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Well, the turkey is all gone (and Cami ate her fair share) and the Christmas Tree is up. I can’t believe we’re in December and 2009 is almost over. Doesn’t it seem like the Y2K thing was just a bit ago? Anyway- here’s the potential trouble spots this time of year- so watch out for them!

1. Candies and Chocolates- We love them and so do our pets. Their GI tracts can’t handle them the the same way as ours, and chocolate can be poisonous. So keep the treats out of reach.

2. Tinsel, ribbons and strings- Adds beauty to trees and packages, but can be deadly to our pets. Swallowing these can lead to tongue lacerations, linear foreign bodies (that then need surgical removal) and potentially death. As alternatives, try “sparkley” larger ornaments on the tree and hand decorated gift tags on boxes (paper usually isn’t a problem).

3. Electrical cords (in new places)- Those extension cords, so very needed for our Christmas lights, represent a new and interesting “snake-toy.” Very bad!!! Try covering cords with painters tape or throw rugs to keep them out of sight.

4. Christmas Tree water resevoir- Okay, so you thought water was harmless. Not if you use tree preservative added in (or aspirin if you’re old school). Both of these things can be very toxic, especially to cats. Remember too- flocking (or snow covering) on trees is also toxic.

5. Small ornaments and toys- Remember, small shiny items are very attractive to dogs and cats. Small parts can be ingested and very often get stuck. This means surgery- so stick to larger, non-breakable ornaments, and try to keep the lower branches sparse.

6. Tasty Holiday Dinner- A taste for your pet is fine (avoid the onions, raisins, and high fat), but keep portions to just a taste.

7. Guests/Family- It’s great to have your loved ones visiting and of course they love our pets, too, but our pets are curious about new people and things- so keep those guest room doors closed. That way their possesions stay safe and so do your pets.

Lastly- the fat man in the red suit can start a fire and steal your pets- keep your eyes peeled!!!!
Happy Holidays from Debbie, Dr. Ernest, Charlene and , of course, Cami the Supermodel!!!

Our last recheck with Dr. Wolf went very well. He’s very happy with Cami’s progress and she doesn’t have to wear her “party hat” any more. YEA!!!! Dr. Wolf discontinued all of her antibiotic drops, but now added a steroid drop to help decrease scarring (which may help her retain more vision). Cami also now has to work on keeping that eye moist, since all the damage has decreased her ability to produce normal levels of tears. All in all- we are very happy. Thank you for all of your concern.
From now on, I hope that we can write about “funner” stuff.

Today was Cami’s recheck appointment with the ophthalmologist. (She wore her brown gingham puppia today). He says the eye is healing well and if it keeps going this way, in a few weeks it should be healed. Of course, her sight is not going to be normal, but she may be able to see light and shadows, thankfully her eye may outwardly look normal. Considering her attitude, I don’t think anyone will know that she’s compromised in that eye.
Sadly for her, she still has to wear the e-collar (we’ve started calling it her “party hat” so she doesn’t get too depressed) until it’s completely healed.
I’ll post a last photo when we are all done, but hopefully this will be the last post on this subject. Thank heavens!!!!

Cami eye update- The sutures have been removed and the shape of her eye is much more normal, the color of it though is a bit scary- it’s red, very red. The doctors assure me that this is a good thing, it means that it is healing. So hopefully, a corneal graft is no longer necessary. However, her future sight is in question. Keep your fingers crossed!

It’s Monday, and we made it through the weekend. Cami’s eye is still nicely sutured closed, and we’re still doing medications many times a day. Her recheck exam with Dr. Wolf is Thursday- keep your fingers crossed!!!
PS- Fashion dictates the use of something other than that Elizabethan collar (the cone of shame), so we are trying Doggles. Aren’t they cute?!

Well, 2 rechecks later, and her eye still looks awful, but apparently is healing. The problem is that Dr. Wolf (the ophthalmologist) says that the healing is going very slow now, and her cornea is shaped like a protruding ice cream cone, and it is going to stay that way if it heals.
Of course I freaked! A MORE protruding eye than her Pekingese-self already has! That’s an accident just begging to happen again- isn’t there something that we can do?
Dr. Wolf said that to help flatten the cornea as it heals, he would recommend suturing her eyelids shut (temporarily) so that the pressure keeps it flatter, and healing speeds up (hopefully).
So that’s what we did- Cami had that surgery on Wednesday afternoon. You really can’t believe that drama from Cami- the IV catheter placement was akin to a leg amputation in her mind- she was REALLY MISBEHAVING for such a small thing. Surgery went well though, and very fast. She looked terrible, but wasn’t painful and for that I was happy. Unfortunately, the next day, the sutures had loosened and her eye was exposed some- NOT GOOD. So guess what? Yep, back to surgery to have the sutures re-done—so again with the DRAMA! This time, Dr. Ernest did the procedure (Cami really likes her best anyway).
Today, all is well. Sutures are holding, Cami is eating, but she is grouchy. Not that I can blame her, I would be, too. Actually, I kind of am. I wish this were over, but only with a healed eye!

Well since Lotus’ egg wasn’t fertile, but we didn’t want her to keep laying more, we let her nest with it for the approximate incubation period for Macaws (between 25-28 days). So, last weekend we removed the egg… Lotus seemed okay with that. I guess she was over the whole mother going nowhere bit! She’s now back to her normal self- screaming, talking, chewing up things and overall craziness. (’Kinda wish she still had her egg- she was quiet then).

For those of you who don’t know my bird, Lotus, she is a 20 year-old Green-winged Macaw. She has lived with us for 18 years and this year decided to nest. On June 13th, she layed her first egg ever. Granted, she doesn’t have a mate (unless you count that she thinks I’m her mate) so her egg isn’t fertile, but it still seemed like a big event in our family.
Lotus’ egg is about the size of a medium chicken egg and is white. Green-winged macaw incubation period is about 25 days, so when it doesn’t hatch around that time, she should abandon it (hopefully sh’e read the book on that one).
Just thought you may want to know!
Debbie