Furry Angels

Well the therapy visit on Friday went really well (once I finally made it there). Moxie just LOVED the kids and they just LOVED her. They wanted her to play with them on the playground equipment (Which happens to be one of moxie's favorite things to do!) So she ran through the plastic tunnels and up and down the slides and over the swingy bridges and kids romped and chased and hugged all over her! I don't know who was having a better time, her or the kids.

These kids are going through some tough times. At the moment they are living in a safe house, their mothers have left an abusive relationship and many are in hiding, fearing for their lives. Most left with nothing but the clothes on their back. I loved that I was able to share my dog with these kids, give them a night where they didn't have to think about friends, homes, pets, belongings and lives left behind and the strange newness of their current situation. The moms were able to relax and have a good time too. They were eager to chat with regular folk. I'm sure they feel quite isolated and lonely. When a battered women makes the brave decision to leave the abusive relationship, it usually also means leaving behind her entire life, her things, her friends, her job, etc. I can't remember the exact statistic, but a shocking number of women who are murdered are killed by their partners, so the desperation these women are feeling is based in a certain cold harsh reality. I admire their courage. I wish I could do more for them.

Really, I don't know who benefited the most from our visit, Moxie, the kids, their moms, or me. It was a good night all around.

Today Moxie was the Rally Obedience Demo dog at the Bow Wow Pow Wow in The Colony. Moxie was proud to represent GTDOG and strut her stuff. She did well, unfortunately, no one really cared. I'm sure we would have gotten more of a response with an agility demo, but what people don't realize is that ill mannered dogs won't do agility either! Besides, Rally is such fun. Oh well, perhaps it really wasn't the right crowd.

Moxie has always been a challenging dog to work because her drive overrides her brain sometimes. She gets so worked up that she can't concentrate and listen to me. I was recommended a book called "Control Unleashed" that is supposed to help with this. I got it in the mail today and I can't wait to read it.

Update on the cats. I took Kobie and Sully to work with me yesterday. Kobie got his yearly labwork done and it was all normal. He also has a strange abscess on his toe that the doctors think is a declaw regrow. He will have surgery next week to investigate. This is reason like 500 that I wish I had never declawed him. I'm so sad, and so sorry that I did that to poor Kobie. He will never know the satisfaction of a nice full body stretch, never be able to properly climb or scratch. He may develop arthritis due to being forced to walk in an unatural position. And now this! He will have to have another painful operation to declaw him AGAIN. I could just kick myself. I should have known better. Thurston and Sully both have all the claws they were born with and I don't intend to change that.

Sully got his last kitten vaccine and his microchip implanted. We also rechecked his stool, which is still diarrhea, but showed nothing unusual upon anaylsis, as per ususal. We are going to try him on a course of a GI acting steroid called Budesenide. I was afraid to put him on steroids because of their immuno suppressive effects, but this is supposed to act only on the GI tract and no where else in his system, so I thought I would give it a go. For those keeping up with the homeopathy treatment, we are now on Slippery Elm, Probiotic mix, Digestive Enzymes, Psyllium Husks, and Collostrum. He's on an entirely grain free diet. The next step is to switch to a novel protein limited ingredient food, but I really don't think this is a food allergy issue, as protein allergies in cats are actually pretty rare.

So thats the scoop on the poop! Glad you tuned in!