47 posts tagged “sadie”

Random Ramblings

2 days ago
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It is another gorgeous, sunny yet cold winter day here. However, I noticed this morning that there is a winter storm watch for my county...apparently they are expecting snow storms to come through tomorrow. Crazy! Usually we don't get our frozen precipitation until much later in the winter. Guess I should go look for my boots just in case.

Work is still work. This week is my last real review of the year. YAY! I am doing a site inspection locally here after Christmas, but I don't have to talk to anyone to do it, so that is kind of nice.

Moo stayed with Neil this week while I was gone and was mostly a good girl! At Neil's she has to sleep in her crate because his house is not Moo-proofed...so there she usually really freaks out in the middle of the night. Our solution was to move her crate to the garage (it is a finished, insulated garage...plenty warm and protected for her). This seems to have worked. He told me she barked a little right at first, but then settled down and he didn't hear her all night. And there were no accidents in the morning. She did get into the food bag and chew up one of her zip lock bags that I pack her food in. Luckily, there was no food in it.

For whatever reason, she still gets up in the middle of the night to go outside. I've been trying to work with her on this by giving her a really long potty walk before bed and then insisting on her going to lay back down when she does wake me up/ignoring her when she is just being whiny. My concern is that the couple times that she has listened and has gone to lay back fown, she has also gotten sick. I am not sure what is up with that - maybe she has an upset tummy from her antibiotics (it has only happened after her surgery)? And I know if she REALLY has to go, she lets me know by grunting and getting up on the bed if she has to to get me up...so now I don't really know what to do. Some nights she hasn't woken me up and there have been no problems. Last night I don't know if she tried (I never heard her), but this morning there were three barf spots in the living room. *sigh* Thankfully, I haven't cleaned the carpets yet. That is on the agenda for Saturday. I guess I will just keep trying to get her to sleep through the night and will continue to clean up barf as needed.

Bonnie's new trick is to sneak out the front door when it is opened and then dash around the house to come in the back door. I am guessing she wants to go outside, but also doesn't really want to be left out. LOL However, I am learning that if you chase her then she keeps going and doesn't come back in for awhile. Bad kitty.

I have been being better about washing my face at night and in the mornings and using lotion on it...my skin is starting to look pretty darn good again. I like it.

Now I am working on getting my geeky games reloaded onto my computer...I had to repartitiion the hard drive to make room for one of them. I am SUCH a dork.

Next week I will be headed to New Orleans. I am trying to get excited, or at least happy about going. I am really. right now I feel a nice cold settling in so that isn't helping my mood.

Moo's knee is healing really well...at least the incision is! And she seems to be feeling pretty chipper, so that makes me happy. Sadie is her usual playful, happy self too.

Now I am going to go see about some lunch...

Moo and the Monkey

5 days ago
5 comments

As I mentioned (I think) in a previous entry, I stitched up the torn seam on a toy monkey that had been given to Moo when she was a brand new puppy and then gave it back to the dogs to play with. Sadie immediately latched on to it - she LOVES stuffed toys. She likes to find the squeaker inside and then rip it out...in the process, completely unstuffing the toy. This time, though, she was happy just tossing it around.

Moo would try to sneak in and grab it whenever she thought she could, but Sadie would just take it right back. Then Sadie needed to go outside to go potty...when we got back inside I found Moo in her crate:

I'm not letting it out of my sight...

She had her monkey with her. As Neil captioned this photo: 'Awww...wuv the munkee!'

Any time anyone (human or critter) would even seem to be coming toward the crate, she would pick up the monkey so it couldn't be taken away:

She kept a very close eye on everyone...even the kitties! It was hilarious! At one point I lured her out of her crate with a treat, except she had monkey with her. You could SEE the wheels spinning in her head. Once she figured out that she would have to put monkey down to take the treat she simply turned around and went back into her crate. Moo...the queen of all that is food and yummy...turned down a treat. That must be some kinda special monkey!!

She stayed in her crate, with her monkey, all night. She wouldn't even come sleep on the bed with me like she normally does. I told her she could bring her monkey, but I think she thought it was a trick.

Finally - a chance to rest.

