Pets are good therapy

kmccraw423 · June 2011

Marybe --- phew! What a relief! So glad it was not a tumor.

Bedo - can't help with the toilet training - never tried. I figured if he every figured out how to flush the toilet my water bill would be sky high.

As for vet bills - that is some kind of racket. My sister has two dogs (Coton der Turlear) who are beautiful and but dumb as stumps. She had to have their teeth cleaned and it could her $500 a piece! Once, when I took them in to be groomed the groomer was part of a vet hospital and they insisted that the dogs had to be given kennel cough treatment. They wanted $88.00 per dog, in addition to the grooming! Their rationale ... it was their policy so as not to spread kennel cough.. I wanted to say if you require this of all dogs then mine should be safe. So now we take them to their regular vet twice a year. The only reason she still goes to that groomer is because it is a mile from her house and they generally do a good job.

Merilee · June 2011

I have a chemo kitty I got from the pound when I found out I would do chemo. He is the best healer I have met. His name is Shaman...Pure black, He is so funny that the laughter alone is healing. He also instinctively knows when I have had a treatment and sleeps with for at least a week after. He is always in whatever room I am in. Just awesome.

karen333 · June 2011

Hi Merilee, Shaman is a true mama's boy, he knows when you especially need him. My 2 cats, Emma and Sophie, slept with me when I napped after my 3rd week of rads - usually they do not come on the sofa together but on those days Emma would sleep near my head and Sophie in the crook of my knees, therapy furbabbies. Karen

3jaysmom · June 2011

hi giys... good to be on, if only for a bit... Marybe, im so relieved it was an imnfected boo boo.. we get lots of those here.

my little man is still at my side, all the time. doesn't even let his daddy kiss me w/out a fit lately. i took a bad fall last night, and after he sniffed me out, right straight to the bedroom to get Mur. our rocker totally flipped, with me in it; and i was stuck!!! looked like the wicked witch w/ the house on her.. hysterical.

but, little man is never going to let me out of his sight, i fear.. he's been shadowing me all day today....

3jaysmom · June 2011

it was like this, only my feet went straight in the air!!!REAL attractive...3jays

kmccraw423 · June 2011

3jaysmom ... boy can I ever relate to falls! My shower chair once threw me out of the bathtub! I think the real only injury I had was with my dignity. "I've fallen and I can't get up" makes a lot of sense to me these days!

I hope you weren't hurt ... darn rocking chair!

karen333 · June 2011

Kathleen and 3jaysmom, so glad neither one of you were hurt, 3jays your furbaby was so bright to go get DH. Sophie and Emma are stretched out on the linoleum, trying to stay cool. It is in the 80's and humid here, expecting rain tonight and tomorrow, hope it cools them down. When it is really bad, Emma will let me run a wrung out cold washcloth over her, Sophie leaves for parts unknown, usually under the claw foot tub.

3jaysmom · June 2011

thanks, ldies... i totally can relate to " mostly" my dignity was hurt... we laughed, and laughed about it, but i got some dozies of bruises to show for my little adventurehahaha

Kathleen, i've not had my shower chair give me "the bums rush" yet...guess there's always something to look forward to, eh?hahaha .....3jays

kmccraw423 · June 2011

If you use a shower chair - make sure the legs are tightly attached - I think that was the problem with mine - I'm looking for a new shower chair with suction legs!

I was sitting on the chair, minding my own business, shifted my weight and, to my surprise, found myself on the bathroom floor with the hand-held shower head in my hand like a little fonton. My cat ran for the hills - some help he is, ha ha!

Merilee · June 2011

After my first treatment I took a very hard fall on cement steps. Almost passed out, and was home alone. I gave myself a fat lip and a bruised cheek, and black knees + a bruised rib.

When I got up and got to the house my cat was waiting for me at the door, he must have seen me go down. He does not miss much. Since then I have bought shoes with wide souls and it seems to be helping with the balance issues.

grdnslve · June 2011

today is the buckmeisters 2nd birthday. dh is worried he is going into the terrible twos. oh lordy, with his 'issues' that would be unthinkable.

i'm going in for diep on monday, so dh will be on his own with the little monster. he said he is going to take him to the taxidermist. yeah right. bucky will be on his lap the whole time i'm gone. my only worry is he doesn't like to do his 'business' when dh lets him out--waits, rings his bell again & makes me take him out. but if i'm not here he better get over that.

have a good weekend all..

