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.

Too Bad I Didn't Buy One For Him.

Dinglehopper likes Pickles' new bed...





It was only $20 at Winter Woofstock! My boyfriend tried to convince me to get Dingle a pink car bed. I think it was a Cadillac. I didn't get him it because everyone tells me that people confuse Dingle for a girl so I need to avoid buying anything that would make it even easier for them to think he is a girl.

I hope they have them dog beds at the summer Woofstock.

(Well, I'm off to go and buy Dingle a pink dog bowl online. Ha ha)

Christmas with the Dogs

I meant to send Christmas wishes yesterday, but fell asleep on the couch before I could.

So Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate other holidays...

We celebrate Christmas - and the dogs (Sasso, Pickles and Dinglehopper) love Christmas.

They love it so much so that on December 21st, while my boyfriend and I were at work, they took it upon themselves to open most of the presents that were under the tree...



When I came home I said "oh shit" out loud as I didn't know what my boyfriend had under the tree and instantly had images of myself lugging 3 dogs to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic if they had gotten into something toxic.

After I realized that they had not gotten into anything toxic (as they had mainly opened their presents) the situation was kind of funny... for a few, brief, moments.

I swept up the wrapping paper and as I went to get a dust pan Dinglehopper went over, lifted his leg and pissed all over my newly formed mountain of wrapping paper.

Then I was somewhat mad - though I knew Dingle was on Vanectyl P which makes him pee A LOT - so I should have took the dogs out for a pee before cleaning up the mess.

On Christmas Day prior to opening presents the dogs posed for a few pictures.

Dingle had his Christmas party collar on, Sasso had his tie on for the special occasion, but Pickles had nothing.

To ensure Pickles didn't feel left out my boyfriend dug through the dog drawers in search of an outfit.

However all he could come up with was boots and a Hallowe'en hood.

You can tell he was miserable:



As I just mentioned the dogs opened most of their presents before Christmas. I re-wrapped most of Dingle's presents... my boyfriend did not re-wrap the stuff for his dogs... so in the mountain of presents for the dogs...



...Dingle had the most (including one of the large ones):



For Christmas Dingle got: lots of dental treats, Old Mother Hubbard Cookies, A skunk ball, a toy that doesn't have stuffing (they seem to last best with our dogs), and a bed.

The dogs open their own presents. It was cute and funny until Sasso got carried away and ripped open Dingle's new bed while taking off the wrapping paper. A video of this may follow, if I review it and determine I did not swear my head off when I watched Sasso rip into the bed.

Due to the unfortunate event of Sasso ripping Dingle's new bed he didn't actually get the bed until today, after I repaired it as best as possible.

Luckily it only cost me $9 at Winter Woofstock... and it wasn't so much of a bed as it was a mat... that matches his other new bed (see entry below).

My boyfriend bought a light up ball for his dogs.

Dingle loved it - I couldn't believe how interested he was in it.

Dingle has no use for toys (and yet I continue to buy them), but he was mesmerized by the ball.

After thinking about it for a bit I have come to the conclusion that he likes it because it's really bright and he, with his eyesight deteriorating from Progressive Retinal Atrophy, can see it very well.

My boyfriend bought that ball at Woofstock... I am going to look into getting another one for Dingle... and if any other light up toys exist I would be interested in those as well. I'll check EBay but if you know of any other place to get light up toys please let me know!

Dingle spent quite some time guarding that ball from the other dogs.

Or shall I say he was guarding it from Pickles (Dingle hates Pickles...)



At one point he sat on it like it was his egg:



The boys had their doggy friend Lexi over to help them celebrate Christmas:



After dinner when Lexi (and her owner) left the dogs zonked out...

Here's Sasso the sleepy old man (he's 10)...



And as I mentioned I fell asleep as well... far earlier than I normally do.

That was our Christmas...