Hope you all had a great turkey day........Koko did!

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.  Koko did. 

Koko and I were invited to a friends house in Dayton and she had a blast.  Now she has THEIR house memorized and THEIR cat terrorized!  Another battle won.  She ate more turkey than I did and was spoiled to the nth degree..... Not that she is spoiled at home or anything. 

She slept about 1/2 of the way home and then started getting very vocal.  So she had what was a first for her.  An outdoor potty break.  She has been out before but never had to make a deposit.  She didn't seem to be thrilled about it..... really got frustrated when it came to trying to cover it up.  I laughed so hard my stomach hurt because she REALLY intended to stay at it until it was covered and the grass just wasn't cooperating as proper litter should.  For once she didn't win the fight.

Then when I came home I buried Puss Puss.  It was still extremely muddy but I finally hacked thru the tree roots and vines and buried her next to Luke.  RIP Puss Puss.  She had a long life and I hope she was happy with me.

I am having a rough time convincing Charlie it is time to graduate from the paper and do his business outside.  I think he was doing better when I first got him actually, but then when I had to make special arrangements and allowances for Puss Puss he got into some bad habits that are proving harder to break than I had hoped.  And he certainly seems to be teething a lot more than he was originally!  I wonder if he knew what was up all along and hoodwinked me at the beginning so I would start to love him before he let loose with all his bad habits?  Nah. 

So he - and I - are going thru some rough patches right now.  Dec 6 he gets neutered and hopefully when I start taking him out to try and find him a new family I will have broken him of the chewing and the paper use.  We will see.

I think if there was a way to have Koko train him it would work.  She is bossy and doesn't give up til she wins the fight whatever it is about.  Maybe she can give me lessons?

-Me

Puss Puss chose her own time.....

Puss Puss died at approximately 12 noon today.  I knew I would be taking her in to the vet for the final time very soon and was debating whether today was the day but she decided for us both.  It appeared to be peaceful - I don't think she was in pain but she sure was tired.  Last night she ate some gourmet food and slept on the bed with me a bit before going back to her heating pad.  This morning she collapsed and it was over quickly. 

It is, of course, a swamp outside in the fur-baby resting place in my woods.  Been raining for 2 days with hail yesterday so digging a hole will be delayed for a while and a mess when it has to be done.

Meanwhile, Shaggy Kitty had made an escape to the outside world on Friday and hadn't returned.  For many years she was an inside only kitty but I started letting her go outside during the day several years ago.  This time she had gotten angry at Charlie picking on her and not being intimidated by her hissing and smacking him - she was 'de-clawed' by her previous human - so when I opened the door to let the dogs out she booked. 

When I hadn't seen her for several days I thought she was gone too.  Then, as I came back in from taking Puss Puss out to the garage to wait for the rain to stop, there was Shaggy at the back door.  When I let her in she just about unhinged her jaw burying her face in the gourmet cat food I put out for her now that Puss Puss doesn't need it.  Shaggy is getting old, losing weight and her fur is looking a bit - shaggy.  She will be getting her annual blood work on Dec 4.  I am not sure how much longer she will be here yowling, hissing and smacking the other animals around.  Her Royal Majesty, Princess Shaggy.

Life ends, life goes on.

Koko is fat.  The puny, flea ridden, encrusted kitten of a few months ago has disappeared.  In her place is a sassy, ornery, aggravating bully.  And, of course, I love her.  If I ever find out who spoiled her and turned her into this brat I will have to have a serious talk with her tho……

All the other fur-babies are doing OK.  Charlie is scheduled to be ‘fixed’ on December 6 and a week or so later I will probably start taking him to PetLand and TSC to try and find him an adoptive home.  He seems to be a late blossoming chewer.  Phone books, leather cell phone cases, DVD cords, extension cords, plastic cat dishes and……………YECHHHHH – gets into the cat litter.  That will all stop quickly tho. I have my ways…..

Deer hunting season is in full swing so I may have to paint 'DOG' in large pink, fluorescent letters on Chica's sides.  She is deer color and after some of the local yokels have been sitting in a tree stand drinking beer for a few hours she may be close enough to looking like a deer to warrant a shot or two.......Altho I have to wonder if they can read.

