Category: Pets

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.

Oh Baby Hedgehog! How I’ve Longed For This Moment!

Our dog Ellie stares at her toy baby hedgehog that she tossed at my feet as we play in the grass in our backyard in Portland, Oregon

One nice thing about how well Ellie is healing is that she can now join me in the backyard like before, minus the running and jumping. That even means the return of baby hedgehog to outside time as long as she doesn’t get too rambunctious. She had tossed it to me here, wanting to play like in days of old, but we’re not ready for that yet. I’ve adapted baby hedgehog play since she first got her surgery, matching it to her allowed activity level. We started off with a game where she didn’t need to move anything but her head, to now where she can be more mobile but doesn’t need to run and jump.

Moving On Up

A ground-level view of our dog Ellie lying down on the hardwood floor in the dining room

Ellie went to the surgeon on Thursday for her follow-up x-rays and he was delighted with the progress she’s made in the six weeks since her leg surgery. Everything is healing the way he hoped and she goes back for her final x-rays in another six weeks. So while she still isn’t allowed to run and play the way she’d like, we’re headed in the right direction and today was the first day I didn’t keep her penned up when I left for work. She is allowed to use the stairs now and so has free reign of the house, finally able to rise up from the basement and join me on the main floor. And the bedroom on the top floor at night, this morning I literally woke up covered by all the pets but Emma!

Her walks have also resumed, slowly increasing in 5 minute intervals as she builds back her stamina and muscle mass. We don’t get too far, she’s eager to get reacquainted with old friends and say hello to you little bush, and you little tree, and you blade of grass, and you little leaf, and …

I’ve been working a lot of long hours for work, including many nights and weekends, so I haven’t been able to play with her and the cats as much as I’d like. Or as often as Ellie would like, given by the number of times I get pelted by hedgehogs as I work. Thankfully things should be slowing down in the next couple of days.

Welcome back, Ellie! All the pets are zonked out around me in my office at the moment, some sleeping more quietly than others. Even the hedgehogs are enjoying a moment of peace.

The Patient Patient

Our dog Ellie relaxing in the backyard in February 2010

I took Ellie back to the surgeon on Thursday to get her sutures out and they were really pleased with her progress. She’s feeling much better and ready to get back to hedgehogging, but unfortunately for her she still has another six weeks of taking it easy before she goes back for x-rays to see if the bones have healed. We’ll keep her on a light dose of sedatives for a bit, just enough to take her edge off, as she’s more than ready to run and jump and do all the things she shouldn’t yet. But by and large, our girl remains as sweet as ever and has been more patient with her recovery than I expected.

The Life & Death of a Hedgehog

Our dog Ellie lies beside her baby hedgehog dog toy in the backyard in February 2010
Don’t be fooled baby hedgehog, that’s no log you lie beside! Look at those sharp teeth! Chop chop!
Our dog Ellie lies on her back and prepares to grab her baby hedgehog dog toy while playing in the backyard in February 2010
Oh no! I can’t watch! Run, baby hedgehog, run!
Our dog Ellie lies on her back and holds her baby hedgehog in her mouth with the aid of her front paws while playing in the backyard in February 2010
Oh the hedgehogganity!

These pictures are from earlier in the year, Ellie remains on strict bed rest although her recovery is going well. She’s finished with the ice pack treatments, which she didn’t like but accepted well enough.

She remains on medication, after several unsuccessful attempts with other foods, we’ve settled on hotdogs as the preferred delivery mechanism. We tried various cheeses but she kept breaking apart the cheese and spitting out the pills. It’s a pretty impressive skill really and Ellie proved a quick study. The hotdogs, however, are so eagerly accepted that Templeton remains the undisputed master of pill befuddlery.

Post-op

Our dog Ellie recuperating from her ligament surgery

I’m happy to report that Ellie’s ligament surgery yesterday was successful and she was able to come home today. It takes a couple of months for the bones to fully heal so she has a long recuperation ahead, and it’s going to be hard keeping her on bed rest that long, but we’re looking forward to her being whole again. She gets medication for a few days to manage the intense pain of the early recovery period, as well as some other meds, and cold compresses to minimize swelling. She really doesn’t like the cold on her bare skin so I cradled her in my arms while my wife held the compress. I had to smile when eventually we heard the sounds of snoring.

Good to have you home, Ellie. Good to have you home.

Birdie

A side view of our cat Emma as she relaxed in a heated cat bed

One morning before work I stepped out of the shower and saw Emma sitting on the ledge next to the bathroom. She loves wet hair and I had a few moments before we needed to leave, so I leaned down and let her play in my hair. She purred and purred her quiet chirpy purrs and put me in a good mood to start the day.

Here the warm beds put her in a good mood to end the day.