savory treats for a sweet girl.

I did a little spring summer cleaning this weekend which had me clearing out cupboards and throwing away things that aren't needed anymore. As I cleaned out Claire's cupboard, which was stocked with a variety of treats, I realized that she is allergic to 99% of the kinds that I'd been giving her for the past three years. That inspired today's mission: find some more treats that don't have any poultry, wheat, oats, yeast, apples, or bananas in them.

First, I gathered up all of the unopened bags of treats that she can't have anymore and put them in my car to bring to the nice man who sells papers at the corner of Murphy and I-40 - his dog is always with him, so on my way to work tomorrow, I'll see if he would like them.

Next, I contacted my pals at Dog Pack Snacks to check out the ingredients of their awesome treats, and thankfully Claire can still have their Liver Snaps; they are one of her favorite kinds. What I love about DPS is that their mission is to make healthy and wholesome treats - this means they use lean meats for high protein and lower fat, fruits and vegetables, and no wheat/soy/corn/by-products/sugar/salt/preservatives/colors. I know, I know, it sounds too good to be true, but it's as real as real can be! Claire is obsessed with these little snacks, so I'm glad that she can still have them!

Then I went to Nashville Pet Products to see what they had in stock, and after discussing things with the manager, I came away with ZiwiPeak's Good Dog lamb jerky treats. This product is made in New Zealand and is all natural. They are very up front about their philosophy on animal welfare, and they make it very clear that all of their animals are raised in a cage-free feeding environment and are treated humanely. That's something that I fully support!

Today's mission was a success! In addition, I'm happy to report that Claire hasn't had any of her usual symptoms of acid reflux or pancreatitis since starting her new food by California Natural. I'm hopeful that her digestive track is finally beginning to heal, and that she will continue on the path to health and wellness!

 

results are in and we've got some answers.

Yesterday afternoon was the two-week mark since Claire's appointment with the specialist, so naturally, I called them first thing this morning to see if her RAST (radioallergosorbent test) results had come back yet. Thankfully they did, and we now have answers! Claire's constant trouble with GERD is definitely caused by an allergic reaction. The tests showed that she has a very high level of eosinophils in her blood because she is extremely allergic to... poultry [I KNEW IT!!], oats, wheat, yeast, apples, and bananas. Now that I know this, I can buy dog food that doesn't have any of these ingredients in it. The vet recommended that I get either kangaroo or venison from California Natural, or either bison or fish from Solid Gold [What can I say? Claire has an advanced palette!] Either way, I just found out that I can get both of those brands delivered straight to my house through Mr. Chewy.** So again, thank you all for your kind words and prayers throughout the past few weeks! They have helped immensely, and now Claire is on the road to recovery!

** If you want your dog's food delivered to your front door too, go to Mr. Chewy's website and put in the discount code LJFE5468 at check out -- you'll get 10% off your order, and they'll donate $10 to the Best Friends Animal Society!

No more tummyaches for this happy girl!!

  

on our way to getting some answers.

Where have we been for the past four days? I've been busy making homemade food for the princess, while she has been lying around and being sick. Well, that's not completely true; on the days that she felt better, she went to daycare and had some fun with her pals. But we both stayed home today because she had an appointment with a veterinary specialist in the hopes that we could get some answers about this GERD issue.

It was a frustrating appointment. First of all, I specifically asked over the phone if I should bring a copy of her vet records, and I was told not to. Then, when I got there and explained what the past three years of GERD have been like for Claire, they asked if I brought a copy of her vet records. Yeah. I was pissed. I called up my girls at Banfield and asked them to quickly fax over her records, but they misunderstood and faxed over her vaccination records. I offered to call them back and have them send everything, but the specialist said, "Well, I have to get to my next appointment, but on your way out, make another appointment and then have them fax it before you come in next."

...And then I burst into tears. I told her that it's breaking my heart to hear Claire wake up crying in the middle of the night. I told her that I haven't been sleeping because I'm so worried about her. I told her how she won't eat anything but homemade food or else she throws up all over the place. I told her that I need her to do something today, because I'm not a vet and I can't fix this, but she can.

So she ordered a complete food allergy panel which will be sent out to a lab in Texas. We won't have results for the next two weeks, so in the meantime, she gave me prescription hypoallergenic food for Claire and prescription probiotics. $600 later and we're finally getting somewhere.

Keep praying those prayers and thinking happy thoughts for us. Lord knows the next two weeks are going to go by very slowly as we wait for results. And thank you so very much for all of your emails, texts, FB messages, and tweets - I read them all to Claire, and I'm positive that if she could speak, she'd say thank you too! Knowing that you all love her so much is the best kind of support I could ask for!

   

a worrisome weekend.

