Tuesday 30 June 2009

Just Beat It Beat It Beat It Beat It No One Wants To Be Defeated - Take 6

Shawn and I fully expected a sad, droopy puppy when we went to pick Stella up last night but instead we were met with a very excited Stella. She came barrelling out of the back room when she heard our voices and covered us in puppy kisses. It was exactly what I needed after a stressful Monday.

Once she got over her initial joy that we hadn't abandoned her forever, Stella calmed down quite a bit. She was lethargic from the drugs and tried to avoid Wolfgang as much as possible. He would try to engage her and she would just slink away instead of trying to eat his face like she normally does.

He was quite flummoxed by it all.

Eventually he gave up and Stella and I enjoyed some puppy cuddles. It was all very nice and sweet until bedtime rolled around and we had to get the drops in Stella's ears.

She was having none of it. We have to put 3 - 4 drops in both ears twice a day for the next week. It is impossible to do. She jerks her head around and I can't see what I'm doing; I just squeeze the bottle and hope that some of the medication is actually getting into her ears. Shawn is 6'3" and weighs over 200 pounds and he cannot hold her down. He can control her legs but then she starts whipping her head around. So he lets go of her legs and tries to hold her head and she starts kicking and scratching. It took fifteen minutes to do this morning and I'm not even 100% sure that any drops went into her ears.

I am begging for suggestions here, people. How do you get drops in your pet's ears?

On top of the drops, Stella has to take two different pills twice a day for the next week. Getting her to take the pills isn't a problem - she's a whore for cheese (she takes after me!) so I just stick the pill in a chunk of cheese and she gobbles it right up. The problem is that both pills need to be taken with food and they need to be taken fifteen minutes apart. This means that I need to feed Stella half of her breakfast; give her a chunk of cheese with a pill in it; wait fifteen minutes; feed her the other half of her breakfast; then give her another chunk of cheese with another pill in it. And then repeat at dinner. So basically I'm putting more energy into planning Stella's meals than I am my own.

However, I am not complaining if it means that my pup is getting better (I will, however, complain about the $300 vet bill we were hit with when we picked her up.)

* * * * *

And just to make this the longest post ever, it's the last day of the month which means ... beets!

I peeled the beets and cut them into wedges. I drizzled them with olive oil and added five cloves of minced garlic and some sea salt. I wrapped them up in foil and put them in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Then I unwrapped them, drizzled them with honey and balsamic vinegar and cooked them for another half hour.

They were ... alright. They didn't suck. The honey and balsamic vinegar really masked the taste of the beet, especially since the beets ended up extremely caramelized (when we were kids, my parents would refuse to admit that they'd burnt something; they'd always say that it was just "golden." These beets? Were golden.)

To reward ourselves for eating our June beets, we devoured a strawberry rhubarb cobbler.

16 comments:

  1. Poor puppeh! I have larger dogs, so I'm not sure if this will help you. What works for us is for one of us (usually husband) to kneel on the ground next to the dog and kind of hug them around the neck - one arm around the neck and the other around the midsection. I think it feels like (to the dog) that we're not "controlling" them so much as hugging them, but he can still maintain a good amount of control over their wiggly bodies. Another idea is to maybe have her concentrate on a treat or something while you're giving her the drops - like licking some peanut butter off a finger?
    And now the secret is out as to why my dogs end up pudgy babies whenever they need meds of any kind. Peanut butter.

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  2. As you know I don't have any pups so I'm not sure what to say about getting those drops in except best of luck!

    Glad to hear she's doing better though.

    And why are you still torturing yourself with beets? It's a good thing you had the cobbler though! That looks delish!

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  3. Olivia is a whore for food in general, so I just throw the pill on top of her food and it all gets gobbled down. I would suggest trying that, I guess that only takes out one step, you still need to feed her in two sittings.

    But as for the ear drops, can't help you. Maybe you can distract her with a bone or something? Good luck.

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  4. Ugh, giving meds to pets is awful. When we need to give them to the cats, who are not tricked by the wrapping the pill in something yummy trick, it takes 2 of us. One of us usually sits on the ground and clamps the cat between our knees (cat is standing on it's back feet). The same person grabs the neck scruff, which really helps stop the failing. They go semi-limp when you grab it just right, and they won't be trying to stiff arm your face. They won't be completely still, but it's better than the failing and scratching.

    Good luck!

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  5. "With food" really just means that the pills should not be given on an empty stomach. Feed the meal, give one pill, give the other fifteen minutes later. I guarantee that she is not digesting her meal in fifteen minutes.

    I was always worried about putting the bottle too far into the dog's ear until my vet told me that it is not possible. A dog's ear canal is L shaped. You cannot get the bottle in there far enough to do damage. That makes it easier to get in and out of there quickly enough to make it easier. Be sure to give her a treat after drops too!

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  6. Wow - posts like this one sometimes make me relieved that I don't have the responsibility of a pet quite yet. Where do you find the time??? Poor puppy!

    And I keep telling you - pickled beets are the only way to go. Nice job with roasting them, though!

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  7. The beautiful thing about dogs is their unconditional loyalty and their ability to live in the moment (quickly forgetting how awful the day was). We could all learn a thing or two from them! Glad to hear Stella is on her way back to feeling better!

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  8. I am a lurker but wanted to pop in with some advice about the dear drips for Stella.

    The simplest thing to to srap her in a towel so that her paws are confined and try to put the drops in that way. Give her a small "special" treat (only for meds afterwards.

    For the pills, you can buy a ready made chicken and shread it. Put the pill in a big piece and give it to her as "desert" One thing make sure the chicken is just plane nothing spickey or garlic-y. Peanut butter works well as does pill pockets.

    The pups are very cute.

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  9. I can't believe that you're still eating beets. :)

    And the kids are just as feisty when being given medication. It's AWESOME.

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  10. I feel your pain. Our cat is on Prozac righ now, and it's a daily struggle to get the damn thing down her throat. Lucky we love them so much!

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  11. oh lord. trying to medicate my cat sounds like it was a similar experience. i would try to burrito-wrap him in a towel in order to minimize the scratching / effect of kicky legs, but it's still only so effective.

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  12. I have no sage advice for the drops/meds, but wanted to compliment you on your gorgeous strawberry rhubarb cobbler. I think I may make one myself tonight!

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  13. Lord, I have no idea about the ear drops. I've shoved plenty of pills into the throat of our old dog Gloria, who would eat the cheese, and then when you turned around, youd discover her shoving the pill out the side of her mouth. Sneaky. But never done ear drops.

    As for the beets and the cobbler - oh, YUM.

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  14. We never had to trick our dog growing up when it came time to giving her medication. We'd just ask if she wanted a treat, toss it in the air and she would catch it and gulp it down. As far as the ear drops go, is there any way you can do it while she is semi-sleeping?

    That last picture of Wolfgang is hilarious, and that cobbler looks AMAZING. Trumps beets any day.

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  15. Just wanted to say Happy Canada Day!

    That cobbler looks YUMMY! I hope your pup is feeling better! Ear infections are the worst. Cooper gets them all the time too...it takes both of us to hold him down & clean them. Then he mopes around like we really hurt his feelings! LOL What a baby!

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  16. Listen to me, Stella. YOU HAVE TO LET YOUR MOMMY GIVE YOU EAR DROPS IF YOU WANT TO GET BETTER. I hate ear drops too, but you HAVE to just relax and take it like a dog.

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