Almost a bad day

I almost lost Missy today.  When I took the trash out, Jock shot out the door with me.  Jock is not a problem and I caught him quickly.  But Missy had also shot out the door and did not stop.  She has never done that before.  I threw Jock in the house and took off after Missy.  I couldn't find her.  I went back and go my car and drove around the neighborhood for 3 hours.  I kept calling the shelter.  I finally got someone at 11.  I told her what had happened in between sobs.  I described Missy to her to a T.  She told me that someone had just brought her in.  I was  so happy.  I headed for the bank and then took off for the shelter.  They sent me to the kennel to make sure it was Missy.  I walked into the shelter and looked straight back and saw her in the kennel.  She got off the bed and came to the bars.  She was so glad to see me.  I went back to the office and paid the pick-up fee.  The receptionist called to have Missy brought to me.  I went out to open the car door.  As the girl was walking across the grassy area with Missy, Missy either spotted me or smelled me because she picked up the pace and could not wait to get to me.  I took the leash off and handed it back.  And I put Missy in the car on a quilt I had brought for her.  The girl tried to give me back the leash telling me I would need it when I got home.  Nope.  I have a scarf and that is all I will need.  I drove Missy home, opened the car door, got her out and led her to the house.  She came in the front door, headed for the water bowl, then wanted to go outside.  I took her out back.  She came back in, climbed on the couch and went to sleep.  She woke up when I was fixing their dinner.  She ate, went back outside, came in, got back on the couch and is still asleep.  From now on, I will just assume she will dart out the door.  I will make sure this never happens again.  I won't have her end her day in fear.  Or hungry. Or being mistreated.  She has been with me since she was a puppy about 10 months old.  She has never been mistreated.  She has never been hungry.  She was not even punished when she ate the sheetrock in the dining room when she was still a puppy. 

Usless humans

Yesterday, I was working outside and missed a call from an older relative.  This relative has MS and is disabled.  She walks with a walker.  She can only be on her feet for a short time.  She has an older dog and three cats.  She pays someone to walk the dog while I am at work.  Well, I tried calling her back and got no answer.  I tried for about 20 minutes and finally hopped in my car and went over to her townhome.  She was sitting on her little front porch with a neighbor's two kids, aged 9 and about 3, with a yellow lab puppy on a leash.  She has this porch enclosed with a banister and gate made with lattice work.  We did this so her dog could not just take off when she brought her outside.  So I walk up, look at her, the kids, and the puppy who was about 4 months old and weighing in  at around 20-25 pounds.  I asked who owned the puppy.  My relative told me that the boy had found the puppy and his mother had brought it down to my relative.  Oh, hell no!  I was having none of this.  Then my relative told me that the kids' mother had gone back to their town house to call the dog catcher.  This woman has a cell phone, but she went back to her town home to use her house phone.  So, I am telling my relative that there is no way she is going to take the puppy.  Then the mother walks up, says that the dog catcher will be there when he gets there and she has to go to the store..  I told my relative to go inside.  When she went inside, I told the mother that there was no way my relative was going to take the puppy.  That her son had picked up the puppy and it was her responsibility.  She told me she only wanted my relative to watch the puppy while she went to the store.  She had brought the puppy directly to my relative as soon as her son showed up with it.  I am pretty sure she told her kids that they would give it to Miss Elizabeth and the kids could come to her house to play with it.  I could tell that she was  not telling me the truth.  So I told her she needed to take the puppy to her house to wait for the dog catcher.  Her reply was "Oh well we will just wait here.  Miss Elizabeth's porch makes a nice playpen for the puppy.  My reply, " No.  Take it home.
My relative is 68 years old, is just short of a wheel chair and has to pay someone to walk her do and this woman, without any twinge of guilt whatsoever, was going to dump the puppy on her.  I was so mad it took me all night to calm down.  I did stay and make sure she took the puppy to her house, but she did not take it inside.  She kept telling me that she only wanted Miss Elizabeth to watch it while she went to the store.  It was already 4pm.  She would have dumped the puppy and not come back.  I knew it and she knew I knew it.  There has to be a special place in hell for people like this.  I have made it plain that if any of the residents over there try to foist an animal onto my relative, I will key their cars, put sugar in the gas tank and scoop up all the dog poop I can find and dump it on their doorsteps. 

When my relative moved there, there were around 15 feral cats living in and near the complex.  Being the soft heart she is, my relative spent her own money trapping, vaccinating, and spaying and neutering all these cats.  She spent over $1500 on this and not a damn one of these fine residents offered her a dime.  But then they bragged about getting them fixed.  So I called them out on it and told them that had it been left to all the trash that lived there, those cats would still be having 3 litters a year.  What made this so bad is that my relative spent a sleepless night worrying about the puppy.  It is fine and I was at the shelter today and was told that it would become the property of the shelter at 2:30 pm tomorrow and they already had applications for it, so it is going to be ok.  But I am still pissed.

