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Told ya.
:> )
I ordered is back ordered and won't be shipped until May 5th, it didn't stop me from grabbing the curtain clips I'll be needing. This way I'm prepared and all I'll have to do is start sewing.
Man, I would have made a great Boy Scout.
I was so excited to see what they would look like, I had to clip the wee fabric sample they sent me. I'm pretty sure one toilet paper square is larger than this sample. Oh well... ((giggle))
After my Lowes run, I stopped by the pet supply to grab some Flexi Nylabones for my Stella.
She looks enthused, doesn't she??
She is the ultimate lounge lizard.
Thank the Lord above she hasn't had another seizure. I am praying it was the high sodium kibble that caused it. Since I switched her food she's been her usual playful self so that's a good thing.
I was absolutely on the mark with Gracie's diagnosis. How I want to call the vet and say, " I was right! Nah, nah, nah, nah nah!" ((hee hee))
She's acting like a little spring chihuahua chicken now and she's gained a pound and a half! YaY!!
I did find out the hard way she cannot eat anything with sweet potato. It caused a hypoglycemic reaction. So she has to stay away from all potatoes and rice.
I ordered a doggie cookbook.
Yeah, I know. I need my head examined. What else is new? **snicker**
But this way I'll know exactly what's going into those adorable, furry little bodies and it will give me piece of mind. Like that's possible.
Well, that's it for now.
Happy Monday, all!!!
:> )
You most certainly are.
You'll be sadly missed.
Rest in peace.
♥
We've been worried sick about my little furbaby. First our Gracie, now our Stella.
Most know Stella is the (second) love of my life. My sweet hubs being my first.
Out of the blue, early Sunday morning (3am) Stella had a grand mal seizure on our bed. A few minutes later she vomited. She's also been drinking a lot of water.
Even though she's only 3 1/2 years old, the horrors of numerous medical problems ran through my head.
I contacted our vets office and brought her in on Monday for some blood work.
Everything seemed relatively normal. Except her ALT was slightly high, her ALKP was slightly low and her AMYL was low. What I find more odd is these levels have been the same with the last three blood draws I've had done.
The vet isn't concerned with it. Nor were they (there's a group of vets in the practice we go to), but it is a concern with me.
So the neurotic dog owner that I am, was determined to research and research until I could possibly pinpoint something to that seizure.
Then I turned to what I'm feeding her. I do home cook some of her food and mix it with a quality, grain free, kangaroo based kibble. But if I run out of her home cooked food, I feed her straight kibble until I cook up another batch.
I chose kangaroo because it's a novel protein. Being a Boston Terrier she has all kinds of sensitivities to proteins and carbs/starches. But the chance of her having an issue with kangaroo would most likely be slim. I started it in February and she LOVES her kangaroo.
Yesterday, I hopped around other neurotic dog owner forums and found out many who were feeding the same brand as I, noticed their dogs drinking a lot more water than usual. Hmmm. In my best Arte Johnson impersonation, "Very interesting..."
Since dog food companies don't list sodium amounts in their food, a gal contacted the company. Come to find out the sodium amounts in all their food were high.
Not only does high sodium intake make one thirsty, in some cases it can cause seizures. Again, in my best Arte Johnson impersonation, "Very interesting..."
Now could this be Stella's problem?? I'm not sure. But I will say I believe it's the cause of her excessive trips to her water bowl. Since she has no body fat, maybe the high sodium caused that seizure. Who knows?
I do know she is a physically fit healthy and strong little dog and I love her to pieces!!
I'm about ready to toss all the commercial dog food I have on hand and stick to home cooked food only with added supplements.
But I'm still not ready to go completely raw though.
Happy Thursday, all.
:> )
French Gray!!
My first choice immediately went for the darker taupe color. But then again, I always lean that way.
Hubs picked the French Gray.
When I placed the French Gray swatch against my Soapstone Sequoia counter top it was perfect!
Man, I LOVE Buffalo Check Roman Shades. The straight, smooth fabric really accentuates the pattern and it looks awesome! So I thought, "Sure... I can make them! That's the ticket!"
Then I watched a few YouTube videos and ummm... no.
From a woman who measures by saying "it's the fourth line after the 3 on the tape measure" Roman shades are not going to happen. Waaaay too complicated for my pea brain.
((giggle))
So how can I eliminate the bulkiness of the curtains I made for my kitchen?
Sure they look cute, but it's too heavy of a look for spring and summer.
Then it hit me!! Curtain rings and less fabric width.
Instead of doubling the width of the window (like most curtains), I'll maybe do one and a half or even less than the width of the window. Then adding curtain rings will lighten up the look even more.
Since I have black accents (like the wood stove, some painted furniture and kitchen cabinet hardware) I'll keep the matte black curtain rods and add matte black curtain rings. It'll have nice contrast and match what's in my kitchen. Yippee!!
The winter months, I'll have to put up the black homespun curtains back up. If any of you have a wood stove you completely understand why.
Happy Saturday, all!!!
Remember to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. If you don't have any sunshine, get outside anyway.
:> )
P.S.
Thank you to all who gave me your opinions. I truly appreciate it!!! You guys are the best! ♥
make kitchen curtains ever again...
I'm thinking about making kitchen curtains again.
Somebody shoot me!
((giggle))
Since I updated the kitchen with a more "white farmhouse-y" look, I've been wanting new curtains. Actually, I prefer NO curtains but my sweet hubs wants our privacy. Which I totally understand.
