My Beta is Constipated

Now there is a title of a blog post I didn't think I'd ever write. I looked at our beta, Kip, when we got home today. At first, I thought he was dead since he was laying at the top of the water on his side, but when he saw me he got excited and started swimming around. He wasn't swimming quite right though and he looked bloated. I confirmed that Pipsqueak hadn't fed him lately without telling me, so it wasn't overfeeding. I thought he was a goner, but I hit the internet anyway.

Come to find out constipation is the most common problem in betas, and most longterm beta owners are bound to have it to deal with at one time or another. It can be deadly, but luckily, there is treatment and it's simple. Cook a frozen pea until it's mushy, put some on the end of a toothpick and drag it through the water to tempt the beta to eat it. Don't feed until the bloating is down and the blockage has passed. Kip took his medicine like a good patient. I'll give him another dose of pea tomorrow to be on the safe side. It says he should be better in a day or two. If not we'll have to try plan two, an epsom salt bath. I'm hoping the pea treatment works.

Here's Kip on a better day.  He didn't want to be photographed all bloated and clumsy.

Just Kidding Around

A friend of ours has five-week-old pygmy goat kids, which we visited on Sunday. If you're unfamiliar with pygmy goats (which I was), they like to jump up and stand on high things. When they're small, a person's back makes just the right platform.

Pipsqueak couldn't wait to have a goat on her back.

Sweetie's broad, manly back had room for two. That IS NOT his best jacket. That's his gettin'-dirty jacket... perfect for muddy goat hooves.

Kids are like puppies and... well... kids. After a little play, they get tired and enjoy curling up in a lap for a little rest.

A Monty Moment

With another arctic blast on the way tomorrow, and me, still nearly frozen in place from the last one, I'm not in a good state of mind to write anything mildly amusing or informative. Instead, I will let pictures speak for me and entertain you with corgi cuteness.

If there is meat on the counter, he likes to be as close as possible. Those short legs only take him so far. He is using good manners and sitting.

And once you've taken care of the inside of his tummy, he likes attention to the outside with a good scratch.

I'm not sure why he decided to put his butt on the pillow, but he looks like it feels good.

Meet Monty

Hi, I'm Monty, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

The nice lady that writes this blog belongs to me. She's been busy the past couple of days getting ready for a tag sale. I hope she doesn't take any of my toys; some of them still have stuffing to rip out. Anyway, I thought I'd help her out. After all, she does a lot of stuff for me... feeds me, brushes out my loose fur, scratches all those hard to reach areas and talks to me in a sweet voice. She does a few things I don't like, too... baths (we dogs like eau de deer scat on our necks), and that angry voice and finger finger wagging I get when I do something that's perfectly acceptable in dog world, but apparently a faux pas in the human world. The worst thing she does is leaving in the car and not taking me. I know I must be missing a fun time, and I love riding in the car.

There a small person that belongs to me too. I like to play tug of war with her, but I worry about her. She's pretty small compared to the other humans here, so I follow her around a lot when she's home just to make sure she's okay. She did choose me over my seven brothers and sister, so I feel like I owe her something. I usually sleep on her floor for awhile when she goes to bed, since I know she doesn't like being alone upstairs. As soon as I hear something in the kitchen though, I down there. There could be an ice cream bowl to be cleaned or some other yummy offering.

I love food. They feed me some great food here, but the stuff those humans eat is amazing. I love it all... meat, fruit, vegetables. I lay under the table when they eat because that small person drops stuff once in awhile. I love doing the pre-rinse of the stuff in the dishwasher. It's like a mini-buffet.

Oh, and there's a cool guy that lives here. He growls at me and then we wrestle, or I do the duck and dance while he tries to catch me. He's the pack leader, so I listen to him most of all.

So, I spend my days sleeping, eating, visiting my neighbor dogs (Oliver and Ruby), ripping up my toys, and following that nice lady around the house. Oh, I like to herd birds and helicopters too, but I haven't caught one yet. I'm a herding breed, and since no sheep or cows live here, I herd what's available.

Wasn't I a cute puppy? I'm 1 1/2 dog years now, but I'm still pretty cute. I must be since they look at me and say, "Awwww!" a lot.