Thursday, November 5, 2009

a fungus among us

It's a rainy day and the dogs think I should stay in the hammock with them, so here's an update. Ernie had his follow up blood test and, while his liver and kidneys are fine, he tested positive for heartworm. This happened since his last blood test, so at least we caught it early. We also took a few other dogs in for check-ups. Tito and Lucy tested positive for ehrlichiosis. As they say, bad things happen in 3's. Since I'm not actually superstitious, that brings no consolation. The vet is coming on Sunday to administer blood tests to the whole pack, cats included. Hopefully nothing else shows up, Everyone should be fine, but we've got our hands full at the moment. Along with the antibiotics for Lucy and Tito twice daily for ehrlichiosis, Lucy and Greta are taking glucosamin and Greta and Tito need medicated baths every other day to combat a fungus. Suffice it to say, Greta is not easy to bathe.
Oh well, can't always have blue skies.


Reggie isn't worried (he is however, the biggest dog! how did that happen?):



Most of the dogs like the water.
Shirley loves it:




Henry wades and Gowron is champion in her weight class:



Greta, on the other hand, is not a fan. Despite this, we're making her swim for exercise. She needs to lose weight and she currently can't walk much because of a hip problem. Getting her to swim is about as hard as giving her a bath.

step 1:


step 2:


step 3:


success:

a short video of our little mermaid:

...I chased a fly off her nose as she swam by, in case you were wondering.

Whenever some dogs go for a swim or a run, lots of others stay home.

Otto, Bette and Osita watch the others return:



waiting for the door to open:


any minute now:


my pal Otto in morning light: