Yesterday we took our two greyhounds, Coral and Melissa, to the vet to get their teeth cleaned. We had to have the girls there by 8:15 a.m. and they had to stay until at least 4 p.m.

That left Stormy — our terrier mix who thinks he’s a short, chubby greyhound — as the only dog in the house for the day.

Quite the opposite of the Macaulay Culkin character in those 80s movies, Stormy did not seem to appreciate being “Home Alone.”

He spent most of the day moping and looking for his greyhound girls.

He wouldn’t even chew a rawhide chip — a perennial favorite that always makes him happy. He just carried it around and looked sad all day.

It was both sweet and depressing to see him miss his hounds so much.

When the girls finally came home with their minty fresh breath (and Coral minus one tooth that had to be extracted) he was so happy to see them that he barely ate his supper. When we all went to bed, instead of sleeping in the loveseat where he normally does, he slept on the floor between the greyhounds’ pillows and the door, like he was making sure they didn’t get away from him again.

Ever had one of your pets become despondent when other household pets have to go away for a while?

Got a taste for a little south of the border flavor? Like to help homeless pets on their journey to find loving homes?

Click right here for a flyer that will let you satisfy both desires.

This Thursday night, you can dine at Abuelo’s Flavor of Mexico at Valley View Mall between 5 and 9 p.m. and 20 percent of your food and beverage purchases will be donated to the Roanoke Valley SPCA.

You have to have the flyer (from the link above) and you need to alert your server that you are an animal-loving, Mexican food aficionado when you order by presenting him/her with the flyer.

Then enjoy all the Mexican delights you like. Personally, I recommend the Yucatan shrimp fajitas.

Ole!

Gus is one of the many pets available for adoption at the municipal pound.

The Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection — the municipal pound that serves Roanoke, Roanoke County, Vinton and Botetourt County —  will become a no-kill shelter for “Just One Day.”

So if you are thinking about adding a new furry member to your family, June 11 would be a great day to visit RCACP.

On that day, RCACP will be open until 7 p.m. and local rescue groups will be on hand to help facilitate adoptions of homeless, healthy pets residing in the pound. Normal adoption procedures will apply and the entire family, including any dogs you currently have in your home, are encouraged to come meet the pets.

Click here to see photos of pets available for adoption at RCACP.

The Roanoke Valley SPCA will waive the adoption fee for any pet adopted from RCACP that day with a pre-paid spay/neuter from Mountain View Humane.

If you are thinking specifically about adding a feline to your family, you have all of June, officially Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat month, to meet your purr-fect match at the RVSCPA. The adoption fee will be waived for all kitties ages six months and older.

Don’t let that smirk fool you. This is Thai’s happy face when I came home from my evening walk on Sunday.

Sure, he could teach Grumpy Cat a thing or two about attitude, but I know that beneath that grimace is a big old purr of happiness that I have returned.

Speaking of returns, the blog will be taking a short break while I deal with some family matters over the next few days. But we should be up and purring again on Monday.

Everyone have a great week.

I think Melissa Moo sums how most of us feel after a long weekend:

We have to schedule our greyhound girls for a teeth cleaning soon. Stormy could use one too, but since I am not inclined to take a second mortgage out on our house just yet, the youngster in the pack can wait a while.

It’s expensive and little nerve-wracking to get our dogs their dental cleanings, since it always makes me nervous when they have to go under anesthesia. But periodontal disease can cause some major health problems in dogs, so it’s well worth it to take care of those chompers.

Dentastix — instead of doggy dentures

Besides giving the pooches a daily Dentastix or Greenies (the vet said they are helpful) the best thing we can do is brush our dogs teeth.

I can already tell you, as the CEO of our household, that would be a husband job. (Sorry honey!)

I got this news release the other day from Zututh, which makes toothbrushes for dogs, both manual and electric. I cannot for the life of me imagine brushing our dogs teeth with an electric toothbrush, but maybe some dogs would dig it.

Of course, you will also need doggy toothpaste (our vet said under no circumstances should we use human toothpaste on our pups) and while snooping around the internet I found this video on how to make your own doggy toothpaste at a fraction of the cost of what you would buy online or in pet stores. I can’t swear to how effective it is, but it’s all natural and since it’s mostly baking soda, it makes sense that it should work.