Eventually, the next day, Sadie got ahold of the monkey again and this time applied her usual tactics - she tore one of his ears off and started to pull out stuffing. So, now monkey is back up on the shelf, awaiting more stitching up before I give him back to Moo. I suppose eventually he will get unstuffed, but not just yet. :)

Whhheeeee!

Dec 10, 2009
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Well that was a wild ride! A nice big section of siding blew loose on the end of my house. The neighbor's patio gazebo thing blew off taking all his patio furniture with it. The folks up the hill behind me with the vinyl fencing had several sections of the fence blow out. Other folks behind me lost their patio furniture off their 2nd story deck.

Aside from the loose siding (which I repaired all by myself!), my belongings remained unscathed. Well, one patio chair blew over, but that happens even under less windy conditions.

Today is gorgeous, sunny, mild (about 60 degrees) and no wind.

I broke down and pulled out some Christmas decorations. I wasn't going to since we won't be here, but I really have little excuse since my wreath is fake and already decorated from last year...and it just goes on a door hanger that is stored in the same box...easily accessible in my garage. So, I hung the door wreath, pulled out a mini-Christmas tree made of eucalyptus (I'll take a photo to share...my mom made it years ago), and a couple candle holders - one is a winter-wonderland house that looks lit up from the candle inside and the other is a nativity scene.

Nothing very over the top, but it is enough to make me happier that my house feels like it is in the spirit of the season. I even have a roll of ribbon that I've had for years that I might make a big bow out of and wrap around my mailbox. Maybe. I need to find some floral wire in order to do it, so that might prevent it from happening this year.

Sadie got a bath today. She was really oily and stinky...I don't know why she gets that way, Moo doesn't...in fact, I can't remember the last time Moo had to have a bath. I think maybe it is just Sadie's system trying to compensate for her dry winter skin. She very obviously feels better now and she definitely smells better!

I have gotten a ton of work stuff done today - I might actually be all caught up before I leave for Christmas vacation. We'll see, but it has been a good, productive work-day too.

And last, I got my Caleb Christmas present problem worked out...I discovered today that they do not offer gift wrapping on it! Ack! And I am afraid I will run out of time to get it shipped out there (within a reasonable price range anyway) if I have it shipped here first to get wrapped. My mother is a blessing. I am going to have it shipped to her house and she is going to wrap it for me and then give it to my sister for Caleb. LOL YAY!

The day before yesterday I had to take one of Neil's kitties to the vet. His older cat seems to have hurt his leg...vet says she thinks he will be fine, but he also needed his rabies and distemper shots (he's indoor only and rarely goes to the vet). So yesterday he was still feeling puny, but now I think it is more from the shots and the medicine he got than it was from his injuries. Poor guy. He's got arthritis in his hips and I think he probably tried to jump up onto something or fell off something (or maybe even just landed wrong jumping down from somewhere) and bruised up his left rear leg.

OK - nothing else to report, I don't think. It is about lunch-time for me - I think I will make a salad.

Five Words Meme - Pets

Sep 4, 2009
2 comments

Since I was a slacker last night...I will now finish the remaining words for this meme!

Pets? What pets? Ohhhhh I think you mean my kids!

Seriously, that is what my pets are to me...they are family. I can't imagine my life without them. I grew up with cats (and a few hamsters) - before my sister was born, our cat Dukie was my best friend (according to mom anyway, I was only 2!). There were a couple years in there, right around the time I moved east, that I didn't have any cats. I can't tell you how empty the house seemed even with Sadie around. Cats snuggle like nothing else can. They are always around without always being _right there_. They don't need a ton of work, and their personalities amuse me to no end! I have NEVER had two cats even remotely alike.

Bandit & Mr. Mouser

I am still devastated that my boys have gone missing. My head is always full of the what-ifs...'what-if I had just made them stay inside' is the most recurring one. But, then I remind myself that Mr M and Bandit never did acclimate to being indoor-only kitties. And no matter how much I loved them, I could not have them destroying my house with cat urine. Clyde, is the hardest to reconcile in my head. He was OK being inside, though he was also the one to make a mad dash for the door whenever it opened. And I tell myself that it wouldn't have been fair to keep him inside while the other boys got to go out. It has helped a little seeing the snake on the patio - if nothing else, it has offered some closure. I know I am not a "bad" kitty mommy...but it is hard not to feel like it when they all disappear in such a short time-span. And even after all the heartache, if another stray showed up on my doorstep, I would not turn it away. Even if I couldn't get it to acclimate to being indoors. This time, though, the other cats still have to stay inside.

