Tuesday when we went to Colton's Oscar's former owner's mother (Ruby) asked if he is as finicky an eater as he was. "He would get one bite, take it and lie down on a rug and eat it." Not so now. And maybe April didn't have a cat. Bitty has caused Oscar to be crazy when it comes to feeding time. But I can't blame it all on Bitty.
We started out with very good intentions back in the winter, when Oscar had dry skin and itched and scratched till not only he was miserable, but I could feel his distress. It hurt me to watch him scratch. The remedy was a little olive oil on his food. Not only did I start giving that to him, I gave him about a tablespoon of canned dog food mixed with the dry, just to be sure he ate all the olive oil. He is now spoiled to the canned food and has gained weight. He pants. I think part of it is because he has extra weight to carry around. (I'm sure it can't be that Someone Else in our house raises the thermostat during the day, until I get home and have to turn it back down! Today I left two ceiling fans on where Oscar stays during the day: kitchen and den.) I decided to put Oscar on a diet of sorts, start feeding him like I used to - 1/2 cup dry food in the morning. That was it for the day. He ate when he was hungry. So weaning him off the canned food, I just put a dollop of it in his food bowl and I could actually hear the sound of him sucking it up whole. (Not really, but it was all in one swift bite!) So back to the Real Square One: Dry food only. Canned only occasionally as a treat. Olive oil only as needed. (We use soapless shampoo now. Paul said it costs more than what he uses.) Before, he would eat only when hungry. With the canned food, I've finally figured out, not only does he love it, but he is "protecting" his food from Bitty the Cat, making sure she doesn't get it, not that she's ever touched it. She does drink water occasionally from his water bowl.
It takes Oscar a while to train us.
I also read a story about a 21-year old dog (Chanel, who is going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest dog) yesterday and her vet said that dog years are: first year is 15 human years; second is 10 years; third and following are 5 each. So Oscar is actually about 37. The story also cited another dog who lived to be 29 years and 5 months. I hope we have Oscar that long.
1 comment:
Yes, ma'am, I did give notice. There was no need to put up with everything that I have. Even Jesus cleared the temple when He had enough!
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