Muddy Paws & All

So the other day - on one of those now distant SUNNY days we were shocked to see a week or so ago - Stella and I took a walk over to the park. Good smells over there. Lots to sniff.

There is also a mud puddle or two which Stella can find from 1000 yards away. And find them she did. Just take a look at those muddy paws . . .

By the time we got home, we had found a couple of other puddles - nice, clear ones - that we made sure to stroll through so we could at least wash the big chunks of mud off.

Good times. Good times.

If you ever need a pet sitter . . .

If you ever need an in-house pet sitter, I know the best ever. Julie has stayed with Stella and the kittens twice now and both times I've been impressed and put at ease. Caring, professional, great with critters - I could go on and on.

Given all that Stella has been through and given what a twit I am about her care, you can imagine that I wouldn't leave her with just anyone. Julie stayed the first time with the critters when we went off on our great Israel/Egypt adventure.

Could we have gone any further and been any more out of touch? I don't think so.

Was a nervous about leaving Stella? You can bet the farm on it!

Julie was just great, though, and Stella was no worse for the absence. The kittens were fine and I'm not sure they even missed us. I can't tell you how happy I was with the way it all went. Julie took Stella out for her daily stroll and made sure that she got all her meds. She even survived Maddie, and that's not easy.

Julie stayed with Stella and the kittens again this weekend. It was just a short jaunt down to Ashland to see a couple of plays, but for me, it's always hard to leave Stella. Again I was impressed and put at ease with the great care they received. Not to mention how nice it is to have someone looking after the house (especially on those longer trips.)

Anyway, if you're ever in need of the world's best pet sitter, let me know. I'd be happy to put you in touch.

Getting Back to Normal

After a week in the Radar Hat and about two on the antibiotics, Stella is getting back to normal and her owie is healing. See for yourself:

There's just that one little red spot left. Hmmm, the photo makes it look worse than it really is. Credit the photographer with that one. Ah well.

Yesterday we managed to get a pretty good walk in between rain showers and all day Stella was like a puppy. Frisky, alert, interested in one darn treat after another. A day like that one usually means that the next will be sleepy and rest-filled. Sure enough, she's been snoozing behind my chair all day today. Good thing since it's raining, snowing, windy, cold, cold, cold, and cold outside. Of course that cold, cold, cold part thrills Stella. But the rain? Not so much.

 

That being said, I had to let her out this morning during the height of the snow/slush downpour and she plopped right down on the patio and was quickly covered with snow. One of her favorite things. I finally had to go out and herd her back in.

What a goofball . . .

An Owie and a Radar Hat

It's always something, isn't it?

The other night, I came home to find Stella licking on her right hind leg. Occasionally she'll pick debris out of her paws and so forth (and you can imagine that with that coat she picks up her fair share), but this was different. So I got down on the floor and moved aside layers and layers of hair and found the problem.

Warning: Here comes sort of a graphic image. You might want to squint a little bit. . . 

This is what it looks like three days after her trip to the clinic vet:

Okay, I guess the picture isn't so bad.

Here's what I think happened: This red, bulby thing is sitting on top of one of her many "old lady" bumps. Fatty bumps. She has developed them as she's gotten older. My guess is that while I was brushing her out, I snagged this particular old lady bump and created the problem. The vets say maybe, maybe not. But I'm going with it.

The tricky part came when we got home Friday afternoon from the vet (who poked it with a needle, drained it a little, took a tissue sample, and sent her home with a very expensive prescription). We had to prevent her from licking it and exacerbating the situation.

So, I watched her like a hawk the rest of the afternoon. She tried to sneak away for a little privacy, but there was no escaping the hawk eye. However that night, as hard as she tried not to, the hawk eye fell asleep. The next day - clear evidence of lick, lick, lick.

Ick.

Next stop: Mini Pet Mart for an e-collar. That did the trick. She's tolerating it pretty well - even though she's bumping into walls, table legs, door jambs, and everything else under the sun. She wears it at night and during the day when I have to divert my hawk eyes elsewhere . . . .

Priceless or what? That radar hat fits perfectly over her food dish and isn't deterring her in the least from chowing down. Thank goodness!

Another Trip to the Beach

During all those rain and wind storms a few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip over the the coast to check things out. You know . . . make sure the house was still standing and stuff like that. The trip from Eugene to Newport was pretty interesting. The creek along Hwy 20 was flooded and lots of water was flowing over the road. Quite a few houses were sitting in the high water. What a mess.

But we made it just fine. The house was still standing. And Stella was ready to check out the beach. So, we put on our boots and headed to the sand.

It was actually a great day over there. The storms had kept all the valley people home and everything was quieter than we'd ever seen it. Perfection.