Duncan

Duncan was demanding I pick him up this afternoon.  I did.  But that did not make him happy.  I finally figured out that he wanted his sweater on.  He was cold.  He is so tiny, only weighs in at 4.5 pounds so he gets cold.  Jock does too, but he refuses to wear a sweater.  He will even growl at me if I try to put it on him.  Abby as like that except when it was really cold.  Then she wanted her sweater.  I miss her every day.  I miss Daisy too.  Every time I lose one of my friends, they take a piece of me with them and I never really recover.  But I would never have a life without them.  It would be too bleak. 

My Zoo

I spent my night as usual with Jock curled up next to me, Duncan next to him, Sally on my pillow and Spats all over the bed all night.  I go to bed around 8-9 and get up at 6.  I may, if lucky, get 6 hours sleep.  Spats drives me nuts.  Picasso sometimes gets on the bed, but he prefers the big, overstuffed chair in the living room.  He and Van curl up there together.  Missy has the couch.  Might as well as she is slowly eating it anyway.  I refuse to re-upholster while Missy is still here.  I told my daughter that she had better cozy up to her niece because when Missy outlives both me and my daughter, my granddaughter will have to take up the mantel of caring for her.  She is 17 and is not slowing down.  Honey does not want to be anywhere but her crate in her cozy blanket.  I never close the door to the crate and this is her safe spot. I gave it to her as soon as I brought her into the house and she was so little.  She would curl up in that blanket and sleep most of the day away because she was almost starved to death when I found her.  It took awhile for her to put on weight and gain strength and she hasn't slowed down since.  I am so glad I found her even though I was not ready for another dog.  She is so cute and sweet.  I really love my zoo.  All of them..

My brood

Well, we have some knowledge of how Honey will turn out.  She is a good watch dog except in the dark, if it is raining, and if it is cold.  She is afraid of the dark, hates rain and cold.  Otherwise, she is a great watchdog.  And she is great at keeping that dog looking back at her from the window in the dining rook from getting inside.  She hasn't figured out why it won't go away, though.  Saturday, I noticed my lime tree on it's side in the middle of the yard.  Of course I went to investigate. Yep.  Honey had pulled the small tree out of the pot, dumped all the dirt from the pot, and destroyed the pot.  She had also pulled up my pepper plant and was about to go to work on my night blooming orchid.  So, a lot of re-potting and removing the plants from where she could get them. And she helped with the repotting.  I also spent all day Saturday and Sunday with a mop in my hand every time she came inside.  There was mud everywhere.  I am so glad she was confined to the dining room and kitchen.  Had she had the run of the house, I would still be cleaning mud from the floors.  And cabinets. And walls.  And furniture. 

Duncan wore his sweater all day Saturday and Sunday.  It warmed up slightly today and I took it off, but tonight he wanted it back on. I keep my house at 68 so he gets cold.  Jock just burrows under any blankets I have on the furniture.  Duncan hasn't learned how to do that.  Honey has a queen size fluffy blanket in her crate and loves it.  I guess we will survive winter. 

Return to the living

I have been down with the flu and so far down I did not think I would resurface.  During all this my babies took good care of me.  Jock and Duncan kept my bed warm for me.  They loved me being sick.  It meant that they got to sleep on the bed most of the day.  I would crawl out of bed to take care of my babies then back into bed.  Honey was really worried because I was home all day and night and I wasn't playing with her.  I couldn't go outside and throw the ball for her.  She never brings it back, but she does love to run after it.  Well, I did manage to do Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and had my son and grandchildren here.  It was nice.  Honey, Jock, Duncan, and Missy thought so too.  They got turkey with broth and I have quite a bit frozen for them.  I always boil the carcass and freeze the broth to use in their food.  The dark meat is chopped up and put in their food. 
Today, Honey spent almost all day outside.  She destroyed my chayote squash I had planted.  She was in the process of digging up my lime tree when I caught her and removed the pot with the tree.  She then turned her attention to the pot that had held the squash.  That pot is now in little pieces all over the yard.  Along with sundary other items that she has destroyed.  But she had a good time.  She was fine with the wind.  She didn't mind it at all.  However, when the front blew in and the temp dropped, she wanted none of that.  She went outside and in just a few minutes, I heard her crying at the window.  She was standing up with her paws on the window sill and whining.  She had never done this before, but she has never seen cold weather either.  She came in and did not want to go  back out.  She is a cutie. 

