Saturday, September 13, 2008

Holly's "ow-di-gator"

Holly's fall allergies have kicked in again. I had her pretty well controlled with Atopica, omega3 fatty acids, and chlorpheniramine, but when I went to work Wednesday morning she was scratching, and when I came home that night, her face was a mess.

compare this face to last year's
It looks the same!

So, she's back on prednisone. This helps with her itch, but means she loses nearly all bladder control. On Friday, she got to come to work with Mama.

Now, when you itch all over, you are terribly thirsty, you have to pee every two hours, and you are forced to spend the day with your mother at her work, you deserve a present. I took Hol to PetsMart at lunch time to choose her reward for being good.

She walked up and down the toy aisle, sniffing at the various stuffed animals and tug toys. I tried to tempt her with things I thought she might like, bouncing a ball in front of her and swinging the dental floss rope under her nose. She was not impressed. She even walked over a stuffed monkey-thing that someone left on the floor. Nothing doing. It was obvious she was on a mission to find the perfect toy, and she would not be denied.

I found one of those crazy-looking canvas cats by Fat Cat Inc. like this one.



Ordinarily, I don't encourage my cat-loving dogs to play rough with cat-shaped toys,
but I thought we'd give it a try. I showed it to her. She gave it a cursory glance, then looked beyond the cat toy in my hand to the next item on the shelf. Her eyes lit up! She had found her toy.

This - an "alligator swamp-thing" by the same company.


The tag promised it would hold up to 1/2 ton of tugging force. I thought we might try it out.


Wonder if it can stand up to my girl?


Um, that would be a "No."


It's not the tugging that's a problem, it's the chewing.


My ow-di-gator.*
Mine.

* The word "ow-di-gator" will be familiar
to viewers of "Jon and Kate Plus 8."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought it was more of an "aldergator" hehe.

Kathi said...

You say "to-MA-to ..."

I KNOW that's you, sis!

~Kathi

Anonymous said...

I thought you were talking about me and my allergies for a minute there. Except I didn't get to go pick out a new owdigator. Not even a star-shaped, cat-shaped toy.

Hol, you have my hugs and sympathy. I wake up sneezing and go to bed itchy. Feel better soon. You do look happier in that last pic.

Dog_geek said...

Awww, poor Holly! Allergies can make life SO miserable. My dog Z is very allergic to dust mites, and we ended up doing allergy shots. I know they don't work great for everyone, but we were very lucky that they have controlled Z's allergies for the past 5 years - no more prednisone, no more chewing big holes in himself, and no more scraping all the whiskers off his face. I hope Holly enjoys her ow-di-gator (I can't watch Jon & Kate plus 8 for more than about 2 minutes before I'm exhausted.)

Kathi said...

Dear Anon:

I apologize for the snarky comment. I thought you were my sister Lisa, since we had an "argument" over the correct spelling of "owdigator," which she firmly believes is "aldergator." Apparently, the vote is 2 to 1 so far.

Human Holly and Dog Geek:

Thanks for the sympathies. Hol is doing better with the addition of pred and since the recent rains have cleared the air a bit.

If her allergies were year-round, I would certainly look into hyposensitization injections, but since it is only about 6 weeks each fall, we are struggling along the with oral meds.

I can't stand to watch J&K+8 for more than 5 minutes at a time, but the episode where the little girl got to touch a real, live alligator was pretty cute.

~K

NCmountainwoman said...

Allergies are so frustrating. We once had a Springer allergic to fleas (before the days of Frontline) and summers were miserable. It's good Holly can go to work with you.

Loved the toy destruction. Once a dog learns to find the weak spot, it's just a matter of time.

Anonymous said...

I've watched John&Kate a few times for a few moments, mostly when I'm flipping channels. She works my last nerve so it's a short viewing. I know with that many little ones you need to be vigilant and organized but I just want to put my hand over her mouth and shut her UP!

Lisa said...

Hah! Teach you to be snarky!

Besides, I wouldn't hide behind an anonymous post - I'll tell you right to your face that you're WRONG. Give in and embrace your wrongitude.