cody bear’s friends

i have to say….it was a kind of weird day. yes it was.

as i mentioned, i had a touch of the flu this weekend, but i was feeling fine today, until…..

until 2:30 ish.  i’m in the truck running a work errand.  all of a sudden, without cause, without warning, i start…burping.  and not an occasional burp, but a string of perpetual, unwanted belches.

now, i’m not a burper. in college, when all the girls on the first floor of my dormitory were out-belching each other freshman year, i couldn’t even fake a hiccup.  today i burped more in a 4 hour period than i ever have in my entiiiiire life.

i ended up having to go home early and purchase a pack of….gas-x.   WHO HAVE I BECOME!?

but then the day got better.  on a crazy crazy whim i went to the used bookstore and bought an old box of PICTIONARY!  i’m so excited!  i haven’t played in probably 20 years.  i’m so excited!

then of course there was cody bear.  he had three nice walks today.  and the batteries in his pet blinker died(piece of crap! i just changed the batteries last night!)  but we had fun anyway.  here he is after his second walk:

i think he looks happy. content.  ADORABLE!  i am going to make a vet appointment for him.  that bump on the lip has shrunk, but i still worry….

the burping has stopped, thanks to the embarrassing lozenges, a very benign meal and 3 cans of ginger ale.  salut!

so we haven’t talked about cody bear’s gastroparesis in a while, have we?…

NO! because i think this is the longest he has ever gone without barfing! i’m so proud of my little guy. (if you’re lost, check out the gastroparesis posts by clicking on that word in the tag cloud to the left)

with such healthy food, switching the meds (reglan) from 15 to 30 minutes before eating, and the stress relief work the dog is working on, this is the longest he has gone without being sick! almost 5 months i think!!!

some notes:

it still sucks when people cuddle him and always feel the need to mention how skinny he is, as if i’m starving him or something. but i think i’m learning that they’re not accusing me of not feeding him, they’re just surprised because he is so fluffy and that when they pet him they can feel his ribs and back bone.

because the stomach struggles to digest, cody bear has been getting 3 or four small meals a day. he eats them very slowly….

feeding him with the molecuball insures that he will eat slowly and actually chew the bites of kibble. plus…he’s so cute when he does it!

also, he is pretty much allowed to eat as many treats as he wants. they just have to be made of really healthy ingredients and nothing full of preservatives like snausages and such. no chews or bones either.

and, the higher the fat, the better, as far as i’m concerned. fewer ingredients sit better in his stomach, too.

also, i try really hard to walk him before meals, not after. i don’t want the food in his belly making him cranky if we encounter a barking or scary dog.

i know the gastroparesis is still there, but it is nice to be controlling it.

that’s right! we try really hard to stay green. but still, there are a few more things we are going to try to work on every day from here on out.

1. i waste food. i do. example. i buy a loaf of healthy bread (about 3.69).  then i bring it home and i never eat it. i end up throwing it out when i realize it is probably gross and i have no idea how long it has been in there. i’m not doing that any more!

2. take better care of my health. this way i lower my risk of getting sick as i age and resources won’t be wasted on my healthcare. (that’s the theory, anyway) but you never know. somethings are beyond our control. but, i do want to get into better cardiac health….

3. the world is full of negativity. and hate. i promise from here on out to stop making fun of the flds ladies’ hair do’s anymore. or people in general. just IN CASE my picking on folks is contributing to the planet’s negative vibe.

4. i am going to RE-ATTEMPT to stop drinking soda. the packaging (can, plastic, whatever) isn’t helping this planet. besides it is TERRIBLE for me. i HAVE to quit. (as i sip my icey coke…)

5. ride my bike to the grocery store more frequently. (its a very short ride, but i don’t like riding my bike if i have to buy big things.  i just don’t feel comfortable carrying a twenty-four pack of cottonelle on my handle bars.)

ok, that’s good for now. i’ll probably add more soon.  we’ve actually been doing a good job at our recent efforts: buying locally grown veggies,  new water filtration system, reusing bottles, etc.

…so…i think we’re going to do all right!

Well I was not selected, but am back in the pool so could be selected again for panel.
In our first panel there was a benedictine nun. She was very pious looking! She got close but didn’t make the final cut. One guy in a short sleeve plaid dress shirt with a red bow tie. It was a dwi case and a couple people stated they could not be unbiased.
If I get called for an animal cruelty case…look out!

There is one service dog here. I wish I could have brought cody bear. There are hundreds of people here…waitining. He would love to work the room.
Sorry for any typos: I’m on my blackberry and just took a second set of cold meds!

