German Shepherd Dog - Puppy with Parvo Day 2 of Diagnosis

Last night, he ate rotisserie chicken and rice and drank his own water and a little of Pedialyte.

I was up at 4AM to give him his meds and I gave him some Pedialyte and water.
10AM I gave him another set of his meds and made him food that he ate. I even made it twice for him this morning. Gave him some Pedialyte and water. My mom told me that he did not have diarrhea and just peed a lot. I'm hoping this is a good sign.

12PM I gave him meds again and gave him more rotisserie chicken. Every time I gave him some they were about 1 cup worth. No skin. This time I didn't give rice with it.

--  It's now 12:30 and I just called the vet right now to ask if this was a good sign, he said no. Jack, my GSD, shouldn't be eating any solid food for a few more days as it would induce diarrhea and should just stick with Pedialyte and his meds. So no more chicken and rice.


*sigh.. I thought things were going well, apparently Jack eating could easily backfire on us. So no more food until Friday.

I also give him 3-4 syringes (3cc) of Pedialyte every few minutes. Just to make sure he's hydrated enough. He looks so skinny, I hope things turn up soon.

Update again later

<3

German Shepherd Dog - Puppy With Parvo

Jack, 15 weeks old, pure-bred German Shepherd.

The people I got him from said they took him to get vaccinated 2 weeks ago. I've had him for 2 weeks now and I've been taking him out on walks and hikes. Two days ago, he had diarrhea. My mom didn't tell me. He then was still able to eat food, which he threw up. Last night after I took him for his walk, he drank water when he got home. After a while, he had diarrhea again, but this time it wasn't all liquid. Sorry in advance for the details, but it had little of actual fibrous poop. Which I guess is a semi-good sign. It means that he was able to digest some of the food he ate that morning.

This morning I took him to the vet to get tested for Parvo and he had a strong positive. Which means he's had it for a few days already. His immune system has been trying to fight it off and it's barely taking effect right now.

WHAT IS PARVO:
Parvo-virus is extremely deadly. He must've licked it off the floor, or something that contained the virus. Anyway, this kind of virus affects his intestines and destroys the lining. Hence the bloody diarrhea. They aren't able to digest properly since they have an upset stomach. They will be vomiting and having diarrhea throughout the whole sickness unless given pills from the vet. What kills the dog really is the dehydration. Most of their liquids will come out of their body either from vomiting or the diarrhea. Lack of liquids will lower their heart rate, and stop muscle function. You'll know they're dehydrated if their butt looks really weak. Like they can't really walk properly. That's the muscle weakness from lack of fluids.

WHAT I DID SO FAR:
Took him to the vet, got tested for parvo-virus. They gave him fluids on his back to rehydrate him. He got 3 shots, one was penicillin, the other was vitamin b and the last one I believe was for the nausea. They gave me 3 pills to take him that should last him about 10 days. Endosorb, Metoclopramide, and Amoxycillin. One for diarrhea, nausea, and I'm not sure, but I think the other is for antibiotics. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a thing of Pedialyte. The vet said 3cc every hour, but I think I'll give him 2-3 every few minutes to keep him hydrated.

I've had a puppy before with parvo and he didn't make it. He was a chihuahua and since he was already very small to begin with, it was harder for him to fight it. Not to mention he was also only 4-5 weeks old.

WHAT YOU/I NEED TO CHECK ON:
-Blood sugar
-hydration

Blood sugar:
Helps a lot of with the heart rate. Need to keep his heart pumping. Check the puppy's gums by pressing on it for 10 seconds and letting go. If it turns white and then back to pink, you're good. If it's all white, THAT'S REALLY BAD. Give the puppy Pedialyte and put some honey on his gums. He/she will lick it off and that'll add some sugar into his system. Give him that every 30mins-1hour until regulated.

Hydration:
Check his skin elasticity. If you grab the skin on his back upwards and then let go, it should bounce back. Kind of like the skin on the back of your hand. It'll go right back. If it goes back down slowly, he's dehydrated. Give him Pedialyte. It's loaded with electrolytes and will help him a lot more than not having it. Pedialyte is pretty much the choice of liquid in this whole thing.

