Archive for animals
September 30, 2009 at 10:58 am · Filed under family, ludwig
aily Drop Cap is the latest cool thing I’ve seen, and I’ll probably use them often. Maybe it’ll get me to post more often.
A few things that have happened:
- Moon is off to college. I didn’t cry as much as I thought I would. She’s doing beautifully and we’re super proud of her.
- Peter has become rather awesome to be around. I don’t like to say too much about my kids because of their privacy and blah blah blah, but I figure that’s pretty much says it.
- Ludwig has one less eye than he had when we adopted him. Exactly two weeks ago, I was taking him for his evening walk, and he stopped to pee at a wooden fence. (Privacy fence, not enclosed fence.) There were three barking dogs behind it, but I was used to them barking pretty much every day, and I noted that they were chained up. Two were small dogs, one was a rottweiler. Well, the rottweiler ran up to the fence, stuck her snout underneath and grabbed Ludwig’s face. She tried to pull him under, but the clearing under the fence was only about 4-5″ or so. Long story short, she pulled his eye partially out of the socket and it ruptured.
- The resulting surgery was $1,520. Ludwig is doing very well and is still his sweet self. We humans are a bit more traumatized. And we walk on the other side of the street now. The rottie’s owner is not willing to pay any of the costs because she’s been told she has no legal responsibility to do so. That’s another story, but life goes on.
- I have a crappy cold, but I’m still glad sweater weather has arrived in Wisconsin.
- Natural thyroid medicine has become very difficult to procure. I’ve been off it for a month or so, but my chiropractor gave me a supplement that includes some thyroid in it.
- My in-laws are in Europe. Someday when I travel I’m going to be one of those crazy dog ladies who brings her pomeranian into the cabin with her.
July 6, 2009 at 5:11 pm · Filed under ludwig
Ludwig is on an antibiotic and a painkiller for the post-surgery infection. His appetite hasn’t been the best, but that’s partly because he also is going to need some dental work. At least he is AWESOME for the vet. I ended up taking him back today, because he has been coughing on and off most of the weekend. It seems to help to take him for a walk or get him barking (which pretty much only happens on walks), but last night’s coughing fit sent me back to the vet.
Partly because I’m feeling cruddy, too. Getting hardly any sleep didn’t help my condition. Anyway, Ludwig was hacking and sneezing, and it sounded so awful that I got up at 3 am and held him while patting his back for an hour straight. I already hadn’t slept much because Moon was up late and I was doing the mom-can’t-relax-until-kids-are-also-in-bed thing. I mean, she was only in the living room chatting on her computer, but I was stressing anyway. I think I slept for about an hour pre-Ludwig’s cough, and then drifted a little until it was time to get up for 6 am step aerobics. Ha! Ha! I literally couldn’t move. My voice was raspy. But at least Ludwig had stopped coughing.
I stayed home from work and tried to rest. I called the vet to see if there were any appointments available. Long story short, Ludwig has bronchitis, which likely started as kennel cough (he hadn’t had that vaccine for some reason). He had x-rays, and is starting a second antibiotic. We also can use a cough suppressant as needed. Since the cough is productive, we’ll probably only use it at night.
One more thing. His right (AKA only good) ear has a yeast infection. The vet cleaned it as well as possible, and prescribed ear drops to be given twice a day. The two antibiotics ought to help with that, too.
Poor guy. The thing is, he is so good-natured that you wouldn’t know anything was wrong. He doesn’t act like he’s in any pain, but he must be. Maybe he’s so used to it that it doesn’t register.
So I need to write up a schedule as soon as my brain is working at full capacity again. Or even partial capacity. I rested this afternoon, but what I really need is a full night’s sleep, in the dark.
July 1, 2009 at 4:19 pm · Filed under ludwig
Hey, it’s my birthday. My family picked out a pie from Hubbard Avenue Diner for me, and we’re going to Quaker Steak & Lube. Par-tay.
Ludwig continues to be a source of joy, and I can’t imagine getting through this past week without him. Yesterday we visited the vet. He completely enchanted the staff, earning extra treats, lots of attention, and the privilege of wandering all over the office. Several people offered free dogsitting. And he got to meet a friendly collie, which made me wonder if he kind of misses having other dogs around.