Jock has gotten very needy and jealous of the other dogs and the cats.  He will demand his lap time now.  He sits in my lap while I crochet.  Usually he is on one side and Duncan on the other, with Spats and Van hanging over my shoulders.  I do have quite circus here, but I love it.  I am working on Honey and her biting the others.  She is trying to play, but they don't like it and it hurts them.  So we are working really hard to control this.  She is doing pretty good, not great.  She definitely wants her way. 

Trip to vet

We made a trip to the vet yesterday.  We went to get Duncan's and Jock's anal glands expressed.  Yeah, they hate the vet.  So I put Jock's collar on him, black with rhinestones, and his name tag proclaiming to the world that he was JOCK.  He marched out to the car.  Duncan marched with him sans collar and leash.  I don't need Duncan on a leash.  He doesn't get two inches from Jock.  I put them in the back seat.  Duncan as usual cowed down.  Not Jock.  His feet were on the arm rest and he was surveying the world.  It is just a short drive to this vet.  I see him when I don't have time to go to Don's, who is 20 miles from me.  So we drove to the vet with Jock surveying everything from his throne.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot of the vet's office, Jock was on the floor trying to crawl under the seat. 

I got him out, holding his leash while I reached for Duncan.  Jock was fighting his leash and trying hard to pull out of it.  So I put him back in the car, took off the leash, dropped my bag on the floor and picked up one under each arm.  And in we marched.  Lynn took us to a room and the vet tech came in and took Jock to weigh him.  He had gained 3 pounds.  Time for a diet.  Duncan, in spite of picking up his eating to 1 cup a day, only weighed in at 5 pounds and he is still not as heavy as he should be.  His backbone still is visible.  So Lynn gets to the chore and Jock hates it.  He was looking at me like "Save me Mommy!"  When she finished, he shot into my arms.  Duncan has had so much happen to him.  He just submitted to whatever was going to happen to him.  He got a lot of loving afterwards.  And Lynn gave them treats.  I carried them to the car and Jock was fine on the way home.  I had to drive holding Duncan though. 

When we got home and I opened the car door, Jock was so ready to get out.  Of course, he had to inspect the front yard.  And Duncan was fine as soon as we got home.  And not two inches from Jock.

stormy night

Apparently my son activated alerts on my phone because at 04:17 this morning I was alerted to a tornado warning. Well that got everybody up, except Missy.  Missy was asleep on the couch and could not see the lightening nor can she hear the thunder.  So I move all of us, including the cats, to an inside bathroom.  Duncan was terrified.  He hates thunderstorms.  Honey was busy being a pest.  Jock was in my lap.  Missy went right back to sleep.  We waited out the storm in the bathroom.  Around 05:30, I rousted everyone and checked to see if it was raining.  It had stopped or at least we had a lull.  I put Missy, Jock and Duncan outside.  They went, took care of business, and shot back inside.  Then it was Honey's turn.  I could not get her outside.  She looked out the door and ran back to her crate and I could not get her out.  I would have had to take the crate apart to get her out.  So, needless to say, I have had a lot of cleaning up to do.

She finally went out about 15 minutes ago.  Ran out and did her business, and almost ran over me getting back inside.  So my hunting dog is afraid of the dark and hates rain.  Yep.  She will do great on the hunt.  But she is only 5 months old, so we will see.

But my Duncan is terrified of bad weather.  I have to sit and hold him when it is storming and he shakes so bad.  I can only guess at what he had to endure in the first part of his life.  He is a very damaged little dog.  But he has a cushy home now.  And always will.

Mystery of the disappearing peppers

I have a beautiful pepper plant in a pot.  I put it in the pot planning to move it inside the garage when it gets cold and I could have peppers all winter.  I have a 4x4 skylight in my garage and I can grown just about anything in there.  Well, my pepper was blooming and producing plenty of peppers.  Then the peppers started disappearing before they were any size at all.  I just assumed they were falling of the plant.  Well, I was in the dining room Friday with all the shades open and could see the pepper plant.  I found out what was happening to my peppers.  The squirrel came across the yard, snatched a pepper that was only about 1 inch long and scooted up the tree with it.  I also found out that he was harvesting my pole beans as they produced.  Guess I won't get any peppers until I move it into the garage and the beans are not going to happen.  At least he has, so far, left the tomatoes alone and I am still getting tomatoes.  He has a field day with the acorns from the Burr Oak in my back yard.  A Burr Oak produces huge acorns and he gets all of them.

