Counting Sleeps

That the end of this month Gabi and I will be joining my parents in a holiday in the Garden Route (Western Cape, South Africa).  The last time I visited this beautiful part of our country was before I had Gabi.

I’ve only been on holiday with Gabi once before. We went down to KwaZulu -Natal coast a few years ago. Gabi had a blast running on the beach and playing in puddles. There probably will be no swimming this time around, since the waters of the Cape is A LOT colder.  She is quite good in the car and doesn’t get travel sickness.  The drive down to the Cape is a much longer trip, but we will be sleeping over along the way.

We went for an off-lead walk this morning and Gabi loved it. She was so excited when I stopped at the park, she started whimpering. I also did some routine things like brushing her teeth, which she didn’t love so much.

It is important to be prepared when you travel with dogs.  We have booked pet-friendly accommodation, I’ve added the contact details for vets in the places we’re visiting and I’ll also get a list of dog-friendly restaurants where we can eat.

We are counting the days until we can go to the sea!

©GabiItalianGreyhoundBytes 2017

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Napping

 

©gigbytes 2017

Walkies

 

©Gabi_Italian_Greyhound_bytes  2017

Wash

I gave Gabi a bath today (with the help of my mom). She’s all nice and clean and soft. I tried to trim her claws as well, but despite feeding her numerous treats only managed to cut 2 nails.

Later this afternoon, since my clothes had already gotten dirty. I decided to wash my car. This is not something I do often. We have water restrictions where I live, so I have to use a bucket instead of a hose. I find this very frustrating because I’m short and struggle to reach the top of the car, even though it’s a hatchback.   I also find it difficult to lift the bucket to rinse the car.

As I was about to start washing, one of the neighbours was seeing off a guest. I don’t actually know her, but I guess she’s seen me with Gabi a couple of times and I’ve seen her once or twice in the complex. We greeted each other.  She asked how Gabi was doing now (I guess she must’ve seen Gabi in her cone a few months back). I told her Gabi was doing fine. She made a comment about how she sees me all the time walking Gabi. I told her that, I try to take her regularly but that she was getting lazier now that she’s older, especially about on-leash walks in the street.

She told me about how yesterday she thought that she might have to have her 11-year old dachshund put to sleep because she was suffering and struggling to walk. The vet gave her dog some medication and today she was fine.

We spoke about how attached people become to their pets and how they are family.

It was a nice little chat. I was glad she stopped to talk to me.

Well there is a new week ahead. I hope it’s a good one for everyone.

©Gabi_Italian_Greyhound_Bytes  2017

Nose and Nails

BEFORE

When I first got Gabi (nearly 5 years ago) , her nose was incredibly red. It looks a lot better now.

I think her diet helps (when I got her she seemed to have allergy issues and also had tummy problems), I avoid treats containing wheat and for a long time (until we recently switched to Senior food) I didn’t feed her “chicken” dog food.  I’ve use several ointments on her snout, including colloidal silver and a different snout balm. What seemed to help tough was beeswax ointment and the Nose Butter snout balm I’ve been using more recently as well.  I used to apply ointment daily, but now I do so far less frequently.

Current Ointment

I’m still having issues cutting her nails. The last time she had her claws trimmed was when she had anesthesia in August 2016.

A week ago I got a sedative from the vet’s (sales assistant/ receptionist). I needed half a tablet, so I had two doses and could try on two different days.  I waited different time periods for the pills to work, etc. I still fed her treats and tried to be calm and gentle. She still was having none of it and would yank her paws away.

 

©GabiItalianGreyhoundBytes 2017

 

 

Nails

On  Monday afternoon I decided to give my dog Gabi a bath, while still have warm sunny days.

Early that evening I was busy in the kitchen making dinner. I walked past the living room on my way to the bathroom.  I noticed Gabi on the living room floor acting weird and at times lifting her hind leg. There appeared to be mud on the tiles, but I couldn’t think where it could come from since the sprinkler wasn’t on and it hadn’t been raining. I thought she might have a thorn in here paw, but  when I got closer and realized it was blood on the floor.

On her one hind paw, an outside nails were hanging by a thread and the life was exposed. Naturally I freaked out. I picked her up ad took her to the bedroom. I put her down and she jumped on my bed leaving bloody prints on the sheets and my duvet cover.

 

I dabbed a bit of iodine on the life and she whimpered. I tried to gentle take of the nail off, or put the nail back over the nail (as a temporary fix), but she wasn’t having it. I wrapped some I gauze around the paw.  The gauze was off the foot within seconds

I washed my hands and went to check on dinner.

I went back to assess Gabi. I noticed that the nail was now torn off completely.  I tried rewrapping the foot, better this time , but not good enough. Next thing she was walking around with the ball of gauze in her mouth like it’s some sort of soft toy.

She was bleeding so I decided that I would keep an eye on the paw and that a emergency trip to the vet wasn’t necessary.

Through the week she at times would hop on three legs.  The nail/life  is still red but there isn’t any pus or surrounding redness.

We cut some of the nails on the front paws. She wouldn’t let us near the back (but she HATES nail cutting to begin with).

Her claws are very brittle (and I probably need a different clipper, this is the second one I’ve bought).

It probably wouldn’t help to take her to a groomer. I’m guessing she’d need to be sedated.

She generally seems like herself, just less interested in walks.

Down The Drain

When Gabi smiles…

Last night as I climbed into bed, I felt something small and hard underneath me. It wasn’t a kibble crumb. I switch the night light on. It was the the colour of nail. At first I thought it was one of her claws that had broken off. But it wasn’t.

It was a tooth!

When did this happen. Is she bleeding? I switch on the room light. I went to Gabi’s bed and sat on the floor. She groaned as I lifted her blanket off her head and scratched her ears.  I gently opened her mouth. There was no bleeding. After some careful examination I saw that it was one of her bottom front teeth.

This morning I brushed her teeth. The tooth next to the gap also seems a little loose.  She doesn’t seem to be distressed in anyway but of course she hates having her teeth brushed as I can imagine it is uncomfortable.

I know her teeth aren’t in a good condition. I brush them and try my best to keep them in tact. I can’t afford taking her to the vet for dental cleaning (would require anesthesia, etc).  I feel horrible.

I was crying today. I’m sure she’s happy being around me all day, but I wish I could do better on the everything-other-than-love side of things.

For some reason I decided to keep the tooth (I didn’t just want to trash it), but I cleaned the tooth and it washed out of my hand and down the sink.

I made her some mashed peas and brown rice and added a few bits of chicken for her dinner. She loved it.

I guess I’ll just have to brush her teeth every day now.