Cuteness

To help fill the void, and to keep Bonnie company while I am away on business and the dogs are not at home, I adopted OP. It was a little bit of an adjustment, but now he is right at home here. And he is a snuggler! He now shows up in my bed around 2am each night and purrs...and is usually still purring when my alarm goes off around 6. He likes to get right up next to me, but thankfully, seems to have no interest in sleeping on my head. Bonnie is the aloof one...she has her moments of absolute NEED. Love me now! But mostly she is content to simply hang out in whatever room we are in. Usually you can find her curled up sleeping in a corner.

Sleepy

My mom was never a 'dog person', so we never had a dog when I was a kid. I got Sadie as a "present" from an old boyfriend (just before he dumped me...nice, huh?) She was a pound puppy and around 4 months old when I got her. I did everything wrong that you possibly could when it came to raising her, but in the end, I lucked out. She is the sweetest, most neurotic, gentle dog I've ever met. By neurotic, I mean quirky - for instance, she sleeps under the bed whenever I leave the house. Yup! She can actually get herself under a bed! She will put on the biggest show ever, when we get ready to leave the house...including chattering her teeth. She won't go outside to potty if it is raining out. She doesn't like it if it is too hot out. But, everyone who has ever met her adores her...including my non-dog person mom.

Marly

Then there is Marly-Moo. The Moo-dog. She got her name from an old song about a prostitue - Lili Marlene...which then got shortened to Marly. The nickname Moo came at around 9 months old when she was growing faster than any dog alive. It has since become what we call her because EVERY person who asks what her name is, then asks if she was named after the dog from the book/movie Marley and Me. I get tired of explaining that no, she was not.

Before I moved, I also had fish - a couple bettas and a 75 gallon African cichlid aquarium. They fascinated me. Who knew fish had individual personalities? They were amazing to watch (which I used to spend hours doing). I have thought about rebuilding the aquarium here, but I don't really have a place in the house to put it and the work it took to maintain it takes more time and energy than I have these days. There are photos of my fish here.

I'm seeing spots!

Last but not least are my wild pets - deer, birds, possums, and all other manner of critters that live in my yard and in the woods behind it. Even the freakin' copperhead I couldn't bring myself to kill. (OK, I admit, there was no way on Earth I was going to open the back door with it right there, but still...) Slowly but surely I am building a little bird sanctuary in the yard. And the deer, though I don't do anything outright to help them, they help themselves to the tasty greenery in the yard...and I am sure as soon as I get a garden growing, I will be sharing that too!

I have always loved animals and will never understand people who can harm and abuse them in any way. And yes, someday, I probably will be that crazy cat lady who lives at the end of the street that all the kids talk about!

Next up:

~photography

~marriage

Pet food...and other pet related notes

Aug 8, 2009
2 comments

Just random comments, thoughts, and notes here.

DOG FOOD: Nature's Variety is a pain in the ass to find around here - I sure wish the dogs did as well on some other (easier to find brand). That said, I have begun ordering it from petfooddirect.com I have had issues with not being able to get the carealotpets.com pages to load, or the page is so slow I don't have time to wait (I am usually ordering when I am on the road and working). Also, PFD's prices are lower (just marginally, though) and their shipping costs less...it isn't by much, but on a tight budget, every little bit counts. I am sure there are a couple pet stores in the city that carry the food and manage to keep it in stock, but I am not willing to drive all over town to get it. And now that I have found a steady supplier, I need to really track how long a bag lasts (I think from last time I timed it, I remember it being exactly 4 weeks) so I can get signed up for their auto-ship schedule. I really wish Petco could carry it...I am quite impressed with their new well-pet/whole foods sort of section. It was a smart move for a large chain store to make. I know it hurts the smaller, locally owned family stores but to be honest, I haven't really found one here that I feel compelled to support. The one I was trying to support never manages to keep food (of any brand from what I can tell) in-stock on a regular basis and aside from the guy who owns it, the other folks working in there are obviously just doing so as a favor and don't care about the store or the customers. If I had had a 2 Feet 4 Paws to go to, then there would be no question about where I would get my food! :)

