Blessed Be! The Little Lady of the House is Home…

Sweet Jeebus! Maggie’s home! Maggie looks like a different dog as well. I didn’t recognize her first when they brought her into the lobby after her grooming. She recognized me, though, immediately ran over to me and started whining. I picked the chunk up and put her in my lap. She was trying to give kisses as well.

They wanted me to bring her in twice a week to be bathed in a special shampoo. I told Dr. Thomas just to give me a bottle of the shampoo and I would bathe her myself. I will never get Maggie out to the Vet’s office twice a week for a few weeks. That would be playing with fire as far as Maggie is concerned. 

Goodnights Are Better Than Goodbyes…

Sometimes I feel like I am caught in groundhog day – each day repeating itself ad nauseum. The alarm clock once again shrilly rang out at 6:45am. Tracy climbed out of the bed with a moan at being woken so abruptly. I turned off the alarm and escaped to the screened porch to have my first cigarette of the day.

“Just think!” I said excitedly as Tracy dressed. “One more day at work and you have the weekend off.”

“Let’s pray I don’t have to work Saturday until lunch,” Tracy replied.

“It is so strange not having the Magster in the house,” Tracy then told me. “It is too quiet!”

“She’s going to be so mad at me for putting her through all that,” I replied with a weak chuckle.

Maggie should be home around 2pm. She’s getting the “works” including a grooming and teeth cleaning. It is going to take some time to do all they were going to do to her.  I keep thinking of her having to sleep on those cold concrete kennel floors. I know she must’ve been uncomfortable last night.

The smell of breakfast is still lingering hours after I cooked this morning. I fried some sausage patties and baked some Mary B’s buttermilk biscuits. It made for some mighty fine sausage biscuits.

Dangerous Liaisons…

Maggie’s watching me on the floor as I type this. It’s a good thing she can’t read as she would shoot out that dog door and not come in until sundown and the coast was clear.

Dad called me this morning and said he would help me get Maggie out to the veterinarian this afternoon. Her tenaciously persistent yeast infection on her chest and neck is back. It worries me deeply. She smells almost like a bakery. She has been scratching constantly lately. It must itch something terrible.

“You’re going to have to drive while I hold her,” I told my father.

“She’s also going to pout with us for a week after doing this,” I added with much caution.

“Be sure to bring a clean towel,” dad replied. “In case she releases her bladder in the car and/or in the lobby.”

My biggest and most deep seated fear is that Maggie will escape us and we can’t catch her. She’s as wild as an Indian when she gets off her leash or her collar comes loose.

The Shiny Luster of Work Has Woefully Worn Off…

The alarm went off extremely glaringly this morning jolting both Tracy and I awake. I was having the most wonderful dream about Maggie and mom. Maggie would always greet my mother very differently than Charlie and dad. It would be this very, very high pitched squeal of joy. I wonder if Maggie ever worries what happened to her?

“Oh, I don’t want to go to work,” Tracy then whined pitifully. “I wish I could stay home with you all day.”

I put my head on her shoulder as I told her she was lucky to get a lunch break. It broke up the monotony of the day.

“We are getting lasagna to-go from Johnny’s New York Style Pizzeria for lunch,” I told her, hoping to bolster her spirits somewhat.

She said that sounded wonderful and told me thank you.

“Get some of that wonderful garlic bread they have as well,” Tracy urged me.

“I am also getting us a salad with blue cheese dressing.”

“I’ll see you in about four hours,” Tracy then told me and shut the front door behind her.

Cause for Concern…

Maggie’s just not a very touchy feely dog unless when it comes to Tracy or Charlie. She will let them pet her as much as they want. I will try to pet her and she will move to the other end of the couch. Tracy and Maggie were sitting on the couch last night and Tracy was checking her out – giving her a good going over.

“Come feel of this,” Tracy said very alarmed.

I got up out of the recliner and walked over to sit on the couch next to Maggie.

“Maggie’s got some kind of big cyst or lump on her leg,” Tracy said.

I felt of it and it felt nasty – a big, hard lump on Maggie’s left front leg right at the joint. Maggie doesn’t seem to be in pain even when I squeezed the lump. I pray hope she’s not miserable and has no way to convey this to us.

“We need to get her to the vet as soon as possible,” Tracy told me.

I told Tracy I would get her out to see Dr. Thomas on Thursday. Dad is going to help me get her out there. This is all terribly traumatic for Maggie this going to the veterinarian.  She has a incorrigible tendency to release her bladder as she sits in your lap on the drive out there. I always have to wrap her in a towel as dad drives.

