show us your life: pets

Check out all the other awesome pets over at Kelly's Korner.

I have always had a family pet in the home. I grew up with a cat and a dog. When that dog, Katie, died I set my little heart on becoming a vet. I was six years old and that cat was nearly 8...and lived until she was twenty! The last two years of her life she was in and out of kidney failure, a common death sentence for cats. I gave her sub q fluids in the neck twice a day and that kept her somewhat perky. I was 16 when she died and my desires to become a vet had faded away.

Since then, we have had one other family dog who died almost 6 years ago. After she died I went the longest I'd ever gone without a dog in our home. Nine months was all I could take.

After a summer away on the Jersey Shore and nearly a month after my birthday, the family headed to Boulder to pick up this little gem:

Butte was named after the hill near my parents house and honestly, we just loved it. She is a ball-o-fire. She looks like a Sheba Inu, acts like a shepherd, and loves like a lab.  She feels no pain, we are certain. Unlike Tulo, if she sustains an injury you'd never know it. The girl insists on throwing the ball and running around no matter what. She's afraid of lightning, fireworks, and the vacuum.

Butte loves long walks, running, raw-hides, treats and loads of love. But more than anything she LOVES Logan. She was not a fan when he was an infant but now that he can throw a stick or ball for her, she smothers him all day long. While he naps she sleeps outside his door. Once he's awake she starts dancing around in circles and lick-attacks him. He loves her too. Just this morning he crawled into her kennel and just kicked back in her bed.

Butte has always been *my* dog, but she will forever be loved by my family since the first two years of her life we lived with my parents.

Now, you all know lots about Tulo. He's a greyhound and enjoys jumping out of windows and causing lots of damage to wallets and windows. I kid. I found Tulo on craigslist. B had been asking me about getting another dog, well before we were even engaged! I knew we'd get married and he had a soft spot for greyhounds. We were intending to adopt a rescue, but I just so happened upon an ad for a greyhound PUPPY!! Unheard of, really. I made a call and off we went. B was so surprised and turns out there were TEN puppies to choose from. B chose Tulo and named him after Troy Tulowitski, the short-stop rookie for the Rockies who'd just won the National League Championship.

Tulo wears his heart on his sleeve. He has the most expressive eyes and ears. You know just how he's feeling by looking at him. He hates getting wet/taking baths and going outside when it's cold (like 50* and he's a wimp). He loves car rides and running in fields with Butte. Hopefully he will back doing that very soon! He too loves Logan and did so from the first time they met.

We are a pet family. Sometimes it's really hard having pets, like when we want to go somewhere for the weekend we need to find someone to watch them or board them. They are SUPER expensive! In Tulo's lifetime, we've paid just as much for him, maybe even more, than we did to have Logan. Wow. Add that to all the yearly visits, shots, upkeep and dog food. They are just two furry family members and we would not want it any other way.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 27

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Day 27: Pets

See?? My days are all off so just roll with it.

Butte:

I rescued Butte from the humane society just over 4 years ago. She was my birthday present from my parents and I love her so much. She was my first child. Butte has a great personality, though overwhelming sometimes. She wants you to play with her all day long and love on her at night. Now that Logan is around, she is quite jealous but is doing much better with accepting the fact that he is not going anywhere.

Tulo:

Tulo is a Greyhound and no, he is not a rescue. I found him on craigslist as a puppy. B picked him out of he litter and he is our wise old soul. He is crazy-smart and loves Logan just as much as he loves us.

Butte and Tulo together are best friends. They run, they play, they sleep and they annoy each other just like a brother and sister should.

Dog Lover

>Lets switch things up a bit and talk about something other than my sweet Logan for once (update on him below).



Being that it is Labor Day weekend, here comes a post about how to take care of a sick pup. You will may be having several people over, BBQing and there is bound to be a time your dog is going to sneek something off the table. Take heed, my friends.

