Our Pets- Consolers (Four Legged, Two Legged, Fur, Finned)

[mfh]

I have a friend here who is a cat lover and runs a rescue program. She and i check in by email every night and morning so someone knows if we are still alive. She told me pumpkin is used for cats when they are constipated...ergo...my suspicions are confirmed. No more pumpkin for pumpkin!

[kayc]

Mary, my sources all tell me pumpkin is good for dogs and cats' digestive systems, full of fiber. Having a reaction to it, like he has (if that's the problem) is extremely unusual, it's not one of the normal "trigger foods". Both Arlie and Kitty have been helped by pumpkin, not hurt by it, when they had Diarrhea, not for constipation. Anyone can have a reaction to anything, just like I do to fish, if that is what they are allergic to. Please keep us posted how Bentley does tonight.

[mfh]

No clue about any of this but I thank thee for sharing it. My conclusion is to either use bits of chicken breast (as I have been) for treats or the Fromm's which I use when I am too lazy to cook chicken breasts. He had a good night, ate his food and took his meds. Today I add in probiotic and he gets fed 8 times...very small portions...I cancelled book club which I HATE missing especially today because we make our choices about next year's books and i had three to present. Someone else will present them but it is not the same. One is Brene Brown's Daring Greatly. Also Zoobiquity and Lean In. I have my phone alarm set to feed Bentley every 2 hours, to meditate every 4 hours and to use my eye drops 3 times a day....so the alarm is going off all day !

[kayc]

You are going to be busy today! Please let us know how Bentley does with the food and Probiotics.

[mfh]

Yes, busy day but all good stuff and skipped book club. he is doing ok so far...no diarrhea, took him to Post Office in car and then pulled over to chat with a friend sitting outside having coffee at the book store...she ADORES Bentley and will stay overnight if I have to stop kenneling him...she is, however, a cat gal...I mean she LOVES them...runs a rescue cat thing that she started: Mew Haven Keeps her busy. She is about 77 I think but a young 77.

[kayc]

Hmm, how would it go with all the cats if he stayed overnight there?

[mfh]

She has left them before. She is in charge of the cats at Taliesin and one just had surgery so she slept out there as his caretaker was out of town....she does not do it often but is willing to do it for me if I need her during my surgeries which are in Chicago area. I used to leave my cat alone for 2-3 days with friends coming into feed, clean litter, water, interact. He was fine.

[kayc]

I left my cat for five days once with plenty of food, water sources, inside house, with neighbor to check on her, she was fine. Litter box was full when I got back! Now that I have two cats it'd be harder.

[mfh]

Years ago my friend left her two cats with a friend checking in daily. Cats were Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid. That is a hint. Day 1, the kitchen table cloth was split in two pieces. Day 2, the medicine cabinet was emptied, Day 3, the kitchen drawer filled with towels was emptied onto the floor. They used to open this drawer all the time so my friend would close it and open the one in the corner (it was a corner drawer) so they couldnot get to the towel. They closed that drawer and opened the towel drawer.

[mfh]

I just reread your sentence and see that you meant how would it be for Bentley to stay there. This woman has 11 cats...I would not subject my dog or a human being to that....way too many cats.

[kayc]

Yeah, that's what I thought you'd meant at first.

My cats are older and mostly sleep all day when I'm gone. The only thing I'd worry about is them fighting with each other but most of the time they avoid each other.

[feralfae]

Mary, I am laughing about the drawer-opening cats.

Doug taught several dogs of our friends how to open refrigerators.

Yet, those people stayed friends with us. And especially their dogs.

fae

[kayc]

Gosh, I'd never teach my cats to open drawers! Animals are too smart for our own good as it is!

[kayc]

Mary,

An update on Bentley, please? Yesterday you said he was clingy, how's he feeling today?

[mfh]

Thanks for asking, Kay. I just walked him and he pooped a normal poop and I am relieved. His behavior is also better today. I think we are out of the woods. Thanks to all for their love and support. I will let you know if anything changes. He is fed 6 times today and get 3 pills, one is probiotics.

Now there are other animals out there that are far from pets. I walked Bentley two blocks out and by that time had 2 mosquito bites. Since he had done his duty, we walked two blocks home and I will have to get the mosquito spray out before I venture out again to walk or weed. We are near the river and the backwaters so we get hit hard. When we lives in the woods, our house was on a hill and only when we went to the wood near the creek did we get a thousand bites. I should say I got them, they did not like Bill. In Colorado we were at 8,500 feet and I never saw a mosquito....I am not complaining...just reporting a nuisance.

[kayc]

I have a creek too, and if I go down there in the summer, I will be covered in bites too, they love the water. I remember when my kids were little, they had friends over and wanted to go play at the creek. The next morning they were covered in what looked like a rash, all over their bodies. I took them to the doctor, and boy did I feel stupid finding out they were just bites! (The doctor was 50 miles away).

[mfh]

Well, we have come through this tunnel of fear...i.e. Bentley getting sick...one of my worst fears right now. He seems his old self today and last evening. He is back to bringing me toys if I am on the computer or reading too long...i.e. ignoring him. He is eating and would eat anything I give him, begs (i.e. stands and stares) for my food as I prepare whatever in the kitchen. Ran across the yard to me when I called him in from the rain this morning. He does not care that he is getting wet if he find something to smell. In so many ways Bentley is an almost 9 year old puppy. The vet I saw has a 14+ year old Golden that she said she almost lost 4 years ago and that each day since has been a gift but that he won't see 15. I will be so happy if Bentley gets to 14 (the outside edge for a Golden). I will weep buckets when he dies...it may sound ridiculous to some who do not get pets, but in spite of losing Bill, my parents, my 5 closest friends, a previous dog, and others, of course, Bentley's death will fall second in line after Bill's in pain and loss and grief. That has increased now since Bill is gone for Bentley is even more important to me...though that is hard to imagine.

