Friday, July 20, 2012

splashin safari


about a week ago, Hubs and I scored a LARGE kiddie pool, sort of oblong squarish, with a hole in it. Someone had attempted to patch it by melting some other substance onto the originally punctured plastic and only succeeded in making the hole bigger--about the size of a quarter. We figured we could patch it with silicone and a piece of scrap plastic.

However, before Hubs got around to trying it, (he did find a laundry soap bottle to cut apart for the patch attempt), I found an old stained carpet and a leaky waterbed mattress that a neighbor had thrown out. Finally, today, (since it'll be too doggone hot tomorrow) I raked an area of the dog's yard to get all the sticks, bones, and chewed up pop bottles out of the way, laid down the carpet, dragged in the kiddie pool, and tossed in the water bed mattress.

I found the leak in the mattress and cut an "H" shape on the side with the leak. Then I wrapped the edges of the cut mattress over the pool, using the corners of the mattress where the corners of the pool lined up. After a half hour battle with the garden hose, I started to put water in. Yukon loves to be sprayed with the hose. He fights the water stream and gets absolutely drenched. Sal and Gretchen....well...not so much. Yukon jumped in and lay down without much in the way of prompting....Sal had to be ordered and coerced. She did as ordered, but only endured and slunk away the second my back was turned....(Maybe she thought it was the much dreaded "bath outside" that ETB is always grumping about.)

I bet they enjoy it much more tomorrow when it's 100+ degrees! Loving my pups, KIM

street rescue

Literature Blogs

Kudos to Max's mom. I called her yesterday after scooping a schnauzer out of traffic near 38th and Post. She was familiar with all the vet clinics on that side of town and directed me to the closest for a chip-check.

I'd forgotten what a pain in the patootie intact male dogs can be....he's constantly air humping everything.....Yukon is generally "above it all" but occasionally gets riled, just a snark, nothing exciting--so far. Mostly Yukon considers this a game since he has to lay like a sphinx to play bitie-face with the little guy. Of course Gretchen is on lock-down with crate, gate, and rotate due to her past dog-aggressive behavior. Sally is playful when there's no resource involved (her person, her food, her bed) then it's snark-city.

I've checked-4-chip (nada) put adds in Craigs List, Indy Lost Pet Alert, Facebook and made posters to put all over the area where I found him. So far, I've gotten 4 calls. One for a poodle/schnauzer mix that's brown....but cut like a schnauzer. (Uhm, NO) One from a sister-in-law of someone who lost a dog, but can't describe the collar. (Have your sister-in-law call me.) And one from 38th and Shadeland....that I actually went to see. (At 10:30 pm, which was stupid.) The dog barked one alert-bark as the woman approached my car--in the dark--with three children and a woman in a wheelchair. The woman said this dog was much bigger than hers. Her child said, "Well, mama, he probably ate since he left." Which made me laugh. They thanked me profusely for driving all that way even though it wasn't their dog. I wished them luck and went home. So, we can scratch "Tiger" and "Scruffy" from the list of potential dog names....

My little head had just touched the pillow, when my phone rang again. I let it go to voice mail and tried to get some sleep. Gretchen was in her crate and the only one cooperating with my plan. Sally was constant snarking at the intruder's every move. He was chasing Precious, a cat who's never backed down from a charging pit bull in her life, and barking like a lunatic whilst doing it. Yukon kept changing sides of the bed, trying to get a break from his sexual tormentor. At 4am, I put Sally, Yukon, and "Axel-Schnitz" in the yard for a pee, then Gretchen. Then I put Yukon out. Gretchen in her crate, Sally in the bedroom, and Axel-Schnitz in Yukonorama's crate....where he yipped for release so constantly that I eventually fell asleep listening to him. At 7:30 he was still yipping at about the same rate. We did another pee-pee rotation and I finally got everyone fed. (Apparently, he's never eaten dry food before. A little water on it made all the difference.)

I actually resisted the temptation to call my late-night caller first thing this morning....not only irked at the late call, but also my poor night's sleep--thanks to Axel-Schnitz.....When I did call back, her voice mail was full....right now? Oh, he's sacked out at my feet, schnauzer-snoozing.

He is a cutie, and a happy-go-lucky little guy, always smiling. He lays froggy-style and even manages to *sit* froggy-style, which doesn't look at all comfy, but Max's mom assures me that it's typical Schnauzerly behavior. Hope his true owner calls soon, or I'm going to take him to HSI.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Retchin' Gretchen

Yesterday, Gretchen did not touch her food.  Not one sniff.  Then she laid around all day and actually peed in the house!!!  Also not her usual behavior.  Mom found a chewed on package of Castor Bean Seeds and FREAKED OUT.  Took her punkness to the vet.  X-rays showed an obstruction in her tummy.  Only half full, of a non-metal "something" (Personally, I suspect it's underwear.)  Better than castor beans, which are highly lethal and have no antidote.

Doc gave her a relaxant to stop the vomiting (every time she drinks) and advised Metamucil, VERY thick....with a turkey baster.  So we got some Metamucil and a turkey baster and Dave tried mixing it up 4:1...it set up like joint compound and could not be forced into the baster even with a spoon--Laughed harder than the situation warrented.  I haven't laughed that hard since the blown-in insulation debacle of 2004.

When it was firmly set, it peeled off the bowl like a rubber pancake.  We threw it in the trash, afraid to let it go down the sink, and started over.  This time we had a nice thick pudding consistency that made gross farting sounds as we loaded the turkey baster.  We hauled Gretchen out to the back porch and put the loaded turkey baster into her throat for blast #1.  She didn't know what was coming, but still managed to squirm.  The second blast met with firm resistance and a clamped jaw, but she really didn't have a whole lot of fight left.

Dave made her a bed covered in towels-just in case.  About 4am, I freaked out since Gretchen was not in her lovingly made nest, but she'd just climbed down to the floor so she could lay in front of the fan.  This morning she woke me to a mild retching sound...just water (from the toilet?  All other water sources removed, far as I can tell.)  I had to carry her outside, not because she was weak, but because she wanted to hide under my desk.  Outside she gave a small urp of yellow liquid and made no effort to poop.

So, back to the vets we go, have a call in at 8:45 to arrange the "next step" which will likely be surgery...and it's already cost over $200.  Just when I thought life had a chance of getting boring....guess not.