Big White Rocks!
Got home yesterday from a fantastic weekend at Big White. Hock Lai, Sue and children are all there and so are a few of their friends from the IOM, including Marius and his kids whom I last saw 5 years ago! How time flies!!
The weather was gorgeous and it was so warm and sunny that I totally packed the wrong clothes!! Having said that, yesterday morning, there was 3 cm of snow from overnight and it was dumping snow when we left! Now at least I know to be prepared for all kinds of weather up there next time we go. I have not gone spring skiing for a while, and it took me a while to get used to the softer and sticker snow, but it still beats going up to Whistler at this time of the year.
The condo at the Raven is almost ready. Most of the furniture and kitchn stuff are already there. Dan spent an afternoon there doing some work and inspecting the place and found a bunch of little (and not so little) things that need fixing. He took tons of photos both for the promotional website and for the developer. We also met Wendy, the lady who will be managing the unit for us. She gave us good info about how to set things up so that we will be ready to go the moment we officially take over the condo.
Getting back to work is difficult, but it is good to see that I have a busy schedule today and tomorrow... now that we will have another mortgage to pay, got to keep busy!!
Pet Food Toxicity
It has just been confirmed that one of the pets I saw last week is sick due to pet food toxicity. Her name is Baby June, a 12 year-old shepherd cross. She was not very sick, but because of possible exposure to tainted cat food (2 months) ago, sudden illness affecting the kidneys and unusual crystals in the urine consitent with pet food toxicity, I recommended that we started treatment with IV fluid right away. The day after she was admitted, Alpo announced that they are recalling certain products... It turned out that the food Baby June has been eating had the same lot number as the newly recalled diet! Poor owner lost her cat 2 months ago to sudden renal failure (seen elsewhere, but she suspected that it might be the food) and now her other pet is affected as well.
Glad to say that Baby June is doing well clinically; her kidney values in the blood are back to normal but despite improvements, there are still abnormalities in her urine. No one knows if there are long-term effects on the kidneys yet, but with the situation evolving as we speak, all we could do is be very vigilant and proactive about monitoring sick pets and testing any pets that might have been exposed. All I can do is try to save one life at a time!
Gander is a Rock Star
Believe it or not, Gander got 2 qualifying scores for the AKC Rally Novice Title last weekend at the WSOTC Obedience Trial! I was obviously a nervous wreck before the show and did not sleep well Friday night. Saw Linda there and she told me to 'just get over it!' to which Dan just smirked because he has been telling me that the whole time!
Anyway, this was the first time we really did a real course. It was quite straight forward and we had plenty of time to familiarize ourselves with the course (without the dogs). Gander was great when we were practicing with food before our turn, but there were so many yummy smells that he did not get to check out once we were in the ring that it was hard keeping him focused. Nonetheless, he did well for a newbie! I am proud of him and it was nice to know that we could get this far. There were 2 dogs who got disqualified on both days and they seemed like such well-trained dogs outside of the ring! What a shame!
Well, once I get the May schedule, I will know if I could attend the next show in Renton. This has been fun and I even started to relax some!