“Jerry will probably tell us she is dying,” my father sarcastically said on the phone last night.

“Oh, don’t say that!” I replied worriedly.

I wasn’t in the mood for playful banter yesterday evening.    

SLUGS! I TELL YOU!

Tracy and I have both been absolute slugs today. Isn’t that what Saturdays are for? I haven’t even had a shower and shave yet and it is after 7pm. Tracy had to go in to work to assist with a surgery for a short while this afternoon, but that’s about all we’ve done today.

Apparently, a young Boston Terrier had swallowed a bunch of smooth river rocks. They had to go into it’s stomach and remove them. I know it sounds strange, but it is true.

“What were they feeding that dog?” I asked incredulously when Tracy arrived back home.

“The owner was a sweet younger lady,” Tracy replied. “She didn’t look like the type that would abuse her dog. She was just worried sick. She said the dog got to retching and couldn’t quit.”

I asked how the surgery went and Tracy said it was straightforward. They removed the rocks and then sutured back up the stomach. Tracy also told me the surgery cost over $2000 as well.Yikes! I looked at Maggie and told her she better not be eating any rocks.

Old Fuss and Feathers cooked a delicious supper tonight. I just had to drive over and pick it up. We had his boneless porkchops and rice, green beans boiled in a beef bullion sauce, and pear salad. The green beans were especially tasty as was the pear salad.  

Must Do’s This Week…

I have got to get Maggie to the Veterinarian and I need my father’s help. He is going to have to drive while I hold her in my lap. Her yeast infection on her chest is starting to return and she has been accursed with another ear infection. This is imperative! This is where I wholeheartedly miss my mother as she was a mover and a shaker when it comes to these kinds of things. We would be out there tomorrow afternoon for sure.

“What have you been feeding this dog?” I know Dr. Jerry is going to ask.

“We can drop her off and leave her overnight,” my father said. “And then you can pick her up when she is ready the next day.”

Dad’s and my car both need washing something terribly (something I usually do myself) after that week of rain that graced us. Dad said he is planning on doing all of this Wednesday. He has continuing education in Columbus all day Thursday. I pray we can get it all done.

We have also been seeing commercials for Rain-X wiper blades for our cars as well. We both want them on our cars so maybe we can swing by AutoZone or Advance Auto Wednesday as well. This may be pushing my luck.

A Labor of Love…

Maggie's started to develop another eye infection and her yeast infection on her neck and chest is trying to make a comeback as well. I got the bright idea that I would just call Dr. Thomas instead of taking Maggie out to the Vet for a visit. I got a Vet technician on the phone and explained the situation and the problem.

“It is just sheer torture to Maggie to take her out there for a visit and I am not up to the task as well,” I explained to her. “Can y’all prescribe me some antibiotics and I come out and pick them up?”

She said she would talk to Dr. Thomas and would call me back. Well, about 30 minutes later she called me back and said they had a bottle of antibiotics for Maggie and some antimicrobial shampoo for me to pick up. I had never been so relieved in my life. You should have heard me sigh with relief. I quickly drove out to the clinic which is not far from my house and Dr. Thomas was at the door waiting on me when I arrived.

“If it gets worse, you are going to have to bring her in,” he told me after I once again described the problem.

Bless Maggie’s heart. She just couldn’t take all of that. I profusely thanked Dr. Thomas for helping me out and for being so accommodating. He has often said we are some of his best patients. Now, it is time for the hard part. Getting these pills down Maggie’s throat. She will pout with me for hours after I give her one. I am going to have to do it Martha style who was the master at giving our pets their medications. She could do it lightning quick down the old gullet before our pets knew what hit them. 

No Mas Food…

Old Fuss and Feathers leaves for a beach trip tomorrow morning. He won’t be back until Saturday week. I will be in the capable hands of mein Charlie. I had to strike while the iron was hot. I didn’t buy enough groceries and called him and told him. He didn’t sound very happy.

“I’ll come over to your house around one and then we will go to the grocery store,” he said. “I have to get my hair cut at noon.”

At least he was dressed and out and about. I reminded him that this is an extremely rare and odd occurrence and he sounded a little better after that. I knew I should have spent more than $62 dollars. I was impetuous and trying to get out of the grocery store as fast as possible and make it home. It is one of my least favorite tasks.