-me

Koko status report

Koko is back to being herself.  She took a break from being the instigator and harassing the others this morning by spending some time laying in the sunshine on the rug by the back patio door.  She may not be able to see the sunshine but it apparently feels real good! 

It is chilly but sunny today so I let Puss Puss go outside.  She has gained quite a bit of her weight back altho she still has no energy and is breathing hard/deeply.  She appears to want to hang on for a while so if she wants to go outside to lay in her sunshine so be it.

Charlie has fit right in with the rest of the fur crew and for the most part they tolerate his puppiness.  He still sticks around on our walks when off leash and as long as he behaves this well he will continue to have that privilege.  He has started to lag behind and/or go off the side to explore more than he originally did but is quick to come back when I call him.

Dan, my neighbor, delivered the Blazer yesterday evening!  Such service!  He did a GREAT job on repairing the huge rust hole on the driver rear quarter panel and in pulling out the dents in the passenger door and rocker panel.  He also primed them and the Blazer looks 500 percent better just getting rid of that big gaping rust hole.  In return he will be back later today to start loading up some of the creek stone I have in my yard.  I will never use it and he wants to build a wall around his house so we bartered.  I still have to find something more to barter tho cause he did such a great job on the Blazer!

Chica is being good and sticking around for the most part.  I took her out in the yard with me this morning while wire-brushing some of the surface rust on the Blazer and except for one exception when the dogs next door were saying something challenging to her she stayed in the yard with me.  She is such a loving girl I hope I can find the right home for her this time.  She has no problems with any of my other animals, is gentle with Koko and she and Polar Bear are best buds.  After they have done their business on walks they start play fighting and it is a riot to see Charlie get involved - mostly by biting Polar Bear in his furry tush while he is busy fighting Chica.  Wish I had a video and some extra hands.

Once the sun warms things up a bit I will finish the wire brushing and coating all surface rust on door edges and the spare tire holder with a special paint that encapsulates the rust so it can't progress.  Then I put on seat covers, test out the towing wiring on it and the trailer and hopefully take a load of stuff to Goodwill in a few days.  Then load it up and do it again.  I am tired of being a pack rat and don't want to wait till spring to have a yard sale so might as well donate what might be of use to someone else.

Koko was sleeping in my lap but wants to get up and play now so .............

All is back to 'normal' for now.  Whatever that is and however long it lasts.  As normal as it can be for a not-so-normal person living in a community of past middle aged farmers who just voted in a nationally known, adult humor (?) comedian as it's mayor.  Can't do any worse than what we have had. 

I hope.

-me - 

     

Koko is home.............

Koko's surgery went fine.  She is stitched up and hopefully will have no more hernia issues!  Or any other for that matter.  I dropped her off at 9:30AM and her surgery was later in the morning.  I picked her up at about 4PM and she was just barely awake and loopy.  She has been sleeping almost constantly and doesn't appear to be in any pain.  No stitches to remove, all internal.  A couple of times I woke her up enough to put her in the litter pan and each time she did her duty.  The first time she actually started falling asleep in the pan!  She ate a couple pieces of dry food and drank a bit of diluted kitten milk but I don't want her having any more til tomorrow.

So, for now, all is OK.

And Charlie is no longer perfect.  He did a 'bad puppy' thing.  Chewed thru the power cord for my portable DVD player.  Least he didn't do a heavy power cord and fry himself!  I have gone around the house again trying to puppy proof even tho this is the first time I have discovered him chewing on anything really bad.  Most of the things he tested his teeth on were minor - the corner of his cardboard box, the edge of a throw rug and the threads tied in knots on one of my quilts.  Say NO and he quits.  Just didn't catch him at this.  Cords I can't get out of his reach are now slathered with hot pepper sauce.  Oh well - he has been an amazingly good puppy for a ........ puppy.

And Chica caught and killed a rabbit while we were out for a walk yesterday.  She is one quick dog!  I won't go into the details cause even tho I know it is in her doggy nature I would prefer she hadn't done it.  Oh well.  Next I send her after the darned moles and gophers in my side yard!

Send Koko good thoughts.  She is a little over 5 months old and has already had 5 surgeries!  I hope this is her last and that she lives a long, healthy life.  She's special.

