Category: Pets
I Have Emerged From the Box and I Understand the World
Maybe you can explain it to me, little one, as I don’t understand it at all.
I, Pinned to the Earth, Yet My Soul Soars to Heaven
That You Might Take Me With You, Wherever You Shall Go
I have this romantic notion that at least one hair from each of our pets will follow me all the days of my life, so that on my deathbed I will have a piece of them with me. A romantic notion but not a realistic one. In day-to-day life, however, I’m quite confident I do carry each of our current pets with me, and Trixie is doing her duty to make sure of it as she sleeps on my clean T-shirt. In the picture below, Trixie doesn’t usually sleep in my desk chair but she loves the feel of these hoodies.
Still Sick
Sam in early 2008 enjoying his freedom in the house at large after we adopted him and kept him in isolation with Emma for a couple of weeks. He’s had diarrhea the past month and we got the first clue as to why from a fecal sample, he doesn’t have nearly as much healthy bacteria as he should despite taking probiotics the past month. He’s going to start some antibiotics soon if he doesn’t improve, as he may have some bad bacteria that’s keeping the good bacteria from thriving. If there’s a silver lining to getting laid off a month ago, in addition to being able to take Ellie on long walks each morning, it’s that I’ve been here to take Sam to the vet and get his medicines and give him second chances at eating when he’s not feeling well. He actually put on a little weight this month, not what you’d expect from someone with his condition, so the good news is he’s getting the nutrients from his food. After what we went through with Emma, that’s a big relief.
But I’ll be a lot happier when we know what is going on.
In Memory of Sari
In memory of my sister’s sweet pup Sari, who had to be euthanized today after a long illness. These pictures are from 2009, Sari was sleeping on my mom’s bed. In the first picture I angled the camera so the picture of my sister hanging on the wall was looking over her pup. The picture below is my favorite of her, she seems so happy in her sleep, and look at those wonderful ears. She was a real sweetheart, she even got to meet Ellie one time when my sister came to visit us in Portland, I saw her for the last time this summer when I was in Atlanta.
Rest in peace little one.
The Orange Tabby in His Element
A camouflage evolved for thousands of years allows the orange tabby to blend into his environment, the hardwood floors of the Pacific Northwest. Sam as a kitten in 2007, a few days after we adopted him.
Ellie’s Path
Ellie wanted to head east out of the dog park this morning instead of her traditional south, so we headed out along the leaf-covered Klickitat Street. This part of the street is closed to car traffic except for people with driveways here, so it’s a nice place to walk with your aging pup, especially when paved with fallen color. Eventually Ellie turned south and we continued all the way to her buddy Steve’s house. He wasn’t out so we took a detour west past America’s Noodle and then past the dialysis center with the mural, then doubled back to Steve’s (still not out) before heading home.
Is It Dinner Time Yet?
No Sam, dinner is still 40 minutes away. He gets hungry about 60 to 90 minutes before dinner and climbs into my lap and studies my every move, sometimes making biscuits on my stomach to suggest dinner must have been hours ago and I have clearly forgotten to feed him.
Two Good Pups
With the cooler weather of fall, Ellie doesn’t tire so easily and has been up for longer walks. Anti-inflammatory medicine and pain pills help with her advancing arthritis too. Since I’ve been home most mornings after getting laid off a few weeks ago, I’ve been able to take her on lots of long walks, a real treat since who knows how many more we’ll get together. She still enjoys going to see if her buddy Steve is out on his porch, as he gives her treats, but he’s only been out once. He mentioned that he was the caretaker of a man who just died and they weren’t sure if they were going to move someone else in for him to look after, or move him somewhere else and do some renovations on the house. Fortunately Ellie can’t hear well and thus is unaware her buddy might be moving.
Not far from Steve’s house is this mural on the side of a dialysis center that I frequently walked past on the way home from the train, so I was pleased to be able to get a picture of Ellie next to the perpetually smiling Pepper. I wasn’t sure if I’d get the picture even though she wanted to come down this way on multiple days (mostly I think to double back to give him Steve a second chance to be on his porch), as the blinds in the window above Pepper were open and I didn’t want the people inside getting treatment to worry about why someone outside was taking pictures. On this day though the blinds were drawn and I got my picture of the two good pups.
