Posted by Sandy on July 13th, 2010
Ever have one of those moments when you know it just won’t do you any good to deny a bad thing you did???? Well, I had one of those moments on Sunday morning…..
Let me start this off with….it really wasn’t my fault. You see, I went to bed with mom and dad as usual. It was late on Saturday night (I knew it was Saturday night ’cause mom stays up later on Saturday night). Dad, Mom and I all got in to bed and I was all snugged up in mom’s cubby, when mom got out of bed and went back in the living room. Mom said she felt barfy and I know what that feels like. Well, anyway, mom shut the bedroom door so that the sound of the t.v. would not wake dad. I fell deep asleep and then woke up to dad’s snoring and then realized….hmmmm…..I had to poop! So, being the wonderful dog that I am, I got up and scratched at the bedroom door. Dad finally heard me and got out of bed and opened the bedroom door for me. Guess he thought that I just wanted to be with Mom on the couch. How wrong he was!!! Mom was watching a movie in the dark and I just had to go…..so I dropped one, right under the dining room table. Then, back to sleep I went.
Morning arrives and Mom got up to let us all out for our morning potty time. Ut oh, Mom saw what I left under the table and she said, in her sternest Mom voice, “Who did this?” There is a poopy in the house! Benjamin, Emilie and Chico all went outside. Mom came back in to pick up the poopy and knew it was mine. (I have a distinctive shape….I won’t go in to more detail than that…TMI). Mom said, Shellie Belle and looked at me and I gave her my chin down, ears flat back and eyes rolled up look that just says….I DID IT. SORRY! Mom scooped me up and said, “NO poopy in the house”. And that was it. On with my day. Just admitting it with my pitiful look of guilt made Mom just love me more.
I am blessed!
Posted by Sandy on June 1st, 2010
Giant white spot
Today, I am thinking about the mysterious white spot that appears on the carpet and on the deck. In my younger days, I would think….oh hey…it sure is warm in this spot and lay down for a nap and not give it another thought….but now that I am older (and wiser) I have a tendency to contemplate stuff like this and find out what this actually is.
This morning, after my morning pee and biscuit, when I came around the corner and in to the living room, I saw it….the white spot was there again. Oh yeah, I thought, as I wagged my short little nub of a tail, yes… I get to nap in the white spot! Then, I began to think…..what is this spot??? My dad was gone today, so I had a lot of time on my paws to give this great thought. I thought long and hard about what this warm, white spot is and why is it not here all the time.
Snore, snore….oh, crap! I just woke up because everybody is barking….Dad is home…..I never got to figure this out. It will stay one of life’s mysteries, I guess.
Note: I snapped the picture of my brother, Chico and my two sisters, Emilie and Shellie Belle laying in the big white spot that sometimes appears on our deck. I have proof that it does exist!!!
Posted by Sandy on May 23rd, 2010
Suzee was six weeks old when we brought her home from the Humane Society. Right away, I made an appointment with our vet to get her checked over and get her on a schedule for her vaccinations and heartworm preventive medication.
Every March, she went for the annual heartworm blood test to make sure no heartworms were present and then she would get started on the monthly preventive tablet to keep her safe from these parasites. Last spring I got the shock of my life when our vet called to say that Suzee tested positive for heartworms……I said, how can this be, she has been on the heartworm preventive every year. Our vet agreed, it was highly unlikely and asked me to bring her back for a second blood test. This I did the very next day. Once again the test was positive.
Suzee was 12 years old at the time of diagnosis and had arthritis so our vet left the decision up to us but informed us that the treatment for heartworm is very hard on older dogs and the treatment could kill her. Our vet thought that because we caught the infection in a very early stage that Suzee could live out her life and would die of something else before the heartworm caused a lot of problems for her. So we decided not to put Suzee through the painful treatment and let her live out her years….however many that may be.
Suzee began to show signs of the heartworm infestation within months. She lost weight and had a cough and was becoming weak. How could this be happening so soon???? Back to the vet we went with our Suzee. The vet confirmed that the disease was progressing very fast. She was starting to have heart failure so she was prescribed a heart medication, diuretic and a steroid to help her combat the symptoms. Suzee rallied a few times but the disease finally took over our Suzee.
We lost our beloved, Suzee, to heartworm disease just a few months ago, only ten months from her blood test that tested positive for these evil parasites.
I decided to write about this topic in Suzee’s memory. I don’t want anyone else to go through what our Suzee did. We still do not know why she was not protected by taking the heartworm preventive we gave her but we have some ideas……
1. Possibly when I gave her the tablet, she may have went outside and vomited it up.
2. Like any medication, nothing is 100 percent.
3. We have multiple dogs and maybe she spit it out for a moment and one of the other dogs scarfed it up.
We have decided to keep our other pets on the heartworm preventive tablet year round now and watch them closely after they take it to make sure they get it down.
~Sandy~
Posted by Sandy on May 12th, 2010
It began last night right before bedtime….. we just went outside for our “last pee for the night” and there it was…that scary, wet, cold stuff that falls from the sky, hits the side of the house and totally freaks me out! I did a quick pee and then ran back in the house to seek out my mom, who has sympathy for me and cuddles me up in her arms. Dad, on the other hand, I will stay clear of because I don’t want him to see me in this neurotic condition….you know how it is… it’s a guy thing. Read more »
