Cold Weather

It's been very cold lately and Dingle hates the cold.

The other morning I took him out to go to the washroom and he pooped, but got too cold before he was able to pee. I kept encouraging him to go pee, but he just stood there staring at me, on two legs (because his paws were cold), half leaning on a snowbank for support.

Dingle's paws get very cold from the snow and sore from the salt. We've tried boots (at least 3 pairs that I can remember), but he refuses to walk... so it's a lose-lose situation.

I end up carrying Dingle back to the building a lot.

We don't have the heat on in our apartment because it's soooo hot in here.

The digital thermostat says 80 degrees. 78 if we have the livingroom window open (which we do often). The ventilation in here is so bad... while the rest of the apartment is sweltering the bedroom is cold (not cold enough that we use a little portable heater, though).

Dingle likes to snuggle up in our bed and keep warm, especially lately when it's been extra cold in the mornings:

"Why is there a pill in the bed?"

Just when I thought Dingle's crotch was back to normal it turns out it wasn't.

Dingle is on Clavamox, an antibiotic, as we believe he may have an infection causing discharge of the penis. Gross, I know.

So Dingle has been on Clavamox since last week.

A few days ago I made a comment on it seems like in the last 5 years Dingle's been on a bunch of medications. I can shake a pill bottle and Dingle comes running. I said that Dingle was so good with taking his medications.

Well, last night didn't Dingle prove me wrong.

As my boyfriend was going to bed he says "why is there a pill in the bed?"

He dropped it in my hand and sure enough it was one of Dingle's Clavamox pills.

I thought "little buggar - must have spit one out" and I thew it in the garbage.

Hours later I get into bed and by my pillow is a second Clavamox pill.

I have no idea when the pills got there - sometime in the last week.

When I give Dingle the pills I watch him for a minute or so to make sure he doesn't spit them out.

On the rare occasion when he's being feisty I put the pill in the back of his mouth and gently hold his muzzle until he swallows.

Yet somehow Dingle has managed to secretly hide away the pills, without swallowing them, until I turn my back (or he runs away)... when he then proceeds to spit them in my bed.

Oh Dingle.

Christmas Chaos Video...

I finally got around to uploading one of the videos we took at Christmas when the dogs were opening their presents.

Here is the chaos...



The camera died right at the end, but what transpired afterwards is pretty much the same.

Final 2010 Totals Are In...

In another post I said how I had been keeping track of all of Dingle's vet costs since the beginning of the year.

The total was $3,244.94.

Last night I got an Email confirmation from Trupanion stating that my last two outstanding 2010 claims had been processed and cheques mailed.

Of the $3,244.94 I spent at the vets $1,302.94 was covered.

Trupanion does not cover the vet consulation fees, or routine care. So Dingle's shots, dental cleaning, etc. weren't covered. But 90% of anything related to accidents or illnesses (Dingle's Progressive Retinal Atrophy and KCS care, for example) is covered.

That means that I paid $1,942.00 for Dingle's vet care last year.

Not as bad as I thought.

But let's see if we can do better (meaning less out of my pocket) in 2011.

Dinglehopper and Pickles

Meet Pickles the pug/bulldog mix:



Pickles is one of Dingle's 'brothers'.

Dinglehopper hates Pickles...

They are opposites.

Pickles is wild and unruly. Dingle is gentle and calm.

Pickles wrecks things. Dingle does not.

Pickles gets into and eats anything and everything. Dingle, for the most part, does not.

Pickles is very interested in the hamster when it is in the hamster exercise ball:



Dingle runs away in fear:

First Vet Visit of 2011 - Complete

Dinglehopper had his first vet visit of the year.

Our appointment was at 2:40pm. Far too early for my liking as I worked last night and didn't get to bed until 8am. I usually book our appointments late in the evening (like after 9pm), but the vet we wanted to see was only in until 3pm so I had to drag my ass out of bed.

Despite being overtired and feeling like I had been hit by a truck, it was worth getting up for.

I'm happy to report that we've started off our vet visits of the year on a positive note.

Dingle's crotch problems are over with - Dingle's 'thing' is back to normal.

Dingle had/has a huge mat behind his ear from wearing the E-Collar. I wanted to ask if cornstarch was okay if licked by dogs - because I use cornstarch to get Dingle's mats out and whenever I do it I'm always paranoid he'll scratch himself, lick his paw and get sick.

Cornstarch works miracles for matting - I just rub it into the mat and it combs out fairly easy.

When I mentioned the mat the vet offered to use clippers to get rid of it. I said that we once tried using them and Dingle freaked out about the noise. So the vet used little scissors to cut the mat in half instead - just to make it even easier for me to brush out after the cornstach. I'll deal with the mat after I wake up from a long (read: 6 hours) nap.

Dingle's vet costs in 2011 so far: $55.82

Now Dingle's just chilling out with (or perhaps babysitting without pay) his friend the disabled handicapped hamster:

Happy New Year/Dingle's Total 2010 Vet Costs

Happy New Year Everyone!

I think Dingle's goal for this year should be to get a job... to contribute to his vet bills.

In 2010 I decided to write down each vet visit and the cost - to keep a record of all of our visits so that at the end of the year I could see how much money I spent at the vets.

The total?

$3,244.94

I'm still waiting on 2 pet insurance claims from December... and then I will add up the amount that ended up be covered by Vet Insurance/Trupanion and determine how much actually came out of my pocket.

Now that 2011 has begun so have the vet appointments.

Dingle goes to the Downtown Animal Hospital tomorrow afternoon for a crotch re-check appointment.