Maya2 · June 2011

Good luck Monday. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

karen333 · June 2011

Happy Birthday Bucky, into the terrible twos! Wishing you the best of your surgeon's abilities on Monday. Bucky and Dad will be good buddys this coming week. Karen

3jaysmom · June 2011

a little cake for buck meister; a lot of prayer for his mommy....3jays

kmccraw423 · June 2011

Happy birthday Buck!

My guy (Mr. Oliver - Cat) is on thryoid meds - I am in really bad pain and that dickens made me chase him all over to give him his pill last night.

Gardnslve ... good luck on Monday. When you can, fill us in on your progress.

Anonymous · June 2011

grdnslve (is that short for garden sleeve?....I wear mine when I work in the yard), I hope all goes well for you on Monday. Our one dog used to do the bell....had on hanging on the door and he would go ring it when he wanted out....but he was doing it all the time so I think it sort of became a game with him and my husband took it down. Now, this is the dog that is NOT housebroken and I have to watch him like a hawk when he is in the upstairs where there are rugs and carpeting. I think we need to start using the bell again and am going to tell my husband to get it out, even if it does annoy him.

Harley's lip is much better...the place is still there, but not elevated like it was, almost as flat as the rest of his lip, and the color is more like flesh now (was very red when I took him to vet) . I am wondering if the pigment is gone or if it will eventually go back to black like the rest of his lip.

Sometime I must take the camera to bed with me and have it there to snap a pick of him when he wakes me up in the morning. He comes and stands with his front paws on my good boob and it hurts...he's only 10 lbs, but he sure does put a lot of pressure on those front paws. So I open my eyes and there is Harley staring me in the face....sometimes I will just shove him off and go OW, go back to sleep, but usually it's OK, we can get up now. I will try to get a pic of him like that, but it would be so close it might come out a blur. Only one more day of antibiotics for his lip.

Since a dog year equals 7 maybe the Buckmeister is past the terrible twos although I know they always seem to chew things up until they are at least two. My first silky did not have a single toy with eyes or ears until he got to be really old...he took great delight it destroying his toys, limb by limb and then he would bring them to me to sew back together. Now it is our dog, Hope, who tears things up and she is not yet quite two....she's also the one who likes to dig kleenex out of the waste can and rip them up. This is Hope....our stray, part Corgi.

karen333 · June 2011

Marybe, would love to see a picture of Harley waking you up, I think they feel that they have been waiting too long to get up, almost like they are missing us.

grdnslve · June 2011

hey, thanks everyone--loved the pic 3jaysmom!

glad harley is doing better. try the bell..even though it means some false alarms (i just want to go outside & sniff, mom). bucky always got a treat when he rang the bell, & did his business...no treat for just sniffing around. now he is perfect on the housebreaking thing-- and i can usually tell if he is just interested in a walk-about. i still let him out though. i'm a doormat. oh, and the grdnslve is garden slave.... but the last year has found the garden returning to the wild with me unable to keep up. sniff.

3jaysmom · June 2011

i also thought it was garden sleeve; for LE; glad its' slave...sorry you no longer can keep up FOR NOW.... my little gazebo is enough.. its twice the size this year... most are fowers i bought for memories of those passed on, with pathos, and spider planrs for greenery.. i'll see if i can find a pic.... its; all we get here to plant, in our community.. it was my safe haven, during chemo; but its; too hot to sit out this year, already!!! 3jaysedit to say im glad Harleys lip is better, MB...

Anonymous · June 2011

OK, here is a picture of my morning wakeup call. Later I will post a pic of my out of control garden, which I actually get compliments on because a lot of times that free flowing, flowers popping up everywhere look, has appeal for people. Just the other day I was commenting to the new neighbor about what a good job he does taking care of his lawn..he is always out there edging it and mowing. I have to beg Tim to mow the grass and do it myself if I can get someone to pull the cord and get it started for me. Anyway, he told me thanks and said You have one H...of a garden. I admire it all the time. Amazing thing is I have these hollyhocks, columbine and even hibiscus that reseeded themselves and they are not where I would have chosen to

put them, but it somehow came out OK.