It's been an interesting weekend at la casa de Claire. It's been somewhat sad and worrisome but also kind of hopeful at the same time. Off and on for the past week, Claire's stomach has been bothering her with the classic symptoms of GERD. It's the first significant bout since I switched her food to Pinnacle back in December, but this time it's pretty clear that her stomach is torn up from... well... something.

I went back to Dizzy's Dog Wash and Corner Store yesterday to talk to Mrs. Dizzy about the next step [and no, I still don't know her real name]. Mrs. Dizzy said that she doesn't think it's a food issue anymore, seeing that the Pinnacle obviously didn't help in the long run. She gave me the name of a new veterinarian who uses both western and eastern medicine and knows a lot about digestive issues such as this. And then Mrs. Dizzy handed me a piece of paper and said, "I think it's time that you start cooking for her."

Umm, keep in mind that I hardly cook for myself. Thankfully, the paper she handed me was a list of recipes for dogs who are Claire's size. And I mean, I can follow directions at least. So we're good there. To be honest, at first I had a minor freak-out moment where I was thinking, "WHENDOIHAVETIMETODOTHIS?!?!?!" But I quickly came to my senses. This is Claire, we're talking about here. She's my girl. So if I have to carve out some time in my day to prepare good quality food for her to feel better, I will absolutely do it.

So, I spent the afternoon yesterday cooking for Claire with what I had in my freezer and cupboards: tilapia filets, frozen peas, and oatmeal [1.5 cups of tilapia, 1.5 cups of oatmeal, and 1/4 cup of peas, if you want to make it for your dog too - it is Claire-approved]. Appetizing, right? Well... she liked it, and that's all that matters. So far, she's had four homemade meals and she hasn't thrown up yet! Her stomach still hurts, as evidenced by the fact that she ate some grass this morning on our walk, but the food stayed down. And I do realize that it will take some time for her stomach to heal. As much as I'd like it to be an overnight fix, it won't be. That's just reality.

I'm really really worried about Claire, and I'm looking forward to taking her to this new vet. As much as I love my girls at Banfield, I need a second opinion. This GERD-issue has been going on for a couple years now, and I don't want to keep treating Claire with the same medications, which are proving to be band-aids for what is a major problem. Say some prayers for us, and I'll keep you all posted...

a pity party.

We are miserable. Just miserable.

I am covered in poison ivy from trying to be Super(wo)man. If you saw me, you'd run screaming in the other direction. I have dark circles under my eyes since I haven't slept in a week because I'm too itchy, and I've got calamine lotion everywhere. I look pretty awful. I refuse to go to work looking pink and crusty, so I'm just going to suffer tomorrow. And I'm not good at suffering in silence, so watch out people!

Claire, on the other hand, is on day three of a bout of pancreatitis and/or GERD, so she is feeling really awful too. She looks so pitiful when she's sick that I just want to cry for her. Everyone knows when she's sick, too, because she walks around with her ears lowered and her head down, and she doesn't wag her tail at all. It's really really sad.

All this to say that we're not good company right now. Hopefully we'll both be feeling better tomorrow...

someone needs a breath mint.

I tried. I really did. But it was nearly impossible...

It was so difficult that I gave up after the second attempt...

I failed.

But she just would not let me brush her teeth.

We were in the car the other day, heading to the dog park. She was standing on the center console with her head sticking out the sunroof, ears blowing in the breeze. Maybe it was the way the wind was blowing, but I caught a whiff of something that just smelled terrible. Like dead fish.

I'll be totally honest with you: I thought it was my breath at first. I'd eaten some spicy food for lunch, complete with garlic and onions [yes, my officemate adores me, if you were wondering]. I was mortified. I stuffed a whole pack's worth of gum into my mouth in the hopes that it would eradicate any remnant of my stinky lunch before I got to the park. [Did you know that eating a whole pack of Orbit at once isn't just hard to chew, but the mint makes you sneeze at least eight times? Truth. Firsthand knowledge]. But when we stopped at a red light and Claire leaned down to give me a big fat kiss, I realized -- partly with relief and partly in horror -- that it was not MY breath causing the dead-fish smell... it was HERS.

She's never been one to have bad breath, but I recently started giving her a different flavor of her food - trout and potato, as a matter of fact. And apparently, it reeks. But she actually likes it and it's easy on her stomach [which is important with her chronic GERD and recent pancreatitis scare], so I am hesitating to change it back...

The next day, after taking a quick trip to PetSmart, I sat down with Claire and discussed why I absolutely have to brush her teeth. She listened to me explain that I don't want her to be the smelly kid dog at school daycare who doesn't have any friends because they can't stand the stench. She also heard me say that preventative care is the best care, so we had to nip this in the bud. I believe I also told her that this would be more painful for me than it would be for her. And then I tried to persuade her by telling her that the toothbrush itself is peanut butter flavored, so maybe she would like it.

