Pumpkin Time

It's that time of the year again when pumpkins are everywhere! For the first time ever, I got our family an orange one and a green one (buttercup squash?). 

For Maya's treats, I cut the squash in half and steamed till it's soft, then cut it into pieces and baked at low temperature till it's dry. As for the humans, after steaming and cutting, I boiled it in some water mixed with salt and suger for a few minutes, then remove the water and let it cool off. Everyone in the family loved it!

Yummy homemade treats

Planning to carve it, but don't have the tools

Speaking of pumpkins, one of Maya's favoriate toy is a pumpkin man given to Maya by a friend two years ago. It didn't take long for Maya to chew off his face, but other than that, he's still thriving.

Mr. Pumpkin two years ago

Faceless Mr. Pumpkin today

Hiking Fail

It's been a while since we took Maya out for a hike due to her allergies. Since the weather was so nice, we decided to go for a walk on the weekend before last. Well, it turned out to be a bad idea...

As a precaution, we gave Maya a Claritin pill and applied some home-made flea repellent before heading out. Even though the trail allows off-leash dogs, we kept her leashed so she stayed on the track and out of the tall grass. About half way through, not sure whether it's the pollen, dust, or insects, both humans started to feel super itchy. We turned back right away, but it was too late. For the next week or so, Maya was itchy again...

Sigh, I guess no more hiking for a long while.

Monthly Expenses: September 2012

September 2012

• Food: $39
• Treats & Chews: $10
• Vet & Medical: $156
• Accessories: $40

TOTAL: $245
YTD TOTAL: $6,045

Food

We got a 4 lb. box of the Honest Kitchen Zeal. It's the most expensive flavor from their product line, but I want to get something that doesn't have chicken, beef, or grains, and was left with not that many options. Thanks to the discount code from the House of Two Bows, I got a pretty good deal, but also kind of regret not getting a bigger box.

Treats & Chews

We got a pack of the Honest Kitchen Wishes, which is a bit disappointing. Maya loves the taste, but its a bit overpriced and crumbles too easily. I might try out Salmon Ears next time once we finish this box. Besides Wishes, she also got two Merrick Sausage Dog Treats, which I haven't let her try out yet.

Vet & Medical

Yay for no vet bills this month! We did have to get a new bottle of Claritin, but hopefully we can wean her off of it soon as well.

We've also decided to switch to Comfortis (chewable tablet) for flea prevention, because we've been bathing Maya almost every week and using a topical medication makes it less flexible. Since Comfortis requires a prescription, we took Maya to a weekend vaccine clinic to make the purchase and saved ourselves an office visit at the vet. Even though we were advised to give her one tablet per month, I'm planning to give her only half. She's only 20.4 lb. and the one we got is for 20.1-40 lb. (580mg), which is more than twice the dosage of the 10.1-20 lb. (270mg) tablets. We paid $156 for 12 month supply, but I was able to find a $20 rebate online. If the 12 tablets (expires in May 2015) can last 2 years, it'll be about $5.67 per month, which is less than using Frontline Plus.

Accessories

Maya got a new harness and a new name tag. So far we are really satisfied with the purchase.