Lord knows we don't need Peeping Chipmunks or Peeping Woodchucks lurking around the ol' Countryfolk homestead.
((hee hee))
There is something about buffalo check curtains I absolutely adore. I made one for our full bath but never used it. Yes I loved it, but the color was slightly off and it drove me nuts.
Well, I have two fabric swatches. I loved them both, but I picked the color I preferred. Then I asked my sweet hubs which one he preferred. Of course he picked the one I didn't, not even knowing which one I liked in the first place. (The story of my life)
After we laughed, I grabbed the camera and snapped some pics of the swatches in different parts of the kitchen with different lighting.
Well after doing that I have changed my mind and agree with my sweet hubs. Drat!!!
What can I say, the guy has an eye for color! He'd be mortified if he knew I typed that. ((giggle))
Anyway... Here are the pics.
The large swatch is Taupe Buffalo Check
The small swatch is French Gray Buffalo Check
(Unfortunately the French Gray swatch was cut where the gray doesn't show much. Dang it!)
Ready??!!
So please chime and give me your opinion.
Is it the Taupe? Or the French Gray?
I'll let you know my our choice soon.
Gee, I wonder what color we picked????!!!!
((hee hee))
Happy Friday, all!!
:> )
Gracie loves when my sweet hubs has an extra day off.
I've started her on the stronger pancreatic enzymes so time will tell.
For now, she's enjoying quality time in her daddy's arms and on his belly. ♥
Happy Friday, all.
Love your family.
Love your furbabies.
:> )
and (hopefully) on the mend.
I'm still waiting to hear from the vet to get a proper dosage for the pancreatic enzyme supplement I have for her. The waiting is frustrating.
I am feeding her a little food every two hours. Otherwise she becomes hypoglycemic. I'm hoping (make that praying) the enzymes will help so I can lengthen that time between feedings.
I've been trying not to neglect my Stella. She just doesn't get it. Could it be because she's a dog? ((giggle))
She gets so jealous when Gracie needs my attention. How she carries on! The drama around here is worse than a reality TV show.
Man, I never thought two canines could quite possibly put me in an early grave.
Happy Thursday, all!!
:> )
So I've been MIA from the blog world. Our precious, little Gracie has been very ill.
She's always been a sickly little Chihuahua. Stomach issues, finicky eater, seizures, her poop has been all over the board so to speak. But as of late they were like little gnarly tree roots. Sorry, but poop is very important. It must be discussed.((hee hee))
I buy only the best, quality grain free dog food I can find yet she's had bouts of pancreatitis. I even home cook. Heck, I joke our dogs eat better than we do but it's the truth. With the last pancreatitis attack, we decided it was best to put her on a vet prescribed low fat dog food. Also give her home cooked low fat food.
About a week and a half ago she started having weird episodes. She'd experience ataxia and was somewhat out of it. But she reacted when I spoke to her so she wasn't completely out of it. It usually happened about an hour/hour and a half after she ate. I immediately took her to the vet. She checked her from head to toe. No fever, ears looked good, heart and lungs sounded fine. But she is VERY thin. So we did a (in house) full blood work panel on her even testing her for Lyme disease.
For the most part, the blood work results were great. She did have low white blood count, lymphocytes and amylase (pancreas enzyme).
The amylase had me puzzled because when she had pancreatitis, the number was very high. Now it's below normal?
Concerned about the WBC and lymphocytes, we agreed to have an outside lab look at her blood work and give a more detailed report. Their findings were that although her lymphocytes were low, they were mature and no cancer cells were found. Same with the WBC. Low numbers but the cells looked good. I also mentioned her appetite has been ravenous. This left us scratching our heads. Our vet even said she is an enigma.
Since I'm a worrier, I spent days online researching her symptoms and blood work findings. Dare I say I was obsessing about it? Yep, I dare say.
Then on Saturday, I had my eureka moment!! From what I read, she was having symptoms as described with EPI. Except for the poop part. Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency is when the pancreas is unable to produce the proper digestive enzymes to break down food. Amylase (the enzyme she is low in) is the enzyme that breaks down starches/carbs which in turn could cause sugar problems. Her prescription dog food is mostly starches and carbs. Sooooo, an hour after she eats she becomes hypoglycemic. It's also the cause for her thinness since she isn't able to get the nutrients from the food she's eating.
After I removed all the prescription dog food, I ran to the pet supply store looking for a digestive supplement to at least get in her system. They do have prescription grade enzymes, but I knew I had to get something in her little body pronto.
I found a product called Digest-All+ by Wholistic Pet Organics. It's a soft chew enzyme blend supplement with pre and probiotics. Now I don't know if it's a coincidence, but after switching the food and giving her the supplements she went 36 hours without having a hypoglycemic reaction. When she did, it was much milder than previous ones.
I called the vet yesterday with my findings. She suggested the blood work again to test for EPI. But I want to try a stronger enzyme supplement. She may have something else going on, but for now we'll see how she does.
As far as the low WBC and lymphocytes? Heads up, my vegetarian friends... Please, no cursing or tomato throwing after you read these next few sentences. ((giggle))
From what I read, many (human) vegetarians have these same issues. Most likely caused by their diet. Gracie basically was eating like a doggie vegetarian. Ummmm... Dogs are carnivores. She's now eating and loving a quality kangaroo (novel protein) food.
So that's what's been going on at the ol' Countryfolk Homestead. Not to mention it's APRIL 5th and it's SIX DEGREES with 6 inches of snow on the ground!!
Happy Tuesday, all... Or is it?!!!
;> )
