)




And here's Meiby helping in the kitchen again. She looks pissed but really she was just mid-blink:


She's been doing much better the last few days. The vet says to give it a little time and if she continues to have problems we can switch her to a very bland or prescription food. For now we're back to a normal twice a day feeding schedule with half rice/cottage cheese and half high-quality kibble. We had been feeding her just rice/cheese 4 times a day and I think that was overkill. So, we'll see how this goes...

health update

not a pretty story so skip this one if you're squeamish...

Well Friday we started feeding Meiby a diet of rice and cottage cheese. She was keeping it down but started to refuse to eat it which is very strange for her (though she did eventually eat everything). By Sunday night we were starting to worry about the fact that she wasn't pooping regularly so we started mixing in a little kibble (of a completely new food) to her bland diet hoping that might help intending to call the vet on Monday morning. In the morning she had pooped so we thought maybe she was starting to digest properly. Until Monday night when she threw up pretty much everything she had eaten in the past 4 days. So this morning I didn't feed her and Nick will call the vet to see what to do now. She's acting pretty normal and is clearly hungry. She keeps going into the kitchen and staring at her bag of food. So, we have no idea what's going on with her but hopefully the vet can offer some advice...

sick again

Poor Meiby! I'm still not sure exactly why but starting Tuesday night she started regurgitating her meals. We weren't too worried at first because it's happened before but we kept an eye on her Wednesday and she continued to puke everything she ate. I looked around and checked all of her toys for missing chunks to see if maybe she ate something she shouldn't have. I found nothing.

So Thursday morning Nick took her to the vet, they took x-rays and didn't find anything. They gave her a shot to prevent vomiting and told us not to give her any food or water until Friday afternoon. Starting today at lunch we have to feed her only rice and cottage cheese for a week and then we'll probably switch her to a different food. We're not sure if she developed an allergy to her food or what. (BTW, we were feeding her Nutro Naturals Lamb and Rice which is apparently not great quality.)

Anyway, we feel so bad for poor Meiby. She's been extra sweet and we still can't give her any food. She seems very tired (see photo above) and confused (um, excuse me, what happened to dinner? Did I miss it?)

summer

Wow, I have been super lazy with the blogging this month. Meiby has been feeling better and has been rocking at pup school. This past week she did 2 tunnels and 2 jumps in a row multiple times and is healing on a leash really well despite the fact that I have not really been working with her at home all that much.

It's been really hot the past few weeks (it's about time, really) so Meiby hasn't been getting out much except for class on Wednesdays. But when she is outside, she's good at finding the shady spots and cool surfaces to lay on.

sick puggy

Poor Meiby... this past weekend we noticed she was urinating very often and there were spots of blood on the puppy pad so we took her to the vet. Turns out she has a terrible bladder infection and a mild ear infection to go along with it. It's not getting her down though. You wouldn't even know she was sick if she wasn't peeing every 5 minutes. So we are giving her some ear drops twice a day and antibiotic pills with each meal. She's a pro though. So far we haven't even had to hide the pills in anything. We just give them to her right before she gets her food (when she's starving) and she gulps it right down! We are not sure what the culprit is but we suspect it might be our hard water. We'll be giving her filtered water from now on!

All Better

Nick took Mei Bell to the vet yesterday for a follow up and her eye has healed just fine. They also checked her folds, ears, etc. and gave her a little squeeze. They said we're maintaining her well and she's in great health. They did, however, recommend that she have surgery to open up her nostrils and gave Nick an estimate for the procedure. It's not terribly expensive but that's not what I'm worried about. Of course we want her to be comfortable and healthy but I'm not too keen on the idea of putting her under anesthetic and the stress of surgery if it's not absolutely necessary. I think we'll leave her alone for now but we'll keep it in mind.

Friends and Fine Weather

The weather has been so nice lately so Meiby is getting out for lots of W.A.L.K.s (a word not to be used lightly in our house as Mei gets very excited when she hears it.) It's 60 today and likely to top 70 tomorrow! This weekend we had a bunch of friends over, everyone gushing over the pug. How can you not? She just so sweet!

However, we noticed that she was squinting and weeping a lot from her right eye this weekend. We kept watch over it and I held a hot towel over it for a while yesterday which did seem to keep the weeping down for a while. But this morning she was squinting even more so Nick took her to the vet. They dyed her eye and discovered a tiny laceration. They said it's not a big deal and she should be fine in a few days. We just have to administer drops into her eye every few hours and feed her some pain relievers so she won't scratch at it. Poor puggy...

Chubby Puggy

Originally uploaded by ameetek16

Sure, the camera adds 10 pounds and the sweater probably adds a few too but I weighed Meiby this morning and she has put on some weight!. She's now 17 pounds at just 2 weeks shy of 1 year old (OK, maybe not "chubby" but she was around 15 pounds about 2 months ago). She's certainly not getting the same amount of exercise now that it's cold and snowy outside. She still looks healthy though, just a little broader in the chest and a little "foldier" if you know what I mean. She's a big girl now, nearly an adult! They grow up so fast :p

Pumpkin Treats

pumpkin treats
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I finally found some small halloween cookie cutters and made these pumpkin dog treats. Pumpkin is very good for pups (lots of vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidents) so I had been wanting to make these for a while. They turned out pretty hard but that's good in a way... Meiby actually has to sit down and chew on it for a few minutes instead of just gulping it down. Also, when making homemade dog treats, you know exactly what's in them (I even tasted one... it's like a pumpkin cracker).

