A Cough or More?

About ten days ago Norma Jean had a little cough. It sounded like a tickle in her throat and only happened a couple times a day. I took notice but didn't panic.

 As the days went by the cough happened a little more frequently and sounded like she was trying to clear her throat. I started paying closer attention. Then about three days ago the cough became persistent. It happened more frequently, lasted longer and seemed to bother her more. Time to panic!


My thoughts went back to the days when Monty had a little cough that grew worse. When we took him to the vet, a chest xray showed lung cancer and he died shortly after. I couldn't get that experience out of my mind whenever Norma Jean coughed.

 I made a vet appointment for next Monday but yesterday morning Nora Jean was coughing constantly. I was worried about making it thru the weekend so I called and they saw us yesterday afternoon. Norma Jean walked nicely into the building with her nurse. I settled down for a long wait but they reappeared pretty quickly. Dr B knew I was thinking about Monty and said the first thing he did was listen to her lungs. They sounded OK. She has no fever and she's eating and drinking normally. He listened to her cough and checked out her throat. Without a chest xray he can't be positive but he feels pretty strongly that she has bronchitis caused by her seasonal allergies. She's also been chewing on her front feet, another sign of her allergies.

 He sent her home with an antibiotic, some Temiril-P which is an antihistamine steroid combo and some antihistamine foam for her feet. After her first dose she only coughed a couple times and didn't lick her feet at all. This morning she has coughed a little but is mostly sleeping quietly.

 It looks like Dr B was right and we're on track to fixing this problem. If it doesn't work in the next few days, we'll do that chest xray. Keep your paws crossed that it's bronchitis and that it responds to the meds.

Mackey and The Giant Squirrel

Hi Bloggers, it's me Mackey. I have an exciting story to tell you.

I spend lots and lots of time watching squirrels thru the window. When I see one heading for the bird feeders I bark really loudly to warn Mom and Dad. Sometimes Dad will open the door and let me chase them away from the feeders. I'd like to catch one. My sister Sydney has caught two of them and I think I'm just as good a hunter as she is. So far I haven't had any success. They run into the trees as soon as they see me. Mom says if I was a little quieter I'd have a better chance but I get so excited that I forget and start barking.

Well, the other night Mom got ready to take Norma Jean and me outside to pee before going to bed. She snapped my leash on and opened the front door. There in the bird feeder sat the biggest squirrel I'd ever seen. It was bigger than me and it just sat there looking at us.

It seemed to be a very responsible giant squirrel because it was wearing a mask and it followed social distancing, keeping at least six feet away from us at all times. I tried to get closer but it climbed down off the deck and went under the porch. I tried to pull Mom in that direction but she wouldn't budge. As soon as I peed, she dragged me back inside.

 I thought about that giant squirrel all the next day and that night when it was time to go out before bed, I was hoping to see it again. It wasn't there but there were three little masked squirrels in the feeder instead. Two of them ran away but the third one laid down in the feeder and waited for us to leave. I stood there looking at him but Mom wouldn't let me get close.

 I'm not sure I could handle that big giant squirrel, but I bet I could catch a little one, especially if he just laid still and didn't run. Have you ever seen a giant squirrel bigger than me?

 Keep wagging, Mackey

Mackey's Turn

First Norma Jean had surgery to remove a tumor from the side of her face. Then Sydney had her vet visit. I was surprised when Dr B reported that she was a good girl. She had surgery on her eyelid. Finally, yesterday was Mackey's turn to visit the vet.

Mackey has been healthy except for her seizures and so far this year she's only had two. She needed some vaccines and an overall checkup. I pointed out a couple of small bumps, one on her side and one on her neck.

Mackey did not want to get out of the car and certainly did not want to go with the strange lady. We waited in the car wondering how she was acting.

When Dr B brought her out to us he said she was quite wound up. That's vet speak for she acted like a crazy wild animal. His report wasn't what I was expecting. First I was sure he'd tell me to put her on a diet but he said her weight was ok. He said that since her seizures are infrequent that we won't do anything differently but still treat her with valium.

He said the bump on her side is a fatty tumor but he doesn't like the one on her neck and it needs to be removed. Also he managed to get a look at her teeth and she has cracked a molar. It's a bad crack and the tooth needs to come out. He'll do both surgeries at the same time. We're planning on doing it in September.

Mackey was very happy to get home and the vet techs were probably happy to see her go. This new system of letting the dogs go in without us is hard on everyone.

Only Half The Story

After observing our little raccoon family, Mom, Dad and three kits, we wondered who would show up last night so we made sure there were some seeds in the feeder as evening approached. It didn't take long before I spotted a shape on the deck.

When I went to the window I saw Mom and her three babies, but wait was that a fourth head sticking up?

 

 

 

Mom saw me and headed toward the hedge, then she stopped. Lined up behind her were six kits. Three were a bit bigger than the ones we'd seen the other night, though I think they were the same ones, just grown a little. Two were a little smaller and one was a runt.