-me

More surgery for Koko......

Koko goes in tomorrow at 0930 to have more surgery.  As I suspected - and half hoped cause it is better than it could have been - she has an abdominal hernia.  It is large enough her intestines could fall thru which could lead to them being restricted/twisted or otherwise compromised so in she goes.  This is surgery number 5 technically.  1 was to remove her eyes.  2 was to address seepage in both eye sockets.  3 was to spay and fix an umbilical hernia.  4 was to address continued seepage in the one socket.   Vet doesn’t understand how she seems to be so susceptible to hernias.  This is lower down in her abdomen so is unrelated to the initial one.

While I had her out for this I took her to another local vet on the way home on the chance she could be seen for another opinion on her eye socket seepage.  They knew me from when I volunteered at the pound and were kind enough to look at her in the waiting room, tell her what a cute kitty she was and tell me as long as the socket doesn't swell, get mushy or the seepage doesn't look yellow/green, etc., there should be no real problem.  It just sometimes happens.  Kindof freaked me out but...............OK.

Then, Koko got to go to the library.  I have been telling the librarians about her and figured I would pop in with her while we were out so they could meet her.  She was a hit.  Even the librarian who has an allergy to cat dander had to pet her and tell her how cute she was.  She may become their mascot!

After I got back from that I went to the Dr. to get an evaluation for a 'screening' colonoscopy.  Oh the joy.  My dad had colon cancer years ago and although he has remained cancer free it is something that, at my age, they recommend be done every three years or so.  Have I mentioned how thrilled I am?  If I haven't, I meant to.  To make it even more fun, they now have a bunch of pills (20+) you can take instead of drinking that gallon of nasty salty stuff the day before BUT insurance does not cover the cost of the pills.  They cover the liquid gunk but not the pills.  And the liquid costs me less than $4 after insurance.  The pills?  $103.  Conspiracy.  I have to drink that crap in order to let someone drug me and stick a tube, light and camera up my................... OK.  Don’t go there.

So that is what I will be doing the 2 days before Thanksgiving.  Oh well.  At least my neighbor has agreed to drive me there and pick me up afterwards.  They don't allow you to take a taxi, you must have someone with you.  Wish I could teach Polar Bear to drive.  Darned dog does everything else.

Meanwhile Koko has to be confined after midnight tonight so she doesn’t get into the cat food.  I leave it out for the other cats and it is easier to confine her than to put all the food up and listen to the other cats complain.  At least I hope it will be.  She will be in a big dog crate so she will have a pillow and plenty of room.  Only for 9 hours so she will have to deal with it. 

I will add more info on how she is doing when she comes back tomorrow afternoon.  Poor Koko is going to be more scar tissue than skin at this rate!

-me

Koko will go to vet first thing Monday.

Darn!  Koko has to go to the vet first thing Monday morning.  I have left a message for my vet and she is good about calling back but if not, I will be on her doorstep at 10am Monday.  I can't believe I missed this for what has apparently been a long time.

I was petting Koko while reading a book and she was purring up a storm but, as usual lately, she didn't want me to scratch her chest or belly, something she used to get into once she got 'drunk' on petting.  I finally got curious as to why she didn’t' seem to like that anymore, put down the book and picked her up to check her out - and FREAKED!  She has a very large 'protrusion' on her belly just in front of her rear legs.  It is soft and palpable but doesn't push back in when I apply pressure, as I would expect some type of hernia to do.  She had to have an umbilical cord hernia repaired when she was spayed but this is lower down, MUCH larger and in the area of her non-existent uterus.  I am VERY upset.

I was waiting for a call back from another vet in the area to get an appointment for a second opinion on her still seeping eye socket but this can't wait and I know my vet will fit me in ASAP.  I have a feeling Koko is going to have a lot of vet visits in whatever life span she is given. 

I will post as soon as I can after I find out what this is all about.

Meanwhile, I dragged my itching, watering sneezing self out of bed and took all 4 dogs for a walk this morning, down the dead-end road.  Slim and Polar Bear on leash, Chica off leash and Charlie off leash once we got off the main dragway.  I stopped at the end of the road to let them ‘chat’ with Caesar (handsome German Shepherd but a no-go-show-boat!) and Betsy  (a sweet Bassett who rules the outside roost,) at my neighbors.

