just what the doctor ordered

I think we may have finally found a solution to Penny's tummy troubles. I started adding Dr. Goodpet's Digestive Enzymes to her food a little over a week ago. The i/d food was helping to put weight back on but her stools were still not consistently solid. Now that she has been on the enzymes, she is doing so much better. The first few feedings she looked and sniffed a bit before eating but now she is back to being excited for her bowl and ready to chow down. I almost can't believe how easy this was and I am sorry I did not try these sooner. I am hoping these might work with any food and I will not have to keep her on the i/d for too much longer. You can get them at Vegan Essentials with some other rad goodies from their shop.


p.s. It's my birthday and I'll talk about poop if I want to!

What do they put in that stuff?

I tried switching Penny's food about a month ago because I did not want to keep feeding her poor quality food disguised as good food (Hill's Prescription Diet I/D formula). I had read a lot about how corn is not good for dogs, especially those with digestive troubles. So I start looking for a new food for my dog, and in doing so, finally read an I/D label that lists the first ingredient as corn. I was paying as much or more than I would for premium dog food for what looks like cheap food. It didn't make any sense and I was really pissed off.

I slowly made the transition to a new food and it seemed to go well for a while. But pretty soon her problems started up again. I wanted so badly to put her on healthier food but her insides were definitely in disagreement with me. Maybe she is street to the core and just will not eat like a suburban dog.

I admitted defeat and changed her back to the i/d a few days ago. She's back in business, eating like it's going out of style and making normal movements. I'm glad she is doing better but I am still unhappy with the "cure" or whatever you want to call it. I'm going to keep her on it for a month or two but am going to start looking for something else that might work just as well.

beegan at the beginning

For the past year Ms. Penny and I have been battling her digestive system. Ever since she came home "fixed" she hasn't been the same. She had diarrhea so often I started to call her "Scooter". The first few times I started crying as we walked because I could see how miserable she was. We did white rice/cottage cheese at first. She would do fine for a few days and it would start up again. Then she was on canned i/d diet, which helped out for a while. Then she had antibiotics and stayed on the canned i/d. That food is so ridiculously expensive. For a few months I was spending more money on hers than my own, but what are you gonna do?

After a while I was able to switch her over to the dry i/d food. I was glad to have her on dry since it should be better for her teeth and I won't lie, I was also glad to have a bit more money in my pocket. She did well on that formula for quite some time, but once again, she started having troubles. I started tracking her on my calendar and it seemed to be a regular schedule of every few days she would go "bad" again. I had been reading my own food labels for so long, I cannot believe I did not read hers. I feel horrible for feeding her that "prescription diet" for so long. Corn is the first effing ingredient. I cannot believe I dumped so much money on food that was not good for her. I remembered the vet said she might have developed a type of colitis so I dog md'd that to see what dietary changes I could make since I'd like to avoid meds where possible. One of the suggestions was to change the protein.

I started mixing Natural Balance Vegetarian with her i/d dry food a few weeks ago. She seemed to do fine for a few days, but you can guess what still happened. Over the weekend I decided to pull the i/d entirely and only give her the Natural Balance. She's also been eating the Bear Biscuits, which are veg but not vegan due to honey. She really likes them so I will keep them until I find a vegan alternative. So far she is doing much better. I haven't had any messes to clean and I have not heard her stomach gurgling away.

I've been doing more reseach on vegan dogs and I'm excited about the change. I ordered her a pound of Sam's Yams which I have read lots of wonderful things about. They should be excellent for her chewing urges and sweet potatoes are full of fiber. Hopefully this swap will stick and she can be a happier, healthier spoiled beegan dog.

p.s. The pic above is one of her first toys, an homage to "busy bee", which I think lasted at most two days.

on the regular

Great news! For the first time in months, Penny is solid, and her poo is too. She is finally back on an all-dry food diet which is so much better for her as well as my pocketbook. I'm hoping after some time I can take her off the prescription diet and put her on another premium dog food that I don't have to buy at the vet, but for now I will say I have never been so happy to pick up poop.

