Kitty Survivor

The tribe has NOT spoken! Sam returned to us thirsty, hungry, dirty and tired at 12:30a this morning. Who knows what she has been through. She hasn't left our side since her late arrival. Thank you for all of the kind thoughts, prayers and white light that you guys sent out. You helped to bring our Sam home.


-- Post From My iPhone

RIP Boo Radley

I was plowing through books during the summer of 1990, which was pretty typical behavior for me at that age. I had finished my summer reading list plus a few other casual books and found myself on vacation in North Carolina without anything to read. My mom went over to my grandparent's glass front book case that rattled every time you walked near it and pulled out her copy of To Kill A Mocking Bird. From that day forward I've loved Atticus, Scout, and Boo Radley.

My Boo Radley came into my life just after my father passed away in the summer of 1999. Kev thought having a kitten around would cheer up our gloomy home. In walked this sweet, spunky, bundle of joy that was so black she appeared face-less when she closed her eyes. Even her whiskers were black. It was our Siamese cat who gave Boo Radley her name. This sweet little peanut scared the pants off our tough little brown cookie. Eventually, they became best friends.

Yesterday, Boo and her BFF/sister, Sam, went out like they do every morning. Only when I came back to let them in, Boo was laying in the sun, not moving. It appears that the great Boo Radley may have been bitten by a snake, as there was no other trauma to her body. Her sister is no where to be found.

Boo Radley was fat and friendly. She loved everyone: dogs, foster dogs, strange neighborhood cats, foster cats, children who pulled her tail and chased her around the house, and of course her family. We lovingly called her "Donkey" from Shrek due to her swayed back, short legs and swinging belly. Not to mention her delightful personality. 

Boo could often be found sleeping with or on one of the dogs. And if a dog protested, she just gave them a little sideways glance and proceeded to nestle in where ever she liked. The funny thing is, every dog she cuddled with learned to love it. I think it was her exceptional purrrrr that relaxed even the most uptight pup.

Boo and Nomie, whom we lost in 2007, are together now. They were inseparable until Nomie's passing. I can only hope they are waiting for me.

Godspeed Boo Radley. We love you and miss you.

P.S. Please send good thoughts to send Sam home to us. Thank you!

Doggie Dentures

I always marveled at my grandparents' "partial plates" soaking at night in the bathroom while I brushed my teeth before bed. I never understood why they didn't keep them in all the time. I always thought you'd want to have your teeth whether you were awake or asleep.

Despite all efforts to keep my girls' teeth brilliant white, my raw-fed youngest now needs two teeth removed. I really don't like the idea of Roxy having teeth pulled, but I know that it is necessary. You see, Roxy never had a dental like most dogs when they are spayed through their adoption group. She had complications during her spay and they didn't have time to fool with her teeth while they were trying to stop the excessive bleeding. Her teeth were gross from day one and we have brushed them, put special stuff in her water, and finally switched to a raw diet to improve both the appearance of her pearly whites and her killer breath. 

Ninety percent of her teeth have improved and at first glance you would think she has an excellent set of greyhound choppers. But pull up the corner of her mouth on each side, you will that her premolars on each side (or maybe they are her molars - I'm not a doggie dentist) that have roots exposed. Upon inspection by Dr. Hottie, it has been decided that they must come out sooner rather than later. 

So the date has been set: July 29. Until then she is on soft food only - no bones, turkey necks, or chicken backs. We're doing antibiotics twice a day for 14 days before surgery. She'll also need pain meds and a different antibiotic after surgery. 

Needless to say, I'm a bit nervous about this whole thing. This will be the first time she is put under after her spay, of which she had a hard time recovering from the anesthesia. I'm nervous about her eating raw food again. I mean how do you chew turkey necks without back teeth? I'm nervous about a secondary infection. I'm nervous about the pain she will be in. I think it may be time to up my anxiety meds. 

Maybe she'll need doggie dentures after all. I guess she'll want me to soak them overnight too. Do they make chicken-flavored poligrip?

Face Time

Everyone has seen pictures of a little kid on their first birthday with cake and icing all over their face. I'm sure tucked away in your mom's dresser drawer, there's probably a similar picture of yourself. This seems to be some sort of messy right of passage for every kid. I know these pictures exist of me somewhere, I guess the difference is I was 8.

I guess Seka realized I don't have pictures of her caught with frosting on her face, so she settled for the next best thing - yogurt. I've become diligent with her supplements, as her arthritis in her three-toed foot has become very obvious. I really would rather stick to doing as much natural treatment as I can, before we turn to prescription medication.

So each day I mix her glucosamine, MSM, and yucca extract, in a tablespoon (or two) of yogurt. I use this as a mid-day treat for the girls, served up in a small Gladware cup. Seka is pretty good about manipulating anything with her mouth. She can pick up just about any cup, glass, container, bone or kong - as long as it has food in it. She prefers to take the whole container and settle in on her bed to clean it out.

