As some of you may know we have a sweet 6 year old greyhound/black lab mix dog named Prada that spends most days upstairs at the office “working” at the feet of my wife Becky.

She was not acting like her food loving, dog walk loving, curious self so Becky took her in to see the Vet which ended up with a trip to MedVet up in Worthington yesterday evening/night.  We don’t know the cause but she has some internal bleeding around her heart and they were able to stabilize her last night.  She will see the cardiac specialist this morning and hopefully they can determine a cause for the bleeding.

If you have ever been to MedVet with your pet you know the rollar coaster of emotions that happen while the ER docs are trying to diagnose the problem.  The longer your pet is there the more time they have to evaluate and determine the problem.  I guess what I am saying here is…. don’t delay in waiting to take your pet straight to MedVet.

If your own vet is waiting several hours for a lab to give them test results, that is probably not the right place for your pet to be waiting.  Ask your vet directly if the results would be faster and if your pet would have better care in this situation if you went directly to MedVet.  Because if your pet waits all day at your vet just to be sent to MedVet at 4:30 PM…. the specialist are all on their way home.

There are specialists in all fields of medicine for a reason.  Every patient whether they are human or an animal needs a patient advocate.  Don’t be afraid to speak up to a doctor if you don’t think the patient is getting the care they need.  If you or your pet has a special situation go see a specialist.

We have been making homemade dog food for about a month now for a variety of reasons and now I think our dog, Prada, would revolt if we stopped.  My wife and I like to cook and homemade dog food isn’t hard to make, mostly chopping up meat.  We get our inspiration from the Healthy Dog Cookbook but have begun to improvise based on what we have on hand.   The cookbook even includes portion sizes based on the weight of your dog.

Here is Prada’s current favorite you might want to try it for a special occasion for you dog.

Chicken, Pumpkin, Yogurt Delish

3lb skinless/boneless chicken (white and dark meat)

1 cup pumpkin (just pumpkin, not pie filling)

1 cup whole milk yogurt

1 cup brown rice

Blackstrap Molasses

1. Preheat Oven to 350, lightly oil a roasting pan
2. Put the chicken in the roasting pan and roast until the juices run clear.  (20 – 30 minutes) Let cool.
3. Dice into large pieces
4. Cook rice or barley according to package directions
5. Mix together everything but molasses
6. When you serve, drizzle with blackstrap molasses