What are you thinking, Little Girl?

Note: This picture is pre-allergies. She's on a new medication for her allergies; it's called Atopica. It's been working well so far. She's on a half-dose right now - she's a little itchy once in a while, but it's not that "scratch-scratch-until-she-peels-skin-off" itchy.

The Big News

It's official: I own a home! (or, at least a mortgage). What that really means: Lola has a yard! A little one, but...yay! A yard!

It's a fixer-upper and I will chronicle the fixer-upping on another blog, Assorted wormieness...and I may also randomly comment on life in general. :)

An update on Lola meeting Kaylee (not that Kaylee ) & Lola's allergies will be forthcoming later this week.

No Halloween Costume This year

I had much fun last year dressing Lola as a pirate for Halloween. Between work and "the potentially big news," life has been exhausting the last few weeks and so I was not able to dress Lola up this year. Super-sad! I had some good ideas too (hula girl, Mrs. Colbert, and Dancing with a Star). Well, you may see one of those next year. I feel really bad about that, but I promise something fabulous for the Holidays. :)

Lola is Special, medically speaking

Lola (or more specifically, her anatomy/biochemistry, I suppose) seems to delight in stumping my vet (and keeping my creditors in the black). First was her urinary incontinence and you all know that ended with me taking Lola to a doggie "innards" specialist. Lola has had some itching on her paws and on her face; the itching on her face evolved into some irritation, accompanied with a little swelling that comes and goes every few weeks. They checked for mites & she seemed mite-free; the itching on her paws was due to allergies & has gone away with some allergy pills. The vet said her face showed the "classic" symptoms of allergies with a secondary infection. Antibiotics were prescribed. They didn't help. More antibiotics were prescribed. They didn't help.

Next, he thought that maybe it was food allergies so Lola was only allowed to eat hypoallergic dog food (luckily available in venison which is what she likes) on a trial basis. (It might take 6-8 weeks to see an mprovement.) That's right, no treats or chicken or bits of whatever I was eating. It was a sad day in our house. Seven weeks of that have not helped.

She was scratching her face so bad the last few days (she even ripped some skin off her face) that I took her in this morning. The vet said, "She should have gotten better by now. I think it's time for a specialist." So yes, Lola now has to go see a doggie dermatologist.

Apparently, only specialists for my girl!

I've been meaning to submit her DNA to the doggie DNA database, so maybe it's a good thing that I keep forgetting about it. Now, I can include details about her resistance to meds.

I just want her to be okay. :(

Also: there might be big news early next week... :)