The Polar Bear has been doing swimmingly well on his reduced Prozac. So much so that last week I took him up to Stevens Pass and we did an 8 mile round trip hike up to beautiful Lake Serene. It was serene until the Polar Bear took issue with an older male hiker who had a trekking pole. Since I only had him on his body harness and not his Halti, his growling and barking scared the guy half to death and it was harder for me to control his head and therefore his body without the Halti. So we learned a few good lessons - Halti always, the need to back up the trail if necessary for PB to have enough space not to trigger him and that physical exertion like that also tends to increase his overall stress level. He actually did the entire hike without stopping and without complaint which shocked me but I was thrilled. If I can find more out of the way, mostly deserted hikes to do on weekdays with him, I would be in heaven. He is a little less excited than I am:

You want me to go how far? I'll wait in the car.

However, other than his being overstimulated on our hike, he has done great. Last night I brought him to work for the first time in awhile. He happily walked all through downtown, passed a million slipper dogs, people, noises etc. as it was a sunny Saturday. He went into the station and into the lieutenants' office where he hobnobbed with my lieutenant, took treats from a male co-worker and provoked oohs and aahs of amazement once again, as to how far he has come. We went to the dog park at 0230 after I got off work and he was ecstatic as we haven't been in awhile. I was ecstatic that he was exhausted when we got home and did not want to get up! So starting Tues, we move to 20 mg of Prozac every other day, carefully monitoring his reaction as always.

Today was spa day for the Polar Bear. Unlike me, he does not appreciate spa day. First it was the ear cleaning and this is the look I got:

Touch them and die.

To pay me back for that, he promptly rubbed his face and ears in the mud as I was cleaning the house and happily presented himself to me when I came to fetch him for nail grinding:

(Sticking tongue out at me)
"Two can play this game."

When that failed to work, he took it a step farther. And then he bolted across the yard and tried to play catch me if you can which I refused to engage in:

The equivalent of an obscene dog gesture.

When I had finished with the nails, he went back to pouty Polar Bear look but this time he refused to even look at me. This is his super-guilt posture that says I would rather be back in the barn than acknowledge that I still love you.

What's wrong Polar Bear? (Turns nose up)
Nothing.
Sometimes he's more like a girl.

Due to my constant treat motivation, he has become an outright beggar which I can live with given the alternative. So he got a specially stuffed kong today to alleviate his spa trauma. It didn't take long for him to recover:

What's that? You want to brush my teeth too? Call my secretary. I'm busy.

Um hello? I'm done. Fill it up again please.

Unfortunately for PB, I am still in charge around here and I said no. We are working on getting him to bring the kong back to me when he is done. We're getting there but it's still hit and miss.


Yes, readers I finally got a few photos of the kittens who are decidedly more sedate than when you last saw them. Stabitha is by far the more mellow, shy of the two of them. Notice she has not only recovered from her illness but she has gained the weight to prove it.

Are you going to pet me? No? See you tomorrow.

Dexter is and forever will be, the clown of my three animals. He is irrepressible and he cracks me up on a regular basis. When I come home in the morning, both he and PB are sitting on the step together at the bottom of my stairs waiting for me to come in from the garage. He is the coolest cat I've ever met and I'm so glad I found him.

Look how much I've grown mom! If I stretch it adds 1/2 an inch!

I know this fleece blanket was one of your Christmas gifts but I think it sets off my orange coat so well. Don't you? Thanks, I think I'll keep it!

Why do you always have to write about the Polar Bear? We're way more interesting than him. Put more pictures of us up or we'll eat the rest of your plants.

The Non-Prozac Nation

After email correspondence with our behaviorist which rivaled that of a 17th century explorer (minus the email delivery system), we decided to wean the polar bear off of his Prozac. Dr. Sung said, in a summary of our small novel, that ideally he would not need to take Prozac forever and although there are no long term health effects, regular blood work and physicals are necessary to monitor hepatic function etc. In addition, Prozac can also exacerbate underlying health conditions he may have that have not shown up yet or we are not aware of. While I have nothing but good things to say about the effects of Prozac and the necessity of having had PB take it his first year, I would love to have an "all natural" dog who is free from all outside forms of behavior modification. I can't really say he's getting better until I know it is completely unsupported by outside influence.

SO - Last week we began the long process involved in gradually reducing his levels. He is now on 20 mg every day for a month which is half his normal dose and he will then go to 20 mg every other day until he is off it completely. I will be monitoring him closely, hopefully not obsessively, to see if his behavior changes at all. It's only been a week so far but I have seen no negative changes and if anything, he seems more relaxed and affectionate than ever. (I say with fingers crossed, while I knock on wood and sit with bated breath...)

Although I hesitated to add in another variable given the change in meds, I decided to try him out on our new plan of socializing during the day time. He has been walking every day in broad daylight with me around 1pm on my work days which was unheard of before. No problems and no issues despite the busy, populated time of the day. So this afternoon I took him to a new park for us in Bellevue where we roamed the trails and he was exposed to lots of people, noises and stimuli but from afar.

He did very well so we walked to the dog corral which is part of the park and as the name suggests, is very small and fully fenced. I had intended on having him sit outside the mesh fencing, watching other dogs and getting treats as Dr. Sung recommended some time ago. We followed this plan but there was only one other dog in the corral and she was a very friendly small female dog who clearly wanted to play. She was accompanied by her male owner who asked if we could come in and play. I said the polar bear would be fine with his dog as she was female but he would be wary with him due to his fear of men. He agreed not to approach or touch PB so we went in to try it out.

Although he gave the guy a few sideways glances, he slowly began to relax and play and chase Halo, the female mix. It was so good to see him be able to run and socialize and it made me sad to see that he wasn't quite sure what to do at first because it's been so long since he has played with dogs he doesn't know. He was quite the mama's boy, running back to me if he became unsure but over time he played more and more with Halo.

We were then joined by two girls who brought in a very young male golden retriever puppy who *adored* the polar bear to his intense annoyance. The puppy threw himself at PB licking his face and trying to get him to play and the giant white grinch would only turn up his nose like he does when the cats throw themselves at him. So I allowed him to play with both dogs for awhile and to my surprise, he approached the two girls looking for treats all on his own. Another woman arrived with another golden and I decided PB was probably maxed out on the stimulation - too many strange people and dogs at that point and I didn't want to over do it the first time around so we walked back to the car.

We stopped at a carefully thought out Starbucks on the way home - one that had enough activity to make it worthwhile but had a large enough patio that he could watch from a distance. He sat with me on the patio watching people come and go without having to interact with them. This required a high value reward of string cheese because he was definitely more stressed in this environment so we only sat for 15 minutes or so and then left. It was productive as a couple firefighters sat outside at the table next to us but ignored him so it was good practice. All in all a very successful outing.

I am very proud of my boy. He has come so far; I never thought he would be able to do things he did today. I will give him a break tomorrow and on Wednesday we'll find a new place to sit in public and watch the world go by. I don't want to overload him but I do want it to be consistent enough to make an impact.

Despite my earlier promise of photos of monster cats, I have well, none I'm afraid. A boring entry with no pictures but I will get around to it this week. Also to come, the outline of my latest trip which will be April 1-11th to Jordan...