Archive for ludwig
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.)
