Unfinished story

I hate to leave a story without an end, and the other day I blogged about Penny and her testing, but didn't finish the story up.

The vet called me regarding her urinalysis, which was fine. He said the next step was to get her bloodwork done again, a more complete panel. So Penny and I trooped up there to get her blood drawn. Penny was starting to balk at going into the vets at this point, and I had to force her into the office, where she shook and shlumped to the ground in her Penny schmooze that she does when she is freaked out. Poor girl. The vet took her blood, and we were free to go.

A few hours later, he calls, he has the results and would like us to come in and discuss them. Which freaked me out- I figured if I had to physically go in, it was bad news. But it wasn't, not really. He told us that her bloodwork was perfect. With this bloodwork and her urinalysis, he said that he really only had Cushings Disease, Kidney Disease, and incontinence to rule out. To rule out Cushings, I need to bring Penny in the following day for an 8 hour test! This was hard on me and her both. The next morning I took her for her test; she sat up in the car, looked around the parking lot, looked at me, started shaking, and refused to get out of the car. I had to lift her up out of the car and set her on the ground to get moving. Then I had to practically drag her in. Not really how I wanted to start this process, with me forcing her to do things she didn't want to do. When I left, she looked at me so pathetically betrayed, that I felt guilty all day.

The day passed with me in various stages of being ok with it, being worried she was there, and then anxious to pick her up. Finally they called and said I could come and get her. When I got there, they told me that the third and final time they had to draw her blood, she wouldn't come out of her cage, just looked at them like "Nope, not gonna happen people!". Then once they got her out, she wouldn't go back in-they had to gently kind of push her in. Where, being Penny, she got scared and froze up, which means she slumped over on her back and hid her face. And wouldn't move- she plays possum when totally freaked out. Which freaked the vet tech out, until she realized what was going on.

Friday I got the results of the test - no Cushings. And no kidney disease either. And the vet doesn't think it is incontinence, since she is aware of what is going on, and not just going in her sleep, etc. So that leaves she just didn't want to "hold it" those times we were gone, and maybe never will again, or that she was upset over the changes that have been going on in our routines. With Penny, the answer is never simple or easy. But we love her, our complex, crazy dog.

Wordless Wednesday - Penny's Brown Study

Penny in a brown study.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Not Amused

My English Setter Penny is not amused by all this snow we have.

Blueberry Summer

I both love and hate August. I love it because it means I still have one month before I go back to work, and hate it for the same reason.

My days recently have been a mess of frantically busy days and lazy slow days. I am either running around, to the gym, to the pound, to recycling, to different events - either socially or for our rescue group, or I am ensconced on our couch, windows open to the breeze if there is one, reading the day away. On days like that, I usually fall asleep as well. I have been eating alot of blueberries, yogurt and granola, usually for breakfast and lunch. My friend Jennifer, her son James, and I went blueberry picking the other day, where I picked two pints of blueberries (I think they were pints - they were big baskets). They have been sustaining me since then. Chrissy told me they are good frozen too, I am going to try that today. By the end of the summer I may look like Violet Beauregarde.

I think I have been taking lessons from Penny and Maggie - either they are sound asleep, flopped wherever they are comfortable, or they are racing around at top speed. Maggie will be sleeping on the table in a ray of sunshine, and an hour later be doing laps around our house that would put Speed Racer to shame. Penny loves to sleep on the couch when she is not outside; once outside she is a different dog, running so fast her back legs almost stumble her by overtaking her front legs! I read that English Setters and other breeds with strong hunting drives conserve energy when not outside on the hunt. Instictively, they save their energy for when they are hunting, when it is necessary for them to have reserves of energy. I like to think that is what my afternoons of reading and napping are about- just me saving energy, for when I need it the most.

Aliens, English Setters, and walking in the rain

Penny has the biggest, most expressive eyes. Large, brown, soulful- someone recently said they are like people eyes. Sometimes when she looks at you, she is looking at you so adoringly you can't help but reach down and pet her, which is something she works to her advantage, because when she does something she shouldn't do, she looks up at you the same way, and it is as if she is trying to hypnotize you into forgetting what she did. You did not see me try to eat that nail, that wasn't me who knocked over the garbage... Billy and I have read this is a breed trait, that English Setters have giant eyes that are meant to mesmerize their prey, and keep them in place until the hunter arrives. Although with Penny, they are most often meant to manipulate any humans around her.