About two weeks ago, I was in the front yard and heard what I thought was a cat fight, but it didn't really sound like cats.  I took a look around and saw two squirrels shoot out from under my Gardenia bush and one squirrel was giving the other one what for.  He chased that squirrel across the neighbor's yard, across the cul-de-sac, and into the other neighbor's back yard.  Then he came back to my yard.  Guess he was defending his territory.  And even though I put out squirrel feed, he still steals all the food I put in the bird feeders.

Leash training Honey

Honey is proving difficult to leash train.  I put her collar on her and she has worn it for around 3 weeks and is comfortable with it, but when I put a leash on her, she is scared to death.  And after I take the leash off, she won't come near me.  Guess it will take a lot of work on my part. 
On an up note, she is really, really sweet and I am getting her accustomed to Missy.  The problem with Honey is that she bites.  She bites their faces.  She pulls on their fur and on their lips.  She shows no inclination to lick.  I am trying to teach her to do so.  I put peanut butter on my fingers and she is learning to lick it off.  She was out with Missy for around a hour today and finally Missy taught her to leave her alone.  My problem with letting Missy chastise is that Missy is too old.  Missy is around 17.  And Jock is too small and he has joint trouble.  So it is up to me. 

She is really smart, but really stubborn too.  Wish me luck. 

My little watchdog

When she grows up, Honey will be an awesome watch dog.  Now, however, she is like any little kid and is afraid of the dark.  I have almost floor to ceiling windows in the dining room.  I keep the blinds up about a foot so the cats can sit in the windows in the sunshine.  Well, the other morning around 4am, I was awakened by Honey's furious barking.  It was a threatening bark.  I levitated about 3 feet, shot across the bed and grabbed the shotgun.  I tore through the house to the dining room and Honey was defending us from that dog barking back at her in the window.  She could see this because I keep a night light on in the kitchen and it reflects into the dining room.  Honey just knew that there was a dog in her back yard and she was gonna let the world know.  Well, no use going back to bed as the adrenaline was pumping, so I stayed up and did some sewing.  Needless to say, I now lower those blinds all the was.  I was so proud of her.  The hair was standing up on her back and she meant business.  Of course, she was glad when her momma came to her rescue.  The other dogs didn't move.

Pet Food

My cats, as I have said, before, are all seniors, well ancient.  All are 15 and 16 years old.  I have tried almost every food out there.  They liked the Royal Canin but threw it up.  Same with Blue Buffalo, ProPlan, Purina One, and Nutro just plain made them sick.  So I had been using Iams Indoor food.  It was so-so and they really didn't like it.  Plus Van threw it constantly.  I added wet food.  It helped, but he still threw it up.  So I finally tried the Purina Beyond.  It has been fantastic.  No body has thrown it up.  They seem to digest it well.  I feed them that and add two cans a day of Purina Indoor wet food.  I am loving it.  I keep it in the fridge because it has no preservatives in it and one lady told me that by the time she got down near the bottom, she was getting bugs in it.  So in the fridge it goes.  And I only buy the 3 pound bags. 

Honey

Honey has decided she is a big girl and wants to eat what the other dogs eat.  The trouble is that the other dogs are seniors and Honey is still a baby.  So I cheat.  I give her some of what they eat along with her puppy food mixed with wet food twice a day and I leave her about 1 1/2 cups dry out during the day.  She is not a big eater and she likes to snack.  She is real picky also. 
I was making their food.  Well, I bought ground turkey and I got bad turkey.  It made all of them sick.  Back to Purina.  And they seem really healthy on it.  I am using the Purina True Instinct with turkey and venison.  I have checked the ingredients list and it looks as good as the higher priced ones and to date none have gotten sick with Purina.  I also use Purina One canned dog food and Friskies canned cat food.  Of course they get extras like apples, carrots and green beans.  Honey has already learned to love carrots.  Not great on apples yet, but she tries.  She is the sweetist dog.  When she looks at you, she cocks her head like "What?" She is a far cry from what she was when I found her.

My 15 year old kitties

 This is Sally on my pillow.  She is blind and 6 months older than her boys.  She navigates the house with no problem and even goes out in the back yard with me.  She sleeps on the pillow.  I do not. 

These two are Spats and Picasso.  Spats is the one in my briefcase.  He made himself comfortable.  The other one is Picasso.  Picasso had gotten up to 19 pounds.  I have gotten a lot of the weight off him.  I went to an Iams indoor and hairball control dry food and I give them two cans of wet food per day.  That is two among all 4.  Sometimes they want more wet food.  At this stage I pretty much just cater to them.  They are my babies.  There are no knick-knacks sitting on any flat surfaces because Spats knocks them off to watch them fall and break.  I have no plants in the house either.  I am at present growing basil and cat grass for them.  That is the only type of plants I ever have in the house.  I tried growing my herbs in the house.  Yeah, they really enjoyed those.  Love my kitties. 