The virus lives in the dog's system for about 7 days. It's takes about 5 days for the dog's intestine lining to rebuild itself. So until then, PEDIALYTE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.
I'm going back to the vet tomorrow to get some fluids in him.

Update you guys then.
-love always

What's In My Purse

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.

I've been gone because I've been so exhausted with life. I don't know what happened to me, but I suddenly feel so down and disappointed in myself. I know I can do better. I know better, that's why but for some reason I let it happen worldly reasons.

That's the problem with me, I guess. As a Christian, I'm not supposed to give in to worldly temptations. Drinking, smoking, lust, lies, etc. I know I'm going to be forgiven also, and that already I am forgiven, but it's the shame that hides me. It keeps me in the dark. I hate the dark. I am a child of light. I shouldn't be in the dark.

I'm in fear that what I am doing is not going to cut it. I have to be better. I have to try harder. My faith that tomorrow will come and that I have a God to live for is what keeps me motivated to be a better person. I am certain my God will not fail me, although I keep failing Him. I don't even know where to start.. I guess I just have to start.

My struggle is real and it's killing me. It hurts my heart. My beating heart is feeling constricted with bad stuff. I can't explain better than that. I want to be a good example to my peers, but I'm not. I'm very overwhelmed with the fact that I am "looked up to" that I am put in a pedestal. I wish I wasn't. I wish that I didn't have so much pressure into being someone so good.

If that were the case, my world would be black and white. My love would not be real. My faith would decrease because there is no struggle, right? Where are you guys coming from? I'm scared.

I'm so afraid for my life and the life of the people around me whom I love so much. We all need to step up. I'm so scared. I have to be better! This shouldn't be this way. I'm so scared.

This may be ridiculous, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Please God, hear my cry to You. You are an Almighty God who has power over all. Save me from dying. I know I'm not worthy, but please forgive me. I'm so ashamed and I feel like hiding in a cave. I don't want to hide from You. Set my life on a path towards You. Please forgive my sins against you, free me from the bondages of earthly things. Take me with you. Free my heart. Free us all. Shed your light in this darkness, Lord. I love You most. Show me how to find You. Reside in my soul. Please forgive me, I want to be closer to You. I cheated on You, and I am so ashamed. Please I'm so sorry. Comfort me with Your relentless love. I am Yours! Clean me. Wipe my tears away.
Sincerely,
Yours

Lisa Miller; New Edit

Easter Sunday

I think it's terrible that people immediately prepare for Easter by putting out bunny stuff all over the front of Target or the plastic eggs where it can come apart so you can put chocolate inside it.

I think it's a serious issue when society is being forced to associate actual holidays with stuff that have nothing to do with it. For instance, Easter = bunnies and eggs, Christmas = trees, ornaments, socks, santa.

Actual point of Easter:
Jesus who died on the cross resurrected in his tomb. It was only then that his disciples finally believed that he really was the Son of God. The whole life of Jesus, even though he proved himself over and over again, his disciples continually doubted him. Hence the surprise when they found out he was not in his tomb 3 days after he died.

Easter has nothing to do with bunnies and eggs.

This long break from blogging or writing anything has made me weak. I'm not as interesting as I used to be. Although after reading what I used to write about, I'm kinda glad I'm not in that place anymore. Rereading it is pretty sad. I can almost feel myself feeling sorry for my previous self.

Wait, didn't I say I was done for the night cus I have a busy morning..?

Busy Bee

Good evening, lovers.

Just came from the gym and I was feeling pretty good and I guess now my high is going down. I've been focusing a lot on my stretches lately and I've been proud of what I can do. Although it's not nearly as good as what I used to be able to do. My hope is not gone! I can do this.

