Kristen King » pet blog

Dog Disasters: Today’s Episode of “Things the Dogs Destroyed or Ate” — A 30-lb Bag of Dog Food and 9 Rolls of Paper Towels

Kristen King — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:50:33 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — I’m either a glutton for punishment or just slow on the uptake, because I thought I could run out to the post office for a few minutes the other day without worrying about the dogs making some kind of mess. We don’t let them loose in the house when we leave anymore because they’re so darn creative and brilliant at getting to things the shouldn’t have, and I figured there was nothing that would appeal to them in the mudroom or garage in the 15 minutes I was gone.

I was wrong.

I managed to pick up most of the dog food before I thought to take a picture, and about half of the paper towels were somewhat salvageable, however slobbery. None of them can go on a paper towel holder, though because the dogs ripped through so many layers that the individual sheets are no longer connected in most cases.

Sigh. When will I ever learn?

Pet Humor: Great Dog Costumes — Pitbull Lion

Kristen King — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:39:04 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com)

Birds-Animals-Nature photo

Pet News: Bird Strike Causes US Airways Plane to Land in the Hudson River

Kristen King — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:12:48 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — Earlier this afternoon, US Airways flight 1549 was forced to land in the Hudson River allegedly because of a bird strike that debilitated the aircraft. As of this writing, all 150 passengers and 5 crew members had been safely recovered from the aircraft and transported to New York hospitals to be treated for various minor injuries and hypothermia.

A “bird strike” occurs when an aircraft or other vehicle collides with an airborne animal, and is common during takeoffs and landings. According to MSNBC live reports this afternoon, airports typically report regularly on bird activity near runways to cut down on the likelihood of accidents and injuries resulting from bird strikes.

For more on bird strikes, visit Bird Strike Committee USA and read the Wikipedia entry on bird strikes.

Dog Disasters — Today’s Episode of “Things the Dogs Destroyed or Ate”: 10 lbs. of Flour

Kristen King — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:10:15 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — We came home from visiting family last night to find a white explosion all over the kitchen and living room. We should have known better than to leave the flour on the counter in preparation for tonight’s fried chicken dinner. But honestly, what is appealing about 10 lbs of flour? The world may never know. And my rug will never be the same.

My bedspread will never be the same, either, because about an hour after we got home, Pickles projectile-vomited a disgusting green half-liquid, half-paste mixture all over it. Oh, and have you ever used a regular vacuum to suck up 10 lbs of flour? I don’t recommend it. And neither does the manufacturer, I’m sure.

These dogs are VERY lucky we love them so much. Otherwise, we would be selling them to the circus, I swear. Oh, and did I mention how fun it is to clean flour from every surface in your home two days after getting in a car accident and having limited to no mobility due to back injury? It’s a blast.

Previous episodes:

Pets Stress About Money, Too

Kristen King — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:14:28 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — Your pet knows when you need a hug and when you need to play, so it’s no surprise that Fluffy and Fido can tell when you’re stressed about the economy. They may not know exactly what it is that’s filling your heart with angst, but your pets definitely feel your agida, and they experience it themselves, too.

Learning About…Cerebellar Hypoplasia

Kristen King — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:52:49 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — Today, I found a YouTube video featuring Charley, a cat suffering from cerebellar hypoplasia. But the thing is, Charley isn’t suffering at all! He may fall down a lot, but otherwise he’s a perfectly normal cat with some balance and motor control issues.

Cerebellar hypoplasia is a disorder found in cats and dogs in which the cerebellum is not completely mature at birth.

Usually symptoms of cerebellar hypoplasia can be seen immediately at birth in cats, but sometimes can take two months or so to become apparent in dogs. Cerebellar hypoplasia causes jerky movements, tremors and generally uncoordinated motion. The animal often falls down and has trouble walking. Tremors increase when the animal is excited and subside when at ease. (source)

The neat thing about cerebellar hypoplasia is that the animal typically isn’t in any pain and doesn’t require any special care (though if you have a large dog with the disorder, for instance, it might make sense to pad pointy objects just to be safe).

Meet Charley, and learn more about cerebellar hypoplasia:

Pet Humor: When Your Reindeer Is Just Too Wide to Fit in the Back Seat

Kristen King — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:46:54 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — My husband snapped this picture on the highway today. You have to give these people points for creativity!

The Catharsis of Mourning Another’s Loss

Kristen King — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:19:08 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — After putting it off for more than a year, I finally read the last three chapters of Marley & Me, in anticipation of the film release later this month. I don’t mean to be giving any spoilers here, but the dog dies at the end, as dogs are wont to do. And it’s not a particularly horrible death except for the horribleness that is death.

I bawled. I’m still sniffling, tears sneaking out despite my best efforts to remember that (a) it’s not MY dog and (b) it happened years ago and (c) he had a good long life for a dog anyway, with people who clearly loved him, so it’s not that sad. Those things mean NOTHING. Marley’s death is possibly the saddest thing I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of sad stuff.