CAT FOOD: Spoiled little OP has created a spoiled little Bonnie (though, it is something I have been meaning to do for her for awhile now, so no big deal). OP gets part of a can of soft food every day. So of course, Bonnie smelled the tasty (stinky) stuff and decided she wanted some too! The disturbing part is that she got sick from the first stuff - that's when I actually read the ingredients. ACK! I just want to throw the diclaimer in that I have always been told by very conscientious vets, animal rescues, and even the crazy cat lady whom we adopted OP from that with the canned stuff it doesn't really matter since mostly they should get it for the added water (most indoor cats don't drink enough water). So, I bough Friskies...because it is middle of the road in price and is what my family has always given our cats in the past. I had never read the ingredient label on it though...it is nasty! I had some 3oz cans of Wellness from a promotion they had awhile back...buy kibble get free canned food.

I am also going to switch the cats over to Wellness kibble. Bonnie has never had a problem with any of the foods I've fed her and it will be easier to be able to just buy it at Petco where I know it will be in stock when I need it. And it will partner nicely with their canned food. Heh. And I am not overly impressed with the Felidae that OP is currently weaning off of. He has gorgeous fur, but it should be much softer. With the introduction of the NV (which I still have a bunch of and will finish up before the switch to Wellness) he seems to be improving. Of course, I imagine some of the dryness is also from the stress of moving to a new house...I still can't get over that process and how spastic the lady was about it. I was talking to my mom last night and she made the comment that it sounded like the lady didn't really know anything at all about cats or their personalities...and it made me remember how the lady told us that she treated her cats like dogs. I told my mom that I think she is right.

Anyway, all the critters seem to be doing well. OP is getting braver by the day - he still isn't too fond of Moo, and I can't blame him. She runs at him and chases him whenever she gets the chance. When she is sleeping he will come out, but he always keeps a close eye on her. LOL I did catch him rubbing up on Sadie last night. Except for the occasional lunge (which I think she purely does to make the kitties 'flinch') she is very good about being gentle with him. She is still curious about it, but much less pushy about it than she was at first. And lastly, Bonnie seems to be bonding with him. I caught them chasing and playing in the 'cat room' last night. YAY! That was the whole reason we adopted him in the first place!

And then there was squirrel...

Jun 6, 2009
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The first squirrel to come up into the yard appeared yesterday. Sadie was SO excited - she did her little happy dance at the back door while whining and squealing. I, of course, had to come see what the commotion was about:

Oh boy!!!

and this is what I saw. A cute little critter who also seemed quite excited by the prospect of such easy, tasty treats being available. I took a bunch of photos through the kitchen window, so please pardon some of the weird reflection issues in some of the photos. When the sun came out, it made the white kitchen table reflect on the window - I didn't notice until too late.

I also got some photos of a few of the birds that come visit the feeders. None of the ones of the brown-headed cowbirds turned out, so maybe next time. And the titmouse refused to come to the feeder while I had my camera available. Someday I will catch him, though. Someday!

A Motley Crew

I was excited to capture the woodpecker that has been visiting. He moves around so much that I had originally mis-identified him as a red-headed woodpecker, but now with a photo to examine, I have discovered that he is actually a red-bellied woodpecker.

Tasty Tid-bits

The mourning doves are always lovely too...there are more photos on my Flickr page.

Since I had the camera out, I also snapped some photos of the kids. The kitties weren't very excited about having the camera pointed at them, but I still got a couple OK shots:

The dogs, however, hammed it up as usual:

Marly

Sleepy

After a lazy afternoon, Moo decided it was time to play. Sadie didn't seem to mind in the least and the two had a nice little romp session:

Marly always starts out by assessing the Sadie situation - you can see the romp session coming! The last photo is of Sadie telling Moo to take it easy. Every once in a while Marly will get a little too rough and Sadie has to remind her who's really boss in this house. You can't see it, but there is a serious, deep growl coming from Sadie.

