Thursday, January 16, 2014

Allergic Dog


So the latest from the vet on Olga's periodic gastric distress is that it's not giardia after all. He thinks she has food allergies.

I am skeptical -- I mean, Olga was a street dog, for God's sake, a dog that ate anything and everything off the pavement before we got her. But I suppose it's possible that she was left with a sensitive gut as a result of her hardscrabble early years. In any case, we now have her on special hypoallergenic food and numerous medicines, all of which I suspect the vet sells at a healthy profit, and we'll see how she does. Time will tell if her gut calms down. If it really is giardia or some other infective agent that managed to elude the stool analysis, hypoallergenic food will make no difference.

I applied for our Chinese visas yesterday. I took all our paperwork and our passports to a disconcertingly dingy walk-up office near Oxford Circus, where three people were working in cramped quarters surrounded by towers of dusty, rubber-banded paperwork. (Not much of a filing system, to my eyes, but who am I to question?) I should be able to pick up the visas on Tuesday, assuming all goes smoothly. Hopefully I won't be hit by a bus between now and then, or otherwise in need of my passport and my UK residence permit.

(Photo: An apparently closed hotel in Mile End, on Sunday.)

6 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

My son's new kitten/cat has food allergies that cause his poop to be, well, nasty.
I think Hank is paying more now for the cat's food than his own.
He loves that cat. Just as you love Olga.

Vivian said...

if the "dog food" is expensive, i would cook her some rice and boiled chicken...it has worked for me in the past and you can cook up a bunch and freeze in small bags. poor Olga.
xoxoxo to Olga.

Reya Mellicker said...

Poor Olga.

Or should I say poor Steve and Dave?

Jake was a street dog, too. His digestion was dodgy his entire life. I had to be so careful, fed him special food, etc. Allergies are not confined to any one group.

Hope it works!

Nancy said...

Ahh, the visas. That's another chore you can check off your to-do list.

Get well, Olga!

ellen abbott said...

If it's allergies, it's likely that they were either the result of being a street dog or that she had those difficulties even as a street dog. Either way, bummer.

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

Hi Steve !!! Thanks for your comments on my ice sculptures. I actually made front page headlines of our local newspaper on Monday. All is well. My year is off to an awesome start. I hope Olga feels better. Can't wait to follow you to China. xoxo.