Adventures with Astrid

Today, pup Astrid wanted to share a quick snippet from a recent walk. She decided to show you all how seriously she takes her walks, hence why she wouldn't look at the camera.

If you look at her back right foot in that second photo, you can perhaps get a glimpse of how Astrid is missing the outer toe on that foot. She lost that toe almost exactly 6 years ago to cancer. She's been cancer free since, something for which I'm eternally grateful.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

***

Flashback Doodle of the Day

I shared a new doodle recently that was similar to the one below, but also different. This one here inspired the new one I scribbled up this year, which was a bit darker in tone. Anyway, here's a little something from last year.

***

Tip of the Day

Since September is Animal Pain Awareness Month, we'll be finishing out the month with a short series of tips on this topic. Today's tip relates to how our furbabies might let us know they are in pain. This can be a bit difficult sometimes, as cats and even dogs can be very good at hiding pain. This is why we must be very observant of our furbabies on a regular basis, in order to know when they aren't acting themselves.

The symptoms of pain in our furbabies can vary greatly, depending on the source of the pain, as well as the individual animal. You might see decreased activity level, or even a decrease in your cat or dog's appetite. Another potential sign is an altered gait, or an unwillingness or inability to move or jump. A cat in pain might avoid or miss the litter box, and a dog in pain might have accidents inside the house. Aggression and hiding are yet more potential signs that your kitty or pup is in pain. The list of signs and symptoms of pain in animals could go on and on. This is why it's imperative that you know your kitty or pup's norm, and that you make frequent observations of their activities and behavior in order to catch when anything is out of the norm. Altered activity or behavior could mean any number of things, pain being one possibility.