Honey and Baby.

Honey is, of course, my Black Mouth Cur puppy.  Baby is my son's pit bull puppy.  They are both the same age and Baby is 35 pounds and so much bigger than Honey.  And he is a baby.  Around 6:30 last night, Baby was ready to go home.  He would sit and whine for my son and his kids to take him home.  He and Honey had played all afternoon and he was tired.  He rides in the back seat between the two kids.  He has a bed between them.  And he is so spoiled. 

After they left, Honey went straight to her crate, curled up on her clean new blanket and went to sleep.  I had to wake her up this morning to go outside.  She ate and went right back to bed and has slept most of the day.  They wear themselves out every Sunday.  I did not want another dog, but I really didn't have a choice.  She was skin and bones when I found her.  So I told myself I would call the rescues.  Well, they were all full.  So she is going to be my new addition and she will stay for life. 

Duncan was in bed with my grandson Sunday morning so I took Honey into bed with me.  Spats got in bed with us and he was nuzzling Honey.  Honey was nibbling his ears.  If I could just get Honey to stop pulling on their fur and biting their faces, they would love her.  I have started training her.

Dog food recipe

9-12 pounds of ground turkey
3-4 pounds sweet potatoes, boiled
2 pounds of carrots boiled
1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed
1 bag of frozen green beans, thawed
1 bag if blueberries
1/2 can of pumpkin

Cook the turkey in a large skillet.  Boil carrots and sweet potatoes until done or soft.  Drain.  Put all ingredients in a huge pan.  I use a turkey roasting pan.  Use potato masher and mash as fine as you want.  Put it into freezer containers and freeze.  I freeze mine 3 cups to a container because that is what I use for each feeding.  If you have small dogs, cut down the recipe.  They will thrive on this and if you are a hunter, even better.  Careful with pork though.  Some dogs are allergic to pork.  Daisy was.  But deer, elk, moose, buffalo, wild turkey, all are great. 

New members of our family

Honey is the black mouth cur puppy I found around the middle of July.  Baby is the pit bull puppy that wiggled into my son's yard around the same time or about 2 weeks before.  Anyway, Baby comes over on Sunday's for a play date.  They love to play together, but Honey gets really rough.  She bites Baby.  So Baby just flips her over and lays on her because that is what Ninja, my son's cat does to Baby.  Ninja taught Baby to play so he plays like a cat.  Nobody taught Honey so she is really rough.  She is as big as Jock at around 12 weeks and so much bigger than Duncan.  She wants Missy to be her mommy but Missy has always been the baby.  Missy was always mothered, never doing the mothering.  So Missy wants nothing to do with Honey.  Baby is her only friend.  I will be getting her shots next week and can then start walking her.  I also have to get busy with training her.  She will be a high maintenance dog because she is a working breed and will need to be kept busy. I/m too old for this.

Anyway, here is a picture of Honey and Baby.  Baby already weighs 30 pounds.

Honey is the brown one.  Baby is fawn colored.  And they are both so sweet.  Honey loves her home made dog food. 

Missy

This is Missy.  Missy is almost 17 years old.  She is healthy, eats great and has no problem with loss of movement.  She tears out the door just like always.  Maybe just a little slower, but that could be because she is blind and almost deaf.  She can see light and that is all.  These pictures were taken under my Bradford Pear tree.  It covers most of the back yard and the shade is so dense that no sunlight gets through, ergo no plant life under the tree.  And it is always about 10 degrees cooler under this tree.  Missy loves it.  But she still hates Honey.  That is going to be a problem.  Duncan is just plain petrified of her.  Jock is very jealous and hates her.  It will be a real chore incorporating her into the household. But I will  get it done.

And here is Honey.

She has not learned to do her business outside yet.  Every time I take her out, she just sticks like glue to my feet.  She is a sweetie and she is only about 8 weeks old if that.  She was nothing but skin and bones when I found her.  She is filling out nicely.  My son brought his new pit puppy over Sunday for a play date.  Yep, this pitty just showed up in his yard and it was only about 3-4 weeks old when it found it's way into his yard.  No chip for either one of these pups.  Anyway, he brought Baby over to play with Honey.  Honey played him out.  He finally lay down in the kitchen floor and went to sleep.  She just kept pulling on his tail, ears and face, but he would not wake up.  He was more than ready to go home when my son took him.  He has a lot of energy, but he can't hold a candle to Honey.  She is like the energizer bunny.  My windows are about 1 foot from the floor and she stands in the window in the utility and guards the cul-de-sac.  She barks at every thing and everyone who comes into the cul-de-sac.  I think she will be a good watch dog.  She will certainly keep me moving.

