Monday, March 17, 2008

Veterinary Verdict

Today was Kioko's second visit to the veterinarian for a scheduled vaccination. She LOST weight, somehow. She went from 16.5 pounds to 15.75 pounds. The vet seemed unconcerned and said she didn't look unhealthy weight-wise. He did, however, after administering the shots we originally came for, give her a good checkup to see if he could find anything wrong.

Well...her ears are infected and she has an eye infection that causes excessive weeping. She has always had the weeping, so I guess I thought it was normal. It has, however, gotten markedly worse in the last few days.

So. We have antibiotic ointment for the ears and antibiotic drops for the eyes. Sigh.

On the upside, Kioko is adapting to life on a tether very well. She is MUCH happier tethered to me than she was during the month of crate-training torture. She has adopted the chair next to my desk as her special spot, and she is pulling on the tether less and less. Plus...there's the whole "I get treats for going outside" motivation. She is an altogether happier beagle.

And I...am an altogether happier beagle mom.

Kioko likes ice cubes , now, and she is reliable with "sit" and "drop it" if she knows she'll get a treat for doing them. Stinker dog! Not so much if I have no treats. Ha ha. Oh, but that's just cause she's a beagle. I expected a bit of that when we got her.

So...altogether improved, but two infections that need to be licked.

Our next big challenge? The spay surgery. I'm way more nervous than I should be.

God bless the beagles!

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