Gone to the Dogs

So, this dog friend of mine keeps bugging me to get writing again.  There is plenty to write about but more hours per day are needed in my life.  I have many legitimate excuses. It has been an extremely busy summer as we put the house on the market, searched and stressed over buying a new house, bought a house, sold a house and then finished all that fun with more fun by moving into the new house. Just a side note....moving sucks!  Oh yeah and to add to all that fun, we got a dog.  A "what" you say??  This is supposed to be a blog about cat stuff, right?  How'd a dog get into the feline palace with the crazy cat lady?

Her name is Isabel and I swear she is the cutest damn dog on the planet!  Her story is not uncommon......People get dog they can't afford and don't  get her the necessary vaccines.  Dog starts vomiting and having diarrhea.  Take dog to vet.  Dog has Parvovirus.  People can't afford treatment.  Owners relinquish dog to vet so she doesn't have to be euthanized.  Vet fixes dog!  Yeah for us! We adopt her and she becomes the most spoiled and loved dog, ever.

At the vet recovering from Parvo.

My first cool toy.  Aren't I so cute!

Sadly, I saw this over and over again when I was in practice.   Vaccines are extremely important to prevent diseases of which several can be life threatening.  Parvovirus is treatable but can cost several hundreds of dollars to treat and can be fatal.  Lucky for Isabel, she survived the disease and has moved on to a healthy puppyhood.  I'll get on my soapbox later about this topic.  She is on her third name though.  Previously she was known as Coco and then Penelope.  Isabel suits her and she has adjusted to her new life with us and 7 cats.

I can play with cat toys too!

I was most worried about the cats and their reaction to a canine in the house.  We were already having some feline wars which could have escalated with the new addition.  As it turns out, she is a mild mannered gal who really doesn't pay much attention to them.  In fact, she is about the same size as the cats and actually smaller than a couple of them!  We lucked out on finding her as she has been a near perfect addition.  Perfect would be the dog that doesn't eat from the litter box, would use a litter box, doesn't eat the cat food, doesn't play with their toys, and doesn't destroy toilet paper and cardboard boxes.  We had to run some interference to curb the bad habits but I can't complain too much.  She doesn't eat my shoes or woodwork so it could be much worse!

I like toilet paper alot.

  It has been nearly 10 years since having a dog around the house. I had forgotten how much different it is vs. having cats.  I still claim to be the cat lady but this little dog has grabbed my heart and there would be a hole without her.  By the way, I am number two in the pecking order around here.   In the end, her heart belongs to G. He is the number one guy in her world.  I have turned G into a cat loving guy but I think that he secretly is a "dog" person.  I'm ok with that as long we can still hang around!