Vet Visits and Running Update
We took Clank for his yearly checkup at the vet last Friday. It was our first time seeing the new vet office in its completion. The place looks amazing. The lobby is huge, the exam rooms are spacious, they have some larger runs in the back for animals they are boarding … the whole place is just great. We took a little tour and snapped some photos for use on their web site while we were there.
Read MoreRatchet
Today Ratchet was sitting by the back door with his head down, looking sad. I asked him if he needed to go outside and opened the door for him. He didn’t budge. I shut the door and said, “You don’t want to go outside? Do you want to play?”
His ears perked up.
“You want to play. Go get your toy”
He ran off and grabbed his toy.
I love him.
Read MoreLove
My dogs’ food consists of a mix of Honest Kitchen Preference and cooked ground beef. I always prepare two days worth at a time. So when I’m out of food, that evening I’ll make a two day batch, pop it in the fridge and it will be ready for me to give them first thing in the morning. (I feed them at 5 a.m. b/c that is when Ratchet takes his epilepsy meds)
Last night at about 3:20 a.m., Clank woke me up, needing to go outside to the bathroom. So, half asleep, I opened the back door and stood waiting for the dogs to do their business. While standing there I happened to glance over at the kitchen counter. What was on the counter? The empty plastic containers I put the dogs’ food in. I TOTALLY forgot to cook their food yesterday.
So at 3:30 a.m., (after muttering a string of obscenities) I was in the kitchen, cooking ground beef.
That’s love, people.
Read MoreAnother Year Older
Clank’s birthday was Saturday. We got him a new collar and a raw beef marrow bone (Ratchet got a bone too). I think he had a good birthday. This is what he looked like at the end of the day:
Seems pretty content to me. 
So yesterday was my birthday. I turned 32. I bought myself some bracelets from www.beadforlife.org and hubby got me some pretty tulips. We went to Famous Daves for lunch (Got the Georgia Chopped Pork …yum) and then went to Sweet Daddy Cupcakes (www.sweetdaddycupcakes.com ) for cupcakes. Oh gosh, they were SO good. I stuffed myself with three of them — Peanut Butter Cup, Oreo and Strawberries & Cream. They were all amazing, but I think the Strawberry one was my favorite. This morning I ran 3 miles to try to combat the birthday feast. (1 mile for each cupcake. jk)
We also bought tickets for the first day of the MLB All Star Fan Fest thing. (All Star game’s in Phoenix this year). They were/are doing a 2-for-1 deal for that day, so we got those and if later we discover something cool happening on a different day (You know, like if by some miracle Tom Glavine’s making an appearance. Ha ha, yeah right) then we’ll pick up tickets for that day too. I’m excited. We went to the NFL Experience thing a few years ago and it was cool, but baseball is my thing so I’m really looking forward to going.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Read MoreUpdate
About time for my monthly blog check-in. Sorry, my life is boring right now. When does baseball season start again? Ready to hear Tom Glavine in the booth …
Me - Still running. Lately I’ve been running 4 times a week. I usually run 3 miles twice and the other two days I run 5 miles – so 16 miles total. Not too bad. I still run slow though. Oh well. I’ll never be a speedster.
The dogs - Ratchet is still (knock on wood) seizure free since starting the Phenobarb. Yay. He also has remained free of ear infections so those were definitely food related. However, he still has allergy problems. Lots of licking and chewing at his feet. I’m not sure if this is still food related or if it’s environmental or what. All I know is that it is frustrating. But paw licking is better than seizures and ear infections. Oh, and I mentioned in a previous entry about his weight loss. That’s no problem anymore. The last time we weighed him, he was at 57lbs and he looks like he’s put on a little more since then. Clank is doing great. Allergies are still well-maintained, and being his normal sweet self. He used to sleep in his dog bed at night, but now he has taken to sleeping on our bed almost exclusively. I guess he figures Ratchet does it so he might as well too. And they both sleep on my side of the bed. In related news, I usually sleep like crap. Hah.
The Cats - Nefarious and Zoni are doing great. I can’t believe how small they used to be and how big they have gotten now. They grow up so fast. Yesterday, they learned how to climb up on the top of the fridge and from there, the top of the kitchen cabinets. Heh. Zoni is a cuddler. She usually winds up in my lap at some point before the day is done. Nefarious is a trip. Every day he brings his stuffed bunny out of their room and leaves it in the living room or family room. He doesn’t do anything with it once he brings it out. Just carries it out and leaves it there. Always cracks me up.
Here are some recent photos of the crew:
Been a while…
Been a while since I’ve posted a blog.
This is what happens when you do the same things over and over. You really have nothing to blog about.
Dr. Nefarious and Zoni are doing great. We got Nefarious neutered and a few weeks later got Zoni spayed. They are top-notch. Zoni had to wear the dreaded cone for a few days because her incision got a little infected, but it looks great now. She’s way more active without that cone on. Heh.
Ratchet and Clank are doing well overall. We switched their food over to The Honest Kitchen’s Preference formula. It’s a dehydrated fruit & veggie base mix that you add water to (to rehydrate) and then you add in your own meat. I’ve been cooking up ground beef to add to it. (Might try other meats down the line – chicken, turkey, etc.) This is my attempt at eliminating questionable ingredients that may or may not be linked to seizures (rosemary extract) and also trying to get Ratchet’s allergies more under control. They have been on it for … I dunno, 3 weeks? But for most of that time they were still getting some of their regular dog food as well (I wanted to do a gradually switch — easier on the stomach). Ratchet is still itchy, but I know it takes awhile if it is indeed food related. We had to get him on steroids for a couple of weeks because he was just chewing himself like crazy. For the weeks he was on the steroid it was awesome — absolutely no itching — but he’s been off of that for almost a week now and he’s back at it. I DO think his frequent ear problems were food related, as those have been under control for the past couple of months with food switches, but it’s possible the rest of his problems are environmental. We’ll see. I will say that I think both dogs’ fur feels softer since being on The Honest Kitchen. Not that they didn’t have soft fur before, but I definitely feel a difference (for the better). As far as the seizures, *knock on wood* everything is good with that. None since being on the medication for them. Just taking it day by day and keeping my fingers crossed.
Hubby is good … going to work, playing video games, being awesome … the usual
Me – Still doing my running. I’m doing the two days on, one day off schedule. I’d still doing 5K on my “short” days and 10K on my “long” days. Well, that’s the distance that my GPS app on my phone says. My (still) uncalibrated Nike+ has me going farther (and faster) but I know that’s inaccurate, so I go with the lesser distance. In hindsight, I should have gone up a size in my running shoes. I bought my normal shoe size and that might have been a mistake. I don’t think I have enough room in the toe box, as the second toenail on my left foot has turned a lovely shade of dark purple. The nail is a little sore when you press on it but it’s not really bothersome so I assume it’s not a big deal. It wouldn’t surprise me if I lose that nail at some point though.
Read MoreSupport CURE
My name's Amanda. I'm 33 years old, am married to my best friend and love animals. I have two dogs - Ratchet and Clank - and two cats - Dr. Nefarious and Zoni. They are awesome. I dabble in freelance webdesign, and I'm also a runner, albeit a kind of slow one. Tom Glavine is my favorite athlete of all-time. 