Sunday night already?

[jadecat]

Wow, I so don't want it to be Sunday night already! The weekend was nice and relaxing, mostly, but I'm still not ready to have to go back to work tomorrow!

Yesterday hubby and I went to visit his family- the annual August Birthday get together, his sis and step-brother have birthdays very close together in August. It was fun to see everyone, though we were all disappointed that my step-daughter and family weren't able to make it.

Today hubby and I spent some time trying to find a new dog food for the Kyle... It's an ongoing problem. We solved most of his digestive issues by switching to a vegetarian food. However, now he's scratching a LOT, and shedding like nobody's business. This is a problem. We are vacuuming everyday- and there's STILL clumps of hair lying around. This is also a very new issue. I mean, yes, he used to shed before, but never this much! However, do you have ANY idea how hard it is to find a dog food that doesn't have chicken in it?! It's a staple ingredient! We finally found California Natural- they have a salmon and sweet potato canned food and a herring and sweet potato kibble, so we're going to try that- see if it keeps the digestion problem at bay, AND helps control the shedding issue. I will be so happy once we find something he can eat on a regular basis, and be healthy!

This was the excitement for the day. Well, there was a migraine too, but I'm very tired of writing much about that problem!

Hmm, oh yes, watched "Buckaroo Banzai" which is quite funny. Though can be a little confusing at the same time. Haven't watched much else recently.

Books: finished Eclipse- haven't really started Breaking Dawn yet, I got distracted by Cry Wolf. I really, really like that book! I cannot wait until the second one comes out. Though that probably won't happen for a year. Bah. Patricia Briggs, the author, does a really good job, I think, writing about wounded women. Women who have been hurt- but aren't exactly victims. This can make reading it difficult (especially the end of Iron Kissed), but well worth it- in my eyes. I enjoy the way she handles the idea of werewolves, and what it means to be in a pack- it works for me. Though it does make me want to work on a shapeshifting story. *laughs* I could always pull out Jessica (my werejaguar story from two nanos ago) and work on editing/finishing it.


Oh, and see some pretty dragons.

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Pretty dragons. :)

Clicked. And the first green chipped a hole from its egg. It's anxious to get out!

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Yay! It should be anxious, it's got less than 2.9 days to hatch! Silly dragon. ;)

[losgunna.livejournal.com]

We've got a couple of kitties on the California Naturals food, for allergies, and it seems to help them.

Also, has the vet given you any ideas for foods? They should actually have foods that are for allergies, that are only available through them. Both Royal Canin and Hills make allergy type diets, although I have a pretty strong preference for Royal Canin, for a variety of reasons. Royal Canin has Duck, Rabbit, Whitefish and Venison versions (including a large breed version of the venison), as well as one they call HP, which is a soy-based food. They also have one that they call Vegetarian, which seems to be a mix of a hypo-allergenic diet and a urinary diet, which may not be his best bet. For cats, HP and Venison are our most popular versions. Hills also makes versions of duck, rabbit and venison, but (at least for cats) they seem to be difficult to get. They also make z/d, which is supposed to be their super-hypo food, but it still has chicken in it although it's supposed to be in a form that is not allergenic. The cat version changed formulation a few months ago, and since then, we've had some cats come up allergic to the new formula...which they never bothered to tell us about, and denied it when we asked about it.

Last off...any chance he's allergic to more than just chicken? We're treating Sid right now for seasonal allergies - giving him Claritin! Kyle may also have some grain allergies, which would cause issues too. It might be worth talking to the vet about allergy testing. It's expensive, but for the cats that need it, the allergy shots make all the difference.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

I call it a chicken allergy- basically anytime he gets anything with chicken he gets horrid diarrhea. Which really is no fun for any of us. Especially since it's well, he can't always wait until we're available to take him, and has had accidents in his crate and on the carpet... That's his only negative reaction- his overall health has been excellent, his coat was great until we stopped feeding him Blue Buffalo (but even on that he would have a couple good days and then bad poop days).

