Einstein has been shedding a lot recently, turning my dark blue carpet a shade of light gray. So I took him in the backyard and practically brushed a whole dog off of him using the FurBuster. There were clumps of white hair floating all over the yard when I was done.
Both the FurBuster and the FURminator work by removing the loose undercoat, thereby reducing shedding in the house. I've also tested the FURminator, and both products provide the same results, so if you already have a FURminator, don't rush out and buy a FurBuster.
But if you don't have either product and have a shedding problem, I'd go with the FurBuster because it is much kinder on the wallet. The medium-sized FURminator is $54.99 at PETCO, while the medium FurBuster is $32.99 at PETCO. The medium FurBuster's blade is also a bit larger than the FURminator and it is replaceable. So if you wear it out, you can just replace the blade without having to buy a whole new product.
An Iowa cat has tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Since it happened right in my backyard, I wrote the story for the newspaper I work for.
The virus was passed from the cat's owners, who had flu-like symptoms, to the cat. The good news is the virus was not very severe and the cat has recovered, although the veterinarian said that doesn't mean all cases will be so mild.
There still is no evidence that H1N1 can be transferred from humans to dogs or from cats to humans. But until last week, the consensus was that cats couldn't get the virus either.
For more information, click here to read the whole story.
Ever since we turned the clocks ahead Lady has continued to wake up an hour earlier than normal.
It wouldn't be so bad, if she didn't cry every five minutes until my alarm goes off. This of course makes sleep impossible. Have any of you had to try to get your dogs on a new schedule? How did you do it?
Sorry I've been M.I.A. I just got into the "Twilight" series and have been consumed by the first novel.
But here's a blog that will combine my love of dogs and my new obsession with "Twilight." Rachelle Lefevre, who plays Victoria in the movie versions of the Stephenie Meyer series, is appearing in series of public service announcements from Best Friends Animal Society, promoting adoption during the holidays when many families add a pet to their family.
Hopefully her star status will help the public become more aware of the puppy mills the pet store puppies come from.
This photo was taken at the one and only costume contest I brought the dogs to in 2007. Sophia was out of control the entire time and Lady was scared to death of all the people, so we never went to another one.
Jeanne de Andrade received excellent news when she took Smokey to the ophthalmologist at Tufts University today. The veterinarian there said there is 98 percent chance he would regain his sight in his left eye through surgery.
His right eye, which he has some vision in, is a little bit trickier because the cataract has started to fuse to the lens. The veterinarian won't be able to tell until the surgery if the procedure will be successful. But while there are still risks, the veterinarian said they are low, and that if it were her dog, she'd do the surgery.
Smokey has one last test on Dec. 3, but the veterinarian expects everything to go well so that he can have cataract surgery on Dec. 9. And in even more good news, the pressure on his eyes is also normal, which is a good indication that he has a low risk of developing glaucoma later on.
The surgery is more expensive than at the first ophthalmologist we took him to, but Jeanne and her husband are more than willing to pay the amount that is above what we raised for him. Debra Fraker, K9 Kindness Rescue's president, and I are so glad that Jeanne took Smokey. She clearly is willing to go above and beyond for the little guy.
Jeanne and her family have definitely fallen in love with Smokey. She had this to say about him:
"This whole process has been so rewarding to my family and I – we just love Smokey so much. Before I met him I always thought that I was adopting him because he needed our help, what I didn’t count on is how much we needed him. He brings so much love and light to everyone he meets. He is such a special dog, truly a gift, and I thank you and Stephanie from the bottom of my heart for rescuing him and giving us this opportunity to have this wonderful dog be a part of our life."
I'm going to start a new feature on this blog that I hopefully won't have to write about very often called, "Things my dogs ate."
First up is an item I only discovered was eaten on the way out. As I was cleaning up after the dogs in the yard last weekend, I saw what looked like worms coming out of one of the piles. At first I thought I would be making a trip to the vet, but as I looked closer I realized the stringy pieces were attached to the body of a frog.
That's right, one of the dogs ate a frog. The whole thing, in one gulp. While I have no idea who did it, my money is on Sophia. I could easily see her catching the frog in her mouth for fun and swallowing it by accident.
I share my home with three dogs that I like to call my practice kids and my husband, Adam.
Sophia, 2, is a black cocker spaniel that has many more years of puppy in her. Lady, 4, is a rust cocker spaniel, who spent the first two years of her life in a barn and is learning what its like to be loved. Then there's Einstein, 4, a parti cocker spaniel. He is the latest addition to the family and was adopted in 2009 from a local animal shelter.
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