Last Updated on: 2nd November 2013, 11:18 am
I had a few thoughts about Trix, so thought I’d write them down so when I do write about her, it’s not a giant monster of doom.
I talked about being worried about the number of times Trix has needed her anal glands expressed. Well, a few days after that, the foot-chewing increased again. It was so bad that, in a room full of people she knew and when she was off leash and harness, she was electing to sit and chew a paw rather than meet and greet! Come on! Trix is all about the meet and greet. But now, the priority list consisted of “chew a paw, hello! Chew chew chew, hello! Chewchewchewchew…oh I should say hello.” That is so not Trix. So we went off to ye old vet’s office to have them have a look see at her paws, because I couldn’t feel any irritation, but I wanted a professional opinion.
For once in her life, Trix did not try and play games with me getting into the vets. Straight in we went. They had a look at her paws, and saw a wee bit of irritation. So they prescribed a spray that I can’t spell to save my hide. It sounded like Topagen. I’m supposed to put it on her back feet twice a day. They also thought a food switch might be in order…so me and my favourite pet store need to have a long chatteroo about their thoughts on Wellness Fish, and whether it’s less protein-rich than Orijen Fish. We don’t need a repeat visit to constipationville. They also said that her sebaceous cyst near her tail had completely gone away just leaving scar tissue.
So, about this Topagen spray. It’s a spray. I opened the cap and saw the little mister doodle thing, and thought, sweet, aim, spray, we’re all good. But good merciful god! I have such trouble aiming this thing. I put the holes against her foot and then back away a wee touch…and sometimes I end up spraying my own foot, sometimes my hand, sometimes the floor, sometimes the wall. And sometimes the pump fails to spray anything but air. All this is happening while Trix is fighting me, just wanting to put her foot down, etc. Ug! Any tips? I’m comforted to know that I’m not the only one who has trouble aiming this stuff, because when the vet’s office called to check on Trix, I said I was having trouble aiming, and she said others have complained of the same thing.
And how quickly does it soak in? I give Trix a treat right afterwards for being such a trooper…and also in hopes that she’ll be busy nomming for the few seconds that the Topagen takes to soak in. Is that all that’s needed? If not, my devil is a licker…and if she licks some of it, will it poison her? It smells like alcohol, so I worry. I asked the vet tech who called me yesterday to check on her, and she couldn’t give me a solid answer about how long it takes to soak in.
Since I’ve started spraying her paws, I *think* it’s having an effect. It’s hard to tell, but it seems like the chewing has gone down. I sure hope so. And I hope this new food does good things.
I can’t decide if Trix is afraid of the huppy or not. A while ago, I mentioned that she would look the other way from him while in harness. Then I noticed that Trix would hide behind my legs in harness when he was on the floor. When out of harness, she tries to cut wide circles around him. I know I always told her not to lick him, but I didn’t think that would translate to a generalized fear. He has never poked her or pulled her ears or tail or anything like that, so I don’t know what he may have done to scare her.
I also don’t know what to do to break it. I thought of a game we might be able to start playing to turn the huppy into something good. Sometimes, he plays out in the backyard, and the other day, I was out alone with him while the huppy’s mom made dinner. Then, the little devil went dead silent! So I got Trixie to find him, and if I taught her something like “find the huppy” and treated her whenever she found him, maybe he’d turn into all kinds of good stuff again. I don’t want her to be afraid of him. Gees! That’s not what I was trying to tell her when I said she couldn’t lick him. I just didn’t want *her* to terrorize *him*!
One thing I forgot to mention in my post about my sister’s wedding was how many family members petted her in harness! The music was so loud that I couldn’t talk, so I had to resort to batting their hands away or kind of catching them. I hate not being able to explain things.
Poor Trix had a bit of a rough morning this morning. For some reason that is still a mystery to me, the folks in this great old city have decided to rip up the sidewalk spiratically on Kathleen Street. So you’re walk walk walkin’ along, and suddenly, there are barriers, dirt, and a big ol’ hole in the sidewalk! The huppy’s mom knows I walk down that stretch, so being the sweetheart that she is, she walked with me to sort of warn me about the holes in case Trix didn’t know what to do or something. Sweet.
We were truckin’ along, and Trix was getting me out of the way, getting me out of the way, all was good…until we reached one hole. She got me out of the way, but she stepped in some dirt. I guess she thought it was solid. It wasn’t, and down old Trix went into the hole! Eek! I actually had to give her a hand up out of the hole. Poor baby! But she knew to cut around that hole good and wide next time. What a good, good girl.
As an aside, does anyone who reads this and lives in Guelph happen to know why they’re ripping up Kathleen Street? I didn’t think that was on the Guelph rerouted list. Hopefully we won’t have to dodge holes for long.
I think that’s about it for the Trix updates. It’s amazing how much of Trix’s life has been archived up here. Sometimes even I forget if I’ve mentioned this or that and end up mentioning it twice. Ah well. Hopefully folks aren’t bored.
