SPRUCING UP THE DOG

Bath time!  When bath time involves a dog it can be a fun experience.  Not all dogs react like the dogs in the old silent movies who did their best to outwit their masters and avoid bathing in a washtub full of soapy water.

Bathing Annie is definitely a totally different experience from grooming Buddy.  Annie runs around and walks enough to wear her nails down - we never have to trim them.  City living and concrete see to that.  If you don't walk your dog enough or live in a rural area with less concrete that we have in Brooklyn, you'll need to trim nails on a regular basis.  This can be accomplished at the vet or by a groomer or you, if you are a do-it-yourself-er.

If you are going to do this yourself, get a good pair of clippers (do your research) and read up on how it's done.  I strongly suggest a session with the vet to have someone demonstrate it the first time and watch you clip a nail or two before you attempt to do this on your own.  When trimming the nails of a dog with light colored nails it's easy to see the quick but dark nails hide the quick thus making this chore trickier if the dog has dark nails.  If you cut the quick the dog will bleed - it's very painful so you need to practice 'less is more' when cutting a dog's nails.

For the bath itself, I recommend some sort of plastic bucket or pitcher to pour water over your dog, a mild shampoo (preferably a castile or baby shampoo), a washcloth and a couple of fluffy towels.  Since Annie is 42 lbs. my brother and I will both handle her during her bath.  One of us will wet her down and the other soaps her up.  Soap from the neck down, making sure to wash the chest, undersides, all four legs, the hind quarter, all the way to the tip of the tail.  Once you have a good lather, rinse and keep rinsing until the water runs clear.  I wash Annie's face with a washcloth.  Wet the cloth well and wring it out, do not use soap.  Annie is used to this so I will wipe her face, muzzle, forehead and top of her head as well as the backs of her ears.

If your dog thinks this is fun and games time (as Annie does) make sure the bathroom door is tightly closed or your dog will shake water all over the house.  Having furniture and bedding used as towels isn't a fun thing to experience either so make sure your dog is confined during the drying off part of the bath.  We immediately cover Annie with a large towel, moving her haunches from side to side to get her to shake off the water.  Shaking is natural so don't discourage it just make sure the dog has a towel on them or else you and your surroundings will get soaked.

After we get Annie calmed down, I put a few drops of Epi-Otic in one ear and massage the base of the ear to clean inside.  Then, very carefully, I use a gauze pad to clean the inside of the ear removing as much wax and dirt as possible (don't push inside).  Repeat the process with the other ear.

Finally, we make a big fuss over Annie.  This helps reinforce bath time as fun.  If she wants to, we will play catch with her or chase her around for awhile until she's had enough fun and decides to relax.

Frequent bathing is ideal.  Your aim is to keep pollutants off the skin.  Dogs ingest them in the normal course of grooming.  We try to hold to a schedule of a bath a month because it is very time consuming, however, if you want do bathe your dog once a week that's OK.  Less, more, whatever you decide just try to bathe on a regular basis.

WHAT THE?!

Buddy did vomit the other day.  We were concerned.  He did it again tonight and we have our answer to the problem - he brought up a hairball.  He's OK now except his right eye is tearing.  I'll have to start administering the ointment again.

Of course,Annie had to get into the act.  Tonight she regurgitated a portion of breakfast but otherwise she seems fine.  I might forgo her second meal tonight and let her system rest.  This is the reality of caring for a pet.  It's the same as having kids but kids that never grow up or learn to speak or get a job and contribute to the house.  Just joking but a truth nonetheless.

Which brings us to another thought - when contemplating adopting a pet one should keep in mind a pet is at least a 15 year commitment.  If you can't commit to the cost or to the care, feeding, walking, training, playing, don't do the pet the disservice of adopting him or her.

Caring for a pet is not an on again off again proposition.  It is a full-time 24/7, 365 days a year commitment.  Never forget that.  At times it's exasperating, at times it's fun; however you look at it it is rewarding. 

THE CAT WITH KIDNEY FAILURE AND CLEANLINESS

(NOTE:  This post is about smells and bodily functions so if you're squeamish, be forewarned.)

I've been particularly busy the past few days so I've not posted and during that time taking care of Buddy I realized he smells like a bum travelling the MTA (or at least like certain areas of the system).

OK, maybe he doesn't smell THAT bad but he does smell - of urine and vomit.  This is pretty interesting because he hasn't upchucked at all.  The urine smell, however, does come as part of the package of renal failure.  I've noticed it isn't as intense when we make sure he is on a regulated schedule as far as his medicines and fluid intake is concerned.  Bad breath is also intensified if we miss a medicine dose or if he doesn't hold still for the subQ sessions.

From when he first came to live with us Buddy was always a very fastidious groomer but lately he's been slacking off.  Being a Maine Coon/Tabby mix, he has long hair.  Now he's nothing but a mess of mats, big and small.  It's almost like Rasta-hair so maybe we should rename him Bob Marley and leave it at that.  All joking aside, you really can't leave the mats because they become uncomfortable as they become larger.

So, how do you clean a cat?  Not easily that's for sure.  The very first part of this process should be trimming the nails.  If your cat gives you a hard time or appears to be getting annoyed, do the nails and postpone any other grooming until the following day.

