Halloween Hot Spots

I'm not talking about the fun places to explore this Halloween. I'm actually referring to the dreaded hot spots that our tiniest fur baby gets. Poor Josie has terrible skin allergies, that cause her to lick and chew all the time. Which in turn makes her skin sore. So how do we treat it?

Halloween Hot Spots

    Gluten, insect bites, and dry skin lead our sweet girl to chew and chew. She then flares up with hot spots. We took gluten out of her diet, and she wears Seresto collars at all times. However, the collar doesn't prevent flea or other insect bites, it only keeps them from living on her. So her skin still itches. Then she chews and scratches until a hot spot erupts. It breaks our hearts when she has them so we have had to find other ways to help heal her skin.

Look at my Tootsie Roll! She doesn't deserve itchy skin! (By the way, this was Liam's very first Halloween costume. I did a little cutting and sewing and made Josie her first Halloween costume from it.)

Medicated Baths

    The first thing we did was get her medicated shampoo. It has anti bacterial and anti fungal meds in it. When she has a big hot spot or a few, we have to bathe her every two days for a couple of weeks. While it helps, it wasn't enough. You see, you wash her with it, and leave it on for a few moments. But that alone didn't seem to do enough. Her fur was dry as well as her skin on the patches that were healing. She needed conditioner. But do they make such a thing for dogs?

Yes. Yes They Do!

    GNC Pets actually makes a medicated conditioner for fur babies. Like the shampoo we use, it's anti fungal and anti bacterial. After her shampoo is rinsed off, I rub this cream rinse into her fur and skin. I rub and massage her for five minutes, then rinse her off. You can feel the difference in her fur after the first use! Her skin? Well he healed spots aren't dry and flaky. It's just new, soft skin. And her ht spots are healing faster as well. I was really impressed with how well it worked. Even Liam commented on how "nice she feels!"

Josie refused to sit for another picture. But Bayleigh loves the camera :)

Smells So Nice!

     Oh, and it's lavender scented too. This was huge for us. Liam would complain after Josie's medicine baths that "she stinks like medicine." It's true, she did. The shampoo smells awful. However, the GNC conditioner smells fantastic. So not only does it help her hot spots, and dry skin, but it smells amazing too. Josie loves getting her "pretty massage," with her GNC Pets conditioner. So if you have a fur baby with hot spots, then head to Chewy.com and grab some.

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Add Some Halloween Flair to your Home

    You may not want to think about it, but Halloween will be here before we know it. I'm sad summer is almost over, but I do love Halloween. If you're looking to add some holiday flair to your home, then this is for you.

Add Some Halloween Flair to your Home

    I love to decorate for holidays. Halloween and Christmas happen to be my favorite so I go all out. I just got this amazing wreath from Valery Madelyn. It's equal parts spooky, chic, and Halloween happiness! All of the ornaments are affixed to a sturdy wooden cane wreath, so this wreath will last for many Happy Halloween! Maybe best of all, it's made from shatterproof ornaments. This is great if you have kids or fur babies.

    The ornaments are gorgeous. They're black, orange, purple, and lime green. Mine is the "Naughty" wreath and it's adorned with bats, pumpkins, and skulls with top hats. Their "Spooky" version is orange, black, green and purple as well. But that one is decorated with spiders and webs, masks and sugar skulls.

Eight Light Effects and Timer

    This Valery Madelyn wreath is decorated with twenty LED lights. But these aren't just any lights. They have a timer so you don't have to worry about turning it on and off every evening. (It will be on for six hours a night.) You can make the lights brighter or dim them down. (This would especially be useful if you're displaying your wreath indoors. The lights also have eight different functions to choose from. You can set them to chase one another, twinkle and flash, to light up in a wave, slowly fade, and so much more. I plan on switching mine up every day, so it looks different each night. With the handy remote I will be able to do just that.

    Dress up your door, wall, or mantel with this awesome Halloween wreath from Valery Madelyn. Trust me, you're going to love it too! I was outside taking pictures of mine, and already two of my neighbors came over to see where I got it.

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Sans Costume Doesn't Mean Sans Money

    Yes we're poor but that's not why he wasn't wearing a costume.

    When i was a kid i can remember the kids in school that barely had a costume on, or ones that came with nothing. We were never rich, but we never went without a Halloween costume. As a kid, I can remember being so angry at those parents. In my immature mind, they were slighting their children.

    Now I'm a parent, and this year my son was the one without a costume. Not because we couldn't afford one. Not because I couldn't make him one. But because he didn't want one.

    With a child on the spectrum and SPD to boot, I now understand that maybe those kids were sans costume for another reason. Maybe they couldn't wear one, or maybe they didn't want to.

    Liam was adamant for the past month that he didn't want to dress up. I was conflicted. Childhood goes by so fast, I hate to see him miss out. Yet I hate to force to take part in something that he doesn't have to take part in. He was sick all week so we didn't talk about it much. Thursday, Friday and even Saturday morning, I kept asking if he was sure. Trick or treat was today fro. 2-4. At 1230 he finally decided he needed a costume. He took the werewolf mask we made the other day (fine motor fun is HUGE in this house) and he tore up some old clothes. He was a "transformed werewolf."

Liam and his mask. This is the only picture he would sit for.

   I was worried people would think we were too poor to do better. I was afraid people would think we didn't care. Then I realized what I don't care about is what other people think. He was happy and who was i to ruin that for him. And so he went out and trick or treated in some torn up clothes, with a brown mask. He only went to a handful of houses and he was done. But he was happy, and that's all that mattered.

    My point is, if u see a kid in no costume, or a makeshift costume, don't judge. You don't know that child's story. You don't know their parents. If they're happy, that's all that matters.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween.