Itchmo: News For Dogs & Cats

I thought I was a big dog person. We had little ankle-biters when I was a kid, so when I became a married grown-up type person with a house of my own, I logically opted to fill my home with larger breeds of dogs. In short order, we had a Llewellin Setter, a Labrador Retriever, and a Weimaraner. All three are wonderful family dogs and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I was happy.

And then I turned 40. So I adopted a small dog.

I know, that is a pretty big leap in logic. Chalk it up to the feminine mystique, guys. And truly, the big Four-Oh in and of itself isn’t a huge hairy deal. By the time you’ve got kids, your own birthdays take a back seat to your childrens’ birthdays, and the Big Day isn’t such a big event any more. But 40 was somehow significant to me, because I accepted that I would have no more two-legged babies in my house until my own children have children. And I love being a mom. The species of the child is irrelevant.

A couple of months before my birthday, I felt a change coming on and began browsing Petfinder.com for small breed puppies. I told myself I was just looking … awww, how cute! … and the small breed pups would get adopted or moved to a rescue very quickly.

Then I spotted her: her name then was Lilly and she was in a shelter about three hours away from us. She was an eight-week-old black, tan and white Chihuahua and had been found wandering in an alley with her sister. And you know what? I had grown up with a black chihuahua! It was fate.

I wrote to the shelter, they approved my adoption application, and I made arrangements to drive to the shelter on July 14, 2005 to pick her up after she’d been spayed. As it happened, that very day was my 40th birthday.

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Is bad doggy gas associated with uncommonly dirty ears? At one time, I wouldn’t have thought so. But my experience with our Labrador Retriever taught me otherwise. And the culprit turned out to be an allergy to a fairly common dog food ingredient.

Before I proceed to the technical stuff, let me tell you a little about Harvey (he’s the handsome labbie pictured here). Harvey had gas. I don’t mean a somewhat subtle and occasional toot: I mean, Harvey’s gas was evil. It was so bad that even Harvey would leave the room.

Harvey’s rescuer, Labrador Retriever Rescue of Cincinnati, called it “Labra-Gas.” We called it bioterrorism. Harvey’s gas was accompanied by bouts of intestinal distress and the bane of pooper scoopers everywhere: loose stools.

Harvey also suffered from persistent ear infections. His ears got filthy very quickly, and always seemed to have a vinegar-like smell to them. Poor Harv would shake his head and itch and scratch at his ears. The flies tormented him when he was outdoors. It was bad.

Now, the wonderful thing about Harvey is that no matter how uncomfortable he is physically, he still loves the world and everything in it. It’s easy to want to do the right thing by a dog like Harv, and frustrating when you don’t know what to do next. We knew we could live with the gas (open the windows, provide guests with face masks, stock up on the Renuzit). But his ears were a problem that needed a solution.

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