Now that we have this under control we can get back to getting her under control. She's not a bad girl but we are obedience training drop outs and we need to get to working again. Since we've been going to the park almost as much as we used to, she is getting re-socialized and making tons of friends. Everyone loves her which is great because I see so many gorgeous dogs of identifiable breeds and sigh for a second thinking of how I used to want a dog like that but they wouldn't be as great as my little brat. Neither of us are gorgeous in any typical way but I think we are each cute in our own way, crazy and full of love to give and that is what matters.

p.s. I almost got into it with that guy about not leashing his dog again, but by the time I made my way around the park to tell him something he did have her on a leash again so maybe the yelling did work.

rabbit rabbit

I'm crossing my fingers that all of the dog drama is winding down and I can start to get back on track. We went for a little jog this morning and it felt great, will be even better tomorrow since my new shoes should arrive today. I am trying to get back on the health wagon, have to start making menus and shopping smart again. There's lots of stuff I should be doing but am not, so I'm just going to have to take on one thing at a time.

I am re-learning to ride a bike. It's super embarassing, but I am doing great so far. I don't know why "easy" things like this are so difficult for me to do. It can only be because I make it that way. Everyone always made fun of me for being uncoordinated and so on, but now I am old enough to know not to listen to them. I am a little freaked out about going beyond our block since we live off a really busy street, but I know I will do it. Luckily it is a straight shot from our house to the grocery store so that will be a good first outing. I see myself "forgetting" items on purpose so I can bike to get them.

Oh and the second round of vegan twinkies had a more generous amount of filling, so I was feeling them more. The peanut butter s'mores from sweet & sara are amazing. I am glad I only bought one. Good thing they are kind of $$ for individual treats or I would buy tons. Since I was treated out I did not make cupcakes, but maybe tomorrow if it is cool/rainy like they say it should be.

valley of the dogs

Penny is on antibiotics for the next four days. Don't worry I won't let her turn into a pill poppin' puppy.

p.s. I am aces at collecting stool samples now!

super scooper

The last two months have been, to put it literally, shitty. Penny has been having digestive issues ever since her spay and I have been on poop patrol.I figure I bore everyone around me enough talking about it that I don't need to go the extra mile and spread the word to the internerd as well.

We went to the vet on Tuesday and we're trying to rule out a few things before freaking out. He said to put her on the canned i/d again until she firms up and then try the i/d dry food. Thank goodness he only charged me for the cans because this shit is getting expensive. It's about 27 bucks for a case of the canned stuff which only feeds her for about four days. I have to feed her a bit extra right now to get her back to a healthy girl size. She was getting a bit ribby.

She does great on the canned food but I'm hoping she will do just as well on the dry. It's only the second day so I probably won't know for sure until Monday/Tuesday. She usually does well for 1-2 days and then it starts to go soft and just gets worse from there. I have the paperwork to back this up, no joke. You have to. So keep your fingers crossed that she can stay firm and we can keep her on the prescription dry food and at some point put her on a "normal" dry food. As long as she is healthy that is all I really care about, but I'm hoping we can get a little bit more on the affordable side of health in a month or two. Afterall, Mommy is only working 32 hours these days.

Penny isn't the only one to drop a few pounds, I did too. I am officially calling out 15 lbs since January. Even though I have a long way to go, I am really proud and excited. I know not too many people can really tell yet, other than a few close co-workers and my sister. I know that wearing older clothes that do not fit me the best isn't helping out. I have to start wearing some more fitted things and showing off a bit. I did work for it, I get to work it.

i should be reading

but on my first quiet day in some weeks i decided to rot my brain on the internet instead. it took me forever to finish a motivational book, which doesn't mean the book wasn't good, i just lost my, um...motivation. he's a great speaker, but it seems some of the spirit is lost when not transmitted via the proper medium.

i'm aiming to get back on track with reading and cooking and everything else now. lots of things fell to the wayside when i was caring for the pup. i still am/do, but in between feeding and walking there are some decent gaps to get other things done and i need to fall into them gaps. i cooked sunday and yesterday, easy repeat stuff like quinoa primavera and black and white bean soup. i took tonight off and had leftover taco mix over rice with some salad and fyh monterey jack on top. tomorrow i am cooking another repeat. let's see if i can ribbon brussel sprouts and slice tofu any faster this time. i am totally cheating with the brown rice too.

there are four or five books i've yet to start and need to finish since they're almost due. i'm not sure they're all renewable either so i definitely gotta get a move on. when i was little i would dump whatever fave stuffed animal i had as soon as i got a new one. i've noticed i still do that. i am throwing all the "boy" books aside to read lavinia greenlaw instead. even though i just got it and will have it for longer, i want to read it now (read in veruca salt: "i want an oompa loompa now deddy" voice), so i'm gonna.

p.s. mike tv is actually my fave character from that movie.