Buddy had diarrhea twice since the renal diagnosis and he did allow us to stand his hind legs in a shallow bucket of warm water as long as we held his front paws up.  He actually gave up struggling once he realized his butt felt better as he was getting cleaned.  We did have a few escape attempts that consisted of Buddy trying to climb up our bodies - not a fun experience.

If you are going to attempt this type of cleaning make sure you know your cat's personality.  Buddy is incredibly laid back so his reaction to a partial bath surprised us.  I wouldn't recommend trying this with most cats.  If that's the case with your cat use baby wipes to clean the butt.  Also, and this is important, suit yourself up as if you are going to war.  Make sure your arms, chest, neck and hands are covered.  I recommend putting on thick clothing so you don't get hurt during the cleaning process. If your cat is a swiper,  or you suspect he might get ticked off enough to take a swipe at you, invest in some sort of eye protection.

Hair grooming:  I can't stress this enough, brush every day or every other day.  Unfortunately, we had a period of downtime because of circumstances which coincided with Buddy deciding not to groom himself anymore.  Result: tons of mats (mostly small but a pain nonetheless).  My remedy is to get Buddy  comfortable on my lap with a blunt baby scissors and a flea comb nearby (no particular reason for the flea comb other than that's what I have).  Once he's really relaxed, I start to pull the mats sideways to release them.  Combing them from the base is a good idea but it should be done working from the top of the mat down.  You should always hold the mat near the skin so it doesn't pull and if the mat is medium to large, work on a section of it at a time.  If you cannot undo the mat, cut it off.  Do this by working the comb between the skin and the mat cutting the mat just above the comb.  This will prevent you from cutting your cat's skin by mistake and will prevent you from getting scratched or bit.

Renal failure makes the urine smell and part of the reason why Buddy smells is the long hair on his stomach. It touches the wet kitty litter or in Buddy's case, wet newspaper, and voila! your cat smells like a urinal.  I trim all the hair on his stomach by half it's length and this definitely helps keep the stinky factor in check.  Always, make sure to cut the hair above the comb; don't attempt to trim the hair without the comb as a shield between where you're cutting and the skin.  If you can't manage this alone, get someone to help you.  By the way, the not grooming is also part of the whole illness thing.

Now, how to get the cat smelling like a rose again or at least not like the local garbage dump?  I use baby wipes.  The first time I tried to clean Buddy with a baby wipe, he took off for parts unknown.  Why?  The perfume smell and the fact that the baby wipes were cold!  Heat the wipes in the microwave but make sure they are slightly warm only; don't make them hot.  You can address the scent issue by either spending more money on wipes made especially for cats and dogs, test run baby wipes until you find a brand with less of a smell or do as I do, just hang on to your cat and make him stay still.  I wipe Buddy from his shoulder blades down his back and his legs.  Then I cradle him and wipe his stomach finally wiping his butt and what's left of his tail.  Since I don't like chemicals and really don't want him ingesting them if he licks himself, I have an old cotton cloth that I rinse in hot water, ring out and wipe him down a second time, this time including his head, neck and chest, before wiping him off with his cotton towel.  By this time, he's totally annoyed so I will follow up the next day by cleaning out his ears.

Dr. Young prescribed medicine for Buddy's ears when he was having a mite problem.  That stuff needed to be refrigerated.  It worked well cleaning up the problem; no more shaking his head or scratching his ears.  For normal maintenance, Dr.  Young prescribed Epi-Otic by Virbac and we use that on a regular basis.  You can find a good holistic alternative in Dr. Pitcairn's book, Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

I use cotton gauze pads or a cotton cloth to remove dirt from the ears after putting a few drops of Epi-Otic into the ear canal then massaging the base of the ear.  Always follow the directions.

Once you are done your cat should be smell-free.  This sweet-smelling state of bliss won't last long so remember a regular schedule of maintenance is the key to keeping the air clear.

BUDDY UPDATE AND BACK TO ANNIE'S URINARY ISSUES

Buddy now has only one eye tearing; we are continuing to put ointment in his eyes.  He's definitely feeling good today - he's sitting in the bathtub just hanging out.  He does that every so often, he sits in the tub and watches everyone's comings and goings.

Annie's urinary problems were most likely a result of a lack of cleanliness.  A good way to control this problem and prevent continued infection is to use baby wipes when your dog relieves herself (urinary infections are by and large a female issue).  An additional aide to maintaining good urinary health is by putting cranberry or apple juice or apple cider vinegar into a meal once a day.

We generally use a cap-full of one of the three.  It's important what you buy when using cranberry or apple juice because the usual commercial brands are loaded with corn syrup.  My choices are:

1)  Knudsen's Just Cranberry Juice.  This is put out by the R. W. Knudsen Family.  It's found in health food stores or you can purchase it online.  Keep in mind that cranberries are very sour and this juice is natural 100% cranberry juice with a sugar content of only 9%.  Compare that to the usual cranberry juice cocktails offered in any supermarket with a sugar content of around 33% and you will agree Knudsen's is a better choice.

2)  Red Jacket Orchards Apple Cider. We order online through Fresh Direct.  It's freshly pressed at the orchard; made with select apples and potassium sorbate added for freshness.  The sugar content for the cider is 30 grams (high) but it's a good alternative to apple juice with corn syrup.

Alternating all three has helped us maintain Annie's urinary health.  She's been free of urinary tract infections since June 2011.