Addendum:

Papa and cousin Johnny are going to buy me groceries as we speak. It will be interesting to see what they buy me when they return. My nerves are bad today and I just couldn’t go. I am having one of my off days.

Maggie’s Home–Home Sweet Home…

I thought I would never get her back safe, but my fur kid is exhausted and asleep on the sofa. When she first entered the door, the order of the day was to get Andrew smell on her and get that yucky Veterinarian smell off of her. She put the den rug to good use rubbing back and forth on it and the sofa as well. I just turned a blind eye and let her go at it. I was just so overjoyed to have her home!

She’s got a mild ear infection and I have antibiotic drops to put in her ear everyday.  Otherwise, she got a good bill of health. I thought Dr. Jerry would tell me she is overweight, but he didn’t say a word about it. 

“Let me ask you this. How do you let your dog’s nails get so long?” Dr. Thomas asked me in a candid moment.

It had embarrassed me that Maggie’s nails were so long as if I was neglecting her care.

“She rarely goes outside and would never let me clip them,” I replied defensively. “If she hears me clipping my fingernails, she goes running out the dog door thinking she may be next.”

Dr. Thomas just chuckled and said, “Well, I swear.”

Pulling a Martha...

I was just looking at this photo of Maggie and realized how much gray hair she has on her face now. She's getting to be an old gal these days.

****************

Dad called me a moment ago to see how I was doing. He was very jovial and we were both in good spirits joking and laughing with much banter back and forth.

"I am going to do you a favor tonight," he said. "I will be over there no later than 7:30 pm with your medications."

"I am up to taking them now if you want to," I told my father jokingly full of wishful thinking.

"No, we need to get back on schedule," he replied with a tone of seriousness in his voice.

Well, this thrilled me absolutely to death. I usually would have to wait until 9 pm or 9:30 pm on a day he doesn't work. He'll get on that cell phone and talk for hours.

"You pulled a Martha on me last night," dad said joking and laughing. "No sooner than I had stepped out of my car, you told me about Maggie's ingrown dew claw and how much pain she was in. Your mother would meet me at the garage door with similar issues."

I laughed and laughed as dad laughed as well.

"I know I did," I said with a chuckle. "I couldn't help it! Maggie is just miserable and I am so worried about her. That's got to be terribly painful."

"We'll take her out to the vet in the morning," my father told me. "You can hold her and I can drive."

We Shall Heal All of Them, Big and Small...

Well, Samantha got her sutures taken out at lunch with lightning speed. My father headed out to the small animal clinic at noon with me in tow taking Maggie as well.

"You mean she's all ready to go?" my father asked the Vet. Tech. looking astonished and perplexed.

He thought it would take much longer than that. Dr. Thomas then wanted to check Maggie's eyes, ears, and her skin rashes.

"She's looking much better!" he told me after a week out of the penitentiary living with me as a fully medicated canine. "She's got some very dry skin and dandruff that persists, We will bathe her if that is okay with you?"

"Fine," I carefully replied said knowing this might piss my father off. "We will pick her up around 3 PM."

I know my father was having to bite his tongue during all of this.

"Jerry will do anything to get a dollar out of me," my father venomously spat at me with a smirk.

The Day of the Doctor is Upon Us...

I am keeping weird hours once again. Birds gotta fly and fish gotta swim and all that jazz. I awoke at six AM and have been up ever since. I thought about driving to Wal-Mart to window shop, but decided against it. I will just stick to using the computer this morning. Even though I am socially phobic, I have been craving company and camaraderie a lot lately. My therapist would tell me to promptly act upon these longings.

"They are going to think you're shoplifting," my father told me sternly a few weeks ago about my Walmart adventures.

He is usually right and I don't want to get embroiled in all of that rigamarole at 6 AM in the morning.

Our Most Comforting Companions...

I always say that Maggie is the best thing my father has ever done for me. He smiles when I say it as well. What would I do without my faithful companion? That makes me doubly sensitive to what she needs.

Well, Friday is here and my father and I take Sam and Maggie back out to the small animal clinic for a follow-up visit. Samantha will also get her sutures removed. You do not say "Vet" where Maggie can hear you during these occasions. She's quick to pick up on certain words these days.

Dad said something funny last night about one of our cats in the past we owned. Poor Doris just disappeared and we never saw her again.

"Doris was more of an 'it' than a she or he," he told me. "We got her spayed way to early."

I was hoping my father would let Sam have at least one litter of kittens which prompted that reply.

"We'd never find homes for all those kittens," my father then told me with a scoff and then a laugh. "And Maggie would eat a cat alive."

