Mattie's First Vet Visit and Second Haircut

I took Mattie to the vet for the first time to get her up to date with all of her vaccinations and to get her checked out to see if there were any other health concerns. I was proud of how well behaved she was :-) I ended up having to spend $225 to get her Rabies, Distemper/Parvo, Adeno/parainfluenza/bordatella, Lepto, and Lyme's Disease vaccinations as well as tick and flea preventative and heart worm preventative.  Whew! That was a lot for one visit, but she took it well and wasn't scared or aggressive towards any of the vet technicians. I have to go back in a couple of weeks to get her booster shots for some of the vaccines, which will cost another $50 or so, but I don't mind because Mattie has been such a great companion.

Mattie is supposed to be a Cocker Spaniel Poodle mix, although, she seems a bit big for that to be true. Unfortunately, when I first got her, her hair was a matted mess. (Poodles have hair, not fur). I decided I needed to go out and buy a set of electric clippers to give her a haircut. Her first haircut was difficult and I ended up giving up because I couldn't get the clippers through all of her knots. A week later, I recruited my roommate to help me clip her. She's worked at a vet's office since she was 15, so she was the one who ended up doing the clipping while I held and soothed Mattie. (Mattie absolutely HATES to have her hair cut or clipped).

Since Mattie was such a pain, we still couldn't get her in great shape but at least she wasn't so hot all of the time and wasn't chewing at her knots anymore. Poodles are also prone to skin allergies, and she wasn't on the highest quality food before. I've been having to give her two anti-histamines a day to keep her from constantly scratching and chewing at her itchy skin. I've also started her on a new kind of dog food made especially for dogs with sensitive and dry skin. I never thought that food made that much of a difference, but the vet told me that feeding her this food was about the only thing I could do to help her.

 Mattie in my passenger seat on the way back from her first vet trip :-)

 Allegrah (my roommate) clipping away!

Here I am holding Mattie and telling her she's a good girl while my roommate shaves her legs.