Spaying
Sue: Pearl had her operation at around 6 months.
Pearl: And then that dog attacked me.
S: Pearl recovered quickly from the surgery - I think she was up and running the next day. She still had stitches in her belly, though, when I took her for a walk about 5 days later. The Jack Russell from next door went wonky and raced out the door as we were passing. He kept leaping up onto Pearl and though he wasn't biting he was darned aggressive. Freaked us both out.
P: Mommy scared him away.
S: After screeching at him he finally took off.
P: That was a scary day.
Vaccines
S: Pearl gets regularly vaccinated - rabies is required by law and most kennels require kennel cough. But lately I've been wondering about the usefulness and maybe even danger of some of the vaccines.
P: Mommy, that's crazy!
S: Maybe. But there's a growing literature out there on holistic ways to prevent disease. I'll keep reading for now.
Fleas
S: Again, Pearl takes medication for fleas but I have been reconsidering this in light of the holistic material I have been reading. We may actually try garlic this summer.
P: To keep the vampires away?
S: To keep the fleas away.
P: Ooooh. Vampire fleas. Scary.