White Dog said, "It's all about balances, isn't it, momma? You try to keep things from tipping too far one way or the other." She was talking about my mini streak of bad luck and my funk about it. It took me some time but I have a clearer more balanced perspective today. After all, I have a comfortable home, foods I desire, water that I do not have to tote miles to bring home, no land mines buried in my backyard, and the ability to support a White Dog Army in a pampered style. Compared to most of the world, my loss of a favorite coffee mug and needing to get my glasses fixed are pretty minor.
But WD got me to thinking.
This morning Nuka went to Dr. Julia's for a pancreatitis followup. Her kidneys are wonderful and her liver and pancreas numbers are "dropping nicely." She is fully back to her normal diet.
As part of Dr. Julia's aggressive counter attack on the disease and to keep Nuka eating solid food (important to keep her digestive tract from shutting down as it would if we had resorted to liquids only), Nuka was eating Hill Science Diet A&D formula.
This is a high density protein wet food used for dogs and cats...but it is chock full of chicken and chicken organ meat. Nuka is allergic to chicken but Dr. Julia decided that her need to eat trumped the allergy and we worked to lessen her dependence on this food as quickly as possible by mixing it with her normal kibble and decreasing it as we added back rice then finally the WDA's normal mix of fish, rice, vegetables, and fruit. We thought we had successfully gotten her to eat and avoided saturation that would trigger an allergic reaction.
Almost. But yesterday afternoon I reached down to pet Another White Dog and her ears were slimy. When I looked closer, I discovered her ear was filled with gunk and infected. Steve held the flashlight and we peered down the other ear...infected, too. Ear infections are one of the first symptoms of food allergies. We thanked the Universe that she was seeing our vet today (and both ears were medicated with long acting antibiotic gel) but we felt awful that we had pushed her system too far.
For want of a cure we had upset the balance.
6 comments:
Sometimes an ear infection is better than something life ending. She knows y'all love her.
Andy and Sally Ann
An ear infection is a lot better than a full-blown pancreatitis attack. Hopefully all will be back in balance at your house soon.
Yep, things sure get out of wack too darn easy!
Aw, we're so sorry AWD's ears got infected. Thank goodness she had a vet appointment today, and that she's on the way to recovery...
Deew white doggies
Yoo aways know the wight thing to say to keep things in pawspective.
We wewe so happy to heaw about Nuka's wesults, but sowwy about those poow eawses..i get sum eaw infecshuns fwom time to time, but it's tweatabull and the west of me stays healthy wif my foods . I hope yoo find the wight balance...pleez tell yoow Mama that we did NOT have hoomidity..just dwy hot hot hot weathew..BUT. Guess what? Yoow coold bweezes that yoo sent awwived last night and we feel wondewful today
Thank yoo so much
Soochie kisses
Asta
So happy to hear Nuka's crucial health issues have improved and we will purr and pray for her ear infection to heal asap...You know, Sue, as I read your last few posts, it occurred to me that although you have been dealing with a challenging few days, I wish everyone had your awareness and insight in life: Everything is connected=pain, fear and loss are universal feelings such as joy, happiness and love (of course, separated by degrees of importance throughout life)...As we live and learn, we begin to understand that these feelings are surrounded by choice and while we can't choose our feelings, we can choose how we experience and perceive these feelings in our lives...Being able to find the positive in every situation and feeling is the only way to live in true gratitude, which in turn colors every emotion we have and every situation we encounter, especially when things are difficult, which is so important since those times give us our biggest, most important lessons of life...I just wish everyone "got" it like you do=we choose to be joyful, we choose to be happy, we choose to love and we can also choose to be joyful for the journey and not just the destination, to be happy for blessings even when fear shows up in our hearts/minds and to love fully and deeply while realizing all love also contains eventual loss...The human condition is so complex=everyone gets in a funk, but it is those moments that we "choose" the positive, the higher road, even in the face of adversity, that define us...I love you guys because your spirit is true and your hearts full=I believe there is no greater balance than that...Your words are powerful and always inspire me...Wishing you better luck, but also grateful to know your wisdom always brings your focus back around to what's really important=the joy, happiness and love we feel in our moments of connection with our "universe"...If more people understood these basic things, the world would be a much kinder, gentler place...big hugs, dear Sue/Steve and kisses to your wonderful family...J, Calle, Halle, Sukki, Mommy Cat, Daddy Cat
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