Monday, October 3, 2022

Feeding the (Sweet, Sweet) Beast

After Farmer H endured my interrogation about the (stolen) dog food and the de-wormer medicine on Saturday, he proceeded to mix up a dish of food for Sweet, Sweet Juno. I could hear him on the porch.

"Juno! JUNO! Come on and eat! NO! Jack! Get away from there! That's not yours!"

I heard and then saw Juno trot around the porch, past the kitchen windows, and heard her lapping water from the dish by the laundry room door. Then she went skipping back, on her three legs, still favoring that back one with the mystery injury.

"Okay. Come on. JACK! NO! Get out of here! Junoooo. Come on."

I wanted to go to the door, and once again inform him that he was scaring Juno by talking harshly to Jack. But when I do that, the dogs come running to the kitchen door for a treat. So I sent a text: "If she won't eat it, bring it in, and we'll give it to her later." I got no response. After another five minutes, I went to the door and told Farmer H. "I sent you a text!"

"I know. I got it."

You know. I'm supposed to be a mind-reader. Farmer H carried in a full dish of dry/canned dog food. He said he had put her de-wormer in it. So she needed to finish eating to get the rest of the medicine.
 
"I actually gave her two cans. She ate the first one, with half the medicine, but now she's not eating the second one." 

Of course not. Not in the midst of the 3-ring circus that is Farmer H trying to coax her. When I got back from town about 90 minutes later, I set the dish in Juno's house. She started lapping at it right away. Polished off the whole bowl. In the privacy of her abode, where she wasn't worried about a pair of Jacks stealing it.

Farmer H said that both Juno and Jack ate the new dry food when he dished it out on Sunday morning. He also put a can of food on more dry food for Juno later that afternoon. And around 9:30, I gave her a thawed frozen dinner from 2017: Beef Stroganoff. Dogs are handy disposals for cleaning out the freezer!

I think Juno might be looking a tiny bit less emaciated. Farmer H agreed. Maybe I'm just seeing her after she's gorged herself after multiple feedings. At least she acts like she feels okay, and is not refusing food.

2 comments:

River said...

I'm wondering why Farmer H split the wormer medicine. Just put the full dose in the one meal! At least Juno is eating again. Is it possible she has partly dislocated a joint? Or broken something?

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
Maybe he split it so Juno didn't notice the taste as much? She's finicky. Every now and then she puts the foot down and bears a little weight on it while standing. So I don't think it's dislocated or broken. If we could grab her without a big struggle, maybe Farmer H can get a good look at her foot pads. She's got a healed bite wound on her other haunch, but that doesn't seem to bother her. She might have tangled with another critter again, and we can't see any obvious injury. Or maybe she sprained her knee. It would be so much easier if she could talk!