We are HUGE dog lovers. We have two, Butte and Tulo. Before Logan, they were totally spoiled. Now, the attention has changed and they have each had their turn in taking the attention away from Logan, whether it was intentional or not. I'm talking about what to do when your dog is sick. We've all been there, laying in bed sound asleep at 2am (it's ALWAYS in the middle of the night) when you begin to hear your dog start making the gagging sound and within seconds, it's over. They have puked all over the floor and you have no idea why.

In the last 5 weeks, both our dogs have had some bout with a tummy bug and it is not easy people. Tulo got a bacterial infection in July that landed us in the vet hospital and out nearly $700. A few weeks ago, Butte ate TWO POUNDS of raw ground beef and it only took 12 hours for that to catch up to her...for 5 days! Both dogs were vomiting and had diahrea and our carpets are ruined, to say the least. So how do you cure this lovely combination of sickness?

First of all, whenever our dogs come down with something, we give it a day to see how they are. Usually, they ate something weird outside and just need 24 hours to let it pass through their system and then it's all good. We did that with Tulo and by day 4, he could not even hold down a sip of water. That is when it's time to go to the vet. Dehydration sets in and you have one sick puppy.

Once you have waited out (and strubbed your floors) for 24 hours and your pup is still sick, you need to take their food away. Fill their bowl with just a half inch of water. Dogs have a tendency to want to drink a ton of water when their bellies are achy but this will back fire and cause them to vomit even more. If your dog can hold down that much water every few hours, then after 12 hours, you can try a few things to help settle the belly.

• Pumpkin: I have a hard time finding this canned veggie outside of Thanksgiving season, but it does wonders on the tummy. Give him a scoop (1 tablespoon) and see how he holds that down. If he has stopped vomiting but is still having diahrea, continue with this tasty treat (trust me, they love it!) once every 4 hours combined with any of the other items listed below.
• Chicken broth: It works for people and it works for dogs. The salt content helps with the dehydration.
• Plain cooked rice: 1/2 cup in their bowl. This is filling and really easy on the tummy.
• Plain cooked chicken: 1/2 cup in bowl, with or without rice. Also easy on the tummy and provides some protien.
• Plain yogurt: 1 scoop (1 tablespoon) in dish. This works just like the pumpkin does.

Now don't go trying all these things at once. Pick one or two and if the vomiting slows down, slowly ween them back into the food. Just a little bit at a time. You want to do any of the above every 4 hours UNTIL they begin to have a solid BM again. This seems like common sense, but there are so many people who have no clue what to do with their pup when they are sick and just rush them off to the vet. This will save you a ton of money. The only reason why we took Tulo in was because he was vomiting water and on day 4 of explosive diahrea. Turned out he had a bacterial infection. Poor guy. It took Butte about 5 days to have a regular BM after eating all that raw meat. Any time your pet eats something like that, you must watch them carefully as raw meat carries so much bacteria. We are still keeping an eye on her that she does not develop any weird infections from the meat. So far so good.

If your dog eats something like chocolate, a deadly poison to them, call your vet. If you have the package the chocolate came it, tell them how much your dog weighs and how much the content of cocoa powder is in the chocolate. Depending on the ratio, you may or may not want to seek a vet. We have a great 24 hour vet hospital that is honest with us. Signs to watch for intoxication are fever, heavy panting, twitching and seizures.

When in doubt, call your vet. You may have no idea what your pet ingested and it is never a bad idea to just call for reassurance. You may have heard that if they eat something funky (like vitamines) to give your dog a sip of hydrogin poroxid to make them vomit. Trust me when I say, DON'T DO THIS! I have done it before to dogs I was sitting for who ate a ton of vitamins and it was miserable. The vet told me that if it is toxic to their body, they will get rid of it.

All in all, I hope this helps. I know it's a gross thing to deal with, but if you love your pets as much as we do, then you know how much it sucks when they are sick.

Happy Labor Day!