My Golden Girls...

It's hard to believe that Molly has barely been with us 2 weeks. Her Birthday is tomorrow (2 weeks to the day we got her!) and she will be 11.

The girls have coexisted very well from day 1, but it's interesting to begin to see them interact with each other. The 4 of us were walking yesterday evening and we walked by Cheyenne, the dog who lives next door. We stopped about 3-4 feet away from Cheyenne so Molly could see her from a distance. The first thing Molly did was nudge Tink and look at Cheyenne as if to say "Hey, what's the deal with this dog, is she a friend or not?"

Molly jumped into Tinker's bed with Tink in it last night too. She appears to want to touch Tinker when she is close to her : ) Tink isn't quite sure what she thinks of that yet. The concept of snuggling with any one else aside from her Mommy appears to be a bit disconcerting to the little girl!

I've also noticed that Molly seems to know that Tink is very well loved. She looks at Tink snuggled up in her bed or snuggled up with me and then looks up at us as if to say "I wish I had that...." And she is beginning to get some of that. I hope that she feels the love that we have for her here... she jumped up into bed with me and Tink this morning and again, laid down touching Tinker. The 3 of us had a chance to snuggle for 15 minutes or so this morning. (I didn't have to get out of bed and to work this morning... my car decided I needed a day off when it didn't pass inspection yesterday. The Jetta has since been fixed and is ready to go, but not until 10:30 this morning!)

I made some more meatloaf for the girls this morning...venison, peas, kale, cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash, eggs, some meatloaf has barley, some has oats. Tinker has been doing so incredibly well with the new home cooked diet and supplements (calcium and her Ph+ from Wysong). Both of the girls are looking and acting fabulous, body functions have regulated for the 2 of them too.

Molly has an appointment with a holistic vet in Palmyra next friday to see if there is anything naturally we can do for the cushings. She's on the high end of normal according to the last test and I would love to see if we can get her down into the low end of normal without drugs. There seem to be some good natural cushings help options online, but we're waiting to see what the vet says before we order anything else.

I have loved this morning with them. The 2 of them are currently sleeping in the same area... Tink on the floor, Molly on a bed. Everyone is quiet and peaceful; a beautiful way to spend the morning : )

Tinker and her quest for venison meatloaf

So Nick and I were up late on Friday night preparing food for his grad party and then he watched the Philly's game while I researched kidney failure and ordered a few supplements for Tink. While we're up, a post comes across on freecycle: venison meat for dog food. We reply stating we're interested and can pick up on Saturday morning. Great. It's ours.

We were just talking about cooking more for Tink to help her body out which is why I was buying more supplements (calcium and a Wysong Biotic PH plus.) Nick and I were thinking 5, maybe 10lbs of meat. We were excited because no sooner had we discussed a plan, God was already helping to provide an affordable way to do this.

We showed up saturday morning and had 4 bags full of meat. Nick weighed it all when we came home. Over 50 lbs of venison is shoved in our freezer (ok, 45, we cooked with 5 lbs this weekend.) I did some research about how long meat can be frozen and we should be just fine. Everything smells and tastes fine and she is LOVING it! here are some pictures we took just after her meatloafs came out of the oven. As you will see Tink is IN the kitchen. She doesn't venture in there very often unless something VERY yummy is in there and she can't wait! She was even nudging my leg like "will you hurry up, Mom!"

Wrong way baby girl

I'm waiting mom....

mmmm! That's the stuff!

Of course everything had to be Tinker tested and approved!

She hasn't come up for air yet, i think she approves!

She has been so excited about her food! We still give a tiny bit of kibble, but with all the research and reading, it seems home cooked is the way to go. And with venison, why not? We substituted rice instead of oats in the meatloaf because i guess oats are high in phosphorus and that is what I am trying to avoid! The venison was already ground and appears to be a bit greasy, again which is better for her and her kidneys. Lots of cabbage, carrots, some fennel too! Mix a little cottage cheese and her longevity and voila! A tasty treat fit for Tinker!

Her body especially needs more calcium now, so a supplement is a must! (they should be here by friday.) She's making it through some nights and not others. But some is better than none! She seems pretty content, although getting comfy this evening is proving a little challenging for her : ) My little heart dog is such a joy in our lives.