(Also, the dog in the video is super patient and really adorable. So it’s worth a viewing just for that.)

What do you all do for your dog’s oral care?

Only you can prevent your puppy or kitten from starring in their own animal version of “Teen Mom.”

While many people wait until their puppy or kitten is six months or older to get him/her spayed or neutered, that can be a big mistake. That adorable ball of fur your are cuddling can reach sexual maturity as young as four months old.

That means your kitten could have her own litter of kittens or your puppy could be a pup-daddy, adding to the pet over-population problem.

But for 60 lucky pets ages 6-months-old or younger, there are funds provided by PetSmart Charities available at Mountain View Humane Spay Neuter Clinics in Roanoke and Christiansburg that will fix that problem for only $20 in the month of June.

Is it healthy for a pet to be sterilized at such a tender age, you ask? Great question, and the American Veterinary Medical Association answers with an emphatic “yes.”  It’s medically safe to spay/neuter pets as young as eight weeks old — that’s when our dog Stormy was snipped and he’s the healthiest dog we’ve ever had.

All you have to do to qualify for this deep-discount surgery is mention the “Did You Know” promotion when you call to schedule your pet’s appointment.

Call (855)-HIP-SNIP (that’s 855-447-7647 if you are using a cell phone) to book your appointment.

A couple of Saturdays ago, my husband and I had an evening plan that included dinner and a movie. Those plans changed about 4 p.m. with the oddest dog injury I have ever seen.

Nothing says romantic weekend “date night” like driving your dog all over Southwest Virginia to get her toenail removed from her adjacent toe.

Yeah. Somehow, Melissa Moo jammed her fourth toe nail into the flesh of her third toe. She was limping for about an hour before we figured out what was going on and NO WAY was she letting me touch it to try to undo the weird damage.

So off the Emergency Veterinary Services of Roanoke on Frontage Road.

When we arrived, the vet tech informed us that the vet on duty that night was performing surgery that was likely to last three hours. We were welcome to wait, or we could go home and come back, or we could take a chance on being seen sooner at Town & Country Veterinary Clinic in Christiansburg.

We appreciated that we were informed of our choices and while she didn’t seem to be in much pain, we didn’t like the idea of her having to wait three hours to get it treated. So we make the drive to C’burg.

While we still had a bit of a wait there, she was treated much sooner than if we had waited in Roanoke. And I have to say that the quality of care was excellent. (The vet had never seen anything like this injury either. Way to go, my freaky dog.)

It only took the vet a few minutes to dislodge the nail from the flesh (she used topical anesthetic), get Melissa bandaged up and we were on our way with antibiotics and pain meds, all for a pretty reasonable price considering it was prime date night time on a Saturday.

Melissa Moo recovered quickly and is galloping around the back yard again at full speed. And we are happy to know that if the Roanoke clinic is tied up, we have another option for great after-hours vet care.

The seventh annual Woofstock Dog Festival is coming up, so circle your calendar for Saturday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the dog party of the early summer.

This year the festival, which traditionally takes place throughout Elmwood Park, will be located in the upper part of the park near the public library at the corner of Elm and Jefferson.

Nice location, according to this photo I shamelessly lifted from the event’s Facebook page.

The festival offers a variety of entertainment for families, including music, games, contests and food, as well as local vendors selling doggy-related goodies.

Among the many attendees will be representatives of local services for pets, including rescue groups. If you want to bring a donation to help out homeless pets, here’s a list.

It’s a great opportunity to get your well-behaved pooch out for some fresh air and friendly socialization.

Tickets are $5 (cash only) at the gate.

Low-income families now have another place to get quality veterinary care for pets.

Angels of Assisi, the no-kill shelter in downtown Roanoke, has been offering low-cost spay and neuter services for more than 10 years. Now the clinic is expanding its range of services to include more affordable medical treatments for sick critters.

In addition to wellness and dental cleaning, the vet staff will offer immediate and ongoing treatment of ear, eye and skin conditions as well as care for urinary and respiratory infections. Preventative treatments, such as heartworm tests and treatments will also be offered, as well as minor surgical procedures, diagnostics and prescriptions.

Appointments can be made by calling 344-8707 or emailing angels@angelsofassisi.org.