BarbaraA · June 2011

Morning Marybe. Here is Lucy from Saturday.

kmccraw423 · June 2011

Marybe ... my cat does the same thing. He wants me up and getting his breakfast when he wants it. If I don't get up, he will knock anything off the bedside table. I have learned not to leave a glass of water there as he has knocked one off many times. He has one toy that is almost shredded that he loves. He will throw it up in the air and catch. We tried another toy when I still lived with my sister. Her one dog took it away from him (the dog has a basketful of toys of her own) and somehow managed to get the velcro pocket open and ate the catnip - paper and all!

Animals are such a hoot!

karen333 · June 2011

kimcraw, I too have a determined cat that wakes me up at the time she feels is right, Today, unfortunately, that was 3:30. I had forgotten to leave a little food in her dish for overnight, my daughter's cat came up last night and finished off the bowl. She ate, watched the news with me and we went back to bed. Emma rules in this house, very nicely, but her rules trump mine. Good thing she is a good cuddler! Karen

3jaysmom · June 2011

my two kids sleep with us; and always get confused on sat and sun. Mur gets up at 5am on work days, but likes to sleep in on the wkend...the kids are restless; etc., so i let them down for a bit...they come begging to get back on the bed, when they realize daddys NOT giving them cookies for breakfast early....yep DH is diabetic; but his am starts with cookies, and the paper on the computer,,,, and his sugar #'s are better than mine...that's so not fair!!!!............3jays

kmccraw423 · June 2011

This reminds me of a story a co-worker told me. When he and his wife were courting he told her "its me or that cat." I asked how the cat was and he said fine. It drives me crazy when someone gets rid of a cat or dog because they met someone who doesn't like the pet. Men come and go, pets are forever.

Gingerbrew · June 2011

I was trying to save a $100.00. My little dog is part, poodle, schnauzer, bichon frieze, beagle and chihuaha. He weighs 14 pounds, has mostly white hair with some apricot color along his back. He has a poodle face, long legs and pretty scraggly, slightly wavy, non shedding hair.

I thought he needed a haircut so I just sat him in my lap and started trimming to about 1 1/2" all over. shorter on his face, it took several hours to complete my masterpiece. When my husband got home at first he didnt notice even though Harry was sitting in his lap. When he did notice he lotd me I had cut it too short and Harry looks cuter with longer hair. When the traveling pet groomer did it she gave him a puppy cut similar to a Bichon and his face did look really cute, for $100.00.

I am just griping here. It is a bit too short, he does look cuter with it a bit longer, and I am disappointed in my work. This was the biggest project I have taken on so far since rads and chemo and I thought I felt well enough to do a reaally good job and I didn't. Sorry to complain, Harry deserves to look cuter.
Ginger

Anonymous · June 2011

Harry will look cuter....and he's not on chemo so it WILL grow. Also he will probably enjoy it being shorter in the hot weather. Kudos to you for saving $100....go buy yourself something nice.

Spellgirl · June 2011

I gave my husband a springer spaniel puppy 2 Christmases ago. Since that time, she has become my best friend- since I was the one who fed, walked, trained, and groomed her. Since my BMX, I have been sleeping on my son's bed, which is low enough for me to get into and out of. Lucy has not left my side. She follows me everywhere and defends me vigorously should anyone visit me while I am lying down. She sleeps with her head on my lap, and is such an encouragement when I feel down and everyone else is at work. It really has been an unexpected comfort and blessing to have her around.

Anonymous · July 2011

Spellgirl, So glad you have Lucy there for comfort. Somehow animals just seem to know when we need them. I have some good friends with a Springer, Scarlett....the previous two were males, Jack and Buck. She is black, but the other two were liver as I see Lucy is in the pic.

Anonymous · July 2011

http://youtu.be/sF5kp6RCQg0

See if you can open this....it's a song my husband wrote a year or so ago....I did the photos....most are neighborhood dogs and of course there are several of ours in there....it was pre-Hope, but you will see Harley and Brattie and also my old Silkie, Sydney.

Pets are good therapy

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