At times, mainly in the middle of the night, around 3 AM, I wonder if she is a tiny part alien. I stumble into the living room, awake for who knows what reason, and she pops her head up from where she is sleeping on the couch, and her big brown soulful eyes reflect the light from the streetlights in such a way that they are transformed into shiny, black, buggish alien eyes. I have to go over and pet her to make sure it is really her, and not some alien dog.

Lately Penny and I have been going for a walk in the mornings, somewhere between coffee and the rest of my day. She knows this too, and will begin her aquatic dolphin sounds as soon as I take my final glug of coffee, and reaches full cresendo as I pull on my shoes. This morning it was gently raining, and I wasn't sure I wanted to go, but Penny made me. I grabbed my umbrella, rolled up my pant legs so I wasn't dragging in puddles, and linked her to her leash and we were out the door.

It is very peaceful to walk in the rain in the morning, I never realized. It was so quiet, I could hear sounds that usually on our walks are obliterated by noise pollution, like lawn mowers and edgers, and trucks and kids shouting. (Sorry, I guess kids really don't count as noise pollution, although sometimes they should- I work in a school library, I should know). I could hear my Converse squishing on the pavement, the light backpack looped over my shoulder whooshing against my jeans, the clicking of Penny's tags, and the light tapping of the rain on my umbrella. I was just beginning to find the sense of quiet and calm within myself that I find in yoga, when Penny stopped to check out a lawn. She does this occasionally, she is a hunting dog, and smelling things is like reading a newspaper or checking the internet to see who has emailed. (Oh a rabbit passed this way where did it go where did it go) I usually let her do this for a few seconds, to catch up on neighborhood gossip. While she was sniffing around this morning, I closed my eyes to really experience the scent of the rain, the sound of the rain, the hushed morning - and realized Penny was doing more than reading the newspaper, it was more like she was reading the newspaper in the bathroom. She chose to relieve herself of last night's large dinner on someone's front lawn, right in front of their statue of Mary, just to further embarass me. As I pulled the currently empty soon to be filled purple, lavender scented doggy waste disposal bag from my back pocket, I thought about what I was doing - I was about to pick up after my dog like a good citizen, but it made me wonder who is more trained here? Me or Penny? She doesn't perform this task for me, and it seems rather demeaning, if you think about it. Then I thought, not only do I clean this up after her, but I clean up after Maggie too! In a past life, were they royalty and was I the servant who cleaned their chamber pots? If so, why haven't I moved up in the scenario? My next thought was, as Penny looked at me with her big undecipherable eyes, if aliens did exist, and were to land next to me at just this moment, who would they think was in charge?

I am not sure I want to know.

Maggie the Cat

Maggie is our foster cat, brought home from the crowded pound. She has a bit of an URI, so we are now giving meds to two animals. It is starting to feel like a clinic around here!

Maggie is a sweet cat, I am so glad we brought her home, even though we are only a temporary stop on the way to her forever home, wherever that may be. We named her Maggie the Cat after Elizabeth Taylor's character in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, one of my all time favorite movies. Our Maggie is so spirited, and all she wants is attention and to be loved. She also loves to watch TV, which is hysterical to my husband and I.

I have never had a cat before. It is so different from having a dog, it is hard to explain. Penny greets me with such energy and affection, she makes these little aquatic sea life noises to get my attention, and is just so excited to see me! Maggie I know is happy I am home too, but her show of affection is more subtle- she climbs up next to me and her purr motor just takes off. Dogs are just so obvious in their love, while cats make you work for it.

Penny really is funny with Maggie- she doesn't quite know what to think about this little furry thing running around our house. Maggie will step boldly up to Penny, and sniff her nose. Penny will jerk her head around to look at me, her eyes super wide, looking at me like she is in a panic! I have to tell her that she is a good girl, and that it is ok to make her relax. When she is in sleep mode, however, she doesn't care if Maggie is right on top of her. The other day Maggie flopped down in front of Penny on the floor, facing her, and put her tiny paws on top of Penny's big paw. They napped together like that for about 30 minutes. I wanted a picture so badly, but I knew if I got up for my camera they would both wake up to see what I was doing. They are both so nosy. Right now they are napping, which sounds pretty good to me also. I was going to watch Mamma Mia, but for some reason our DVD player is not cooperating. So I think I will imitate my animals, and take a nap too.