Fleas, Heartworms, Parasites & Ticks Awareness

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I am posting these because, if you don't already know, my passion is keeping my dog healthy & monthly prevention. This all begins with awareness. The warm weather is here...time to start flea & tick monthly prevention! For those dog parents that don't do monthly heartworm prevention all year round, it's time to start that too. As always, talk to your trusted Vet for the best ways to prevent & treat these issues. 

I always do monthly prevention on the 1st of the month, however, 4/01/11 was cold & we still had snow. Today, as I write this blog entry, I realize it is warm outside & has been above freezing for over a week. It's not the 1st of the month but I am going to give my dog his first dose of flea & tick prevention of the season. I had a foster dog that had fleas once...once was enough! That was not a fun experience. I just remember giving her a flea bath & fleas crawling up my arms! I do not want to do that again! Nor do I want to see a dog suffer through that again. 

If cost is a concern, check with your local pet stores. Many have clinics or Vets that come in to give shots, do lab tests, micro chip & sell monthly preventatives at a lower cost. Many Vets will run specials & offer rebates.  Check around for the best deal. I did & I was amazed at the price variance I received!

Missing Brian...RIP

Today I got an email from a local pet store wishing my cat a happy birthday. I was puzzled as my cats birthdays are in March, June & August. I then realized they were referring to my Brian. Brian passed away a year ago on 4/16. He would've been 9 this year. In honor of this being his birth month, here is his story...

A friend of a friend of mine was moving out of state with her boyfriend who is severely allergic to cats. She was looking for a good home for him. Our mutual friend approached me about this, but my family wasn't looking to add a second cat to our home. My friend emailed of picture of Brian (who was at that time named Bry Bry). Well, that was it for me. He was the most handsome cat I had ever seen!

One weekend my friend & her kids drove him from Green Bay to our home. At first he just hid under a table in the living room. He was my cat. He followed me everywhere. He had the coolest personality. Brian was a big boy when he arrived...21 pounds. He was a mainecoon cat, which are a larger breed, but still our vet thought he should be around 14 pounds. In time we got him down to 14.2 pounds & he was that size until he got sick.

One day my daughter said he wasn't eating very well. I monitored him but I didn't see any changes until 4/15/10. I was headed to bed when I saw Brian laying on the floor in the hallway, which was odd for him. I went to pick him up & he was limp. My boyfriend, Glen, & I tried to feed him & get him to drink water but Brian couldn't hold anything down. I laid on the living room floor with Brian wrapped in a blanket until the morning came & the vet's office was open. I called the vet & they were able to shuffle some things around to get him in. When I got there I knew deep down he was in trouble but I was so sleep deprived & in denial. The vet took an xray & found a huge mass in his belly. My beloved Brian had cancer. He weighed something like 9 pounds & his temp was 89 degrees. The vet said there was nothing they could do...he was too far gone. If I took him home he would suffer terribly & would most certainly pass that day. There was no decision to make. I had to say good bye to my buddy.

Glen & I went to my kids school & sat them down in the conference room & told them the news. They were devastated. I gave them the option to leave school for the rest of the day & come to the vet's office to say goodbye. My daughter was too upset to go. So my son, Glen & I went back to the vet. We said our goodbyes & Brian passed away in my arms. Everyone in the room cried. Brian's was a horrible, unexpected passing.

Next week my family will face the 1st anniversary of his passing & his birthday. I miss Brian so much. He was the best cat in the world & he brought so much happiness to our family.

We love you Brian!

Insurance Call Centers

Ever get frustrated when calling a health insurance company? I called an insurance company today & was so irritated after the call I had to take a minute to regroup. First you have to figure out the automated line. Once you get through you most likely will be transfered or given a different # to call. Today I was transfered 3 times & given 2 different #s to call. Then during a transfer, I was hung up on. Now these things are not the fault of the person who helped me when I finally got to the right person. Do you take it out on that person? Are you so irritated at this point that you treat them badly? Once the right person to help you is on the phone, do you notice they feel the need to fill the silence with phrases like, one moment or step by step instructions on what they are doing?

All of these things are quite annoying, but have you ever taken into consideration all of the rules they are given for taking calls? Rules like, no more than 5 seconds of silence & then they must say things like one moment. Rules that will force them to put you on hold so they can type their call summary before hanging up with you because they will get another call immediately after they hang up with you. Did you know that most of the call center reps you encounter have to take call after call with no time in between calls? Most of these reps take 100 calls in an 8 hour shift. They have unrealistic goals/stats to meet every week or month. Quotas that are very difficult to reach. If they don't reach them corrective action is usually taken.

