The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

More on Whiskey and budget things

Well we have another update on Whiskey.  Yesterday I took her to the vet's to have the staples removed.  The technician removed two of the staples before noticing that something wasn't right with Whiskey.

She called the vet in to have a look and said that Whiskey has a hernia.  When Whiskey had her operation there were three layers of stitching, two that were on tissue inside of her and the final one with the staples on her outside skin.  Some time in the last two weeks one of those inside layers of stitching came undone.  They can't say for certain if it was something that they had done or if it was something Whiskey may have done.  We tried to be careful with her but after a short time she was jumping up on the bed and rolling in the grass, kicking up her legs, so who knows.  Anyway she is back in at the vet's today to have the incisions opened up again and restitched.  They are able to do this with just having her under gas instead of a full anesthesia.  They will absorb all the costs involved except for the gas used to put her under which I was told was a nominal fee.  After asking how much that would be I was told about $150 plus tax, so much for a nominal fee!  Anyway it has to be done.  We find this very frustrating but these things do occasionally happen even with humans and operations.  Whiskey was not a happy camper going back in today and I am just waiting for a phone call to tell me when I can go and get her.

Our budget was shot last month and looks like it will be again this month.  Last month was Whiskey's operation and our food bill was up a lot.  This month it will be work done on our little car, it is getting front end work done on it today.  Basically this is just wear and tear work that needs to be done.  We really have been very lucky with the car and haven't really had to do anything to it except regular maintenance.  Also our food budget will be up again.

The food budget is up over normal, one because we are stocking up on some items and second because I have dicovered that I am either Celiac or just have an intolerance to wheat.  I don't think that I am a true Celiac because I am able to eat a small amount of wheat in certain items.  Some wheat products irritate my system and have been losing weight since May or so, I think I lost almost 15lbs and I really don't need to lose any weight.  I talked with the doctor about a number of things and had some blood tests done.  After seeing her again, she came to the conclusion that I may be Celiac and to start on a wheat free (gluten free) diet.  I am not really finding it hard to follow, but I sure do miss having a toasted bagel!  Anyways this is why the food budget has climbed, gluten free products are EXPENSIVE!  One small loaf of bread is $5.99, cereals hot or cold are again pricey.  I am trying to experiment with various gluten free flours, I've made several attempts at making bread but none were very successful.  They tasted fine but were really tiny, hard to make a meat sandwich out of, lol!  I have to figure out how much of the different flours I need to bring with me to cover the time we are in Mexico as I think it will be hard to find products like that there.  For the most part I don't think this will have a huge impact on us but it will make things a little more of a challenge for us.  I am noticing a positive difference with the new diet though and that's a good thing.

I have also started making Whiskey's food.  She is suppose to be on a low protein diet and it is better if the food is moist rather that dry.  So far she is liking it, but I am not sure how much to give her.  I can find a number of recipes online but they never say how much to give them.  I will ask at the vet's today if they know and if there are any vitamins or minerals that I should be adding and if so how much.  The food is basically mashed potatoes, cooked ground chicken, mashed carrots or any other veggie we may have around and brown rice/oatmeal/or other grain all mixed together.  I guess if we are ever starving we could start in on her food!

If anyone has any good dog food recipes, gluten free recipes or any ideas on either please feel free to pass them on to me, thanks.

I am going back to Kingston today once we pick Whiskey up and then tonight Hans the owner of the campground is treating everyone who worked there over the summer and their significant other, out to dinner for the end of the season get together which is really nice of him.  This will be my first real test at a restaurant with the gluten free diet.

11 comments:

  1. Oh poor Whiskey, I hope they get it right this time, I worry each time they are open , about infection.For lots of Gluten Free Recipes check out Fabgrandma.com she is Gluten free also and has a lot of tips, her e-mail and comments are always open.Sam is leaving in the morning for Scranton PA for a month he says if you are going down I-81 to call him at 314-223-5763. He will be his sisters nurse after surgery in Oct. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  2. http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/recipes
    Gluten free website with recipies

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  3. hey mom, with the gluten free bread, try to 1.5 the recipe or double it in one bread pan...

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  4. It doesn't sound like something too serious for Whiskey and I guess those things can happen. It's hard to keep an animal down after surgery though, isn't it. Hopefully you both will be fine.

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  5. Goggle the BARF diet for Dogs. I put my cats on it for a while and no more vet bills. However, if she is not suppose to have protien, Bones and Raw foods will not work for her. But the information out there for making food is entensive, I am sure you can find something.
    Yes, the Gluten free stuff is expensive.

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  6. Good luck with your new diet. I would be really upset if I had to give up wheat. I love it and we eat it in some form just about every meal. Thanks for sharing and hope your puppy does alright..

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  7. Poor Whiskey! I think that happened with my dog when she had to be operated on as a puppy and she had the hernia her whole life. I'm glad they at least agreed to fix it.

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  8. It's great that you can at least get Whiskey home the same day. Sure hope the operation was a complete success and that she'll be fine soon.

    A nominal fee for gas? $150! Must have been some kind of high-octane, special kind of gas but it sure sounds like a lot of gas for a small dog if you ask me.

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  9. Sam and Donna...Thank you for the website for Fabgrandma.com I will definitely be checking that out. Picked Whiskey up this afternoon. Not a happy camper, she seems to have picked up a bit this evening. It is hard to see her back to square one when we thought she was doing so well.

    I don't think we will be seeing Sam, when we leave we will be heading west to the Windsor/Detroit crossing rather than Hwy#81 crossing. Hope everything goes well with his sister and that they have a nice visit together. Its good of Sam to go and help out his sister out like that.

    Anonymous...Thank you for the website, I will definitely be checking it out as well for recipes.

    Lindsey...I had thought of doing that as well. See you in a week and a bit!

    Karen and Al...Yes it is hard to keep them down. We are trying to lift her up as much as possible so that she isn't jumping, but we came home from dinner tonight and there she was up on our bed. What can you do?

    Chrissy y Keith...Thanks for the info, I will look into that as well. The vet is going to email a lady who is an animal nutritionist and have her email me some recipes that will help with reducing the crystals that cause the bladder stones as well as help with her kidney values.

    Pidge...I am not finding it too hard, even tonight at supper wasn't that bad, althought I sure wanted to reach for a slice of bread. Whiskey is doing well, we already see an improvement with her from this afternoon. For 14 years old she is a real trooper!

    Diana...Yes they were really good about it, but it was frustrating all the same, as she seemed to be doing so well.

    Rick and Paulette...Whiskey seems to be doing well, we will keep our fingers crossed. For a 14 year old dog she is still very active so this will be a challenge for us to keep her calm. The bill was much better than I was told it would be. With the gas, another urinology test and so pain killers plus tax it was only $127. I think they may have given us a break.

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  10. For Whiskey:

    ARRFFF BARK BARK
    RUFFF RUFFFFFF
    HOWWWLLLL BARK BARK


    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Duke and Duchess
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  11. Whiskey says thank you for thinking about her Duke and Duchess. She is starting to feel better again. We are trying to keep her real quiet this time around. Lifting her up onto everything and not walking her too far, although we didn't do that last time, but she was jumping up onto things. It will be so nice when she is back to normal.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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