NOW PLAYING: THIS OLD MAN

THIS OLD MAN IN FLORIDA GETS AN E-COLLAR OR, And THIS is why our next house still has to be in this area . . . 24 AUGUST 2016
This afternoon (of course as I wanted to take a short nap), The Old Guy in Florida came to show me his eye; he wouldn't open it and was becoming obsessed with trying to scratch it. It's been a week since the surgery on the eyelid lump, and he's not been scratching or squinting much anymore. 'Til now. And he was shivering, altho the t-storm was long over (he's not as deaf as we thought, btw, and can hear at certain levels, including thunder. Or see the lightning). Being the Helicopter FosterMom that I am, I called the vet clinic and was told to come in ASAP. As it was one o' those 'stay inside in my nightshirt' days, I had to first get dressed, then put the others in crates, but within 15 minutes, we were there. Naturally, he had the eye wide open and wasn't scratching at all. False alarm, I thought. Nope . . . one of the stitches moved during healing and had begun to poke his eye and he had a small ulceration, so an hour later, with some more meds and an e-collar, we're back home, just in time for dinner. Which he has begun DEMANDING with coldnosepokes . . . he is truly coming into his own. CRUSA Foster Sadee (who is going home on 13 September), Service Dog SweeTea & CRUSA Rescue Daisy2Legs all say: We're stayin' outta This Old Man's way! HE'S DANGEROUS! And THAT's why we have to stay in this area - love my vet clinic and its staff! BJ ISAACS: Whew, poor little one. Btw, don't you love coldnosepokes! I looked down (I was typing and he coldnosepoked my arm) and thought it was Heather, who has also begun to do this, asking for lapsits or toythrows, But no, it was BUDDY KATHY WALKER: Gracie Magoo used to throw fits on the couch if she thought is was time for supper and we disagreed. It was soooooo funny. Gosh, I miss my Magoo. And don't you just hate it when you have your lazy night shirt day all planned out and then some little snot comes along and messes it up. Ha! Best to you and the Old Guy! JUDY JOHNSON: Love it! At least you know you are not the boss. PATRICIA YARNOT: You certainly have found a good one [vet clinic]. I drive 40 minutes for a good vet. The old man is sure making himself at home. He's so smart to come to you and make you look at his eye. He's a true gem and he loves you. I feel for the dogs who wear collars. Especially one who is so old. Probably first time with one on, poor fella.
25 AUGUST Between one panicked dog with e-collar and another who had the urka-gurkas during the night and early morning, not only did I not have my nap yesterday, but not much of a sleep, either. Buddy is now past the panic phase and is now into the 'if I just stand here, maybe it will fall off' phase. Poor guy . . . but if I take off the e-collar, he wants to scratch and scratch. Let's hope the Tramadol kicks in soon. And yes, I had to hand-feed him his breakfast . . .
IN CASE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THE TERM 'URKA-GURKA' BEFORE: THE FOUR TYPES OF DOG VOMIT YELLOW URKA-GURKAS: Dog runs around the house and hides under furniture while making a prolonged 'uuuurka-guuurka, uuurka-guuurka' noise. (this noise is the only thing guaranteed to wake up a true dog lover who is hung over from a post-dog-show celebration at 3:30 a.m.). After mad scrambling to capture the dog and drag her outside, the episode ends with an indelible ten-yard line of slimy yellow froth from the living room rug to the back door. BLAP DISEASE: Dog exercises hard and a) eats large mouthfuls of snow (Winter Blap Disease), or b) drinks a bucket of water (Summer Blap Disease). Within two minutes of returning inside, the dog spews out large amounts of clear slimy liquid while making a distinctive 'blap' sound and sharp percussive noises as it hits the linoleum. GARKS: Dog suddenly clears her throat with loud and dramatic 'gggaark, gggaark,' noises, generally followed by prolonged 'iiikssss' and then loud, satisfied, smacking noises. There is nothing on the rug. DON'T investigate; you DON'T want to know. RALFS: Apropos of nothing, the dog strolls into the dining room and waits 'til the innocent dinner guests are all watching her. Then with a single, deep, gut-wrenching 'raaaalfff', she disgorges the entire week's contents of her stomach on the dining room rug. VARIATION: then she eats it. In all the above events, the dog is entirely healthy and indeed deeply pleased with herself. TRACIE COTTON: All of these have happened at my house at one time or another . . . . PEGGY NALLEY: I'm laughing so hard it hurts! and yes, experienced every one of them! Ain't it fun?
	27 AUGUST Another recheck: ALL stitches were removed, plus two eyelashes that were growing into his eye! No WONDER he was scratching during the night and again this morning. After a saline flush, his eye looked much better so we both went out for breakfast. I had a bagel and cream cheese; he had a bowl of water and lots of attention and ear skritches, which he really likes He even asks for them now.
At home, he slept for FIVE HOURS on the couch, even when I was gone for a few of those hours. He must've been REALLY TIRED. Unfortunately, one of the wartectomy sites opened in the early evening, but since I brought along the dogs' meds when I came here in February 2015, I applied some Neo-Predef powder and a gauze pad (held on by one of the belly bands Jackie had sent me that stay on so well), and the wound was dried up and closed by the next morning. After quite a bit of time spent pacing . . . . . . he finally finds a way to lie down comfortably. PEGGY NALLEY: Poor baby . . . maybe he will be able to hear better with an e-collar! I know when mine have to wear those things it takes them forever to stop trying to get them off.

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