tigger is doing pretty well.

he has occasional coughing spells, but nothing like before. he hasn’t had any seizures since he started on the pheno, and his weight seems to be holding fairly steady. he definitely isn’t losing, and he seems hungry all the time, but the vet said we really have to watch what we feed him since pheno makes dogs hungrier. he goes back to the vet in a few weeks to have his liver levels checked and to see if he’s well enough to have his teeth cleaned. i’m not sure we’re to that point yet but i do think we’ll get there. i’m going to be a nervous wreck the day he has his teeth cleaned.

he definitely seems perkier, though. he wants to play with winston most nights, and he gets very excited when josh gets home from work. he’s been spending more time outside, sniffing and barking at the neighbor’s dogs. he seems a little bit younger now that he’s on the medication. he’s even to the point where he’ll take his medicine with no problem. every night he comes trotting into the kitchen as soon as he hears me get the pills out. he sits on the kitchen rug and stares up at me while i get them all prepared. i put the pills inside a piece of a little debbie oatmeal creme pie and he eats it right up (that’s the only way he’ll take his pills; believe me, we’ve tried everything else: cheese, peanut butter, yogurt, treats, crushing over food, dropping them down his throat, etc.). but he loves oatmeal creme pies (knock wood), so i’ll keep buying those.

in other news, today is the first day i’ve really craved a soft drink.

i was up late last night as usual, and around 1:00 am i started really wanting something carbonated. i have no idea why. the last few weeks have been okay for the most part. i haven’t bought any soda, just drinking green tea, water, and a glass of wine here and there.

i am getting caffeine headaches. green tea doesn’t have nearly as much caffeine as soda. for example, my standard soda, diet mountain dew, has 55 milligrams of caffeine compared to 20 milligrams in green tea. plus i used to have at least two diet mountain dews per day. i’m only drinking one cup of tea every morning. usually in the early afternoon, i get a headache. i have one right now.

but it’s nothing i can’t get through. i know soda is bad for me, so i’m not going to start drinking it again. i just have to give myself time to get adjusted to the lower dose of caffeine.