ATHENA "Twice As Good" - January 1999
As with all animals from the shelter, a responsible owner is supposed to have the dogs and cats spayed or neutered. Before I took Athena to the Broadway Animal Hospital in El Cajon to get "fixed", I noticed she had a faint scar exactly where one would be if she were spayed. It was my opinion that she had already be spayed. I brought this to the attention of the veterinarian. They couldn't tell for sure, so they decided to X-ray Athena. Unfortunately, the X-ray was inconclusive, so they had to open her up to be sure. Sure enough, once opened, the vet found that all her female parts were gone. So I like to tell people Athena has been fixed twice!"Big Head" - Spring 1999
Vaccinations. The vet decided to give Athena more than one at a time. I believe they gave her three of the required vaccinations. Later that evening, around 10pm, the top of her head became severely swollen and itchy. After an expensive emergency room visit, I was told it wasn't too serious (though it potentially could have been), that she had an allergic reaction to receiving too many vaccinations. She was given the equivalent of childrens Benadryl I believe. Soon after, the swelling subsided, as did the itching. I think the trauma of being at the emergency room was more disturbing to Athena than the actual symptoms."Sore Throat" - Spring 1999
Sometimes Athena has (or had) a habit of swallowing her food in too large quantities. Unfortunately, she did this on one occasion with a rawhide chewy. It seemed to be stuck somewhere in her throat. She was in a lot of pain, yelping consistently. Poor thing. I think I gave her water and margarine to help it slide down. After about 10 to 15 minutes, it seemed to pass. That was scary and sad. It only happened once though, thank goodness!"New Tricks" - Summer 1999
It was decided that it might be good for Athena's confidence to attend doggy school. Up until this point, she was very very shy, and was a little "vicious" towards other dogs. Athena did extremely well, learning all her commands, as well as socializing with the other dogs. I still ask her to perform tricks for her "cookies". I think it's good for her mind to be challenged, and like her to have the sense that she must work for her rewards. Unfortunately, I haven't taught her any new tricks, but I keep her in top form with the tricks she does know.
DOC HOLLIDAY "Cliffhanger" - January 2000
I accidentally kicked Doc Holliday down the stairs :( It was only 5 stairs, but they are concrete, and he was only 3 pounds. I felt so horrible. I picked him up and comforted him. I could tell he was hurt, but a few minutes later, he was fine. Ack!"Big Head, The Sequel" - February 2000
One evening, Doc Holliday started whining for no apparent reason. After some thought, I had guessed that he must have had a cookie (rawhide or something similar) stuck in his throat, because that seemed to be the area affected, and I couldn't think of anything else. Not panicking, I gave him a nice treat....a wad of butter or margarine, thinking it might help what was caught in his throat slide down, as with Athena above. After a few minutes of waiting, something surprising happened...his head started to swell enormously! Well, actually not his head, but under his jaw. Puzzled, I looked around on the kitchen floor. Near the refrigerator, I found what was obviously the cause of his pain, and swelling. Doc Holliday had tried to eat a bee! Ack! The bee was dead, perhaps Doc had brought it in from outside. I think Doc was given something for the pain. He was soon doing fine."That's My Paw!" - February 2000
I accidentally closed the dishwasher door on Doc Holliday's paw! OUCH! He was really whining badly. He had a habit of putting his two front feet on the door, so he could lick up any access food-flavored water. So Yummy! This time I didn't see his foot as I closed the door. Luckily, after I examined his foot, it was apparent that no serious damage was done. He was walking on it in just a minute or two later."The Big Fix" - April 11, 2000
At the end of March, Doc Holliday was fixed. All went very well. I don't know how Doc feels about it though."Summer Fun" - Summer 2000
I haven't enrolled Doc Holliday in an obedience class, but I've tried to teach him a few tricks. As with Athena, I want him to feel that he should work for his rewards. I've only taught him to "jump", "around", "sit", "stay" and "wait". He's not that great at them yet. But he's very food motivated, so if I have a cookie, he's better.
