Flying Fudge

Fudge is a big, happy goofy boy. He loves to spin and jump. He spins so fast that he usually stops by crashing into something, and he jumps when he's excited or happy for just because he feels like jumping.



It's not easy to get pictures of him jumping because he can jump so high, but here are some of his leaps that I've managed to catch.


























This boy just can't keep four on the floor and he has a daughter who has inherited the jumping gene. We call her Norma Jean The Jumping Bean.

Samba Update

Did you ever have one of those weeks that started off so badly that by Wednesday you didn't want to even get out of bed? That's the week I'm having.

Yesterday we had to deal with the Cat problem. This morning we took Samba in to see Dr B. She seems to be feeling better after taking her meds for her tonsils, but she is still not letting me open her mouth and she chews on the left side only. There seems to be pain on the right.



After an exam he suggested an x-ray of her jaw and a biopsy of the muscle. His feeling is that she may have Masticatory Muscle Myositis.

The x-ray showed no dislocation or abnormalities of the jaw. Good news.

Now the bad news. Inflamed, swollen tonsils are one of the symptoms of MMM. She had that. A week ago they could open her mouth fully, now only two thirds of the way. The natural progression of the disease would make her unable to open her mouth at all.



While we wait for the lab results, we're starting her on treatment. Large doses of Prednisone daily tapering off over a six month period, soft food and until the pain is under control, no chewing. After the pain is managed, we'll start her on physical therapy, holding a soft toy and eventually chewing a soft toy with supervision.

The disease is not necessarily life threatening as long as she has treatment. It could progress to where she can only eat liquids, but we're hoping for remission and that she can lead a fairly normal life.

Tough Decisions

Sometimes being an adult and making responsible decisions stinks. Today was one of those days.


This guy has roamed our neighborhood for years. No one has claimed him and no one seems to know where he came from. The best guess is a family that moved away a number of years ago and had lots of cats. They probably left him behind.

He has terrorized the neighborhood cats for years, fighting with them and stealing their food whenever possible. He's killed birds and squirrels and other small creatures. Whenever anyone gets near him, he runs. If he can't run, he hisses and swipes at people and dogs. My dogs have learned to stay far away from him.

In the last couple weeks Cat, as we call him, has adopted our porch as his major residence. We knew he'd been spending nights here for some time, but lately he's been staying all day and doesn't run when we approach him. Last week he didn't run from Samba or Morgan. He didn't hiss at them or try to claw them. It worried me.

This morning we trapped Cat and took him to see Dr B. Because of the personality change, I was afraid he might be sick. I was right. He tested positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. He was a very sick kitty and was highly contagious to all the other cats in the neighborhood.

Rob and I made the decision to have him put down and cremated. It's a terrible decision. We shouldn't have had to make it, but whoever was responsible for Cat didn't live up to their responsibility and someone had to. We're sorry, Cat.

Happy Birthday X Two + One

Today, November 14, is a special day. Today is the birthday of both Morgan and Tsar. Morgan is ten and Tsar is eight. It almost got past me. I had forgotten what the date was and if our friend Becky hadn't reminded me this morning, we might have missed this opportunity to party. Becky remembered because today is her birthday, too.


What has caused so much interest?


Rob is holding something special .


Fudge wants to see what this special treat is.


It's Frosty Paws and there's one for each dog.


Bailey knows exactly what to do with a cup of Frosty Paws.


Fudge likes it, too.


This is something you don't often see around here. Everyone is busy licking and it is absolutely quiet.


Tsar has trouble eating frozen things. When the cold hits his tummy, it makes him throw up. We've never given him Frosty Paws before, but it's his birthday so we decided to try. As long as he only licks and doesn't swallow big pieces, he should be OK.


I offered him a cup and he wanted it.


He took it very gently.


Then he carried it over near the tower to eat it.


Morgan carried hers into a pile of leaves for a nice soft place to enjoy her treat.


Tess didn't go anywhere, she just dropped where she was standing and started eating.


Samba has had ice cream for her sore throat and now this nice cold treat.


Noah loves parties.


Tsar was doing just fine with his.


It takes a long time to finish a Frosty Paws. Each dog was very intent on his own and nobody tried to steal anyone else's cup.


How do I get them to stay quiet for such a long time without food involved?


I don't think there's an answer to that question.


Those little white cups work like magic.










Tsar was the last one finished.


Morgan liked it so much that she ate the cup, too. This is all that was left and I had to fight her for it.


As I picked up the cups, everyone thought there was more.


No guys, this is the trash.


That was a great party. Thanks, Becky for reminding Mom.


Happy Birthday, Becky. We wish you could come celebrate with us.



That tasted great, even the cup. Happy Birthday Becky.


I hope you got to enjoy a Frosty Paws today, Becky. They taste awesome.

The Falling Leaves

We have lots of trees around our house and we live at the foot of a fairly steep hill so our neighbor's leaves tend to blow downhill into our yard.


That's OK. We don't really mind the leaves. Every now and then when it start's getting too hard to find poop deposits in the yard, Rob will mulch them with the mower.


My fur kids like the piles of leaves.


I don't know if it's the rustling sound they make walking thru them or the special scents buried under them.


They can spend hours nosing thru the leaves.


They can find toys hidden under the leaves.


They can relax in them.


This week my girls have discovered the fun of rolling in them.


The leaves cling to my pack like velcro.


When I call them inside, they bring the leaves along with them.


Inside they pull the leaves out of their coats and rip them up on the carpet for me to clean up .


They don't worry about it, there are lots more leaves in the yard to play in.