Today I was too late to join the zumba class so I did my usual cardio routine. I did only 40 minutes today. 20 on the bike and another 20 on the treadmill. I think people are surprised of my creativity in these machines.. I refuse to limit myself with only running and walking on the treadmill. There are so many things I can do! For example: lunges, knee highs, butt kicks, arabesques, side kicks, sprints, power walking. I encourage you all to be creative when it comes to things like that.

It's been a few weeks clean of meat. When I say meat I mean just chicken, pork, and beef. I still eat seafood. I crave nothing about it! Although I may have spoke too soon. I just realized that I still consume dairy and that, of course, comes from an animal. So close! As far as the actual meat, I don't crave it. My mother cooks meat here at my house and I don't really feel the need to taste or anything. I don't use "extra effort" to say "no" to them. It was that way in the beginning, so I guess if you're gonna make this big of a change, you should have a very strong reason. Having a shallow reason like "weight-loss" is not good enough for you to really stick to it

Some call it a diet, I call it a life style change. Seriously though! Diets are temporary. Diets last only for a few weeks or maybe a few months depending on your will power.. Life style changes are obviously that. A change of life style. I have no plan on eating meat again one day. I like feeling light. I like feeling happy and energized and not dragged down by the heaviness of steak or chicken.

Apart from that, work has completely covered my whole week.
I still go out and hang out with my friends so I'm not a complete loner now, but I do breathe work. I'm always too tired to go to the gym, but I force it. Tired is not a real excuse to not go to the gym so I make it happen. Isn't that the only real way of doing things though? To just do it and not make lame ass excuses like "fatigue" get in the way? I believe in myself. Others don't. But then again, since when did I need others to give me some sort of validation to do anything? ;)

Which reminds me.. lately there has been this irritating negative energy floating around me. It's consistent in highlighting negative things about my life. I want to squish it like a bug. Not that I need to prove myself or exert effort into making that little shit know that I'm not wrong, but I really cannot wait for the day when I am capable of showing that what my plans for in my life are great things. I will refuse to fail. I rebuke anything that is not a positive influence in my life.

With that said, I have a busy morning. Gotta take Brownie to the vet and stop by the bookstore before work. Good night, good luck with life.

-m

WHY: I stopped eating meat

I don't eat meat anymore simply because I don't need it.

People believe that the only source of protein is to get it from chicken or steak, when in fact you get more harm in eating meat nowadays than actually reaping the benefits.


THE ANIMALS
THE BEGINNING:
Back in the years, they had farms that literally were actual farms that you would see in the cartoons. They had the animals they raised for their family so they can eat rather than mass producing for the entire state. They fed these animals actual feed so they would grow up in a normal pace. They were all free range farm animals which means they weren't stuffed in little cages their whole lives. They were raised properly with no torturing, no chemicals, and they laid eggs naturally. The animals multiplied organically with no help of artificial insemination. No injections of hormones to speed up the growth of the animals.

FAST FORWARD:
Where to begin... Have you actually visited a slaughterhouse before?
Just to make this a little easier on the mind, I'll only give few details of what actually goes on in the slaughterhouses now.
The chicken are stuffed in a small cage. Their beaks clipped off so that they don't peck each other to death. In this small cage that could only fit probably 2, contain 7 hens that are bred to lay eggs. Out of these 7 hens, 1-2 will die because their uterus have been over producing eggs. 1-2 more will die because it's been squished. Once they are dead, it could be days or even weeks for someone to notice some are dead within the cages. They are left there until someone finally removes them and puts them in a place to be prepared for dismemberment.

When the eggs hatch, they are given food to make them fat. Usually corn based food and some sort of steroid. In the 23rd week of their lives, they are still "adolescent" chicks but look just like a full grown chicken, if not bigger. They live inside a building where they are herded by machines rather than roaming around like a normal chicken. These chicken then die of heart failure because their breasts are too big and is suffocating their little hearts. Their legs also cannot support their weight anymore so therefor some others die just on that spot. When it's time for killing, they use a machine to herd the animals all in one spot to kill them. (Not going to describe the process)

HOW WE GET MILK:
The cow will undergo artificial insemination and after they give birth, the calf has about two days to stay with the mother cow and then the workers literally drag away the calf. The calves then get sorted out. One will be grounded up to hamburger meat and depending on the gender, the females will be raised for milk and the reproduction process and the males will be raised for steak and other bigger cuts of beef.