We're back

and Meiby was just fine while we were gone. Her eye cleared up right away so we stopped giving her the pills (painkillers) but we're still administering the eye drops 3X daily. It's amazing how well she takes it. The first day or so she resisted and squirmed alot but now she's very still and we can get both eyes in a matter of seconds. ...she knows she'll get a treat when it's over.

Anyway, we still don't know what happened to her eye but we're glad it's fine now :)

My parents had a little party this weekend and I took Meiby over there with me. She fully gets along with my parents dog (a big-ish pitbull-(we think)-mix) and cat now. She loved all the attention of the guests and managed not to poop in my parents' house! Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me... but I'll try to get some new photos or video up soon...

First Overnight Away...

Meiby's parents (us) are leaving her overnight for the first time since we've had her. We're going down to Indianapolis tonight for Nick's Indiana Bar Admission Ceremony(!) tomorrow and we're not bringing the pup with us. I've arranged to have a friend stay the night at our house tonight so Meiby won't be alone all night. We won't even be gone 24 hours but we'll miss her. Of course today, of all days, Meiby woke up with a swollen, red, gooey eye. Nick is at the vet with her right now. Hopefully it's no big deal but if it is I'll probably stay home with her and Nick will go to Indy without me. We'll see...

...well, I think the eye will be OK. The doctor didn't see any scratches or anything but they gave her 10 days worth of eye drops and pills and we'll take Meiby back in after 10 days. It doesn't seem to bother her much but she's certainly not a fan of the drops. We're still going to go to Indy tonight and just get back as early as possible tomorrow to take care of her.

3M Dental Treats review

yum
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I had been looking for a good, safe dental chew for Meiby... something that would clean her teeth, improve her breath and not choke her. I had been recommended to check out Greenies but there seems to be a lot of bad press regarding them being dangerous (although they've since changed their formula). I decided to try it and bought a small bag of them for Meiby. I gave her one and monitored her the whole time. Even though I was watching closely, she still gulped down a huge chunk of it and I was worried for a little bit. It turned out fine but I haven't given her any more of them.
Last week at Target I came across a new product: 3M Dental Treats. They have 3 "prongs" to keep your dog from swallowing them too quickly. The ones I bought were white though (not brown like the one pictured in the link) and smelled minty. I gave one to Meiby and she loved it, ate it slowly while holding on to the prongs with her little raccoon claws, and had nice breath when she was finished! I definitely recommend these over Greenies. She really takes her time and chews on them, getting the full benefit of plaque removal that's intended, and they definitely smell better (not that Greenies smell bad, they just don't smell much like anything.) They are a bit expensive but I certainly don't give her two every day as the package suggests. I think one a week is plenty. (There's another good review of these at epinions.) Anyone else tried these?

Meiby has a zit!

zit!
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I've heard that this happens with adolescent pugs. Meiby is 9 months old now and she's got her first pimple. So far it seems like no big deal. We'll keep an eye on it until it goes away. There are lots of stories about pug pimples on Bam Bam the Pug's blog. We do clean her face often (at least every other day) and she has metal food and water bowls which should keep the breakouts to a minimum but she does always have her face buried in the rugs or the yard...

Not for the Squeamish

Anyone who wants to keep thinking of Meiby as a perfect, cute-all-the-time puppy, stop reading here! (or click here)




She'd be mad if she knew I posted about this (hehehe) but it might be helpful to other pup owners out there...
Last Thursday when I got home from work I noticed Meiby scooting her butt across the floor so I checked it out and she had a red swollen bump under her tail. I had heard about some pugs needing to have their anal glands expressed so I figured it was Meiby's turn. I pointed it out to Nick when he got home and we looked up some info and tutorials on how to deal with this. We put her in the tub and attempted to squeeze. We must not have been doing it right because nothing came out except a little red (uh ohh) so we called the vet thinking she might have an infection. In the meantime, I held a warm washcloth on her rear to soothe the swelling. She seemed greatful for this!

Nick took her to the vet the next morning and they "expressed" her properly and showed Nick how to do it (darn, I missed it!) We had been a little worried that we weren't feeding her the right stuff or something. They explained that we weren't doing anything wrong, some dogs just need this done occassionally. She seemed much more comfortable when she came home, though maybe a bit violated. We figured we could just do this at home when needed, and sure we can, but it's only $16 to have it done at the vet and we know they'll do it properly and thoroughly so we'll probably just stick to that unless it's needed very often. Supposedly feeding dogs pumpkin will help them to "express naturally" so I'm going to whip up some of these pumpkin treats for Meiby.