We've talked to his vet, and she really didn't have much advice- except that she would prefer we do something holistic over harsh human stuff like kaopectate. So we tried acidophilus, and that seemed to kinda helpp- but he still had good days and bad days. And the bad days were getting more common. That vet has since left the practice we go to, there have always been 2-4 vets working there at any one time. Overall, I don't have a ton of faith in them- sad to say. If this current food (California Natural) doesn't work out I'll either talk to a vet- or ponder getting them a new one.

I think part of the problem has been that the food has just been too rich. I've been told that there are a number of people whose dogs have gotten loose stool while on Blue Buffalo. Apparently it was too good for them. ;) So yeah... Just trying to see what we can do ourselves before we go to the vet.

The cats are in great shape- and apparently can eat most anything cat-food like. Leo even steals some dog food with no ill effects. Though, Leo can't have cheese, Sasha can NOT have milk (makes her vomit) and can't have beef either... The things I learn living with someone who doesn't mind giving small bits of tablescraps to the pets...

[losgunna.livejournal.com]

The milk thing is actually pretty normal - cats are lactose intolerant! As for the diarrhea - yeah, that's an allergy reaction all right!

For his fur, can you give Kyle fish oil? Seemed to help our old dog out when he was having fur issues. Comes in liquid and in capsules.

I've been really learning a lot lately about the foods for cats, especially allergy diets. I think at this point I know more than the docs about the foods we carry :D The allergy diets I've been learning a ton about because we have a client who has 2 cats with massive allergies (among other issues), and they're super picky. I've been the one working with them trying to find the foods they can eat. At one point, mom was even cooking emu up for them!

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Well, my parents have a cat that actually isn't lactose intolerant... It's weird, I know. My mom has a glass of milk every night before bed, and Liska always gets just a little bit. They've been doing this for years and she's never had any issues with it. Give Sasha one lick and she's puking for hours...

Cooking up emu? Wow... That's dedication for you! And way to go you, doing all this research and stuff!!

So far *fingers crossed* Kyle is doing well with the addition of herring/sweet potato food to his usual vegetarian kibble. The latter he really, really doesn't like, and will not eat right away. We add this new food- and he scarfs the food down again! We actually haven't tried the fish oil yet- but it's on the list of ideas if the California Natural doesn't work. I wasn't sure how much to give him though.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Cry Wolf was AWESOME. I loved it so much. I am reading Iron Kissed now-- I was warned that it would be triggery, so I waited to start it, started it yesterday (when I knew I would have company) and then all this happened. (Feh) Hopefully it will still be good, even if it is triggery.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it great?! I love, LOVE Anna and Charles. Have you read "On the Prowl"? It's got four short stories in it- and one of them is the introduction to Anna and Charles.

Anyway, I loved learning more about Bran too. Want more story! ;) The idea of an Omega wolf... well, it kind of reminds me of your story about shapeshifters... :) It's a concept I really like.

The end of Iron Kissed WAS hard for me, and I cried, BUT I think Patricia Briggs handled it really, really well. And you get to see a new side to a few characters, and I really enjoyed that part. But I don't want to say too much about it.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

I like it, too. :D Everyone has their place.

And I finished Iron Kissed last night. WOW. I loved it. So very true to life.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

I love the resolution of the love triangle. It felt very natural and real.

As for the end- I was blown away, and I loved the way Mercy reacted, it just seemed right.

The excerpt from the next book (At the end of Cry Wolf I think) looks like it'll be fun too. :)

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Yes. Very much so. I liked it myself.

Also? The excerpt? OMG LOVE. Meeting Mercy's mom! *glee*

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I wanted it to be Saturday night again...

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I can definitely understand why! *hugs*

[azbound.livejournal.com]

I read a website where the woman is a dog owner and swears by this place:

www.thehonestkitchen.com

I think what I like about it is that if you have a question, you can shoot them an email and tell them what's going on and see what they say. They may have an answer for you, and they may even send you a sample to see if it works.

Good luck! We're having our own animal drama, so believe me, I get it.