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Xena: This is a post I started almost a year ago. I forgot about it and Mommy just found it in the not-finished pile. Right now I’m back in the Cone o Honor, but I haven’t had to go to the doctor or get on prescription meds. It’s mostly because of flea bites. I’m allergic to flea bites! And the grass got so high that fleas had decided it was a good place to live until they could hop onto unsuspecting dogs, like all 3 of us. More about why the grass was so high later. For now, here’s my story.
Xena: I was put in the car and forced to go to the vet early Saturday morning. Mommy didn’t have an appointment, but prepared to sit there all day until one of the vets looked at my poor chewed up tummy; the big flakes of dandruff on my chest; my really red eyes; and the crusty bumps from where I chewed my body.
In spite of everything Mommy does for me, I still get allergies starting in September. They haven’t been as bad lately, and are always cleared up by November. November came and went and I was still itchy. Now it’s December and no sign of them abating. (Do you like my new word?) I’ve been having to live with the Cone of Honor around my neck, and I don’t get to chew the itchy spots.
Oh, and Mommy said I smelled bad, too!
Back to my no-appointment vet visit. Seems two of the three vets there called off on Saturday morning and they were booked solid. They wouldn’t even try to fit me in. I thought, “Yay, now we can head home and I won’t have to shake and shiver anymore.” But oh no, Mommy just drove a ways down the street and took me to the emergency animal clinic. I had to start shaking and shivering again.
The people were very nice at the front desk so they could get Mommy’s credit card. Then the nurse, yes, she said she was the nurse, in the room started a new “chart” for me. She wrote down every single supplement I take – Mommy had packed them all in a big baggie and brought them with us. And then, the nurse asked if it was OK to carry me to the back (the dreaded back!) to weigh me and take my temperature. That’s when Mommy intervened for me. She said, “Xena is 8 years old and only had her temperature taken once, back when she was a puppy. She screamed so loud all our eardrums about burst.” The nurse thought a moment and said they could use a thermometer under my arm. So they did. And I didn’t scream. And no one’s eardrums burst.
So, to make a long story shorter, the vet prescribed a medicine called prednisone to get things under control while the other meds kicked in. Then he prescribed a medicine to clear up the yeast and one to clear up the bacterial infection. We got two of the meds there, but had to drive to the Walmart pharmacy with a prescription to get one of the last one.
I thought I would have to wait in the car, but Mommy pulled off my Cone of Honor and carried me in the store and back to the pharmacy. The pharmacist asked if I had ever been there before. (do you think she was serious? Come on, I’m a dog. What was she thinking? Then she asked my name, and Mommy told her “Xena.” Then, she asked my last name. If I wasn’t so stressed out from the vet’s, I would have laughed. But Mommy told her that, and my birthdate and my address where I live and wished I was at right then. However, this was getting really interesting.
She said we could come back for the pills in 20 minutes or wait. Mommy said we would sit on the bench right there and wait. Pretty soon the pharmacist came out to tell us the pills were ready, and it had only been about half that long! At the window to get my pills, the lady there set a prescription bottle down for us. It was filled with dog treats! Then she gave Mommy the medicine bottle (filled with medicine) and we were able to go home.
The meds worked and I stopped itching and the yeast is going away and the bacteria infection is pretty much gone. I hate this time of year!
Well, that was my post from last year that never got published ’til now. I’m thankful I don’t have a yeast or bacterial infection this year…just flea bites….
Love, Xena Itchy Schnauzer Warrior
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 