The female cows will then lactate a lot since it just gave birth and we will take their milk for ourselves. The whole life of the female cows are just that: to give birth, lactate and repeat until the day they die and then they go for dismemberment.

PIGLETS:
Same thing. Artificial insemination. Then the male piglets will be castrated by hand, (they will just pull off his testicles) with no anesthetics because it's too costly. Out of the 50 piglets, 25% will die of infection and malnurishment. Another 15% will die because of the environment (they might've got caught onto the gate, stepped on by the workers, or trampled over by other pigs.)

Some piglets will be dragged upside down by a machine to dip their heads in water with electricity and then will be thrown in boiling water. After that, they will be skinned and put on a conveyor belt for dismemberment. Then bacon comes out.


Please don't misunderstand, this is only meant to inform you. Just because you eat meat it doesn't mean you are a terrible person.

There is nothing wrong with having a farm or any of the sort and then eating the animal you have in your farm. My grandparents used to have a farm and our family ate what we had in our farm. The difference is, they were organic. Which means there were no hormones injected and the animals were free range. They laid eggs because they wanted to, not because they were chemically engineered to. Also we didn't torture them before we killed them.

THE MAIN POINT
I stopped eating meat for the animals. The health benefits just followed along.
All animals are tortured before they are packed for food. Almost all are injected with some sort of hormone/steroid for growth. I don't blame them for doing it since the demand for meat is very high in North America. Mass production of animals are the only current method known to us that will meet the demands of the people. In the end, it's all about money. I'm not for that at all.

No More Meat

I've been gone for so long and now you know nothing of me.

I stopped eating meat. I eat fish, but no pork, beef, and chicken. I'm so glad I did it! I thought I would be miserable, but in fact the complete opposite. I am much happier as a person. How does that make sense, you ask? Well I finally rid my body from the chemical stuff inside meat. It's only the beginning, but definitely a start.

DID YOU KNOW:
...that humans were originally created only to consume vegetation? When we were still in the Garden of Eden, we were to harm no animals but to enjoy them. Our food were the fruits and vegetables that grew around the garden. It wasn't until later that we started eating meat. I think we started consuming meat around Noah's time.

...the only reason we consumed meat to begin with was because vegetation wasn't year round. It would snow, rain too much, or too much heat and kill the plants. So, for survival, we ate meat to keep ourselves stuffed for the winter. We store the fat from the meat the best because they have a lot of fat! Back then we needed all the fat we can get because for days we would have nothing to eat. Our body was made to store the fat as soon as it received it. Except back then, humans weren't actually fat because we burned off a lot of calories mainly just because we were trying to survive in the wild. Possibly running from a predator, hunting for food, and walking everywhere. These days, our vegetation is year round and we no longer hunt for food nor need extra fat because we don't have to "starve through the winter nights."

I will get into depth with this meat thing another time.

Also, just to put this out there, I have nothing against whoever eats meat. You are not an idiot for eating meat. I simply believe I have no need for it. It's no longer a necessity for me to have meat in my system.

More on this later, but right now I will sleep.

-m

Gymnast: Casey Hollowell

Model: Casey Hollowell; Level 8 Gymnast
MUA: Monica Madeja
Photographer: Monica Madeja

Gymnast: Carmen Snow

 

Model: Carmen Snow; Level 8 Gymnast
MUA: Monica Madeja
Photographer: Monica Madeja

Lisa Miller Shoot

 

Model: Lisa Miller

Make Up Artist: Monica Madeja

Stylist: Monica Madeja

Photographer: Jonathan Espino

Christmas Institute 2012

Family Group: Chases with Wolves
Travis, Jace, Jay R, Karen, Josh, Jojo, Remy, Kristina, Abi, Michael, Jilliane