We Welcome All, Felines and Canines...

I've tried everything. I hoped this new dog food would be Maggie's saving grace and salvation, but her episodes of illnesses persisted.  Dad had to get their new kitten, Samantha, spayed so Maggie and I tagged along to the small animal clinic last week. Maggie shook like a leaf on the short ride out to the clinic. I had a towel in case she released her bladder out of fear as she often does. It is so traumatic for her to visit the Veterinarian.

Maggie has a terrible yeast infection of the skin causing her skin to break out in rashes. That is why she scratched all the time and just looked pitifully miserable.. I have to give her 400 mg of amoxicillin every morning for a month, wash her ears out good, and then put some ointment in her ears and on her broken out chest. The ear wash smells like eucalyptus.

The way the pills are shaped do not work with the Greenies pill pockets. I have to manually thrust the pill down her gullet. I fear she is going to fear me as well when all is said and done..

A Blog Post By Any Other Name...

http://www.azcentral.com/

The hours have passed us by until it is almost time for Charlie and one of his bountiful McDonald's breakfasts. My circadian rhythms are all out of sorts again these past few days. I looked at my alarm clock and it read 4 am. I was wide awake by then and I sat on the edge of the bed pulling on my favorite and ultra soft t-shirts. I couldn't do  this and work as well. I would lose my job for lack of sleep.

I daintily used the bathroom, and then I checked on Maggie. She slept on the couch last night and I missed her. She is still pouting with me about taking her to the Veterinarian earlier in the week and shoving those pills down her throat. I am public menace #one as far as Maggie goes as the moment. She was snoring softly with her new hairdo (she also got groomed the other day).  She looks almost like a completely different dog and doesn't look like Phil Spector any longer.

Yesterday, Charlie brought my medications to take since my father wanted more time with the grandkids. They all piled up in my father's car and went to see a local football team play. Dad asked me if it hurt my feelings not being able to go. I told him I had bigger fish to fry for the time being.

Barkie Elimination Time...

Maggie started her "cough" bark routine and it woke me up this morning. I looked at my bedside alarm clock and it was showing 2:45 am and still very much in the dark and very, very cold outside -- a time to be under wonderfully warm and soft comforters and sheets. Old  man winter has finally made his way this far into the South. We will have our very first frost today before morning arrives.

"Let's not have any of this chasing phantoms in the night dearest Magster," I implored to my dog. "A true duchess doesn't bark at her peasants, but they may let them eat cake."

I listened keenly out the backdoor as all the neighborhood dogs were also barking in full effect. Something had them all quite stirred and riled up. Maggie's bravado and courage tripled at my looking out to see. She headed out the dog door to do her thing which is to guard the house and yard.

The way to get Maggie to mind is through her stomach I have learned.

"Mags? You hungry?" I asked out the backdoor.

She knows those words extremely well,

Maggie stuck her head inside the dog door seemingly asking if it is time to eat. Maggie came on in at the lure of batter fried fish and I quickly slammed shut  her dog door and locked it.

Flirting With Disaster...

Any time you take Maggie out to the car, she immediately knows she is going to the small animal clinic. She will try to get away from you. She starts shaking, whining, and will often release her bladder in my lap. Dad will drive as I try to make sure Maggie is comfortable as possible.

Andrew and Maggie Dodge a Very Big Bullet...

Foremost, these Vet visits are extremely tumultuous and hard on my dearest Maggins. She will often release her bladder in my lap (I always have to carry a towel) and she shakes like a leaf. She will start to whine as soon as I get her in the car and it dawns on her what is about to happen.

Secondly, mom would have to drive us which would be terribly tumultuous for me or anybody as well. You can have quite a few "holy shit" moments with my mother driving. I always have white knuckles from grabbing the "oh shit!" bar above the window.

This morning, I was supposed to have Maggie at the veterinarian at 9 AM.  I averted disaster for Maggie, my mother, and I and told them I couldn't make it. Well, mom actually placed the call, but it was my decision. I am so hyper vigilant and worried that Maggie would escape us in a strange neighborhood and get in the highway down the road.

"So you want to skip it?" mom asked sounding very alert and awake.

Keep in mind that I wasn't trying to shirk responsibility.

"I just don't think I can go through all that today," I told my mother very honestly.

"We'll move it to next week," my mother, the secretary, told me over the phone sounding fully agreeable. "I am like you and would be devastated if something happened to Maggie."