Dan, the husband, is welding a patch panel on the major rust on the Blazer I just got (doing some bartering here as none of us are currently working).  Margaret, the woman of the house was home with a cold and heard us in the yard so she came out to say hello and brought Sweetpea.  This is Sweetpea whom I keep referring to as a Yorkie but she is really a Schnauzer!  Sheeze I should have known that! 

In the process, Chica (spayed female) and Caesar (intact male I believe,) were not sure about seniority and going thru the usual doggy ritual.  This riled up Polar Bear and even Slim got into the act barking and yanking on his leash, both getting tangled around my legs.  If I hadn't been sitting on a log I would have been dragged half way up the hill.  Polar Bear would be a GREAT sled dog!  Meanwhile, Charlie and Sweetpea were wrestling. 

So here we are, Me, Margaret, 7 dogs and mayhem!  I thought the dogs were finally used to each other but I forgot Chica and Caesar hadn't really had a close-up-and-personal meeting before.  Oops!  I am reminded again that human logic and dog logic are two different things.  When Margaret got Caesar temporarily distracted and in an area he couldn’t see us I snuck back up the yard with my 4 dogs yelling ‘good bye’ to Margaret over my shoulder.  So much for etiquette. 

So, on the way home, Chica invites herself into another neighbors yard, buries her head in a bucket and starts chowing down like she hadn’t been fed in days.  This is not a good sign and, not knowing what she is into I need to get her out quickly – BUT - I have two leashed dogs, one loose puppy checking out what Chica is doing and this neighbor has 5 – 6 horses, several dogs, lots of cats, a Llama, chickens and some pigs – among other things - and all he__ broke loose.   Chica is still eating out of the bucket, Charlie was eating what she was dropping, Polar Bear was going after some cats, Slim was going after the dog behind the fence and I was being taken along for the ride.  In the process, both Polar Bear and Slim went in, out and around some prickly bushes, got TOTALLY tangled and were tearing things up.  World’s funniest video but I WAS NOT LAUGHING. 

Neighbor came out of her house and said, “Who are you, why is your dog eating out of the pig slop bucket and what are you doing in my bushes?”……

After unhooking some leashes, hooking up others, tying Slims leash to a lawn tractor, getting tangled leashes out of prickers, pulling Chica out of the slop bucket so the neighbor could put it out of her reach, untying Slim, reattaching the correct leashes to the correct dogs and me pulling Charlie’s head out of the fence, we headed home.  Just another non-eventful walk for the dogs and another day in my dull life. 

I, on the other hand checked the refrigerator to see if I still had that bottle of Bailey’s Irish Creme.  15+ years old, never opened but now seemed like a good time.  Sun over the yardarm yet?  Who cares?  Would make one heck of a cup of cocoa!

-me

Ever notice how sometimes things just keep coming at you?

First, some updates and pics.





                 
<--Slim
                             Scruffy--- >         









More later.  Have to leave to take Charlie to the vet.


-me


OK.  Back from the vet.  Charlie appears to be fine, approx 10 wks old, vet says so too young for rabies or neuter of course but I hope to take him in to have that done in about a month.  He will still be a bit on the young side but shouldn't cause any difficulties.  His family jewels are there, both of them, just VERY teeny.  We laughed at him and I am pretty sure his feelings were hurt.  We reassured him he would grow, they would grow.  Didn't bother telling him that grow or not they were going to get snipped soon so it didn't really matter, I figured that would REALLY be mean.


Vet says he is definitely a Jack/Parson Russell mix, possibly with some Corgi.  She suspects that because of the way his fur is getting a little longer and wavy and because of the rounded shape of his head.  He shouldn't be more than 15 - 20 pounds full grown so I am hoping someone will be quick to adopt him if I get him trained a bit.  He sure is cute.  Will try to take pics and post soon altho sometimes I can't even get on line with this darned dial-up connection.  It is either that or satellite at $70/mo for a minimum of 2 years and that isn't gonna happen any time soon....................