Thanks for all your support and love for a dog you never met but who you know through me. We have had a hard time juggling schedules for him to start his therapy dog career. We start with mentoring and that involves 4 schedules (mine, groomer, mentor, nursing home activity schedule). So early June we think we have it all meshed. It is fine, however, that it has taken this long because I needed NOT to add that to what have been challenging months since he was registered (Jan-May). We are starting at the local nursing home...I can walk him there actually.

Peace,

Mary

[kayc]

Oh trust me, Mary, I do know what your saying, and losing Arlie would be second only to losing George, he is all important to me, all the more so since it is him and me in life. No offense to cat lovers (I have two), but they are not the same as a dog! This morning I had some cut up poached egg I wanted to give to Kitty, would she come? Hell no! I called and called her and she ran from me. A dog would NEVER do that! So Arlie got it, stupid cat! I love my cats but they are not the same as having a dog. A dog is your best friend and companion. A cat...well, they have their own life.

[mfh]

I had a cat many years ago and he came on his terms as cats do. They have different lessons to teach us, for sure, with their independence. I read that cats are like adults (well, some adults) and dogs like children...children forever...

Continues to be gray here but no rain. We could use some rain. Everything is super green, my maple tree is leafing out but breezy and today it was chilly so no mosquitoes on our walk. Loved that.

[kayc]

Pouring rain here, ugly, depressing. I took Arlie for a walk this morning in between rains, just made it.

[mfh]

Here too...not raining yet but we started out sunny and warm this morning and now it has clouded over and will rain..the wind is picking up. I am sorry it is depressing for you. I know it is weird but I like the dark days....I do not have to see/think about everyone out having fun as I saw in Madison today with the bikes everywhere, people shopping for picnic food in Copps, etc. I hope the sun shines for you...today. Mary

[kayc]

I took Arlie for a pickup ride today and we walked in the woods, rain and all, he loved it.

[mfh]

Update on Bentley

Physically he seems fine. He is eating well, pooping well, drinking water, taking his meds if wrapped in his special food. He is nearing the end of the anti-diarrhea and anti-inflammatory med but will continue on the probiotic for quite a few more days.

However, his behavior is concerning to me. I think it has to do with the weather. He is super sensitive to wind. Lightning and thunder do not bother him but wind puts him away. We had a severe thunderstorm the other night and my bedroom window was open with curtains and blinds blowing before I heard it. He disappeared to my office. When I open the windows, even if not windy, he disappears...he hates the windows being open but it is too cool for AC and too hot for heat so I open them and he gets nutso. Last night however he would not sleep in the bedroom...would not even come into it...that is brand new. this morning I found him in my office because, I am pretty certain, the window was open. When I close it, he stayed in the bedroom. We had tornado warnings and will for the next few weeks or more so we are in for a ride here. I have a hypersensitive dog...but he has grown up with sensitive...probably hypersensitive (in a good way) parents (Bill and me). Yesterday, also, a friend was here for 2 hours talking some but mostly helping me hang pictures so out came my drill, cords, pictures...a taste of chaos for him. Irene, my friend, also wondered if having Bill's clothes and shoes sitting in the middle of his office (where i left them after clearing SOME of them out of his closet). When Bill wore dressier shoes (dressier than gym shoes) and only wore them for an evening or a couple of hours, he would put his socks in the shoes and wear them again next time. It was a habit that he said, "then you will have one less thing to wash". I was usually the one to do laundry. So two pair of shoes with his sox still in them are sitting in his office along with clothes, etc. so my friend wondered if he could smell all those again. I can not smell anything but his nose is a power house. So I don't know what is going on but here is the kicker...I worry about him developing dementia because he is reacting out of character and it reminds me of Bill when he reacted out of character with Alzheimer's. So I am monitoring....using AC instead of opening windows for a while anyway as we have more storms coming, maybe more tornado warnings and wind.

[feralfae]

Dear Mary,

Maybe Bentley, like you, needs to settle into peace and rest for a few weeks, with no chaos, changes, just settling in and being for a while. Once you two have your home in order, I really think a stay-cation is in order for you as well.

Poor Bentley: he does not have your powers of analysis to figure out why things are bothering them, to employ a rational mind, or to recognize the root causes and consider them, when things are out of order in his life.

Of course he is hyper-sensitive! With you and Bill as parents, he could not help but be, and it is part of why you love him so much.

The clouds have settled into the valley below me, so I am looking out at the tops of clouds obscuring the valley, lake, town, and even neighbors lower down the slopes. Above the clouds, up here, the sun is shining.

I must go to do office things this morning, then I am going to move into vacation mode.

Much love to you and Bentley, and I hope you have a slow and quiet day.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[mfh]

fae, i do believe you are right...I think his "normal" fear of wind has gotten stirred in with the chaos that he has lived with here and hanging the pictures yesterday was a bit like the days of house painting last month as we moved pictures here and there and put them almost right back where they were Yes, Bentley is a reflection of Bill's and my energy. How I wish everyone here could have known my wonderful Bill and i know every one here feels the same about their loved one.

I remember living in the mountains and looking out the front window to see only the peak across the valley as clouds (at 8500 feet) buried the valley and even our front yard to some degree. It is sort of a lovely peaceful way to be for a while....move slowly as you pack and prepare.

Peace,

Mary