Maggie still has a little bit of infection left in her left ear and she needs her nails clipped very badly again. I was hoping they would groom her as well.

Do it For the Paws -- Remember the Paws...

Well, I tried to trim Maggie's nails and she went bonkers and all hell broke loose tonight -- she yelped very loudly and went flying out the dog door to escape the evil human that was me.

She finally came out of hiding when my father arrived for the medication ritual tonight. I knew she wouldn't miss that for anything in the world She came flying through the dog door to come and greet my father in my den.

"Damn, I wish your mother would welcome me home like the treatment Maggie gives me," my father said jokingly.

"Don't try that anymore," my father told me when I explained what happened. "We'll get it done when we take Maggie for her annual checkup. Your mother is already talking about and obsessing over her annual visit."

"Don't tell mom we are doing this or a quagmire of problems will result," I replied to my father with much warning, "Caveat Emptor and all of that."

The Grand Entrance...

Maggie feeling frisky!

I was sitting here at this computer in my bedroom typing away. Maggie was lying next to me on the floor lounging taking care of dog business -- grooming, scratching, and such. I saw Papa pull up front with medications.

"Papa's here!" I exclaimed very loudly.

A phrase Maggie knows well. Maggie flew into the den to look out the den window to confirm what I just said. Much jubilant barking commenced when Papa's car was spotted. Dad was faux barking across the yard as Maggie worked herself up into a fever pitch of barking herself.

I was so glad to see him as well as I've had a tough day mentally for most of the afternoon. I could now take my medications, relax, settle down, and get ready for bed. I had made it through another tough day without that magic elixir alcohol.

Tomorrow, I have a full day ahead of me. I've got to get Maggie back out to the Vet. and I am doing it solo. Dad said to get Dr. Thomas, the veterinarian, to call him about payment. Maggie is going to get groomed and her nails clipped. The drops are not completely clearing up the infection in Maggie's right eye. We are going to see if there is an alternate treatment and get her on some oral antibiotics as well. My father is going to call and organize all of this.

The Princess of Maratouse and Mauritania is Pooped Out...

A Pooped Pups!

My dearest Magster had to spend the night at the veterinarian's kennels last night. Dr. Thomas wanted to keep an eye on her overnight to see if the eye drops were starting to work. Her left eye is has a slight bacterial infection.

I liked to have never gotten to sleep without her and breakfast for one is just not fun without my little buddy.

Well, Maggie is certainly outdone with me. She has been pouting since lunchtime when I brought her home. I don't think she slept one iota last night and she is crashed on the bed at the moment.

Some things never change, though. As soon as Maggie heard the crinkly sound of a Pop-Tarts wrapper, she came running into the den from the bedroom for her share. Maggie has been known to think with her stomach at times.

Great Salutations Charlie!!!

Charlie swung by my house on his way home from work late this evening. He really is one of the kindest souls I have ever met.  He had brought me supper.

“Here is a Zaxby’s chicken sampler plate and here is the biggest Coke they sell,” he told me setting everything down on top of my entertainment center. “I got them to hold the ice on the Coke just like you like it.”

The sampler plate had hot wings, celery and chicken tenders. There was also some of the best crispy french fries I’ve eaten in a long time and some buttered Texas toast. 

“Your den looks so much better with that rug removed,” Charlie then told me and Charlie doesn’t give compliments lightly or frivolously.  “We’ll get it cleaned and you can put it back down.”

Charlie was then headed home to get Horsefly and take him to get his nightly KFC chicken tender plate. Charlie’s wife always makes sure Horsefly has his bath, dressed, hair combed, and is ready to go.

Photo Credit:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/zaxbys-antioch

In the Name of the Magster…

---

I awoke about 4:30pm this afternoon and couldn’t go back to sleep. I actually got 10 hours of sleep so it was no big deal. I called the veterinarian to see if they would give me some antibiotics to give to Maggie.

“We will call you when they are ready to pick up,” the receptionist told me.

I made sure the medicine was in capsule form so I could sprinkle it on Maggie’s food.

I came home after they called me and mixed an open capsule of amoxicillin in with a small paper bowl of chow mein and Maggie gobbled it right up. Maggie was none the wiser.  She has the most persistent ear infection I have ever encountered in all the pets we have owned.  I was trying to medicate it with Q-tips and hydrogen peroxide and that just wasn’t working.  We had to bring out the big guns. 

Photo Credit:  http://www.barakat-pharma.com/index.php?page=products&op=display_product_details&prod_id=199&page_num=1