Greetings from the jury assembly room! So far I have NOT been selected for the trial. But we’re on break and who knows…
Maybe when they call us back in, one of the frontrunners will have a melt down and I will have to replace them.
I hope not…my cold meds are kickin in and I would hate to waste the on two attorneys and the nice man in the robe…

guess which newby vegan has developed a soy allergy….

yes…me.  bummer, huh?

in late november i met with a quirky and upbeat nutritionist who was excited about my leap into veganism and urged me to stay away from soy.  for the first few weeks, i cooked fresh veg and whole grains and i felt GREAT!  more energy during the day….woke up without having that congested feeling.  for convenience sake i needed to fall back on tofu, soy sauce, soy products.

i started getting sicker and sicker and (DUH) didn’t even think about the soy.  well, there it was…. a nasty and inconvenient allergy that just kept getting worse for over a month.  (i wasn’t putting two and two together).  i have been without ANY soy now for exactly 7 days and am remarkably better.  truly, the symptoms were gross and i am so much happier.

back to the drawing board on the vegan diet though…can’t fall back on the mock meats and the soy sauces flavorings.  damn…me lovums my soy sauce…

this morning cody bear and i went to a local high school to talk to there animal rescue group about our pet therapy program.  at first i was worried it wouldn’t go well because it was early and cody bear was mopey because he didn’t get to sleep as late as usual.  but everything went so well.

i was impressed with how gentle the kids were and impressed at how good cody bear was.  i know i shouldn’t be surprised because he was tested and is SUPPOSED to be that good, but, every time i see him interact with kids i love him even more.

there was about 30 kids coming and going and 20 stayed for the talk.  not one single jerky student in the bunch.  not one kid tried to scare my dog or say stupid things to him.  not one student was too rough with him.  they were all so gentle and seemed so respectful of the dog.  i was totally impressed. (not enough to ever want to procreate, but impressed)

there was a group of special ed students there with their teacher. they were so gentle and totally focused on the dog.  it just felt like they were really glad we were there!

every time the class room door would open cody would perk up and then we would have to wander over to the door so he could welcome them in and get some pets on his bum.  he walked from desk to desk, sniffing backpacks and getting love.  all the girls said he was so soft and cute. (they are right, of course)

he fell asleep while i was talking, but that’s ok, he’s heard the speech before. he’s just in it for the lovin’.

and the teacher.  i don’t know what she normally teaches, but this group is extra curricular and she is so excited about all animal programs.  she really wanted the kids to learn about why dogs are such good pet therapy visitors.  she is helping them organize a bake sale to raise money for the vet bills for pets in a shelter.

it was such a great way to start my week.  but…i’m at work now, so i better get serious.

have a good day everyone. i hope something cheery happens on your monday, as well.

so, i’m at a tiny stand still at work, so i thought i would take a couple minutes while i’m waiting to tell post about canine gastroparesis. for the last couple days i have noticed that people are searching for what is easily digestible for dogs (and cats) with this illness. can’t help ya with the cat diet, but here are some things that work well for cody bear and his gastroparesis:

note: he takes 5mg metoclopramide 15-30 mins before each meal

his staple food is wellness kibble

foods we supplement that are easiest for him to digest are canned salmon wellness core dog food, wiley’s reserve salmon food, home cooked chicken breasts, pumpkin, sweet potato, turkey, quinoa based foods, and scrambled eggs.

treats that are easily digested include dry crunchy peanut butter biscuits (wellness & mr. pugsleys/mr. barkys), dehydrated beef livers, zuke’s mini naturals (chicken or peanut butter), little bites of home cooked chicken or turkey.

things that don’t sit well in his belly are: rubbery treats like snausages or jerky strips, rice, ice cubes, dehydrated foods with oats in them, oats in general, breads, crackers, potato, any type of chew at all including the ones that are supposed to be all natural and healthy. (his stomach just can’t work them out)

basically, it looks like the fewer ingredients, the better. you will note that some of these are people foods. that is because for the last 3 years it has been a struggle to keep weight on him and to find foods that were digestible. i’m happy to say he has not had a gastroparesis flare up in a couple months!

good luck finding the right foods that work for you and your pet!

…for more tid bits on gastroparesis in dogs…click on the “gastroparesis” word in the “tag cloud” at the left of this blog.

so, i have some sort of mini-stomach bug today. my boss let me leave work early….but my friend d. had to come pick me up because of my lemon/honda. its still a very expensive lawn ornament. anyway, moving on.

was dead asleep when cody bear freaks out! landlord stopped by to see leaky roof. i am insane: i pretended not to be home. i felt sooo crappy and the place was just a mess. he’s coming back saturday.

after a nap i let the sweet dog out for some romping. had to capture of him under the blue sky!

took a moment, while he was romping, to practice using the manual focus on this tiny point and shoot. i’m getting better…but that’s not saying much.

oh, and…guess what kind of tree that is! why does no one ever guess any of my arborist brain teasers?! (thanks to the couple of you who have tried!)

i wish i had a coke or ginger ale or something…