After spending Christmas Day at Urgent Care with my husband, and New Years Day at the Emergency Vet, when my Jack Russell vomited on Saturday morning, after eating an abundant supply of grass on Thursday, and coughing all night, I went immediately to my regular vets office.  No Easter Sunday ER Vet for me.  She has a history of pancreatitis so I didn’t want to take a chance.  Rain (JR’s name) had entirely too much Christmas cheer that  week.  She spent three days in the hospital after New Years day.

Well the good news was everything was normal, more or less.  I was told not to worry, she was given a shot for the nausea (that’s what the coughing was all about), and I was told to just go back to our normal life.  Later that day I spoke with my neighbor, and she had been at her vet, with her little dog, that morning too.  Odd?  Her vet told her that it was from all the pollen that the dogs are ingesting which is on the grass that they are eating.  My vets office called Monday morning to check on Rain.  I mentioned to them what my neighbor had said about the pollen and she was in total agreement.  They have seen more dogs this week with pollen related sickness than ever before.  I guess small dogs are closer to the ground and inhale or ingest more of it, but all dogs are being affected by it.

I’ve noticed horses, that have never rubbed or scratched before, rubbing up against trees, and those that have allergies, are going crazy.

I know the rest of the country is still in a late winter, early spring mode, but here in Florida we are in full blown Spring.  Everything is in bloom and there is a yellow layer of pollen on everything.  They are blaming everything on the El Nino pattern.  Could be, I’m not a meteorologist.  I just know my allergies are going nuts, and now the animals are having problems.

So keep this in the back of your mind, because your turn is coming.  Happy Spring!  More or less.