Monday, February 11, 2013

Caitlin and Tonka

AP here:
It is 30 miles for me to get to work. To make that trip 4 times in one day is 120 miles which is wear and tear on the truck, way too much in gas and makes me tired. I have an incontinent 125lb dog that needs his bladder expressed every 5 hours and needs to be flipped to his opposite hip to allow blood flow and prevent sores. This means that I have to drive home from work mid day to take care of him. Now if you follow the blog you know there is nothing I would not do to keep my boy healthy and happy including making that drive. The only problem with that other than the reasons stated early was that sometime I get stuck at work or in traffic and cannot get back in time. Between 5 and 6 hours Tonka starts to get restless, he knows he has to go and he will try to get up and get to the door. I love the fact that he still knows he has to go and that he still tries to make it out. The issue is that once he tries to get up into a stand his bladder leaks and he ends up wetting the bedding or the floor. Since he cannot maintain a stand for more than a minute he usually ends up falling back onto the pee spot.
This is not fair to him and its not healthy for his bladder to stay too full so I started looking for someone to help out.

Enter Caitlin who runs a local pet sitting business and is a certified veterinary technician for one of Tonka's doctors.
Caitlin has been pet sitting for the past 9 years and grew up on a farm showing dogs, cattle and sheep. She is also very familiar with exotic animals and wildlife having worked both in a pet store for 5 years and at a wildlife rehab in Colorado for 3 years. Her knowledge and experience combined with her love of animals makes her invaluable as part of Tonka's team of caretakers.

Tonka loves Caitlin to pieces and is always happy when she arrives. She does not just come in do the job and leave, she spends real quality time with him engaging him in play and giving him love and attention. I get feedback with every visit and she is quick to catch if something is not quite right with him. She is an amazing individual and we are so grateful to have her in our corner.



6 comments:

acd6pack said...

That is fantastic! You must feel like a load of stress is gone now that Caitlin is assisting. No more worrying and great for Tonka to have some extra loving during the day too!

Ray the Blind Dog said...

Thank God for your support system. Hope you and Tonk had a nice Valentine's day!
j

liparifam said...

I'm so thrilled for you - a good pet sitter is worth their weight in gold!

Tonka said...

acd6pack - yes and Caitlin is amazing with him and since she is a tech with his regular vet she knows his history.

Tonka said...

Ray the Blind Dog - I am very fortunate and blessed to have such great people that surround us. Caitlin is definitely one of those

Tonka said...

liparifam - Yes and she is goes above and beyond with him. He absolutely loves her.