I think what did it for me was thinking about Murphy and what a bad dog he is even though he tries to be good. Murphy is Marley in mastiff form. And as much as he drives us crazy with his insane behavior and his eating everything that’s not nailed down (and some things that are, come to think of it: case in point, the patio steps), when he goes it will be gut-wrenching.

What is it about bad dogs that make them the most lovable?

We had been reading Marley & Me together, my husband and I, because we had both wanted to read it and he didn’t want me to do it without him. So every night before bed, I’d read a chapter aloud. But toward the end there, I was crying too hard to speak and I could barely see the words on the page. That’s why we ultimately set it aside.

“You should finish Marley,” my husband told me tonight as after he answered my cries to rescue Pickles from the soaking tub in the master bath. (She had chased a cat in and gotten stuck). I was lying in bed, sick, and it seemed like a good idea. But it was NOT a good idea. Bawling and heaving big shuddering sobs while you already feel like your sinuses are about to explode is not something I recommend.

But now that I’m mostly calmed down, I feel a kind of lightness that I needed to feel. Maybe just the physical act of crying did it, but I think it probably had something more to do with knowing that I’m not alone in loving a terrible dog who no one else could ever love, a good dog trapped in a bad dog’s body.

Mastiff Mayhem: Zen and the Art of Counter-Surfing

Kristen King — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:37:11 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — Oh boy, oh boy, the dogs learned a new trick! It’s called “jump up on the counter and eat stuff they have no business eating and then shred the evidence all over the house so no one can prove nuttin’.” It’s totally precious. Except for NOT.

About two weeks ago, I came home from the post office and everything seemed normal. Until I went to make lunch and couldn’t find the baguette I had thought was on the kitchen counter. I called my husband at work.

“Did you take the baguette to work with you?”

“Uh, no, why?” he asked, like that wasn’t a perfectly reasonable question.

“I can’t fi– oh my God, is that part of a PANERA BAG????”

“What are you talking about?”

“Murphy just rolled over and there is part of a Panera bag under him on the dog bed.” I later found small pieces of it in about six other locations. But not nearly enough to make a whole bag. Hmm.

“Maybe you should talk to him about the baguette.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

In the week or so that followed, the dogs consumed:

Half a pan of brownies
A box of Krispy Kreme donuts
A bag of single-serve coffee filters
A raw, unwashed sweet potato
Part of a grilled cheese sandwich
Several paper plates and napkins
Eight (8!!!!!) empty cardboard boxes
A sheaf of brochures from my husband’s old company

And those are just the items we found evidence of. I shudder to think what may have gone missing without our noticing yet.

At first we thought it was Ty (he HAS been mighty pushy when I open the fridge lately), but based on last night and this morning, we’re pretty sure it’s Murphy. You see, Murphy has food allergies. Wheat, corn, beef, things normal dogs can eat. We switched him to food that doesn’t contain those things and limited his treat intake, and his dandruff and horrible stomach rash went away.

So when his rash came back in one small spot on his inner thigh (is that what you call it on a dog?) a few days ago and then spread with a vengeance I’ve never seen to the rest of his stomach last night, I took him to the vet right away. Turns out he has a staph infection (!!!) because he licked the living daylights out of it over the last few days, unbeknownst to me. The diagnosis? “Must be the stolen food,” the vet said solemnly. She did not add, “You neglectful dog-mother, you,” though I suspect from her expression that she was thinking it.

Now, not only do we have to change his TREATS to make extra sure he’s not consuming any allergens whatsoever and stop giving him people food entirely (what, you do it too, shut up), we can’t leave anything edible (or inedible, for that matter) on our counters or tables, lest he scarf them down.

It’s kind of like childproofing, except your toddler has the reach of a six-foot-tall adult and will not only mouth but actually consume whatever he can acquire.

Why did he have to finally realize just how tall he is???

Previous episodes of “Things Murphy Destroyed or Ate”:

I Totally Play Favorites With My Pets

Kristen King — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:39:06 +0000

(www.meowbarkblog.com) — While gathering photos for the rotating snapshots in the new MBB design, I realized that I have virtually no pictures of my lynx point Siamese, Zoe. She was the first pet I ever had that was MINE, and we took tons of photos of her on film, which are now trapped in albums that are around here somewhere if I ever get to finding them.

But we’ve since switched to digital, we’ve basically stopped photographing her. It was just a timing thing, I think. We moved to a new house where she camps out in our bedroom and seldom leaves, and the other animals are constantly underfoot so they get photographed and she doesn’t because she’s under the bed. (She seems to like it there, honest.) If she ran away, I wouldn’t even have a picture for the LOST poster! I’m such a bad mom.

Admittedly, it’s unlikely she would get lost under our bed. You know what I mean, though.

I know I play favorites with my little guys. It’s hard not to when some of them hate you, you know? (coughcoughzoecoughcough) And it’s also hard when some of them worship the ground you walk on. (coughcoughtycoughcough) And when some of them are lovable troublemakers who get into everything and require constant supervision. (coughcoughmurphycoughcough)

These animals are like my kids. Does this mean I’ll have a favorite kid, too? Yikes. Does that mean my PARENTS had a favorite kid? This is complicated. Maybe I should stick with cats and dogs for a few more years.