Shih Tzu Vet Update: Four Star Visit

I wanted to talk about flowers today, but Mom said I should talk about our annual vet exam we had yesterday at Clear Creek Animal Hospital. First, Mom tricked us. She knows that whenever we get in the car we think we’re going to the nice park for a walk, but we were wrong. It was too late to escape once we saw where she was really taking us.

She was happy I didn’t get frightened and pee on the floor like I used to. However, Nigel “marked” his visit and they had to rush to get a paper towel to clean it up. That’s probably why he got to be examined first. Before Dr. Lindsey did that, though, we all got weighed. Candy weighs the least, at 13.40 pounds. When we came to live at the Freeze Hacienda after living at the puppy mill, she weighed 11 pounds. The doctor says she is a nice weight. Dottie is a little more “plump.” She weighs 18.40 pounds! The doctor wasn’t that concerned, though, since her weight has hardly changed over the last few years. Mom says she is a “big girl.” When Nigel came to live with us he had been very sick, and he only weighed 10.80 pounds. Now, however, he weighs 14.40 pounds. Well, now I have to say what I weigh. I weighed 13.60 pounds in 2011. Now I weigh, gulp, 16.60 pounds. The assistant put me back on the scale because she didn’t think that was right, but it was. The vet says I should lose at least a pound so Mom says I am going to get less treats. Bummer!

We all got a Leptospirosis vaccination — whatever that is. Mom and the vet talked about Nigel’s eye scare earlier this year. He had a corneal perforation. We aren’t sure how well he sees out of it. I guess Mom needs to take him in for a checkup at the specialist for that. Beyond that, she thought Nigel was pretty healthy.

Candy might have a food allergy and Dottie might too, because of some problems with their ears. Candy’s ears are a little “thick” and Dottie has a lot of wax in hers. The vet asked if they itch them a lot. Mom said they used to but that she was cleaning them (with Vet’s Best Ear Relief) and Candy and Dottie didn’t seem to be having a problem lately. Dr. Lindsey said that if it gets worse, Mom might have to do some food tests to see what food might be causing the problem. Dottie is 8 years old and her vision might not be as well as mine, but otherwise, the vet said she was in good health. I don’t know why she didn’t say she needed to lose weight!

Besides the vet saying I need to lose a pound, she also said I have to go in to get my teeth cleaned. Ugh. I guess I have too much tartar on my teeth. Mom was disappointed since the vet always told her how good our teeth looked. Mom thought our teeth were good because of the chew sticks she gives us, but they must not be helping my teeth. I hope that doesn’t hurt!

The good news was that the vet told Mom if she had gold stars, she would give them to us! So I guess we did pretty good!

 

Shih Tzu Day 98: The Shih Tzus Weigh In

Weigh In

three shih tzusthree shih tzusI keep looking at my little girls and thinking that Dottie and Flower may need to eat a little less! I finally got out their adoption paperwork and checked their weight from when we got them. Dottie weighed the same and Flower and Candy have gained a half pound, so it’s not as bad as I thought. I was surprised that Flower, at 14.5 pounds, weighs a half pound more than Dottie.

I think Candy is at a good weight, at 11.5. I also weighed Nigel, since we are trying to get him to gain weight after his illness. I didn’t weigh him when he got here, but Delores had told me he weighed about 9 pounds. He weighed 10.5 today.

Best Dressed

shih tzu in a houndstooth dressshih tzu in black sweaterWhen I was at Ross Dress For Less today, I couldn’t resist looking at pet stuff. I saw the cutest little houndstooth dress. It looked pretty small, but I thought it might fit Candy. I also saw a black sweater with a skull on it that I thought would be perfect for Nigel. Nigel’s fit him just right. I thought Candy’s fit, but when John got home he thought it looked a little snug. I will have to take it back and see if I can find a larger size. John said it looked like Candy and Nigel were going to a school dance or something. It would have been cute to get their picture together, but I would have had to force them to sit together.