Monday

We took Dee Dee to Honeymoon Island this morning for her walk. 

We renewed our park pass for another year. That was one of the best purchases of the past year. Because of the pandemic shutdown, we got two extra months to make up for the lost months. 

We took Dee Dee home and drove to Dollar General to pick up a new mop and a few other items. Then we walked the causeway from the store. We got about 1/2 mile from DG and started wondering whether or not we had dropped off Dee Dee at the house or was she still in the back of the car. Horrors! So we turned around to check. She was safe and sound back at home. I can understand how parents forget and leave their kids in the car. You've got your mind on 20 things and you depend on your routines. If your routine gets disrupted, you could easily forget a step. Speaking of steps, our double-checking just added steps to our morning walk. Win-win.

The water was very clear today.

We had a great lunch. Fruit bowl with yogurt, pasta salad, and turkey and Swiss on toast.

Dee Dee Dee’s doctor called while we were walking. Her blood work indicates that in addition to congestive heart failure, she also has kidney disease. 

We had been told that she had kidney disease last year when she had her check up in Mebane. In fact, that’s when we started her on Science Diet Kidney Disease dog food. The food was either contaminated or she had severe allergies to it because it almost killed her. Her health has been poor ever since. She hated eating it, but she eventually would. But it made her so sick. It took us a while to make the connection. We went back to her old food.

We told her doctor about that experience and he recommended that we make her food from scratch using recipes on the internet. We found several recipes for dogs with kidney disease. Essentially they are high fat, low protein, rice, fatty hamburger, sweet potato, bread, egg, calcium carbonate (supplement for bones, muscles, and heart), and pet tinic for vitamins and minerals, the last two items ordered from the Internet. 

The tough thing, the doctor said, is that heart disease and kidney disease treatments work against each other. Her heart needs protein but her kidneys can’t process it properly so it builds up and becomes harmful. Similarly, the diuretic removes excess fluid from around her heart but overworks her weak kidneys. 

So it’s a catch-22. 

We went out to get ingredients to become dog food chefs. 

Our first attempt was successful. She ate every morsel. She loved it!

Meanwhile, we had another salad with curry chicken strips and a side of pasta salad.

Miles walked: 8.6

Miles biked: 3.85