Can you imagine not being able to use the bathroom when you need to because calls are holding? So I ask you this...if you worked for one of these companies, what would your mood be like? Would you truly care about your customers' needs? So, when you are frustrated & want to scream, swear or be rude to these unfortunate souls, please think twice. I used to work for an insurance company. I had to follow the rules & meet quotas. It was horrible. I was depressed, crabby and had terrible headaches every day! I dreaded starting work just to get screamed at, swore at & personally threatened 100 times a day.

I wish people would think twice about how they treat others. Especially the ones answering your calls & listening to your complaints. They do this all day long. Think what that does to a person.

Thankfully I am no longer in this line of work. I haven't had a severe headache since my last day of work in a call center. Most importantly, I am happy. In my new line of work I have to occasionally call insurance companies. It is frustrating but I am always nice to those that answer the phone. 9 times out of 10 the rep I speak with thanks me for being so nice.

Heartbreak & Rescue

While shopping at a local pet store today I ran into a very heartbreaking situation. In the back room there was a rescue visiting the store to show off their adoptable dogs. When I walked into the room the smell was over powering. It smelled like dirty dogs & mange. I tried to interact with & pet some of the dogs, but they were so dirty I almost didn't want to touch them. As I pet a few I noticed one of the puppies had crusty stuff all over an ear. Two of the puppies were so skinny it just tore at my heart. While I was petting the dogs, one of their volunteers was yelling at her kid, spanked her & put her in the corner. I am just shocked at how people represent themselves. So now I am left with this feeling of...just sadness...

Heart Worm Test

My dog Riley recently turned a year old so we thought this would be the perfect time to have his heartworm test done. I found out from a friend at work 2 Mondays ago that Petco has a Vet that comes in a few Monday nights a month to give shots & do blood draws. My friend just happened to have a price listing with her. A heartworm test at my Vet's office is around $50. This price list said $20! I was worried that they wouldn't be able to draw his blood because of how he is with nail cuts but they were great with him. It took 2 of us to hold him & the Vet half holding & half drawing the blood, but she got it. She said no news is good news and that the results would be in by Friday. Apparently they only call if it's positive. Now, that might sit well with most people, but not me! I realize heartworm is not something "normal" around here, but my dog is from Arkansas. Because of this we give preventatives all year round. I was also slightly nervous about the test. So when the following Monday came around, I called the Vet to see if the results were in. They were not!

The day after the blood draw we had a huge snow storm. Apparently the lab got very far behind & was swamped. So, I just received the test results today. NEGATIVE!! I had a message on my cell phone from the Vet that said "The test results are negative. There are no wormies in little Riley's heart." I was so happy when I heard this news! I just giggled at the "wormies" comment! When I got home from work tonight I gave Riley an extra big hug & tons of kisses.

I am so happy that we have provided monthly prevention for our dog. There is only one Riley & I never want to see him go through any unpleasantness. So, I make this promise to my dog...I will always provide you with everything you need to stay healthy. I am so thankful for the massive amounts of unconditional love Riley gives me. So tomorrow, since it is the first of the month, I will provide you with your monthly dose of prevention and in 2 years we will retest. A lot of people don't know that you have to retest every 2 years. Thankfully I have a wonderful Vet that guides me along the way, as I am a first time doggie parent.

Three Years

Last week we celebrated my boyfriend's birthday, but also had a much bigger event to celebrate. Last week marked three years of sobriety for my amazingly strong boyfriend. I consider myself so fortunate, so blessed to be with him everyday. I am so proud of how much he has accomplished, how much he has grown & how far he has come these past three years. I thank God for everyday I have been able to be by his side & I pray for a million more to come. It takes a very special kind of person to be able to turn their life around the way he has. Every day is better than the last & it will only continue to get better while on this path!

So to my amazing boyfriend I want to say (today & every day)...I am so proud of you & so thankful for the person you are. I appreciate you & every moment we share together. I love you with all my heart!

What Did My Puppy Eat??

Remember how the clown at the kids' birthday party would pull the long string of scarves tied together out of his mouth? Well, last night my dog was the clown...

I was about to feed my 11 month old puppy, Riley, his dinner when my daughter screams "Gross! Riley has a HUGE stream of drool hanging out of his mouth!" I look at Riley & see the long string of "drool" hanging about 8 inches out of his mouth. I grab a towel to wipe it off...and then it gets gross...

As the drool continues to flow out of his mouth, I realize it's a thick string of some sort. Slowly, I end up removing about 4 feet of this string from his mouth/belly. I have no idea where this string came from or what it was. I'm just happy it didn't go through his system & wreak havoc on his tummy.

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a very weak stomach. So, I know that the anyone reading this is probably grossed out, but at least you weren't the one who had to pull this out of him. Yes, I gagged!

Riley had an upset tummy for a few hours afterward, but seems okay now. He is never unsupervised & when left alone he is kenneled so I have no idea what he ate. Puppies are just like kids..."everything goes in the mouth!"