The three bigger ones knew exactly what to do. They entered the feeder and started chowing down. The two smaller ones stayed behind Mom and she shoved seeds toward them, The runt stayed under Mom and I think may have been nursing.

  When the bigger ones had eaten their fill, they went to play on the porch while Mom and the smaller ones ate. Mom kept her eyes on me all the while, but she didn't run away.

  These little guys are so cute. Rob and I decided that we'll feed them again tonight but then we're cutting off the food kitchen. We'll remove the feeder at night. We don't want to encourage them to take up residence on the porch.

The Night Visitors

HI. Happy July, Canada Day and beginning of the week most hated by dogs. On Saturday Rob went to the grocery store and one of his purchases was a bag of bird seed. We like to feed the birds around now because they bring their chicks and entertain us with their noisy antics. Rob grabbed a bag of seed and didn't notice that it was all sunflower seed. The bigger birds and the squirrels love it but he had to go back for a bag of smaller seed for the little guys. The feeder is busy all day.
Sunday night a little after dark I was walking by the window and something caught my attention. I peeked thru the blinds and saw a raccoon sitting in the feeder stuffing herself with sunflower seeds. I turned on the porch light and she ran into the hedge.

About ten minutes later I looked and she was there again. Rob stepped onto the porch and again she ran for the hedge. Still later I looked thru the blinds again and she sat in the feeder and stared at me. I could read her look. She was saying, do we have to keep doing this? I'm tired and I just want to eat my dinner and go home. I turned off the light and left her in peace to finish the seeds.

On Monday night there was some seed in the feeder and I wondered if the raccoon would  come by again. I left the porch light on and the blinds open and had my camera handy. I got more than I bargained for.

 When I checked the window we had company, but it wasn't the stressed raccoon from the previous night. She had brought her three babies and left them in the feeder while she waited in the hedge. They were adorable, all stuffing their mouths with seeds and pushing each other around.

 I quietly walked onto the porch and the babies, each about eight inches long all climbed down from the feeder and started running toward me till Mama gave a squeal and they changed direction and ran into the hedge with her.

After getting a few pics, I left them alone to eat. I understood why she looked so tired the night before.

Last night I checked the window again and this time there was a very large raccoon there, I'm guessing it was Daddy. He didn't want any pictures and ran instantly but I noticed that one baby was with him.

The sunflower seeds are disappearing fast but we're enjoying our night visitors, especially the little ones.

Blocked

Hi, remember me? I seem to be suffering from writer's block lately. When I sit down at the computer, my mind goes blank. I think this prolonged quarantine is the cause. I heard someone say that time is elastic now and that seems about right. Each day is remarkably similar to the one before.

The fact that my dogs are no longer crazy pups running around getting into trouble is also a cause. It doesn't seem very exciting to post each day that the dogs ate, pooped and slept. Back when they were playing games and looking either adorable or naughty the posts were more interesting.

I'm determined to work thru this lack of interest and keep my blog going. In the meantime this is Father's Day in the US and I wish you all a wonderful day. Here are a father and son that I churned out recently.

We will return!

Where's Breakfast?

I got up around 6:30 this morning and took the three dogs outside. Then I brought Mackey and Norma Jean back upstairs while I made coffee and turned on the news.

Mackey was confused because I didn't give them breakfast and grabbed each of her squeaky toys and stood on the stairs squeaking to get my attention.

Rob got up around 8 and Mac complained to him but he just sat down with his coffee. She kept pawing at him and whining so he finally offered her a cookie. She wouldn't take it. "I don't want your stupid cookie, I want breakfast."

A little after 9 we left an angry Mackey and confused Norma Jean behind and took Sydney to the vet. Today she was finally getting her stitches removed.

Because Syd isn't exactly the most cooperative dog and the stitches were in her eyelid we expected the vet to sedate her. That's why there was no breakfast this morning.

The tech came out to get Syd but she didn't want to get out of the car. I had to lift her out and walk her to the door. She told us she'd come back out to tell us if we needed to leave her and come back later.

About five minutes later she came back out with a hatless Sydney. It seems that Syd sat still and let Dr B remove the three stitches . I couldn't believe it.

Her eye has healed nicely and you'd never know she recently had surgery.

On the way home I commented that Syd would enjoy being hatless. To prove me correct, she started licking her butt. I guess for a dog, not licking your feet or your butt for two weeks is stressful. The slurping sounds from the back of the car showed that she was catching up.

When we got home Rob fixed breakfast for all three while I went to get a noisy Mackey. Breakfast was a big hit and every drop was consumed.

An hour later Syd was stretched out in comfort on her pile of blankets, Norma Jean was asleep on her back with her feet against the wall and Mackey was snoring and nose whistling on the couch beside me.  All is well again.