New home, new perch

At my old place, Cooper used to sit on the windowsill and watch the building next door. In our new place, Cooper sits on the windowsill and watches an alley-way and a courtyard where a million and a half pigeons flock about pooping on our windows.

Here he is admiring the view. There's a bar right next door, so he gets to watch homeless people dig through the dumpters to collect cans and bottles.

That's a pretty good 3 feet off the floor but Cooper jumps it with ease. I got nervous about him bumping his head on the window so I put a chair over by the window so he can climb up using that. And yes, that's a large binder clip holding the blinds together so they don't flap around in the wind making that ear splitting crackling sound.

Ah Cooper, you're so majestic...

Bark

I found this video on a website I like: http://www.urlesque.com/. They have random cute, funny, gross, you name it videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArnunZlPvxo&feature=player_embedded I wish I could teach Cooper that trick but he doesn't really bark.

Hooray for emergency vet bills

Hooray for me, I got my raise and with it, a giant step into the next tax bracket. After my first paycheck with the raise on Friday, I set aside a fairly good chunk into my “Hooray, new apartment and furniture!” fund. Alas, most of what I saved into that fund went into Cooper’s “haha, I’m fucking up your plans!” fund.

As noted, I joined the Bansfield Wellness Program for Cooper keeping a teeth cleaning in mind. I scheduled a teeth cleaning appointment for Saturday and had to wake up at 6:30 to drop him off by 7. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my previous vet hadn’t sent over his complete records and I had to spend an hour on the phone explaining that yes, I know about Cooper’s heart murmur; it’s actually a ventricular septal defect. Finally, they get him on the table and start scraping away only to call me after 20 minutes informing my that Cooper cracked a top molar all the way down to the root and his nerves were exposed. WTF? When did that happen? How long has that been there? Cooper never showed any pain and I had no idea how long his tooth was cracked.

Second question: How much is that going to cost?! $400. Well, that included his antibiotics and pain meds but seriously, 400 bucks to pull a tooth. Granted, it was a huge molar and because of his heart problem they had to hook him up to another machine since they needed more anesthesia but still, there went half of my savings from the paycheck. Without the wellness plan, it would have cost a whopping $650 bucks.

I felt bad, I have no idea how that happened and neither does the vet so it’s not like I can do anything preventative such as no more tug of war, bully sticks, bones, who knows what else. Luckily, Cooper had tartar build up in the crack that was cushioning his nerves so he probably didn’t even notice it which also made me wonder if I could have left it as is but figured if it got worse, it’ll probably cost me more. Ugh, poor little buddy. I feel like an awful pet parent both because I had no idea and also because I was seriously considering leaving the tooth as is.

He’s pretty swollen and looked rather miserable yesterday. He was enthusiastically running around and tried to jump on my bed, miscalculated the leap and face planted into the side of my bed and screamed in pain. He’s been sulking in his house ever since only coming out to whimper in my ear and give me those big sad eyes. But he gets to eat wet food for a week and he’s pretty stoked about that.

Dog friendly, my ass

I finally got my promotion and raise which means that Cooper and I can finally afford to move into a bigger place. Unfortunately, despite all the boasting of being so "dog-friendly," I'm having a hard time finding an apartment I like that allows dogs.

I don't mind paying a pet fee, that's a given but I wish I could find a place I like that's dog friendly. A lot of businesses and areas in Denver say they're "dog-friendly" when really, they turn into Nazis yelling at you that your dog is not allowed in this area. Cooper and I had an unfortunate run in with a random security guard who bitched me out about walking Cooper through a courtyard that I thought was dog-friendly as 6 people walked by with their dogs.

Alas, in conclusion, Denver-you are a gigantic bullshitter. You are NOT dog friendly. Or at least make bigger signs saying I can't bring my dog here.

Gullible

Every once in awhile, I go on work trips. Once, I was in Pinellas County, Florida and my co-workers and I were enjoying drinks on the beach. I'm the youngest in any work trip I go on; there's only 3 of us in the office that are under the age of 30. Anyway, because my co-workers are my parent's age, if not a little younger, we don't have too much in common. They know about Cooper and we usually just talk about our pets or something neutral like kids or something. Anyway, here is one of the most awkward things I ever said to a co-worker:

(Phone buzzes)

Me looking at the phone to see who's calling me: "Sometimes when my phone rings, I think it might be Cooper."

Co-worker: "..."

