Festivus For The Rest Of Us

Happy Festivus everyone.

The way I see it, there can never be too many holidays and this one requires no preparation. The lazy part of me really appreciates that and especially at this time of year when so much is going on.

Our Festivus pole is standing in the yard awaiting out attention or lack of it.

Since we have no Festivus Chai or ice cream on hand, we'll make do with whatever is in the pantry.

There's really something to be said for a holiday with no commotion or expense involved. Now about those grievances.....

Celebrate The Solstice

Today is the Winter Solstice.

It's been grey and gloomy here for weeks with only a quick glimpse of sun now and then.

But we're sure the sun is shining brightly somewhere and we'll soon get to share in it.

Enjoy this special day with us and we wish you a most wonderful winter season.

Our Christmas Card

Hi Everybody.

Mom isn't sending out Christmas cards this year. She says it's because of her sore hand, but we think she's really milking that excuse. Anyway, we want all of you to know that we're thinking about you and wishing you happy days with your friends and families, so we decided to send you this card.

I have to explain, this is actually a card that was sent to us but Mom liked it a lot because she knits and on this card there's yarn and a knit hat and mittens. It made her smile. She says we need to credit the sender so this was sent to us by the doctors and staff at out vet clinic.

Happy holidays everyone, no matter what holidays you celebrate. You can never have too many holidays with treats.
Your pals 
Fudge and Morgan, Tess, Lola, Bailey, Noah, Norma Jean, Sebastian, Sydney and Mackey

Will It Work?

Today I finally got to see a doctor about my left hand. They did x-rays that showed nothing unusual and upon examination we learned exactly what we already knew. I have stenosing tenosynovitis or trigger finger. In this case it happens to be trigger thumb. The reason I already knew this is because I had surgery for the same condition on my right hand about ten years ago.

The doctor was very nice and actually listened to my concerns. Then we discussed the options , either a steroid injection or surgery. We decided to try the injection first. If it works I could get relief for an unknown period of time. If it doesn't work, we'll operate.

The injection is pretty uncomfortable as they inject directly into the inflamed tendon. Ouch!! Then the thumb fought back, it got hot and swollen. But now two hours later the heat is gone and some of the swelling is down. It's still a little numb but that's good. This photo is from Google.

I need to pamper it for five more days, wearing my brace to keep it from bending, then he said to go for it and test it out. He says after those 5 days I can knit and cross stitch and whatever else I want to do. If after two weeks I'm still having pain, we'll schedule surgery.

 Sounds like a plan to me.

We Have A Guest

Today is opening day to vote for Fudge. Rob and I were both a bit  displeased with the way the contest is being run. We would have preferred all the photos be displayed at once instead of having to scroll thru. In case you're thinking of voting, he's number 89 Fudge. We also don't like the idea of giving them so much info, but then we can always fib on that. Who would know?

If you're still interested in voting go here. That's a radio station www.alice955.com .  Click on the ad for the Subaru spokesdog contest. Scroll down and fill in the form. You can fib if you want. Once you fill it in, it'll ask what dog you want to vote for.  Fudge is #89. You can vote once per email address (I have three) and vote every day thru January 4. If you don't want to go thru all that nonsense, that's OK, too. Fudge is famous in Blogville and that's good enough for him.

Now, back to our guest. We live at the end of dead end street. Unfortunately there are some not very nice people who think it's a good place to leave animals that they don't care about. Last night at last call time Rob took Syd and Mac out front on leash and I took Morgan. Across the street sat a kitten. Syd saw it immediately and started screeching. The cat ran toward us.

While Rob dragged Syd and Mac, barking and screeching back into the house, I picked up the kitten. He was purring loudly. It was very cold here last night, in the 20s and this kitten looked about three months old, not old enough to be out on his own on a cold winter night.

We brought him into the garage, fed him and put him in the puppy carrier overnight. The dogs were out of their minds with excitement. They didn't see him but they sure knew he was there.

This morning we took him by our vet clinic. We hoped someone might want a Christmas kitten, but nobody did. They all held him and weighed him, he weighs 4 pounds and they dosed him with Revolution to get rid of his fleas.

Then we took him to the Humane Society. The lady was very nice but told us they are filled up and have more cats than they do cages to hold them. We explained that we have ten dogs and we can't keep him, so she said to bring him back on Friday morning and she'll make room. She gave us some kitten food and said he's so pretty that he should be adopted quickly.

When we got home, we went to work. Rob set up the crate that Mackey no longer uses. We put it in the garage behind the dog barrier so they can't see him.

We gave him a litter box and some food and water. I even found a couple of plastic balls with bells inside for him to play with. He has a blanket to curl up in and seems fairly content. He'd much rather be sitting on my lap, but for the next couple days, he has a safe home out of the cold.

What is wrong with people to throw away a baby like this on a freezing night. If you don't want a cat, don't get one. If you don't want kittens, get your cat spayed. If you have a cat you don't want for some reason, find it a home where it'll be loved or get a shelter to help you. The same goes for dogs and whatever else. I just don't get people who don't value these little lives.

By the way, I call him Stormy because his coat is the color of a storm cloud and no he's not staying.

Time To Vote

It's here! The big day when we all get to vote is here. In case anyone forgot, I'm running for Subaru Spokesdog 2015.

Here's what you do. go to   www.alice955.com   or here.
Use key word 'Spokes Dog'
Then you vote for me, Fudge.

There will be lots of other dogs there, but don't be fooled, none of them have my public experience. I'll bet they don't have a blog, OK share a blog, and most of them probably haven't got my dog show experience. All that stuff makes me a perfect candidate for Spokes Dog. Besides that, my Dad drives a Subaru, so I have personal experience with the product.

So don't forget, you can vote every day thru January 4th.

Thanks everybody,
Your pal, Fudge

Holiday Giving

My dogs always give Rob a Christmas gift that I help them pick out and wrap. This year apparently they chose to give me a gift that I'd like to return.

On Thursday night Morgan got me up twice to go outside. All day Friday she seemed fine. Then Friday night we were up every hour. She had awful diarrhea. Saturday morning I took her temperature and she was running a fever. Off to see the doc who checked her all over and gave us some medicine. When we got home she fell asleep and didn't move all day.

Meanwhile Norma Jean vomited. While Rob was mopping up, she did it again, and again and again. She also started having diarrhea. Oh boy! The clinic was closed by now so I shot off an email to Dr B, who got right back to me and advised how to treat Norma Jean.

Fast forward to Monday. Norma Jean was feeling great and wanted to run and play but mean Mom was restricting her for one more day. Morgan was still on meds and special diet, but around 8 in the evening, she informed me that she was hungry. So I fed her. She ate a full meal and slept well. But, (there's always a but) during the night Bailey woke me twice to go outside. It was too dark to see much, but I'm sure she was having some poop issues.

This morning Morgan is back to normal, eating well and having good stools. Norma Jean is fine. Bailey ate but I'm watching her closely. Dr B called to see how everyone was doing. He feels the younger dogs will shake it off in about 24 hours but Morgan needs to be watched.

I really didn't expect a Christmas present from them and I hope it ends with Bailey.