Friday, March 26, 2010

Special diets, what's good for the goose...

Hi world! I had to take a little break but I'm back and, as always, I have something I need to get off my chest.

Not long ago, when out on one of my excursions, I ate something that really did not agree with me. When I finally made it home, I could barely walk. Mom noticed me sitting at the front door. I didn't have the strength to let her know I was back. I was walking slowly and, Mom says, I acted as if I had been drinking.

Mom picked me up. I was lethargic. Mom was frantic with worry. My stomach hurt so bad. My legs would tighten as my stomach pained and then they would fall limp with relief as the pain subsided. At first mom thought I was (whisper) constipated. She gave me a suppository (what joy...not!). Nothing happened.

I began to shake like I was freezing. I got sick. Mom wrapped me in her blanket. Yep, her blanket. Her monogrammed blanket. Now, that is true love!

I slept wrapped snug in the blanket until about 11am the next day. Mom called the vet who instructed her to make me get up and try to walk. I did...slowly.

Little by little I started feeling better. But I ended up going in for a check up anyway.

The diagnosis: pancreatitis. Definintion: I ate something bad for my stomach.

The vet gave me a shot and a stool softener along with some meds to take for 10 days. The vet instructed my mom to allow me to eat only my Science Diet small bites dogfood. I can have (rarely) boiled chicken but no other human food.

Now...to discuss the unfairness of the whole ordeal.

When humans are put on a special diet, most of the family is subject to eat the modified dishes too. But not when Doggebone is placed on a strict diet. It is not fair. Really. It is NOT fair.

As I sit eating dry bites of dogfood I can smell hamburger steaks with onions and gravy, mashed potatoes, butterbeans (I love me some butterbeans! Just say "butterbeans" and see how I react!), mac-n-cheese, and cornbread. How in the world can those smells help me with my diet? It is not fair.

I vote for uniform diets across the board; at least when the household pet is an inside pet. After all, would you give me steak if the doctor told you that you could only eat toast? Of course not! So why not apply the same premise to my special dietary needs? Why not tone down the family meals to help out ole Doggebone?

Heck, if nothing else, a little dab of butterbeans and gravy on my dogfood would be better than dry dogfood. Certainly that can't be all that bad for me. All I ask is a little courtesy and compassion for my dietary plight. Is that asking too much?