Poor Puppy Cody.

As a human, I can understand that growing old[er] comes with various aches, pains, itches & twitches.  But dogs only know that something is not right.

First, it started with twitches in Cody’s hind leg whenever someone would pet her head.  While it can be amusing to watch a dog’s leg pumping up and down like a sewing machine needle, I’m sure Cody wasn’t enjoying it all that much.  We mentioned it to the vet at one point and were told it was simply a scratch response (known as the Pinal-Pedal Reflex).  The solution seemed to be to stop scratching her around the head and ears.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Cody began shaking her head nearly constantly.  Hubby and I both looked in her ears and saw nothing.  No bugs, no irritation, no debris.  Just in case, we decided to use a little doggie ear wash to clean out anything that might be deeper than we could see.

As soon as the first drop of ear wash hit Cody’s ear canal, she went ballistic – growling, snarling, struggling.  She looked like a nasty, scared wolf with her bared teeth.  She even tried  to bite me – although to her credit, while her teeth left a mark on my hand, they did not actually break the skin.  I guess even in extreme discomfort, Cody didn’t really want to injure her owner.

And also to her credit, when I forcefully told Cody to “STOP IT!”, she did- immediately.  Good dog!

So, we took her back to the vet.  The exam showed no infection and no debris in the ears, but the canals were red and inflamed.  No wonder Cody reacted to the ear wash like she did!  If I had an earache and someone put cold liquid into my ear, I guess I’d snarl and bite, too.

A course of prednisone was prescribed, which seems to be working.  The head shaking has stopped, and – maybe it’s just my imagination, but – it seems that I can pet her around the ears again  without her twitching her leg.

Now, if we could only get her to stop rolling around on the ground so that whatever got into those ears in the first place doesn’t do it again …

[Well, that’s all great, Cordelia’s Mom, but we’re getting a little tired of Puppy Cody stories.  What’s going on with you?]

Nothing much, really.

My boss is frantically contacting clients and clearing files in anticipation of her retirement, and I’m frantically shoving as much cash as possible into savings so as to be able to pay expenses once my job ends.  Hubby is still working, so until he retires, we should be able to get by for quite awhile.  Eventually, we’ll have to give up the house, but not until such time as Cody is no longer with us – it would be cruel to relegate her to some rescue agency just so we could move into an apartment.  For now, the plan is  to hire people to help with whatever lawn care and snow removal hubby can’t manage.

Teddy Rosalie DOES enjoy the commute, but she’s not in charge – even if she thinks she is!

I’m still debating whether or not I want to continue to work part-time after my current job ends.  If I do, it definitely will be somewhere closer to home as I’m not enjoying the commute these days.  If I were independentally wealthy, or had tons of money in a 401-K, it would be a no-brainer, but Social Security only stretches so far, and there’s still that mortgage to pay.

Just living the dream, as always.

Hope all is well with all of my readers.  Leave a comment below (or even just “like” this post)  to let me know you’re still with me.

Hugs, all!

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio