PS Solly is ADORABLE.

The problem with dogs is–they don’t let you know when they’re hurt until it’s awful. I’ve let ear infections fester, have found untreated wounds, and quite often find hidden puddles of barf around the house. But you’d never know from their behavior. They’re not nearly as whiny as humans. Except when it’s time for dinner.

Why, yes. Yes, they do.

I’ve got two fat cats, and a dog who put on weight after a knee injury and a new job kept me from taking her on good long walks. I got yelled at about the dog, though I think that was mostly because of the speed of the gain, rather than the fact of it. She’s not really fat at all, but the vet wants me to watch it.

I’ve had some luck getting my cats to lose a little weight by switching them to a high-protein, low-carb cat food. Lite foods, especially dry ones, are full of carbohydrates, and since cats are carnivores, that doesn’t really help.

I use Innova Evo, because it’s dry. I can’t stand dealing with wet cat food.

Mind you, they’re old now, and not terribly inclined to exercise, so there’s only so much switching their diet can do.

Anyhow, in terms of being a bad parent, I can relate. My Jack Russell Mickey had a small growth on his back leg. Well, we let it go for a little while and noticed after a few months that it had slightly increased in size. We’ve since had it removed, but have been told that is a cancerous tumor (grade 1). Basically this tumor will grow back and our options were $4500.00 for radiation treatments with an 85% success rate OR to amputate his back leg. My husband and I are not in the financial position to pay for radiation treatments, which leaves us with the second option. I feel horrible….and hope, against all odds that the tumor never returns and Mickey keeps his back leg.

Anyhow, I wanted to share. Sometimes issues with our best friends on four legs are unavoidable, even if you’d like to turn a blind eye.

Yes, and cats who reach the late teens often develop hyperthyroidism, which makes them lose weight no matter how much they eat. So given that more cats than ever are reaching those ages, it makes evolutionary sense for them to be heavier, since they’ll need that extra padding when they get older! Also, the pet food these days is by far better quality than it was 20 or 30 years ago, Chinese wheat gluten scandals notwithstanding, hence more larger animals.

Ardala is SO CUTE. And yeah, “shepherd/fox/dingo” looks about right. :) The pic of her on the Lassie star kills me. You’re brilliant.

I got Solly from an all corgi and corgi-mix rescue , so I was looking at pics of all sorts of corgi mixes before I ended up with him. Yeah, they make damn cute dogs. You can see more of Solly and Lucy from 2000 here. His muzzle used to be so black!

Fuck. I need Dogster pages.

Since we adopted her from the SPCA, we have no idea exactly what kind of dog she is, or how many littermates she had. I’m thinking of getting that “Wisdom Panel” doggie DNA test done, but my roommate is totally against it. She is also against me referring to Ardala as a Dingo, though, so I’m not sure her opinion matters.

[/KITH fanwankery]

My sister called me one time to say, “I just saw Solomon’s twin!” and I got all excited. And I saw her German Shephered/Basset Hound mix’s twin on a rescue site once and had to forward it immediately. That’s the weird thing about having mutts — when you see a similar one, it’s this stupid big deal.

I know Lucy had at least one litter of pups before I got her (her lady parts are a little worse for the wear), and I wonder all the time about where they are and what they look like. Because I am that kind of obsessed dork.

And yay for living to 17!

Honestly, though, I have no idea HOW we would reduce Solly’s weight if we needed to — especially if he had mobility problems that made exercise even more of a pain in his (and my) ass — short of starving him. So I hope it never comes to that.