Alvin

Alvin
Alvin sticks out his tongue when he is nervous

Sunday, May 27, 2012

My Mom Claims That Alvin Makes Her Sick - Video Included

Isn't she just rotten?  Alvin has constantly watery eyes.  Two different vets diagnosed him with distichia, which is a condition where the eye lashes grow into the eyes and irritate them.  So, we went to an eye specialist three hours away where we managed to throw $800 down the drain and traumatize Alvin.  After lasering off the offending eye lashes, his eyes watered just as much.  I am wondering if he has a food allergy but he is on food that has no wheat, corn, or soy and I have changed the protein base, but to no avail.  His eyes do not appear sensitive or irritated.  Due to his eyes watering all the time, moisture accumulates and it causes a smell similar to rotten milk.  I noticed the smell when he was still in his foster home and I thought it was kind of gross.  Since he has been here, unlike my mom, I fully accept Alvin, with all of his flaws and no longer smell his face stench.  You can only smell it if you get really close or you rub your hand on his face.  My mom seems extra sensitive to it and claims to get nauseated by it.  It is nearly useless to bathe him because within about 36 hours the smell is back and neither Alvin nor I can survive baths three times a week.  He was on antibiotics once for it because the moisture causes a yeast infection, but the vet said it was probably useless because if moisture continued to accrue, the infection would come right back.  The skin isn't irritated and it doesn't appear to cause him any discomfort.  You can imagine how he reacts to having his face wiped down, but I do it when my mom starts claiming nausea.  We often have to do it twice, with scented wipes until he passes the grandma test, who clearly has a nose of a blood hound.  Could Alvin catch just a slight break?  Of all people to nauseate, of course it has to be his biggest love.  It's sad to see him looking adoringly at her while she responds by gagging.  If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them our way because I think it's hard on his self esteem to gaze at his love and see her respond by holding her nose and gagging.  I suspect that he isn't the first male to get that response from a woman, but it surely can't be good on any males self esteem.

I broke down and gave him a bath this morning, after having sedated him with three times the amount that would work on any other dog.  I detest giving him baths because even with the sedative, he is so scared and unhappy.  Trying to shampoo and then wash off a dog's face that is scared of water and touch is just short of torture. 

After the bath, I put a bowl of food next to the wall heater so that he would dry off a bit.  It is so hard to towel him dry because he squirms and is generally scared.  I always put dry towels on the floor and sometimes he knows to dry himself off on them but often doesn't remember.  This was one of the times that he didn't remember and so we utilized the wall heater.  I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but Stevie has taken to refusing to eat out of bowls and I now have to put small handfuls of her food on the floor so that she mistakes it as a treat.  I'll be darned if she didn't miraculously decide that she wanted to eat out of a bowl and shoved Alvin out of the way.  I then went and got a second bowl of food and put it near the other bowl and Stevie responded by straddling both bowls so Alvin couldn't get near the heater.  I then took the bowl and put it near me but she insisted on going back to Alvin's bowl and shoving him out of the way.  I finally had to hold her by the collar, while she stubbornly tried to go back to the bowl, and held her until Alvin was finished.  She drove me nuts!

We made this video to guilt grandma into no longer complaining about Alvin's smell.  I should video the actual bath for her to see the trauma (for both of us) when I have to wash his face.  It's a big price to pay for appeasing a woman with the sense of smell of the Bionic Woman and the stomach sensitivity of a bulimic.  I hope she feels really bad after watching the video because Alvin and I sure did.

I hope the day remains cool because right now we have the heat pumped up to 78 degrees so Alvin won't get cold.  Grandma's nose isn't on our popular list right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7J0K9K89sU&feature=youtu.be

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