How she accomplished getting this yogurt to settled down in the dimple of her needle nose, I will never know. Maybe she was just enhancing her white flame on her nose. Maybe she was saving some for later. Whatever the reason, she kept that yogurt neatly in the groove of her nose without spilling a drop.

Clean up for Seka was a lot easier than a kid's first birthday cake and ice cream face. I went to a first birthday party one time where the mom had to suck the frosting out of the kid's nose with one of those gross ball sucker things. Needless to say, I passed on the cake and ice cream after seeing that.

Bark My Ride

I have always been envious of those commercials where someone walks out to their garage and a new car is sitting there with a bow on top. A loving surprise from their significant other as a gift for their birthday or Christmas. I imagined myself in that lucky girl's shoes and even practiced my surprise faces as a kid so I would be prepared when my husband gave me the gift of new car smell on some important day.

Needless to say, after you grow up you learn to roll your eyes at those commercials as you realize how unrealistic they are. Things like that only happen on The Real Housewives or a sit-com. Well, on my 34th birthday, fantasy became reality!

Meet Ruby, my new ride. I love her. The girls love her. And my husband surprised me with her for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. We said goodbye to our 10-year old, 2-door Acura and hello to a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, complete with navigation and blue tooth! Fancy.

Now the only thing left to do is to select the greyhound decals for the back! Oh, and I'm not sure I used one of my practiced surprised faces, but there were tears and speechlessness involved.

Hunger for Knowledge

When we first got Seka we never left the house, not even for 10 minutes, without crating her. She has always loved her crate and it seemed to help the panic she felt when we left her alone. It was her own little cave, with specialty bedding.

When Roxy was added to the pack, we continued with our crating ways, and while she doesn't love her crate like Seka does, she doesn't mind it either. I guess she doesn't like the color of her bedspread. But somewhere along the way, we started leaving the girls out when we left the house for short periods of time. You know, a short trip to the grocery store. A quick drive to get drive-thru. A little romp to the mall. Nothing more than a couple of hours.

The exception to this rule is during thunder storms. If there are storms in the area and we know about them ahead of time, the girls are left loose in the house - mostly because Roxy doesn't do well in a crate during a storm. I know that I would come home to a shaking, bleeding dog outside of a totally dismantled crate. So when we left to go to a play on Sunday night that would cause us to be out of the house for six hours and we were in the middle of a nasty storm, I really didn't have a choice but to leave her out.

Now, I have heard horrible stories about greyhound owners coming home to a house that looked like a frat party had been held while they were gone. Others have shared that they come home to find their dog injured - including compact fractures and blood all over the house. But when you crate you pretty much know what to expect when you walk in the door. When you don't it really is a crap shoot.

I guess we we've been lucky and were lucky on Sunday night that no frat party was held at our home. Instead some crazy grey-nerds preferred to hold a book club meeting. I'm assuming that someone didn't like the subject matter of the book that I was reading, since the first 170 pages were destroyed and ripped to shreds. The good news - I was on page 179. Despite the teeth marks in the binding, I'm golden.

Needless to say we're back to our crating routine and I'll just figure out something to do with her during potential storm days. As for the greyhound book club meetings, they may have to be supervised from now on, but it was clear that this author received two dewclaws down.

OMD

It's Mother's Day on Sunday. One of my favorite memories was going to the Family Mart grocery store and picking out a huge orchid corsage for my mother to wear to church and out to lunch for her special day. She hated it. Hated ever second of wearing it. But she did it for us.

I doubt I will ever be forced to wear a giant orchid corsage in public, unless one of my single friends gets married and has a retro sense of floral design. But that doesn't mean I can't be recognized as a mother. I mother my two girls (to death) daily. Feeding them nutritious food. Caring for their needs. Making sure they are comfortable and happy. Looking for ways for them to have fun. To me it sounds a lot like what my friends who have human children do daily. I just have the luxury of putting them in a crate for a few hours when I want to go to the store.

My Mother In Law recognized all I do for her grand-dogs and sent me a great gift, Beth Ostrosky Stern's new book, Oh, My Dog. This is a resource book for every aspect of raising your dog. From selecting the right breed and potty training to nutrition and preparing to let your pet go, this book was created with the help of leading experts in the veterinary, behavior and training fields.

While I've only had this book for a couple of days, I was really impressed with the nutrition section -  teaching readers how to read the back of a dog food bag, understanding the importance of keeping your dog at the correct weight and how to brush your pup's teeth correctly. She even talks about BARF diets. That's when I knew it was a complete guide. She also advocates for adoption and not shopping for a dog.

The best part, 100% of the profits go to the North Shore Animal League, of which Beth is the national spokesperson and a very dedicated, hands-on volunteer.

So don't forget your dog's mom this Mother's Day. Oh, My Dog is a great way to tell her you appreciate everything you do for your four-legged BFF. And it won't make her look crazy wearing an ugly corsage.


PS: Yes, Beth is Howard Stern's beautiful wife. Ba Ba Booey!