Where does a 93 pound Moose sleep? Anywhere he wants, including the entry to the master bath. These pictures were taken at about 9 months. Notice he is a bit cramped on his side and touching door jam to door jam. What a big moose! He’s been right around 90lbs for the last couple of weeks. We recently changed his food up quite a bit working on his allergies (more on that in a minute) so I’m trying to keep a close eye on his weight and build. He seems to be filling out but were trying to keep him slim and fit. The new food is supposed to have less fillers and more meat protein. He seems to like it but then again he will eat anything and everything.
SO the allergies.. notice in the pictures how red his feet are? Under his arms too! We’ve been on this rollercoaster with him. He’ll get itchy and scratch himself up for a couple of weeks then he’ll clear up and be fine only to look worse a few weeks later. Its been nuts! We’ve tried different shampoo, different detergent, different supplements, and now even switched up his diet quite a bit. As you see in these pictures he’s worse than he has ever been. So to try to offer some relief we take him to vet to ask for a cortisone shot or something. The vet takes one look at him and informs us he doesn’t have allergies he has Sarcoptic Mange! Its canine scabies caused by parasites. The flea and tick stuff we give him will kill them but it has to be given in more frequent doses than typically used for flea and ticks. This explains why it would clear up only to come back worse. We would kill off one batch then another batch would hatch and multiply. While I hate it that he’s had to deal with this for several months I’m so relieved to have some answers to whats wrong with him. The doc put him on some meds, ear drops, and increased his dosage of the flea and tick stuff. Its been two weeks and he is scratching less and seems to be healing up slowly. His feet are not bright red anymore, his legs are healing up, but his chin is still scratched up pretty good. I think there is good improvement for two weeks, not as much as I’d like but he is eaten up pretty good this time. The doc said he should be cleared up in six to eight weeks.
Other than the itching he’s doing great. He knows what his lead means and acts very nice when its on. If you take it off and hook on to his collar your in for the ride of your life though. He will pull you right off your feet! He’s pretty smart about such things. He knows when he can get away with acting like a fool and continues to test him limits often. He’s great with people. His attitude and demeanor continues to impress me. If he hears something around the house he has a nasty deep bark. I’ve even heard a growl or two and those are scary! Around people in public he is a gentle giant happy to pass out little kisses and get all the attention he can. Recently his mom took him to a friends house to visit while she did some work on their pool. After she let go of his leash he continued to follow her everywhere she went. I’m not sure if it was curiosity to see what she was doing; he’s getting used to healing, or if he was staying close to protect his momma. Either way his mom liked it and he continues to be momma’s boy.
A funny side note. I mentioned that the doc gave him some ear drops. The first time we gave them to him I laid on top of him to hold him down. Keep in mind we’re about the same size other than I have about 60lbs on him, when those drops hit his ears he stood straight up with me hanging on like rag doll. I couldn’t believe his strength! He still hates them and now tries to avoid me when its time for the tackle and bear hug. But he’s taking it a bit better and either I do a better job at holding him down now or he resists a little less.
Until next time… Moose kisses!
SO the allergies.. notice in the pictures how red his feet are? Under his arms too! We’ve been on this rollercoaster with him. He’ll get itchy and scratch himself up for a couple of weeks then he’ll clear up and be fine only to look worse a few weeks later. Its been nuts! We’ve tried different shampoo, different detergent, different supplements, and now even switched up his diet quite a bit. As you see in these pictures he’s worse than he has ever been. So to try to offer some relief we take him to vet to ask for a cortisone shot or something. The vet takes one look at him and informs us he doesn’t have allergies he has Sarcoptic Mange! Its canine scabies caused by parasites. The flea and tick stuff we give him will kill them but it has to be given in more frequent doses than typically used for flea and ticks. This explains why it would clear up only to come back worse. We would kill off one batch then another batch would hatch and multiply. While I hate it that he’s had to deal with this for several months I’m so relieved to have some answers to whats wrong with him. The doc put him on some meds, ear drops, and increased his dosage of the flea and tick stuff. Its been two weeks and he is scratching less and seems to be healing up slowly. His feet are not bright red anymore, his legs are healing up, but his chin is still scratched up pretty good. I think there is good improvement for two weeks, not as much as I’d like but he is eaten up pretty good this time. The doc said he should be cleared up in six to eight weeks.
Other than the itching he’s doing great. He knows what his lead means and acts very nice when its on. If you take it off and hook on to his collar your in for the ride of your life though. He will pull you right off your feet! He’s pretty smart about such things. He knows when he can get away with acting like a fool and continues to test him limits often. He’s great with people. His attitude and demeanor continues to impress me. If he hears something around the house he has a nasty deep bark. I’ve even heard a growl or two and those are scary! Around people in public he is a gentle giant happy to pass out little kisses and get all the attention he can. Recently his mom took him to a friends house to visit while she did some work on their pool. After she let go of his leash he continued to follow her everywhere she went. I’m not sure if it was curiosity to see what she was doing; he’s getting used to healing, or if he was staying close to protect his momma. Either way his mom liked it and he continues to be momma’s boy.
A funny side note. I mentioned that the doc gave him some ear drops. The first time we gave them to him I laid on top of him to hold him down. Keep in mind we’re about the same size other than I have about 60lbs on him, when those drops hit his ears he stood straight up with me hanging on like rag doll. I couldn’t believe his strength! He still hates them and now tries to avoid me when its time for the tackle and bear hug. But he’s taking it a bit better and either I do a better job at holding him down now or he resists a little less.
Until next time… Moose kisses!