And now everyone is back to being lazy and having a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Home again, home again!

Jan 14, 2009
1 comment

Holy cow...when I left the hotel in Pittsburgh this morning it was 12 degrees Fahrenheit...by the time I reached the airport, the car thermometer said 8. Inside at the ticket counter the guy told me the current official temp there was 3. Gah!

It isn't like it is exactly warm here...in the mid to upper thirties today...but still much warmer than 3.

Dogs are happy to see me, as are the cats, which is always nice. Moo and Sadie both spent the night at Neil's house. Due to annoying behavior being stuck in her crate all night, Neil left Marly out over night. She ate some mail, including a bill, a Netflix DVD, and also got a hold of a power cord piece (unplugged). Naughty dog!

I do have the advantage here of being able to close my office door overnight so I don't have to worry about her getting into the stuff on my desk...Neil doesn't have that. I told him he needed to puppy-proof the house or else it was all on him if she shredded stuff. Heh.

Overall, though, she is doing really well on her own. I think lately she has just been bored. Tomorrow I am going to try to make time to take her for a good walk around the neighborhood here.

The great dog food adventure...

Jan 12, 2009
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I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I cannot afford to do this food elimination trial using the prescription food that the vet wants me to. At $85 a bag with feeding requirements that are double the Wellness volumes - I will end up needing somewhere between 6 and 8 bags of food to do the whole trial. Not happening.

Thus, I am going to move to the Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potato food. It is a limited ingredient (whitefish, barley and sweet potato) food with the typical mix of minerals and vitamins thrown in.

I was looking at the Solid Gold Wolf King, but it has more ingredients (bison, whitefish, brown rice, millet, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, rice bran) which would make it harder to start pinpointing the problem child if it didn't alleviate the itching and ear problems. And I simply don't like that they use that many different carbs in the food.

Also, I think the Wellness ingredients are better quality. The food has always seemed fresher than when I fed the SG. The SG is $46/bag, the Wellness $50...way better than $85 since they both have feeding volumes of about half of what I need to give with the prescription stuff. The overall cost savings is huge.

So, I shall restart the trial with the Wellness food. I will handle it the same way - no treats or other foods for a minimum of 8 weeks to see how things go.

My gut is telling me that the lamb in their current food is what is bothering the dogs...Sadie has never done particularly well with it (but much better than with beef or chicken) and this is the first consistent food Moo has had with lamb. Sadie also did not do well at all on the venison when I fed the NV venison to them (both got terrible runs). The NV salmon was fabulous, so I am hoping the Wellness fish will be good too. Fingers crossed!

The best Christmas ever...once I got there.

Jan 2, 2009
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Sorry for the lengthy entry...lots of rambling after being gone! :)

Getting out west this year was a nightmare - as noted in my previous entry regarding US Air. I did finally make it a little after midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. My luggage even got there too!

I got the best Christmas present ever as soon as I got into the truck with my sister and mom...my sister announced that she is going to be a mommy!!! Which means I will be an aunt (duh!) - due date is August 20. I am SO thrilled I can't even express it properly. And the funniest part was that the silly sister of mine was sorry she couldn't drink beer with me while I was there! *laugh* Aside from it being a darn good reason for not being able to, it was better all around because I didn't drink as much as I probably would have otherwise.

So, though I had already planned on going back out at the end of August for my sister's b-day (I want to make that time of year my annual trip home time...this holiday travel thing is for the birds), now I will for sure be heading that way so I can help out with the new baby. And it will be convenient, because I can celebrate with both of them each year. Who knows, maybe Nugget (my sister's name, not mine - based on the current size and shape of the fetus) will be late and will have a birthday right next to or on my sister's (Aug 27)! Hehehe! Personally, I think that would be kind of cool since my birthday is the day after my mom's.

