Hi there!
 
Thank you to those who responded to my quest concerning pedialyte.  Now I
know that it can be frozen (just like sustical) without losing any of its
good qualities.  I also had a chat with my Pharmacist about it and she said
that it was similar to milk in the sense that yes you can keep it in the
refrigerator past the due date and it will probably be O.K.  but like milk,
it will start growing bacteria and eventually get sour.  When I opened the
bottle, I tasted it and every day I took a taste to see how the taste
gradually changed.  An interesting experiment.  I do have some in the
freezer and am almost ready to take it out and inspect it further.  Thanks
again to those who responded.
 
You might be asking why I needed it in the first place.  2+ years ago we
received 2 whole female rescues.  Snoopy seemed to be a nervous nelly who
was pretty much a loaner and ignored everything and everyone around her.  By
nervous I mean that she would sometimes pace back and forth.  She wasn't
skittish (didn't frighten easily) and would never dream of biting.  In her
own way she was a real sweetheart.
 
Smoopy also seemed to have a nervous stomach and would vomit at least once
almost every other day.  We knew this was unusual so off to the vet we went.
Everything seemed fine and she didn't know what the problem was.  Gradually,
over the months she improved although she still had these odd vomitting
spells (it was just regurgitated (sp) food and didn't have any smell to it)
and she would also have bouts of diahrea - sometimes black tarry ones.  When
we got her she was supposedly in heat but it turned out to be a false
pregnancy and we had her spayed.
 
Up until this spring she always seemed to have the right amount of weight on
her and except for her now occassional bouts of vomitting and diahrea she
seemed fine.  It was time for her coat change.  She dropped it almost within
a week and at the same time almost quit eating and slept all of the time and
had black tarry diahrea.  She became week and very skinny.  I started her on
sustical and her energy was back within a few days.  I would make her a form
of duck soup and she would eat that.  The diahrea didn't stop although it
was less tarry.  I felt that she was still far too skinny and just wasn't
putting on the weight.  Afraid of dehydration, I started her on pedialyte.
The diahrea has virtually stopped and she is beginning to eat some on her
own.  She has kept up her energy (she never really was very active and she
never did learn how to play so no wonder she sleeps so much - she's bored -
don't flame me, we have tried to teach her and she has a roommate who is a
sweatie but just hasn't been able to teach her to play) and has perhaps
gained an ounce but it has been 6 months or so now.  The vet doesn't know
what's up and she says to keep up what I am doing.
 
What do you folks think.  One thing that this episode has done is made her a
cuddler.  You still can't even move her cage or she gets upset - consistency
is the key with her, but she sure enjoys cuddling in my sweather or in a
blanket on my lap.  Your opinions are welcome.
 
Tryntje Miller                   Net:[log in to unmask]
Conrad Grebel College Library    Tel: (519) 885-0220 ext. 239
Waterloo, Ontario                Fax: (519) 885-0014
N2L 3G6
[Posted in FML issue 1706]