Our dog Eliot is a Beagle, and for those of you who know about beagles, you know that they like to follow their noses, and sometimes go far from home. Eliot has escaped twice. The first time he escaped, he had pawed at the screen door until it opened up a crack and he stuck his nose through and squeezed his way out. I didn't know he was gone for about 20 minutes. Luckily his nose led him to someone's piles of garbage on the street behind us. I was 8 months pregnant at the time, and here I was running around the neighborhood shouting for Eliot (Beagles don't hear or see anything when they're on a scent...) when this little boy came up to me and told me that my dog was at his neighbor's house eating their garbage. I started up the street and saw a man with Eliot on a leash and I was so relieved. I hooked my own leash to him and brought him home. He was so stinky, he got a bath that night! The second time he escaped, he was found across two busy streets on someone front porch, playing with their Golden Retriever. The people called the number on Eliot's tag, which was the vet, and the lady brought Eliot to the vet where my husband picked him up. Eliot could've been hit by a car - we were very lucky he made it home to us, safe and sound. Without Eliot's tag, who knows what might have happened to him.
Eliot has epilepsy. He's on two different medications to stop the very frequent seizures. One of the medications is Potassium Bromide, or KBr as it's known in the animal world. He gets his dose once a day, in the mornings. It's a liquid that we squirt on his food. It makes him very thirsty, so he drinks a ton of water, both from his bowl and the toilet (we can't fill his bowl fast enough) Consequently, he pees on the carpet sometimes because his bladder is so full. Not his fault - he is house-trained. His other medications is Phenobarbital. This is a very strong anti-seizure medication and the side effect is extreme hunger. Eliot, being a Beagle, will snatch food off someone's plate without thinking - his nose is so strong, he can't help himself. But with the Phenobarbital in him, he's vicious for food. He stole a slice of pizza right out of my mother-in-law's hand! Anyway, he's so hungry he wakes us up in the middle of the night to be fed. My husband took pity on him a few times which turned the night-wakings into a habit, so we put a stop to feeding him before 6:30am. So Eliot is 40 lbs and on a great diet food by Innova. He used to be on Orijen, which was wonderful, and if he loses weight, he'll go back to that food. Anyway, because of his epilepsy, I'm getting him a tag made with his name, phone number, vet number, and epilepsy diagnosis on it, so anyone who finds him can make sure he's looked after. If he doesn't get his medications on time, especially the Phenobarbital, he'll start seizuring, and that will kill him. I wouldn't want someone to find him and take him home with them not knowing how that is a bad thing. So a tag can be a life-saving device!
My point is that there's this black cat that has started to visit our house on a regular basis, and I am conflicted. I don't know if he has a home or not since he's not wearing a collar and has no tags, but I can't take him in or feed him because of my husband Steve's allergies and our dog Eliot. Actually, Eliot likes cats so I'm not worried about that. Anyway, this cat keeps coming onto our deck and it sends Eliot into hysterics! So I let Eliot out and the cat hisses at him and bats at him with his paws (he's declawed) and Eliot simply walks around the cat and goes about his business. And the cat tries to come in the house. He bolts for the door as soon as I open it to call Eliot back in. I don't know what to do. He must be someone's pet. He doesn't look starved. Could he be a stray? I just can't understand why a person would have a pet with no collar. Maybe I should tie a ribbon around his neck with a note to the owner to get him a collar and a tag...
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