Now, what I said about sometimes things just keep coming.  I had just made the appointment for Charlie when my phone rang.  It was the young vet-in-training who had adopted the last of my rescue dogs about 5 weeks ago, Chica, a suspected German Shepherd mix.  (She was the last until Charlie anyway.)  They asked me to take her back.  Their older dog (13 yrs) was nearly blind and not sociable and she and Chica didn't get along to the point where Chica snapped at her, causing a slight wound under her eye.  They have a toddler in the  house and were afraid the child might get in the middle of a future disagreement between the dogs so....................


Poor Chica is a people dog, had been adopted and returned once before through no fault of hers.  I had rescued her a bit over a year ago, the morning after she had 6 large puppies in a den she had dug under a tree root in the woods.  At the request of her first adoptive family, who wanted very much to keep her, she is the first dog I spent the money on to have a DNA test done.  Their new trailer was in a park that didn't allow German Shepherds, Pits, Rotties, Dobe's or Chows!  Duh!  Naturally she was 1/3 German Shepherd, 1/3 Border Collie and the other 1/3 a mix of another type collie and GREAT DANE!!!  She is only 60 - 65 pounds so guess that is where the puppies got their size!  They were huge when born and all weighed 100 pounds or more by the time they were 1 year old!!!!

<----  Chica - in the fall of 2010 just after she had weaned her puppies.  Amazingly, she has gotten her svelte figure back!

 Anyway, within four days I went from 2 dogs to 4 dogs.  Yipes!  Gotta find homes for Charlie and poor, confused Chica quick cause I can't afford to feed them or vet them much longer unless I can find a darned job.  Besides which, I love them all, and the longer they stay the harder it is to adopt them out.  So, I am now living with 9 cats and 4 dogs, one of them a VERY energetic puppy.  Life isn't dull.





And.... you know the Blazer I traded for my Honda?  I bought a battery for it (they took the battery with them when they delivered the car - they needed it!!!!) and drove it less than 1/2 mile when the 'service engine soon' light came on.  That doesn't mean it is going to blow up or anything but not something I expect from a car I just acquired from friends. So I decide to drive it to one of the local car parts stores to have it hooked up and diagnostics run.  As I start it I notice it is almost out of gas!  They left it with an empty tank!  So, I pour the dregs of some lawnmower gas in it, put the gas cans in the back so I could refill them while I was out, (thank goodness,) and tried to make it into town.  Notice I said 'tried'.  Ran out of gas on the way in.  Only thing that kept me from burning the Blazer and hitching home was, a:  it was out of gas so I couldn't start it on fire, b:  I quit smoking years ago so didn't have a lighter, and, c:  I had 4 EMPTY gas cans in the back so I could at least get gas and not have to buy a gas can too.  Of course, nobody picked me up on the way to the gas station or back from the gas station, so that took about 2 hours out of my day.    Sigh.


Found out the 'service engine soon' light was caused by a minor thing, but the EPA no longer allows parts stores to reset the computers in the cars.  I have to go to a licensed dealer or mechanic!  I know someone who has one of those little magic machines and he will reset it for me if I take it to him but meantime I fixed it myself.  I took it home after buying gas (over $100 for it and the gas cans.) I went into my garage, opened my tool chest, took a razor blade and a roll of electrical tape, carefully trimmed a piece of tape to the exact length I required........ and pasted it over the light.  Bet you thought I was gonna slit my wrists huh.  Nope!  I am a MASTER MECHANIC!


Other than that, things are going great.  Weather has been truly lovely, I am feeling reasonably good, Puss Puss is doing about the same but at least not getting worse, Charlie hasn't chewed anything he shouldn't, Lucky brought me a dead mole to prove his worth, Sid Vicious only knocked an unbreakable container of peanut butter off the top of the refrigerator when she jumped up there to get to the top of the kitchen cabinets, and Chica is getting along with Koko and the rest of the cats as well as Charlie. I was kind of worried about that so, all things considered, things keep coming but I'm still here......


I still have to come up with the money to take Koko somewhere for a second opinion on her eye cause it is seeping again - a very tiny bit but still seeping so I will keep you posted on that......

Polar Bear




                                 













                                  
                                        

My fur-babies.  I love them all.

-me