Rough month

July has been a rough month.  Family problems have taken up a lot of my time.  We lost a wonderful cousin.  I have finally taken down the pet gates, but Daisy's crate us still in the dining room.  I will eventually take it down.  It is difficult. I miss her and will forever.  Abby has been gone for a year and a half and it seems just like yesterday. 
I found a puppy yesterday.  I was driving down a country road and she was in the middle of the road.  I stopped and she ran to the side under some weeds.  I called her and held my hand down.  She came out and was very submissive.  She has the sadist eyes when she looked at me.  It was like she was asking me not to hurt her.  She is a black mouth cur mix.  For those of you who don't know, that is a Texas dog.  She was almost starved to death. Well she has made herself at home and sits in the utility room at the pet gate and constantly whines.  She wants to cozy up to Missy, Duncan and Jock.  They are old and having none of it.  Duncan has never seen a puppy and is scared of her.  Jock is very jealous and Missy just does not like her.  Hopefully, my daughter is going to be able to take her.  I hope so.  I cannot rehome her.  I don't trust people.  And it will be a real ordeal to keep her, but I will.  She is really cute and already at about 4-6 weeks bigger than Duncan.  She will be around 60 pounds when grown.  I am a sucker. 

Healing, maybe

Pet gates are still up.  I did pick up one of her blankets.  Haven't been able to wash it yet.  Wow.  It amazes me how much a part of your life they become.  I have never stopped mourning Abby and she has been gone 1year and 4 months.  I still look for her when I come home. 
I clipped Jock and Duncan tonight.  Don told me to keep Jock buzzed.  Reason being is that last year he got a piece of grass in his eye and it wound around his eyeball.  My grass is kept short and no ornamental grasses in their yard.  Nothing but trees, shrubs and rocks.  I keep the shrubs because they have large leaves and they like to hunt in them.  Jock loves to go under those shurbs.  Duncan not so much.  He does his business, then comes back close to the door. 
Maybe this weekend for the pet gates.  We'll see. 

Missy

I am very afraid Missy will be going soon.  She did not eat her food tonight and what little she did eat, she threw up.  She is 17 years old.  I know I have to let her go, but I don't think I will ever be ready.  My house will really be empty without her.  I am still missing Daisy.  I guess I will take the pet gates down tomorrow.  That will be the final goodby.  That will be acknowledging that she is truly gone.  It hurts. 

Loss

My house seems so empty even with Missy, Duncan, and Jock and the cats.  I expect Daisy to bark to wake me up at 5 am as usual.  I called the vet's office to find out how much my bill was.  I was really depressed all day and am still depressed.  It was like the final letting go.  But not really.  I haven't removed the pet gates.  Can't. Not yet.  I am not ready to let her go completely.  It will take awhile.  That piece of missing heart is still healing. 

Hurt

They come into your life bringing nothing but unconditional love.  They leave, taking a good chunk of your heart with them and leaving crushing heartbreak behind and leaving you a better person for having known them.  It was a pleasure to share Daisy's life with her.  I hope she gets a meadow with soft sunshine and many smells to explore. 

Remembering

When my son first brought Daisy to me, she was around 7 months old.  He had rescued her from the streets and he was going to keep her.  He brought her to me and gave me the money for her shots and to be spayed.  After I had her spayed, I brought her home with me to recover before she went home to my son.  She was in pain.  I put a twin mattress on the floor and slept next to her and held her.  One week after she was spayed, I had her back in the vet's office because she was in so much pain.  That was when she was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia.  David did the diagnosing.  He had consulted with Don and he told me that we have two choices.  We either put her down or we do surgery.  She could not live the way she was.  He also told me that I would not get to keep her for many years.  So we did the surgery.  After the surgery, I had to keep her quiet for 6 weeks.  She has a steel bar inside the leg and a stabilizer bar on the outside screwed to the one inside.  So for 6 weeks, I kept her in a crate, taking her out to take her out and feed her.  She slept on a fluffy comforter.  After that 6 weeks were up and she could have the run of the house,she was so happy.  I have never seen a dog with so much enthusiasm.  We could never break her from barking because it was just sheer joy.  She stayed with me because we were afraid that if she were with my son's other dogs, she would get hurt.  He had 2 big dogs.  So for 5 years I have been blessed with Daisy and she was a blessing.  She will always be a blessing. 

