It’s another gray day in Portland, Oregon, a moist environment only suitable for mold, rot, allergies, moss, and infection. It’s especially hard on small pets like our Schnauzer, Tinker. She’s getting up there in the years; we believe her to be almost 12 human years and 94 dog years old. Cold, wet weather is hard on her large, sensitive ears, vulnerable skin, and arthritic joints. Only the veterinarian prospers, with what now seems like weekly visits for ear infections, eye seepage, and lesions. I feel sorry for the old gal, as she itches her way through each day despite our efforts to monitor her diet and keep her regularly treated.

Our cabinet is full of her prescriptions that seem to do little good. She’s reluctant to eat her dinner or snarf down a treat for fear that a pill is hidden somewhere within. Her kibbles often sit in the bowl, too similar in consistency to the tablets that we force down her throat. We’ve now resorted to rice and chicken in lieu of canned foods that are loaded with unknown additives. We know she’s allergic to wheat and eggs, but the constant moisture in the air is her worst enemy and something we can’t control. When we lived in Texas, for example, she had fewer problems with her bat-like ears and aging skin.

Tinker looks like she could fly by simply spreading out her ears like Dumbo, but her constant appetite and pudgy stomach keep her grounded. She could be related to the millions of bats that live under the Congress Street Bridge in Austin, Texas that take to the skies each night like a massive cloud of black smoke. She could smell them on her afternoon walks, as they slept in the cool darkness of the bridge joints after a long night of devouring mosquitos and other bugs. Austin is where Tinker met her younger sister, Tally, a jet-black schnauzer that we adopted nearly 8 years ago. Neither of them had their ears cruelly cropped, as is common with the breed to give them a more distinctive look. However, many will argue that cropping will reduce the vulnerability to ear infections that we constantly battle.

Tally usually accompanies Tinker to the Vet’s office, but other than annual check-ups and shots, she has enjoyed outstanding health. She’s the first to jump on the scale as we enter the waiting room, waiting for acknowledgment by the receptionist. Tinker and Tally (T-N-T See Post #211) are the cutest combination of pups. Tally smells the infection growing in Tinker’s ears and serves as a detector for its presence, by aggressively licking the area. It’s as if she’s permanently attached to the side of Tinker’s head until we get it properly treated. That treatment is now typically an injection, in an attempt to avoid the pills that she has learned to despise. Too often we would find the pills hidden around the house, as she somehow tricked us into believing she had swallowed. It just got to be too much of a battle.

Yesterday, while Tally supervised, Tinker received an impression smear and two injections. Cha-Ching! One was an anti-biotic and the other a steroid to hopefully control bacteria growth and keep her from scratching the affected areas. As I’ve written many times before: Pet. Vet. Debt. Tinker is comfortably napping on the chair in my office, while Tally is content in the living room, guarding the patio door. Hopefully, we can stay away from the Vet until after the first of the year when she’ll need x-rays and an exam. In the meantime, I’ll save up!