Ludwig rarely barks, but the other day at the park he saw two yellow labs and started vocalizing at them. We weren’t sure whether he was being friendly or freaked out. Now, though, I think we need to find him some canine friends. He does enjoy his valkies, and barks while prancing around in circles whenever one of us reaches for his leash.
Anyway, the vet said his incisions appear to be infected, so we’ve started antibiotics. Ludwig also has some fairly bad tooth decay, so we’ll be getting his teeth cleaned as soon as the other stuff clears up. Otherwise, he’s an awesome 10.8 pound bundle of love and fur.
June 28, 2009 at 9:17 am · Filed under animals, foxxi, ludwig
We made it through Friday, although it was very difficult with many tears from all of us. The doctor could not have been more wonderful with his bedside manner through it all. Foxxi was in a good mood until the end, especially because we treated her with all her favorite things. Moon made popcorn for her. We took her outside and set her in the grass. She was even pleasant while Moon and I took turns taking photos holding her.
Letting go is so difficult. Saturday morning was strangely quiet without Foxxi there. Pete felt it the most, because he is the first one out of bed and had many morning routines with her. We had an appointment to meet a shelter dog in Illinois — I had seen him on Petfinder a few months ago and (uncharacteristically) emailed to find out the rest of the story. He was scheduled for surgery, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. It turned out that the vet had wanted to keep him as the clinic dog, and the foster family had become attached and was planning to keep him permanently. With so many potential families for him, I felt better knowing that he’d get the love he’d missed out on when he was neglected. (So neglected that an ear infection was left untreated and resulted in his entire ear canal being removed — that was the surgery he had needed.)
Well… as we were going through our excruciating last days with Foxxi, I received an email saying that the foster family had decided Happy (his new name, as the original owner had never bothered to give him one) would be better off in a less chaotic household. Which meant he could be ours.
So yesterday morning, I was really unsure if we’d be able to do it. I told everyone that we could meet him, and make a decision in the new few weeks if we weren’t ready so soon. Famous last words…
As we left, we saw this photo.
And when we met, his friendly face won us over right away. He’s still recovering, and needs TLC. But he’s spunky and cheerful and just what we needed. This morning, when Pete was doing yoga, Happy thought he was playing and licked his face during downward dog. He loves car rides, lap sitting, and pretty much everything else.
We’ve named him Ludwig von Happy. And we’re calling him Ludwig, Happy, Happykins, Sweetie, and whatever other terms of endearment come to mind. I have a feeling Foxxi would be totally okay with this. She trained us to be dog people, after all. (Full photo set is here.)
June 25, 2009 at 7:46 pm · Filed under animals, foxxi
I’m coming out of the woodwork a bit. Actually, I’m kind of going through my old posts, making some of them private, doing a few minor edits and so forth. After being careful not to use real names on this site, I’m toying with the idea of connecting it with my other online personas (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The kids are older now, and things have changed since I started this up in 2003. (The first available posts are 2004, though… I lost a bunch of stuff transitioning servers or something at some point.)
I am leaving some of the dumb stuff, but deleting other stuff that is excruciating boring or generates a WTF? reaction. Not that I think anyone will read my ancient history, but one must be careful.
Anyway, time for a quick update. This one is about death. Today, we lost two very public figures: Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. One was expected, one was sudden and shocking.
Tomorrow our family is going to experience a much more personal loss.
Our corgi, Foxxi, has been steadily declining for the past few years. The decline has become much more rapid in the past 10 months. This spring, genetic testing showed that she has Degenerative Myelopathy, a condition that affects German shepherds, corgis and boxers more commonly than other breeds. Her symptoms have been textbook. We noticed a weak back paw, which eventually turned into two weak back paws, and weakness spreading up her torso and into her front limbs.
This past month has been bad. She can no longer reach her food and water without help. She can’t move herself, and whines when we walk from room to room… she can’t follow. She wets herself and can’t move away from the puddle. She poos in the house, or even as we are carrying her. She still tries to do her business outside, but can’t always let us know she needs to go. She hasn’t had a walk in a year. She can’t drag herself anymore.
