The Verdict Is In

Well, today Levi had his follow-up appointment with the naturopath.  And of course, she was right, he can’t have dairy.  Casein was the number one highest allergen on the list, aside from the gluten-containing grains, which would have scored higher if he had been consuming any gluten.

Next after casein and other dairy products?  Yep, my worst nightmare come true.  My dear husband is allergic to garlic.  I nearly cried in the office when she read that part of the results to us.  I put garlic in almost everything, and garlic is in a ton of stuff.  His garlic reaction was off the charts.

It’s probably safe to say that I took the news harder than Levi.  It’s not that I can’t have garlic now either, because as much as I love Levi that’s one thing I just simply doubt I can cut out.  But, it was hard on me because I know how much I adore garlic, so I know how much I put in every dish imaginable.  And to me that means I’ve been overdosing Levi on garlic forever.  That, plus, it’s going to be much much harder for me as a cook to thrive.

It’s been a long day, a busy day at work, a super hot day outside (+38 celsius), and an exhausting weekend to recuperate from.  I know that this news would have been less devestating had it come on a cool Thursday afternoon after an uneventful day at work.

In addition to the aforementioned results, he also was high in intolerance to beef, eggs, pineapple, and almonds.  So, we left the naturopath’s office and I ask him how he feels.  He goes “I’m basically a vegan like you too”.  He’s right.  I am so thrilled that he isn’t allergic to soy because if I had to live without Vegenaise in addition to garlic I might just give up on him.  Just Kidding – I’d do almost anything for the guy.

On a completely unrelated to food and diet side note, I am figuring out ways to best get my cat used to getting his nails trimmed.  I am phobic of trimming nails and I should have started him as a kitten on getting used to it, but to be honest I just wanted him to love me I babied him way too much.  I love my cat.  We are moving out of the country this fall and I am bringing him with us.  I am trying to get him used to so much in the meantime.  Getting his nails trimmed, wearing a harness with his ID tags, travelling in a pet carrier for short distances, and eventually wearing SoftPaws nail caps.  Kato loves to scratch furniture and we simply cannot have this at the apartment we will be renting while living there.  Talk about an emotionally draining day.  I am trying out a new thing called PediPaws which files the nail down rather than trimming them.  It’s supposed to prevent cracking and breaking and once a pet gets used to it, feel good to them.  We got one nail done.  According to the instructions that’s a success.  I’m ready to pack it in and give it another try tomorrow.