They probably think I'm retarded and very not qualified for my line of work.

Cut to a few days later, my office phone rings.

Me: "Hello, this is Alisa."

Person on phone: "Woof, woof! Mom?! Woof woof!"

Me: "...Cooper?"

Person on the phone: "Alisa, are you serious? This is (co-worker)"

Me: "...NO! I wasn't serious..." (blushes and looks furtively around the office to make sure no one heard me)

Yep, I'm so gullible it's sad. And it's true, sometimes my phone rings and I like to think it might be Cooper. Yes, I need a life.

Bansfield Pet Hospital

As one dog died, I had to take my other one to the vet this weekend and I'm sure Cooper wanted to die a little when I took him. I used to take him to a private vet practice but they are really expensive and while the vet technicians and vets are really nice and friendly, they're really granola and never fully check Cooper's teeth and ears because he knows that if he screams, they'll leave him alone. They're so terrified of stressing him out that they won't trim his nails, either. I think that's ridiculous, he knows that if he screams and squirms, usually people will back off but not me, I'm relentless.

Anyway, I decided to try Petsmart's Banfield Hospitals. I signed him up for their Wellness Program which covers all yearly shots, a dental (including anesthesia), blood work, fecal exams, and 15% off any other service or product (like his HeartGuard or whatever brand they use). It's $37 a month with a one-time fee for signing up of $69 dollars. I figure if I get him the dental, it would definitely be worth it. Plus, I don't have to renew after a year if I don't like them.

Cooper was due for rabies, parvo, and bloodwork to make sure he's still heartworm free and also a year's worth of heartworm preventative meds. In all, including a nail trim, that one time fee, and first month's payment, my total was $173. Without signing up for the wellness plan, the total was $270. If I take out $106 for those one time fee and first month's payment, I would have paid $67 for his heartworm meds (for one year) and the nail trim. Overall, that was way less than what I would have paid at his old vet hospital. Typically a yearly check up including shots and bloodword and the meds cost around $300 at Cooper's old vet. I guess financially, Banfield makes sense.

His wellness plan will cover all vet visits, too. I have to take him to the vet twice a year because come spring, his allergies go crazy and the poor little guy is a miserable swollen mess. It's good to know that the only thing I'll pay for in the spring is his meds which I will get 15% off. God, I'm such a penny pincher like my mom...always trying to find a good deal.

I used to be really prejudiced when it came to vet care for Cooper. Probably because he has so many health problems, but I really believed that the more money I shelled out, the better the care was. When Choo Choo was a pup in Iowa, we had an awesome private practice vet and she was seriously amazing. She was the only certified vetrinarian and her staff was pretty great and it was so nice to have the one vet who really understood all of Cooper's quirks and problems. That was my biggest issue when I moved to Colorado, I couldn't find a private vet and I hated the rotating vetrinarians I would have to see whenever I took Cooper to his old vet hospital.

So I took him to the most expensive place I could find thinking that these people would be more than qualified to give my dog shots and figure out his health needs. Instead, they really nickel and dimed me and made me feel awful when I would decline on certain shots that I was pretty sure Cooper would never need (bordatella being one; I don't take him to dog parks and he doesn't have much interaction with strange dogs). Although, I did like how they really took the time to explain every little thing to you.

Anyway, joining Banfield...I dunno. I won't have the one vet who gets Cooper, but at least the qaulity of healthcare Cooper gets is on par with his old place and Banfield won't get all psycho on me when I decline a shot or something. I mean, these are qualified vets who have a degree and a doctorate and stuff, so I know Coop's in good hands, and they aren't all hippie-ish and worried about messing up Cooper's chakras so they won't trim his nails. I guess I'll have a year to decide if I should stick with them as my primary vet.

Good bye, Sari

I found out this weekend that my dog Sari died. She was 13.

Apparently she died last Monday but no one told me or my brother until Friday night. That's my family for ya, they never tell you anything immediately and by the time I found out, the Humane Society had already gotten rid of her body so I couldn't even ask to get her cremated.

I wish I had some pictures of her; my old laptop crashed/broke/something technical and I never had the chance to pull out my pictures of her. I'm really depressed and sad and it's hard knowing that when and if I visit my dad again, she won't be there to greet me.

Rest in peace, Sari. I truly believe that there's an amazing afterlife for dogs and I hope you're there now with an endless field to run in and endless creatures to chase. I'm going to miss you forever and ever.