Simba Seems Sympatico!

As promised, here is the second installment of the Simba story. In his second week of foster care, Simba is learning his place in the scheme of things, and is getting lots of exposure to strange places and foods and dogs. Here's Simba's foster mom:

"Simbabwe (another nickname) is doing great. We live in a neighborhood with lots of dogs that we encounter daily on our walks; we've been to the vet office twice and Petco once; and this morning we went to our dog friendly mall where Simba tried to pick up on a stuck-up Bichon in Macy's, and I have yet to see any signs of dog aggression from Simba. He sleeps, eats, gets treats, chews bones, plays tug of war, keep away, and fetch with my two Frenchies without any problems whatsoever (Clementine is actually the one I have to keep in check- it conveniently slips her mind sometimes that everything is in fact MINE and I just let her and the other dogs share my things). For all her bossiness, she and Simba wrestle every morning and then curl up like best buddies-- Simba has her by almost ten pounds, but he plays very gently with her; he caught on quick that it's her way or the highway, so all play is by her rules. He and Hannibull are hilarious, two peas in a pod, we call them "the bookends."
He has wonderful house manners, if it would not cause a revolt I would crate my two and leave him out loose every time we left the house. LOL. He does not cry or bark in the crate; they are never in there for more than a three hour stretch, but as long as he has a Kong or an antler he is content to be in there, no problem. He does display the common import trait of a heightened alertness-- any strange sounds and he's got his ears up, back hair raised, a quick low bark; but since mine aren't barkers, it seems like he kind of feels silly that no one else is reacting, and he lets it go and ignores whatever it is-- gardeners, construction noise, etc.
He's just wonderful...
His skin has gotten so much better. Much less itchy and less red than when he first arrived. In fact, I would say in the last day and half he hasn't scratched at all. On the suggestion of a friend with an itchy Frenchie, we bought him some cotton tees that he wears underneath the harness on walks and to sleep in at night, to cut down on irritation from rubbing or scratching-- and the redness is almost gone. I switched him to raw food (it's what I feed my two and it just seemed cruel that he would smell it and then have kibble set in front of him instead--you should have seen his face LOL), not to mention we weren't sure if there were some food allergies.

I suspect he does have some grain allergies/sensitivities because there has been no more paw licking/biting since the switch. Stools are great, coat is great-- his little muzzle fur is all filling in, no more redness, puffiness, or bald spots.

Oh, I should also mention my husband is a dermatologist and he wrote a couple of Rx for Simba for topical stuff for his eczematic skin, because the shampoo from the vet and the antihistamines weren't bringing as much relief as we wanted to see to give his skin a break from scratching. The Rx fixed it up in two days of application.

So here are a couple of pics of Simbalicious (I just love the black ink that has "bled" on his chest and backs of his legs)- he is a very mellow, loving little guy."

There you have it--the new Simba is sympatico! Now with 80 per cent less itchies! announces
The Frog Princess