RIP Daisy

Daisy had quit eating.  I thought it was because of the allergies.  She ate Monday night, but threw it up.  Then yesterday she was not interested in eating.  This was strange because usually Daisy eats everything in sight.  Tonight she was just sitting and looking at me.  I could tell she was in pain so I called my vet.  He met me at the clinic.  After he checked her over, he did an xray.  The xray showed she had severe arthritis in her spine and both hips were bone on bone and her muscles were atrophying. So I did what I always do.  I asked first can we do any thing?  Second if not do I let go.  His answer was that there is nothing that he could do and it would get real bad real fast.  So I held my baby while she went to sleep.  I will so miss her.  She could drive me nuts but she was so sweet.  She never complained.  She never growled at Don.  It hurts.

New food

Ok, we tried the new food tonight.  So far, everyone seems ok with it.  Hopefully, this will work and I can stop cooking 3 times a week.  Time will tell.

The ongoing saga of Daisy

I have Daisy on an antihistimine twice a day and a steroid pill every other day.  My hope is to get her down to a steroid pill twice per week.  Don't know if I can do that or not but that is my goal.  I have been cooking for all of them and it is labor intensive.  I found a limited ingredient kibble made in Lubbock, Texas by Merrick.  I will be trying that starting tonight.  I really hope it works.  It is their Roasted Duck and Sweet Potato recipe.  I will keep homemade in the freezer just in case and if it works, as a treat for them.  Can't wait till I can get Hempstead watermelon.  All of them love watermelon.  And blackberries.  I have planted blackberry vines in the back.  Hopefully, I will start getting fruit this summer.  Also, I am going to try growing a couple of blueberry bushes.  Those will be grown in pots as the soil here is not  acid enough for blueberries.  If I can grow most of my ingredients, then they will be much better off. 

I was also told that Jock's problems with his anal glands was probably due to a food allergy.  So hopefully this new food will agree with him as well. 

Had to treat Duncan again for whipworms.  I just can't seem to get rid of them in him.  The others have never tested positive for them, but he had them when he came and I cannot let up on the panicure treatments or he gets really sick.  The treatment is three days, three weeks, three months.  Poor little guy.  He may have had a lousy first half of his life, but he is living like royalty now.  In the mornings, after they come inside and while I am fixing their food, he goes back to bed.  When I get it ready, I have to come and get him and carry him to the kitchen.  I should have it so easy.

Update on Daisy

I waited till my daughter came home.  We talked it over and we decided to stop the shots.  Even with the shots, I could not get Daisy off steroids.  I would take her off them and she would pop a secondary infection with huge sores on her skin and bleeding nose.  So I would  do a round of antibiotics with steroids, usually two weeks along with the shots.  Then I could keep her off the steroids about a week until the bloody nose started up again. 

So now we are trying hydroxysine and using about one to steroid pills per week.  This is an antihistimine.  The goal now is to use the antihistimine all the time and hopefully get her down to one steroid pill a week.  So far she is doing pretty good with two a week.  I hope this works.  I am still making her food.  I tried the Iams grain free.  No go.  Her nostrils swelled up and she could not breathe.  So I am making baked chicken, boiled sweet potatoes, boiled carrots, spinach and pumpkin.  She does pretty good on this.  I did try her on a cheaper food, Purina Turkey and Venison.  She loves it and tolerates it ok, but not great.  So that will be a treat on occasion.  All it has in it that she is allergic to is eggs and soy.  She along with the others gets lots of vegetables.  Every one also gets strawberries, blueberries, apples, carrots.  Now that my garden is producing, they will get fresh sweet peas.  Hopefully, I will also have blackberries.  They love those.  I can't wait until  Pearsall  watermelons hit the market.  I can deseed a bowl of watermelon and give each on a bowl and they love it. 
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Jock just had to have his anal glads cleaned out.  Within a span of about two hours they popped up swollen and before I could get through to the vet, they ruptured.  At leas they ruptured to the outside.  Anyway, that was an expensive trip.  They packed them with antibiotics and sent us home with steroids, antihistimines, and clavamax.  He is good to go now. 

Missy, at 16, is still going strong.  She bounces out the door every morning and spends most of the day when I am home playing with Daisy and Jock in the yard.  Duncan wants none of that.  He just wants to be with me. 

My heard

Shots are not really doing Daisy any good.  We still have the swollen, bloody nose and she is miserable.  Looks like we will have to go the route of steroids.  Hopefully, we can control this with one steroid pill a day.  Her misery did not stop her from getting into the cat food today though.  She is really high maintenance. 

Missy, on the other hand, is 16, still going strong.  She is having less of those drop seizures since I started making their food on a regular basis.  I have to cook for them twice a week.  It is really time consuming, but I am getting it down to a fine art now. 

