Category: Pets

The Anguish Patient

Our dog Ellie sits with a protective Elizabethan collar around her head and a pink bandage on her leg

A month or two ago Ellie’s famous chop chop turned into cough cough so she was off to the vet. She had picked up kennel cough so we picked up cough medicine. And what medicine! She hardly coughed after taking it, dogs must get some magical stuff that isn’t approved for us humans. She wasn’t allowed to socialize with dogs for a while so her walks were sadly solitary. But if you thought a cough was going to slow down her hedgehogging, you don’t know our Ellie.

Hedgehogging did get shelved temporarily a few weeks later when we were playing and she split a nail up close to the quick. After taking it easy she was back at it and we spent a beautiful Thanksgiving hedgehogging on the leaf-covered lawn. She came up limp during the next day’s game, I felt her paw and it seemed fine but I called the game as a precaution. As soon as we got inside the floor was covered with bloody paw prints so I applied pressure while my wife called the vet. Thankfully the pressure stopped the bleeding and they were able to see us right away. One of the punctures was large enough to require stitches so Ellie came home with a big bandage on her front paw. She had a follow-up visit this morning and got the bandage off but stays in stitches for a week yet.

Hedgehogging has once again been sidelined, not that she has gotten the message. Dear Ellie, how many legs would have to be hobbled before you stopped pelting me with hedgehogs?

Our dog Ellie smiles with a protective Elizabethan collar around her head and a pink bandage on her leg

Sam vs. the Garden

A close view of our cat Sam beside a rose bush in our backyard in Portland, Oregon

One of the previous owners of the house must have really loved this one type of bulb because they are literally planted everywhere around the house. Unfortunately that includes some places where they shouldn’t be, such as in and around my favorite rose bush (which is actually a few rose bushes planted together). While the bulbs do have a pretty flower, they also are so thick they keep the roses from drying out, leaving them susceptible to the black spot fungus which has plagued our roses.

So earlier this summer I dug out as many of the bulbs as I could from underneath these roses. I tried to avoid damaging the roses but it was slow going as many of the bulbs were up tight against their roots. Also because the thorns of these old roses are both large and malevolent. The going got even slower when Sam came over to help. The stalks were still attached to many of the bulbs, as I pulled a few of them up he started playing with them. So we turned it into a game, I’d drag the stalks through the grass and he’d try to catch them and knock the seed pods off. When the stalk was sufficiently flayed, I’d toss it up and he’d somersault through the air after it.

Eventually I dug up as many bulbs as I could and all of Sam’s organic cat toys were gone. I took this picture of him after our fun and games were over.

Lazy Bums

I just looked up on this sunny afternoon and noticed all the pets are asleep in my office. Ellie is to the right of my feet and Sam to the left. Emma is dozing in a sunbeam under a window. Scout, bless her heart, is in her favorite spot in the heated bed despite the hot day.

I’m awake, but not much more productive.

Hallelujah

Our dog Ellie on her back in our backyard holding her baby hedgehog dog toy in her mouth

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to dogs who can hedgehog again.”
Luke 2:13-14, more or less

Where were you this morning? Did you see the heavens open? Did you hear the angels rejoice?

I know one dog who did.

Ellie had her final visit to the surgeon today and Dr. Munjar said the x-rays showed a nice boring joint, meaning she had healed nicely and we can start easing her back into her normal routine. Ellie and I celebrated with a few hedeghog throws in the backyard before I had to head in to work.

If you’re in the Portland area and need surgery for your pet, I highly recommend Dr. Munjar and the Veterinary Surgical Center of Portland. Dr. Munjar has a great (doggy) bedside manner and explained everything very clearly and did great work. He provided detailed instructions for her post-op recovery and everything proceeded just like he said. From the moment we met him we felt we had made the right decision. The staff is friendly and knowledgable and took good care of us.

If I ever need surgery I can only hope to be in such good hands!

Coping Strategy

A close-up view of our dog Ellie's face as she relaxes with her mouth open in the backyard

Ellie did really well during her recovery, but she did develop a coping mechanism — if I gave her a command she didn’t want to follow, she’d turn her head slightly to the side as if to say, “I’m not being willfully disobedient, it’s just that I can’t hear you, what with my head turned like this and all.” It was such a subtle gesture I didn’t catch on at first, but after a while it became unmistakable. I suppose I should be insulted at my dog’s estimate of my intelligence but it was so cute it just made me laugh. She’d always obey if my tone indicated she needed to, so I let it slide.

The Rise of Lady Em

Our black cat Emma sleeps in the cat bed with her head resting on the edge

Emma is not a lap cat but she is affectionate. When you live in the land of the Snuggle Twins and the 70 lb. lap dog, however, finding that affection isn’t so easy. Emma has solved this dilemma by waiting for me to play with Ellie and then running up tight beside me to be petted with one hand while I play with Ellie with the other.

But one day I noticed her on a ledge near the bathroom after I took a shower and took a few minutes to let her play in my wet hair. Since then she’s became a regular customer and is often there to greet me when I step out of the shower. Eventually I set her on the bed and laid down and patted my chest and to my surprise, she jumped right up and started rubbing her head against mine and chirping her birdie purrs. Our one-on-one snuggles have now become a morning ritual, although they don’t always last for long, one of the others will usually sniff out that snuggling is afoot and jump up with us.