Happy Halloween from BOO!

Mwha ha ha ha ha!  I am zee mad scienteest cat! 

What We Do On A Sunny Day

We're a lively crew here at Chez Poonie.  Here's me, enjoying a little naptime in the sunshine. 

As you can plainly see, I get along JUST FINE with Squashy Face, just as long as he knows who's supposed to get the bulk of the sun.

This is one of those "ahhhhhhh" shots.

The dogs are relegated to the side of the room with no sunshine.  I think that's fair since THEY get to go outside. 

Boogie decided to do a "cute".

And here's Little Miss Heartworm, upside down as usual and begging for that belly rub.

Speaking of heartworms, by the time Blogger decides to post this entry (in about 3-4 days) she will have started her heartworm eradication regimen.  First off is x-rays and tests to determine the extent of the infestation, which hopefully won't be too bad.  She's had a dose of her regularly scheduled Heartgard since we detected the infection so hopefully that has kept the numbers down, and after her bad reaction to the rabies shot, she has bounced back to her usual happy self.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I Don't Feel So Good

That rabies shot she got yesterday?  Bad reaction.  Everyone forgot to give her Benadryl beforehand and after I got home from taking the niece to the airport and let the dogs in the house, I started to notice that Holly was definitely not her usual happy self.  Her ears were hot, her butt was swollen and tender and all she wanted to do was snuggle into pillows and lie there, miserable.

The vet said to give her half a Benadryl, which I did, and while she feels a little better this morning, she is not about to get out from under the covers and face the world.

I know they say it's awful when an animal is hurting because they can't tell you what's wrong, but if expressions could talk (and they do), this one says "Leave me the freak alone, Mom.  I feel like s**t."

Note:  This post still doesn't show up as the latest published post on any "followers" sites.  Why does this happen????

Heartworm Update #2

Got a call from Dr. Tracy yesterday.  Heartgard has agreed to cover the cost of the treatment!  While we would have had no hesitation paying for it ourselves, I sort of feel vindicated since I was NOT lax about her meds (well, there was that one month but I've beaten myself up enough over that). 

Holly got her last shot (in the butt) today so Dr. Dean said we'll start the treatment in a week.  That's good, since she's been coughing and I HATE THAT.

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well with my sweet little doggie.

She ALWAYS Gets All The Attention!!

Life is so unfair.  Here I am, really trying hard to be NICE these days, and the damn dog still gets all the attention.  Of course, there's no way in h*ll I'd let them carry me around with a sticker on my head and Mardi Gras beads around my neck, but that's just me.

They went into New Orleans on Saturday with the visiting niece--went to the Blues & BBQ Fest and then into the French Quarter for libations (Pat O'Brien's Hurricanes) and apparently the rediculous sticker and beads were courtesy of a bunch of drunks belonging to a walking club.  A walking club in New Orleans is just an excuse to meet up with a bunch of humans and walk from one bar to another.  The idea of actually walking for EXERCISE makes everyone laugh so much they nearly choke on their cocktails.

All I know is--they didn't get home until 8 pm and dinner was VERY late.  No more Mr. Nice Guy, humans.  I'm back to hissing, growling and pooping outside the box.

Heartworm Update:  Holly should be starting treatment this week.  Due to a bad reaction to her annuals last year, this year they're being spaced a week apart and they need to get through them before starting the heartworm treatment (tomorrow is the final shot).  Holly has been coughing now and then but is still the happy little doggy she's always been.  I've heard from several people regarding the treatment with mostly positive comments, although Cousin Gwen said her dog got diabetes from it so will have to check on that. 

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and kind!  Your thoughts mean alot to me! 

--Chris

Heartworms

I took Holly and Boo to the vet yesterday for their annual checkups.  I was doing ok right up until the tech showed me the results of Holly's heartworm test.  Positive.  Can I tell you that I am EXTREMELY upset about this since I have been giving her Heartgard on a regular basis all her life?  I checked my calendar, and there was one month when I went 5 weeks instead of 4 but the vet said that since the medicine really only needs to be given every 6 weeks we were still within the "comfort zone". 

I feel like crying and hitting something, someone, anything.  I KNOW there's treatment for this and the vet said that every dog they've treated has come through successfully, but do you know how UNFAIR this is?  I know several people who don't give their dogs Heartgard--hell, my own mother didn't give it to Boogie for years and she's ok, so far.  The fact that it's expensive doesn't fly with me--if you can't afford to keep your dog healthy and protected, you don't deserve to HAVE a dog.

We are notifying the makers of Heartgard since they do guarantee the product and if you can prove you've given the medication as per instructions, they will (probably very grudgingly) pay for the treatment.  Which at my vet comes to a grand total of $585. 

My vet also said that they're finding that, for some unknown reason as of yet, dogs in the Mississippi Delta region (that's central--we're in southern Mississippi) are not responding to certain meds, as well as Heartgard, so that is under research.

Please pray for my darling Holly.  I will be positive about this and I KNOW she'll get through it.  There's just this little nagging bit of guilt that keeps saying, "You let her go over 4 weeks.  How do you know that's not how she got it?"  Ah, jeeeeeeez.

Another Encounter of the Emu Kind

After hearing about Anna M's meet-up with grumpy llamas and an emu or two, we remembered when one of the local emus came for a visit.  I'll let Poonie tell it:

Here comes Dinner, just a-walkin' down the road.  It's an escapee from the Emu Farm!

He ran headlong into our woods.  Come back, Dinner, come back!

"Huh?" said Dinner.  "Wut's that there car doin' here?  Ah cain't drahve."  Dinner might look tasty, but there's not alot going on upstairs . . .

"Uh oh," said Dinner.  "John Q approacheth.  Better hightail it outta here.  He's pretty slow, and I can always kick him in the 'nads."

Dinner was eventually corralled after leading our local lawmen on a wild chase.  Hopefully there weren't any banks being robbed or Southern women deflowered while this was going on. 

But man, wouldn't this have made a goose dinner look like just a snack?  Yum-ME!

Evil Mom Strikes Again!

The human gets kind of giddy around this time of year--she goes to Walmart and Target and sees all the wonderful pet costumes and hopes, yet again, that her charges are finally going to ENJOY getting dressed up and having their pictures taken. That's a fat one.

Look at how overjoyed Boo looks with his festive Halloween collar. He's obviously thinking he would love to put a claw right through her eyeball.

And Holly was thinking, "Well, that's a relief--HE gets to look stupid this time."

"Rats!"

"Hey, what about Boogie? She's gotta go through this too!"

"No way Hosita--I'm too big for that cat collar."

"Gaaaaack!!!"



I just looooove a good floor show.


Happy October!!