Yet she still smiles, and she still has an appetite. Which means she still is getting some joy from her life.
That has made this decision very difficult. Tomorrow we are letting her go. We are giving her extra treats and trying to make her last week as pleasant as possible. (It’s tough because she doesn’t enjoy petting and tends to bite because she’s paranoid about being touched. She tolerates being picked up and moved, thank goodness.)
When we came home from work today, Foxxi was on a towel, in a puddle. I picked her up, cleaned the mess and took her outside. Pete helped me wipe her down with cat shampoo. As he was doing that, I told her, “One more day, baby.” She turned her face towards mine and gave me a lick on the cheek — something she never does anymore.
I’m choosing to take it as a sign of her acceptance. I think she’s tired of her immobility and lack of power, and ready to move on. I hope we can all take comfort in that tomorrow.
Foxxi is our first family dog, and gave us a lot of joy over the years. She has been feisty and difficult at times, but we’ve loved her well. And I think she has loved us back.
January 8, 2009 at 7:06 pm · Filed under animals
This is why I want a Pom.
(No offense, Foxxi – I love you, but someday I hope to have a dog I can pet fearlessly. You are definitely Moon’s doggy.)
November 10, 2008 at 11:20 am · Filed under animals
You’ll smile, trust me.
Sleep update (mine, not the puppies’): No strange wanderings, just a regular night’s of snoozing like a normal person. Thank goodness.
September 23, 2008 at 10:43 am · Filed under animals
Too cute for barks.
August 9, 2008 at 9:17 am · Filed under animals, foxxi
The past few days have opened my eyes to the important place our family animals have in our lives. I thought I knew that already, but apparently I hadn’t ever clearly imagined what a Foxxi-less home would be like. So now I have. Thanks, anxieties!
Anyway. I noticed a long time ago that one of Foxxi’s fangs was chipped, but the vet couldn’t get near her mouth during the annual exam. It had been a while (like, 3 years) since her last cleaning, so we decided to bite the bullet and have it done Thursday. Estimate: $600-800 if nothing major was found.
Actual final cost: just over $1,900. Which covered removal of three badly infected teeth, bone grafts to save the adjacent teeth, sealing of six chipped teeth, antibiotic injection, three different prescriptions to bring home, and all the related surgery costs. The vet said she’d have thought Foxxi chewed rocks if she didn’t know better. (Our dog is not a big chewer, never has been.)
That wasn’t the scary part, though. I laid Foxxi in her bed when we came home, and she literally didn’t move for the next 6 hours. No barking, no interest in food or water. When she finally attempted to get up, her back legs didn’t work. Her front half kept flopping to the floor. I heard her whining at 4 a.m., and jumped out of bed to see what was wrong. Her back legs were jutting in opposite directions, so I gently tried to straighten them out. I was rewarded with a snarl and snap towards my wrist.
I spent the night thinking about paralysis, old age, and all that implies. In other words, I was kind of a wreck.
After I got to work, I called the vet, who told me that the difficulties might be a result of going under. Foxxi already had weakness in her back legs before the surgery. That made me feel quite a bit better, but not as good as it felt when Foxxi finally pushed herself to a wobbly stand and barked for her lunch.
She’s even better this morning. I’m very, very relieved. Even with all the nipping, barking and occasional obnoxious behavior, it’s good to have her back to her usual self.
April 26, 2008 at 11:53 am · Filed under animals, foxxi
Remember the third-time’s-a-charm vet visit on April 11? Well, Foxxi held quite the grudge against me for an entire two weeks. I had to be careful not to make any sudden movements near her, lest my arm be covered in tooth marks.
Also, she yelped at such innocuous things as a dishrag falling to the floor (several feet away from her) and a dryer ball being tossed gently across the room. Yelped and ran for cover.
So guess what? She’s due for another shot, in less than a month. I was under the impression that we’d covered everything during the morphine visit.
Yeah, this was Foxxi after I carried her to the car, drove her home and placed her on the floor. Where she stayed in the same position for about six hours. We are all very eager to replicate that experience, especially since she’s just now trusting me again. (No bites all week! Knock on wood.)
