Blue too

Oh, Blue. Our poor baby Blue dog. As soon as the weather got warmer, it seemed his paws began to itch. We are not sure if he's developing a late allergy in life or if the landscapers sprayed some kind of toxic chemical on our grass...that our kids also play on...every day.

Anyway, as dogs usually do, he began to lick his wounds. They began to fester. I didn't want to take him to the previous vet we had used because the last thing they had given him made him soooo thirsty, we could barely keep enough water in his bowl. There was definitely something wrong with that and since all the meds were in chinese and the vets could barely speak english...I decided to try and find someone else. So, I did some research and found a vet about an hour away, on the other side of the city...ugh. BUT, he's British...so, that gave me hope.

We trekked on down there and sure enough, Blue has a serious infection on 3 of his 4 paws. That must be soooo uncomfortable! :-( Really serious infections too. We just had a 3 day weekend (labor day here) and his paws had gotten worse exponentially. It got so bad, that the infection stinks to high heaven! You could smell him (or his paws at least) down the hall! Poor, poor Blue!

THIS vet seems to think that the OTHER vet prescribed some kind of steroid the last time...which isn't what he should have been on at all. Grrr. It was nice to be able to actually talk to this vet in english. He sent us home with a medicinal shampoo for his paws, antibiotics, antihistamines, etc. Whew! I threw in a couple of doggie bones and we were on our way home.

I immediately started him on the medicine, washed his paws and put nylon booties on him, so he doesn't have access to lick them. He really hates that. However, I tried to explain to him it's the booties or the collar...and mom really hates the collar. So does he...he just doesn't remember it.

Anyway, I can't wait for the medicine to kick in...not only because it'll make him feel better...but also because the stink will probably go away. Nothing smells worse than festering infection. Yuck!

The bigger picture is...what are they spraying on our grass?? Talk about "yuck!" WHO KNOWS what they are doing! And, of course, it is almost impossible to find out the REAL ingredients of any of the pesticides they use. IF they fess up to using any at all. And, OF COURSE, that throws me into a full loop of other questions...like...Are they spraying something on it? If so, what? Is it toxic? If so, how much? What are the ingredients? Is it safe for humans? If not, how unsafe is it? If they don't use it, will we be getting an infestation of unwanted insects in addition to the unbearably hot weather? Is it possible to even get more eco-friendly or organic pesticides? Where would I start to look for that? Who would I ask? How would I ask?

AAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just another thing to worry about. Hawaii is looking better and better, all the time. Can't wait for a break!