More on Whiskey and budget things

Well we have another update on Whiskey.  Yesterday I took her to the vet's to have the staples removed.  The technician removed two of the staples before noticing that something wasn't right with Whiskey.

She called the vet in to have a look and said that Whiskey has a hernia.  When Whiskey had her operation there were three layers of stitching, two that were on tissue inside of her and the final one with the staples on her outside skin.  Some time in the last two weeks one of those inside layers of stitching came undone.  They can't say for certain if it was something that they had done or if it was something Whiskey may have done.  We tried to be careful with her but after a short time she was jumping up on the bed and rolling in the grass, kicking up her legs, so who knows.  Anyway she is back in at the vet's today to have the incisions opened up again and restitched.  They are able to do this with just having her under gas instead of a full anesthesia.  They will absorb all the costs involved except for the gas used to put her under which I was told was a nominal fee.  After asking how much that would be I was told about $150 plus tax, so much for a nominal fee!  Anyway it has to be done.  We find this very frustrating but these things do occasionally happen even with humans and operations.  Whiskey was not a happy camper going back in today and I am just waiting for a phone call to tell me when I can go and get her.

Our budget was shot last month and looks like it will be again this month.  Last month was Whiskey's operation and our food bill was up a lot.  This month it will be work done on our little car, it is getting front end work done on it today.  Basically this is just wear and tear work that needs to be done.  We really have been very lucky with the car and haven't really had to do anything to it except regular maintenance.  Also our food budget will be up again.

The food budget is up over normal, one because we are stocking up on some items and second because I have dicovered that I am either Celiac or just have an intolerance to wheat.  I don't think that I am a true Celiac because I am able to eat a small amount of wheat in certain items.  Some wheat products irritate my system and have been losing weight since May or so, I think I lost almost 15lbs and I really don't need to lose any weight.  I talked with the doctor about a number of things and had some blood tests done.  After seeing her again, she came to the conclusion that I may be Celiac and to start on a wheat free (gluten free) diet.  I am not really finding it hard to follow, but I sure do miss having a toasted bagel!  Anyways this is why the food budget has climbed, gluten free products are EXPENSIVE!  One small loaf of bread is $5.99, cereals hot or cold are again pricey.  I am trying to experiment with various gluten free flours, I've made several attempts at making bread but none were very successful.  They tasted fine but were really tiny, hard to make a meat sandwich out of, lol!  I have to figure out how much of the different flours I need to bring with me to cover the time we are in Mexico as I think it will be hard to find products like that there.  For the most part I don't think this will have a huge impact on us but it will make things a little more of a challenge for us.  I am noticing a positive difference with the new diet though and that's a good thing.

I have also started making Whiskey's food.  She is suppose to be on a low protein diet and it is better if the food is moist rather that dry.  So far she is liking it, but I am not sure how much to give her.  I can find a number of recipes online but they never say how much to give them.  I will ask at the vet's today if they know and if there are any vitamins or minerals that I should be adding and if so how much.  The food is basically mashed potatoes, cooked ground chicken, mashed carrots or any other veggie we may have around and brown rice/oatmeal/or other grain all mixed together.  I guess if we are ever starving we could start in on her food!

If anyone has any good dog food recipes, gluten free recipes or any ideas on either please feel free to pass them on to me, thanks.

I am going back to Kingston today once we pick Whiskey up and then tonight Hans the owner of the campground is treating everyone who worked there over the summer and their significant other, out to dinner for the end of the season get together which is really nice of him.  This will be my first real test at a restaurant with the gluten free diet.