Even better… she needs her teeth cleaned. She goes under for that, so it should be done within 45 days if we want to avoid having more bloodwork done. Maybe they can do the shot at the same time.
And we can start taking up a collection for all the expenses that are surely coming our way. At least she’s very, very cute.
April 12, 2008 at 7:25 pm · Filed under animals, family, foxxi
The four of us scored VIP tickets to the taping of the Jeopardy! College Championship semifinals, so this afternoon we clapped and cheered through three back-to-back shows. I learned that there really are APPLAUSE signs that flash on and off so we know when to pump up the enthusiasm. And Alex Trebek is a very funny guy. We were in the third row, right behind the contestants who had already finished competing. I’m pretty sure we won’t be on camera or anything. The UW Band got lots of well-deserved screen time, as did the audience members who had brought signs to wave around.
It was almost like a sporting event, actually.
Yesterday I took Foxxi to the vet for her yearly exam. Third time’s the charm — the doctor was finally able to give her a real exam and get a blood test from her. Of course, they had to give her morphine to accomplish this without being bitten. (Which is why the first two visits failed miserably. Foxxi turned into Cujo when anyone tried to handle her, and it was impossible to put a muzzle on her. I even tried using the cat gloves to do it, but no go.)
I picked her up at noon, and she was pretty out of it the rest of the day. I was glad that I had let Peter stay home from school. (He had missed Monday and Tuesday, but had gone back Wednesday and Thursday.) Moon went back to school Friday because the antibiotics for her ear infection had kicked in. After lunch, I called Peter’s doctor because he’d had an especially nasty coughing attack when I was home. And I brought him in a few hours later.
He’s on antibiotics now, too. Because he has a bit of pneumonia in one lung. Neato.
This is so weird for me, because I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times my kids have needed antibiotics. Both kids. We’ve gone years without needing to see a doctor for anything but regular checkups. What’s with this winter?
Nonetheless, Foxxi was the most expensive by far. She’s also mad at me. She wouldn’t look at me yesterday, and nipped me if I reached over to pet her. I tried to tell her that hey, none of this would have been necessary if she would have been a LITTLE cooperative, but she’s not listening.
Category: Moods
Answer: The vet wrote this next to “disposition,” but it could have described the human as well as the dog.
Question: What is “Grumpy”?
November 21, 2007 at 4:07 pm · Filed under animals
If you have a dog, or you’re anything like me, this will make you laugh and laugh.
November 9, 2007 at 9:12 am · Filed under animals
Weirdest thing happened on the way home yesterday evening. Pete was driving and we were stopped at an intersection. I spotted someone across the street walking the biggest dogs I’d ever seen. Except there wasn’t a person with them, and they weren’t dogs. They were deer, running down the sidewalk of a fairly busy street.
I sensed trouble, and sure enough, they decided to cross. One was hit and landed square in the middle of the road — breathing heavily, tongue lolling out of its mouth. Fortunately, the driver hadn’t been going too quickly, so there was no blood and little damage to the car. A police car pulled up immediately. I’m sure the deer had quite a bit of internal damage and had to be put down. We didn’t stick around to find out.
The whole thing was sad, and also served as a wake-up call for me to Always Pay Attention! when driving. I keep an eye out for deer when I’m out in the country, but it never occurred to me that I should watch for them when I’m in the city. Lesson learned.
October 19, 2007 at 7:54 am · Filed under animals
One of my co-workers is giving away a litter of dwarf bunnies, and another co-worker took two of them. So on Wednesday, the bunnies were in a pet carrier in the office, waiting to go to their new home.
Of course we couldn’t just let them stay in the carrier all day. Several of us went a little nuts about the bunbuns — particularly one of us (ahem) who brought my her camera in after lunch.
I just about signed up for a bunny right then and there. Bunnies in the office? I think this practice is called “clever marketing.”
February 3, 2007 at 3:17 pm · Filed under animals, foxxi
Just over a week ago, I decided it was time to carve out an office space for myself. It’ll be some time before we can add on a sunroom, and I’d been a kitchen table nomad for too long.