Duncan is feeling very safe and spoiled now.  He sleeps on my bed right up next to my head.  When I get up to let Daisy out, he doesn't move.  This morning I got up, let Jock and Daisy out, started heating their food and I heard a yap.  He was awake and demanding I come and get him out of bed.  He doesn't try to jump off the bed.  He just sits up in bed and barks for service.  Jock is already in the kitchen demanding his breakfast. 

Sally is truly blind.  She does ok most of the time unless she gets agitated.  Then she will bump into things.  I try to keep her from getting upset.  I have a sofa table behind my couch.  I put a basket with t-shirts in it for Sally.  She likes to curl up in it.  Now the other three are jealous.  So there is nothing on that sofa table but 4 baskets.  They each have their own.  My home is a circus. 

Daisy

I am afraid the allergy shots are not going to work on Daisy.  She finished a round of steroids about two weeks ago and already her nose is crusting and bleeding.  The antibiotics cleared up the sores on her back.  She gets another shot this weekend.  I will give it 6 months and if there is no improvement, then we will just have to do one steroid pill a day.  I don't like to do that, but if it will improve her quality of life, I will do it. 

On an upnote, she helped herself to a loaf of pumpkin bread yesterday.  I didn't have it far enough back on the cabinet. 

I also believe Duncan is deaf.  I noticed when he is in the yard and I call him, he does not react.  And the other morning he was curled up on a bed in my bathroom ( yes, I have beds in all the rooms) and I decided to test out my theory.  I clapped my hands really loud and he did not move.  Trip to the vet to confirm it or maybe find out he has an ear infection.  We have been that route before. 

Sally

I took Sally to the vet this afternoon.  They did blood work and could find nothing wrong with her.  This was a young vet.  He wanted to send her to A&M for tests for toxoplasmosis, spinal tests and God knows what else.  No.  He told me she was not in pain and her kidney functions were fine.  No, I won't put her through all that pain.  She is 15 and deserves a comfortable end to her life.  I told him to forget it.  No heroics.  I just wanted to know she was not in pain.  She is curled up on my pillow now along with Spats and Picasso.  Yep.  They will live out their lives here with me comfortably.  If I see signs of them going down, I will take them to make sure they are not hurting.  I will not do IV's, shots, tests.  That is quantity not quality.  And I want quality of life for them.  That is what I want for me and I can do no less for them.  Love them all.

Daisy

Daisy has finished her steroids.  Her nose is so much better.  Hopefully, those shots will work.  I would hate to have to have her on steroids for life.  For one, it would shorten her life.  She is definitely feeling better.  She is back to stealing everything she can.  Dishtowles, sponges, snacks from the snack drawer, my box of garbage bags, whatever she can get hold of. 

When she is on her game, she is impossible.  She is destructo.  And everything is fair game for her. 

Duncan

When he first got here, Duncan was afraid of everything.  He never slept sound and he was afraid of thunderstorms.  Well, Duncan has been with me for 3 years and he has claimed his place.  The other night we had a bad thunderstorm.  Missy went nuts.  I was on the futon with her in my lap.  I also had Jock in my lap because he was jealous of the attention Missy was getting.  It started around 3:45am.  I turned the lights on, located flashlights in case I lost power.  I set out candles. And I delt with Missy.  About halfway through the storm, I looked over at the bed where Duncan was asleep.  He sat up, hair over his eyes.  A really bright flash of lightening popped.  I thought ok now I will have three dogs in my lap.  Duncan yawned, lay down and went back to sleep.  That storm didn't faze him at all. 

Sunday morning, Daisy got me up at 5am.  I got up, put Daisy, Missy and Jock out, waited for them to come back in,  went back to bed.  Duncan had not moved.  At 6:30am, I got up, went to the kitchen, fixed their food, put Daisy's down, put Missy's down, put Jock's down and assumed that Duncan would be awake and demanding to be lifted off the bed.  Not.  I had to go in and pick him up.  He was so sound asleep, he yelped when I picked him up.  I had to wait for him to wake up so he could eat.  Not a fear in the world.  Finally.

Sally

My Siamese cat, Sally, is blind.  She meanders through the house.  She knows where everything is.  I move nothing.  She finds her way.  I doubt that I will have her much longer.  However, she has had a really good life.  I found her when she was about 5-6 months old and already pregnant.  She presented me with 5 male kittens.  I still have thee of them.  And Sally.  I will really miss her when she is gone. 

This is Sally with my 15 year old dog, Missy.  Missy is blind also.  They love each other.  They are frequently together on this couch.  My babies.  Both have been with me since before they were a year old.