He Who Shall Not Be Named

I am sitting here waiting for the president to shut up the State of the Union speech to be over. I am quite proud of my low blood pressure, and I wish to keep it there. I will, however, listen to my PBS pundits (they ARE fair & balanced, dammit) for their takes. I also want to hear the new governor of Virginia speak afterwards...never too early to take a look at potential candidates for some future Next Time. (Speaking of which, omg it looks like Barrack Obama is taking notes...how cool is that!) AAUGHHH Hwsnbn smirked!!! *shudder*

Okay I've crawled back out from under the table. That was close.

A plethora of piddle

Not only have the pups discovered the joy of exercising their lower urinary tracts, but they are practicing with unbridled zeal. Let's hope these puppy pad thingies work.

Oh crap I've caught a cold. I thought I had been sufficiently paranoid around my 20-month-old third cousin last week (well in terms of hand sanitizer, at least) but it appears I was sorely mistaken. Drat. I guess I can be greatful it's just a cold, seeing that I totally spaced on getting a flu shot for this season.

Caffeine in my veins

I have been living on caffeine & its fumes for over 3 days now, but that story will have to wait. I just wanted to deliver the latest poopy update.

Apparently in the three days I was gone, the pups discovered how to pee on their own. Everywhere!

All eyes are wide open & all legs are starting to get a handle on this balance thing.

And this morning, Two Spot & T's pup discovered...(drum roll, please)...DOG FOOD. Pretty soon there were 5 or 6 pups piling into the dish. Poor mama dog, I could see her thinking, "First they suck the life force out of me every day, now they're eating my breakfast?!?" At least she will soon realize the benefits of being left alone a bit more.

They are just so damned adorable, I'm sure it must be illegal.

Oh I hate days like this

About an hour ago I ended up having to put little hereford girl to sleep. She had actually lost even more weight overnight, was weaker, and was having difficulty breathing. Arghh. To her credit, mama dog still wanted to groom her; but this was beyond help of even a mama's love, so I sent the little one off to romp & play in a better place.

POOPIES!!!

Sorry I have been so remiss in posting the past few weeks (especially after the lovely free publicity from Mel). But I have a good reason. A noble very good reason. You see, in my infinite wisdom (or not), I took in a foster dog. A very, VERY pregnant foster dog. So as of today in addition to my regular crew (2 dogs, 6 cats, & 424 gallons worth of tropical fish) (don't try this at home, I'm a licensed professional. really.), I have a mama dog & 7 14-day old puppies. Oh what was I thinking joy!

This experience has had its fair share of travails. The night after the pups were born, my youngest calico wandered too close & Doggy Jeckel turned into Psycho Mama Hyde. Fortunately for all, no ER trip was required, although I did put my poor suffering kitty through the indignity of xrays the next day. (Again, people -- I am a D.V.M -- if this ever happens to you, get your pet the hell into the ER right away.) Mama Dog has pretty much returned to normal re: kitties (as long as the pups aren't involved); however, the other day she was just being an overall pill, not just w/kitties but in terms of housetraining, bossing the other dogs, etc. That is, she was until Nutter Butter came along. Mama Dog was idiotic naive enough to chase Nutter Butter (my cat of 14.5 years of calico 'tude equipped w/extra toes & dagger claws to match). Let's just say Mama found herself cornered, desperate to escape, & with a claw firmly imbedded in her muzzle. She has been oh so good since then. Not to mention that night I had a very-pleased-with-herself cat.

Alas, it appears tonight that I am losing one of the pups (little white face girl, the hereford). I realize that is often the way of things, but it still bites. One reason, I suppose, I took on this dog was to have some lives begin in this house (for a change), so likely having to let one go is not an easy thing. Sigh. At least I have the sense that my mom is waiting to take the little one in, if that must come to pass. [Ed. note -- I just took a break to try feeding her again. Unlike for the past day or two, she actually protested. The subcutaneous fluids I administered earlier seem to have helped. We shall see.]

So. Who needs a new dog or two?