Aside from all that excitement, Christmas was nice. My dad was still there because his flight to TX was cancelled as well. I got to see more snow in the harbor than I have ever seen on all the years I lived there. I know it was annoying to the folks having to deal with all the ice on the roads that came with it, but it was also beautiful. I got to hang out with my mom. And I got to spend lots of time with my sister and BIL (they are some of my favorite people on the face of this planet). I got to see Dad's new boat (I forget if I have mentioned that he now lives on a boat?) - it is gorgeous for a boat...but man is it small for everyday living! And as always, the trip was way too short.

UPS got way behind in deliveries because of the crazy weather nation-wide so my sister's presents didn't arrive until after the holiday, but at least they got there. And I made out like a bandit and had to ship a box back home to myself because it wouldn't all fit in my bag.

The trip home was uneventful other than I couldn't sleep - I got into Charlotte around 6:00am on Wednesday and then picked up dogs (who were both beside themselves when they saw me), dropped Sadie at the house and took Moo to the vet for another check-up on the ears (see below).

I slept through new year's eve...no Times Square for me. And yesterday I spent the day reorganizing my china cabinet, kitchen cabinets, and shelves - I am still trying to find space for everything that is useable and accessible. I think I am finally getting there! Today I am going to tackle my bathroom and maybe even my closets. And tomorrow I will work on the office here (which is on hold somewhat until I can afford additional shelving for the closet) and also the refrigerator (I need to go through all my sauces and stuff and see what is outdated, etc.)

First, though, the dogs need a bath. They stink after being at the kennel...I could have gotten them groomed there, but that gal charges an arm and a leg for her services (she does the all out doggy spa stuff...massages and such with the bath).

PS Cats were all fine and happy, happy, happy that I was home. :)

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Moo's Ears:

Her ears are still boarderline OK. Way too much ear wax/goo building up in there which is requiring daily and sometimes twice daily cleanings on top of drops and other medicine. The good news is that the eardrum looks to be healing itself well and there is very little redness. So, the vet changed up the ear drops and put her on the food elimination trial. I knew the prescription food would be expensive, but seriously...$85 for a 27.5 lb bag of food?!? Even worse, she needs 6 cups a day (vs the 3 cups of Wellness). And we have to do this for 12 weeks. *sigh* I am also doing this with Sadie for two reasons: 1) Marly likes to steal food from Sadie sometimes and I really want to do this right to see if her problems are indeed food related and 2) Sadie has such itchy skin and it has been seven or eight years since I've seriously taken a look at the problem, I feel this is a good place to start.

This means, including Sadie, I am feeding 10 cups of food a day. I will probably end up buying four bags of this food before it is all said and done...and then, I will also end up buying some canned to make treats with since they cannot eat ANYTHING other than this food during the 12 weeks. I also need to ask the vet when we go back next week what I do for heartworm medicine during the trial - right now they get liver flavored pills which they aren't supposed to have because of the liver in them. I went ahead with this month's dose since it was given on the same day the trial started.

I will be very interested to see what happens with both of their coats during this trial - they currently get salmon oil which I am suspending during the trial. I think it is one of the primary factors in their pretty, shiny fur. We shall see! And once we are done, I am going to go on a hunt for another distributor of the Nature's Variety food. I really liked their salmon kibble and would like to get the dogs back on it. I wish Wellness made one for dogs...they do for cats.

The Moo - so far so good!

Dec 13, 2008
2 comments

The doc said her ears are looking really great...and that now the fun part starts. We have to wait and watch to see if it is going to be a continuous problem.

The good news is that typically a food allergy still shows symptoms even with prednisone, so he doesn't think that is it. (Whew!) However, it could be an airborne allergy that triggers it...so we are now keeping an eye out for feet chewing/licking, shaking the head, hot spots, etc. while she gets weened off the prednisone. Unfortunately, my trip home falls right in the middle of all this, so she may end up on a low dose of prednisone while I am away to stave off any issues until I am back and can tackle them as soon as they show signs.

Ultimately, though, I don't think this is a chronic problem. I truly think it was the infection from this summer that never got cleared up properly. And now that I know I need to clean her ears regularly, I don't think it will be an issue.

Sadie, on the other hand, has a hot spot of sorts...it looks as though something either bit or stung her rear end while she was going potty the other day. Right under the base of her tail. Poor gal! I gave her some benedryl and rubbed the spot with some rubbing alcohol.