So that day, I bought a desk and office chair, cleaned out a corner of the basement, and put everything together (with help from Pete, of course). When I make a decision, I don’t waste time.
Anyway, Foxxi decided to check out what we were up to. She bounded down the stairs as usual, curled up under my new desk, and … started bleeding. Freaky! I called our neighbor (a vet), who turned out to be at the emergency clinic where she works. She said to bring Foxxi in, so we did. All four of us. I held the dog and tried not to get blood everywhere.
Two hours later, we went home with our bandaged up pup. She had snagged a claw on the stairs’ carpet, and pulled it most of the way out. Our vet neighbor gave her a painkiller and removed the claw. (It’ll grow back.) Foxxi got her share of spoiling afterwards. She also was a bit reluctant to go back to the scene of the accident.
September 24, 2005 at 8:40 pm · Filed under animals, foxxi
The doggie is fine. We refrained from feeding her until evening, and then gave her about half her usual meal. No treats today, just kibble. This morning she was barking and eager to go on her walkies, so we cancelled the vet appointment.
I don’t think I mentioned that I broke our front window blinds yesterday, right before I drove Peter to school as a result of him missing the bus. Nothing like a day off work for cleaning messes, breaking things and driving kids around. Today I helped Pete install Roman shades, one for each of the three window panels. The 93″-wide blinds had been my idea, and I’m finally willing to admit it wasn’t my best thinking.
September 23, 2005 at 1:29 pm · Filed under foxxi
Carrot chunks on the stairs. More nasty evidence on our bedroom carpet. Hacking sounds coming from near the front door, followed by slurping. Three clean-up jobs before the day even began. Another hack, and a foul puddle on the rug.
Then, after returning from my morning drive to the high school, a pea-soupish puddle in the kitchen and another behind the door to the garage. And yet another at the bottom of the stairs.
In one puddle, a two-inch square of rawhide, which may or may not have triggered this yakfest.
Tomorrow, a trip to the vet.
July 4, 2005 at 5:10 pm · Filed under animals, family, knit/crochet, shopping
- Dragging Pete and the kids to War of the Worlds (despite it not being a Pete-friendly movie). Overlooking my current distaste for Tom Cruise enough to enjoy the kickbutt alien tripods.
- Being sung to by restaurant employees and hoarding my free birthday mug.
- Unwrapping the book I wanted
and a gift certificate to Lakeside Fibers.
- Accompanying Patti (with Peter) to Petsmart to look at the shelter kitties there. Falling in love with a cat named Morty, who is going to come home with Patti in two weeks (yay!).
- Driving around trying to find a good spot to watch Rhythm & Booms. Pulling over and putting the hazard lights on next to James Madison Park. (We weren’t the only ones.)
- Taking my parents to Hubbard Avenue Diner and Olbrich Gardens.
- Trying yet another spectacularly good flavor of Michael’s Frozen Custard (PB Crisp).
- Starting a new knitting project. Ripping a huge chunk after losing my place and creating an inadvertent jog in the lace border.
- Getting the nerve to wash my recently completed T3 sweater, after looking at it nicely folded on the sofa for several days.
- Working on web stuff but obviously not updating my own site.
- Deciding that a lame list will have to do.
March 19, 2005 at 9:15 pm · Filed under animals
I actually thought Possum had died yesterday, because she was curled up in the corner of her cage and didn’t respond to my nudges. But when I carried her cage out to the kitchen, she suddenly sucked in a huge breath. It was as if she inflated, then deflated. After a minute or two, she inflated again.
So I knew her time was near. Today she was still and cold, and definitely not breathing anymore. She looked pretty peaceful, actually, as if she had gone to sleep. Peter took her passing pretty well. I wrapped her body and placed it in a box, because the foot of snow on the ground isn’t conducive to a burial right now. Her cage and toys have been cleaned. The untouched bowl of food has been discarded.
She was a good little critter, and I’ll miss her.
December 13, 2004 at 7:38 pm · Filed under animals
This made me think about the time the gerbils had fleas, and I had to give them a flea bath.
Yep. I washed gerbils.
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