Aaaaand... nope. She let me look at those pearly whites, but she wouldn't let me touch them with the toothbrush. Actually, when she saw it coming towards her, she kept leaning backwards until she tumbled over. And then she rolled over for a belly rub. [Does she think I'm an amateur?! As if I was going to get distracted by that!] I tried putting the toothpaste on my finger to brush her teeth that way, but when I started walking over to her, she turned and ran into our room. And then, my fifty pound dog tried to hide behind the bookcase.

That's when I gave up.

I realized that this was not going to happen, no matter how badly I needed wanted it to. I haven't yet come up with a solution, so suggestions are welcome. For now, I'm trying to manage it with dental chews, a water additive, and raw marrow bones.

HELP!! I just can't let the trout win this battle.

  

on the mend.

Sick puppy...

I had quite the scare last Thursday while I was getting ready to go to work. I got out of the shower and Claire was laying on the couch looking forlorn, and she had gotten sick all over the living room. The poor girl has had so many tummy issues with GERD that I know enough about it to know that it wasn't GERD this time. As I continued to get ready for work, Claire continued to get sick... And I began to worry. I went to work and sent my roommate a text for when she woke up, asking her to call me if Claire kept getting sick. I worried my way through the morning and finally had a chance to call Lyndsey to ask for an update on Claire. She said that Claire had curled into a ball on the couch and hadn't moved all morning. She also was dry-heaving and whining. Heartbreaking, right? I get sad just thinking about it. But that did it for me. I called the vet and made an appointment to take Claire in later that afternoon.

Not feeling well and not happy to be at the veterinarian's office.

Our very favorite nurse, Josie, was working that day and she commented that Claire was the sickest she'd ever seen in our 2.5 years of knowing her. I don't know who felt worse - Claire with her stomach ache or Josie for having to take her blood! When all was said and done, Claire was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis (for more info on pancreatitis, check out this post on my friend Jana's blog). We were sent home with an antibiotic, anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory, and a 4-day supply of prescription food.

She's always happy to see Josie, though!

Claire was down and out into Saturday, but by Saturday afternoon, she started wagging her tail again - such a good sign! We went to the park for just a half an hour yesterday and then I made her get back into bed. This morning, however, she was up early and excited to go back to daycare! No, really! She bounded out of bed when I mentioned it and then waited by the door until I was ready to go! And when I picked her up this afternoon, they said that she played all day and was back to her old self. Now that is news that I like to hear!

Feeling much better!

Just relaxing after a full day of fun at daycare!

  

Thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed, commented, tweeted (etc etc etc) over the weekend to ask how she was/is doing! It means so much to us both!

  

  

she eats!!

Claire has never been a picky eater. She's like me. If it's edible, we'll eat it. (That's a bit of an exaggeration... I don't want you think I am the human equivalent of a garbage disposal. Because I am not. In case you needed me to clarify). So I became concerned when I noticed that she was having a harder time eating her food: sometimes she would sniff at it and walk away, and sometimes she wouldn't eat for hours until she got so hungry that she had to eat it. Meal time for Claire became work for both of us. I either needed to play games with her and teach her new tricks to use it as a reward, or mix veggies and meat in with her kibble to make it more appealing. Something wasn't right; it was never this difficult before. I went to my friend Erin - mom to Ollie and Darby, who are frequently mentioned in older posts - because she is brilliant and knows a lot about dog-related issues. She suggested that we go to Dizzy's Corner Store because the owner is very knowledgeable about nutrition when it comes to dogs and cats.

Mrs. Dizzy (which is how we kindly refer to her because neither of us are sure of her real name) asked some questions about Claire: how old she is, how much she weighs, what her activity level is, what her health issues are, etc. When I mentioned that Claire has chronic gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) and dry skin, she immediately told me that both are related to her food. Though I was giving her what is marketed as a complex premium dog food without corn/soy/byproducts, it wasn't food that was holistic and all-natural. There is a lot to be said about how dog food is processed - it's like with human food: the less processing, the better. Mrs. Dizzy recommended a simple, holistic, and all-natural brand so that Claire's tummy will start to heal: Pinnacle Chicken&Oatmeal. She said that though I'll start to see immediate results by Claire's reaction to it, the old food I was giving her won't be completely out of her system for about six weeks.

Last night was our first night trying Pinnacle. To help with an easy transition, I mixed 1/2 cup of the old food with 3/4 cup of the new food, and I'll do this for about 7-10 days, slowly increasing the amount of the new food while decreasing the amount of the old food. Claire loved Pinnacle. She actually picked through the bowl and ate the Pinnacle, leaving the old food behind. And this morning, when she heard me call her for breakfast, she came bounding into the kitchen and ate it immediately! I think we've fixed the problem, thanks to Erin and Mrs. Dizzy.

Ah, relief - for Claire AND for me!!