Ear’s the Thing

Posted on August 3, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

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

 

Posted in Teddy Rosalie, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

‘Cause Dogs Gotta Breathe Too

Posted on June 29, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Ok, so this isn’t California or China, where I’ve heard it can be nearly impossible to breathe outside at times.

But even here in Buffalo, NY. USA, the air quality has been bad recently due to smoke coming down from the Canadian wildfires.  There have been many days when air quality advisories were issued and people were told to stay inside with AC and air purifiers running and to wear face masks when outside, especially those people who are elderly or who suffer from a medical condition which could affect their breathing.

On the worst recent day, hubby commented that it was too bad no one made face masks for dogs.

Say what?  I knew that wasn’t true because I’ve seen pictures of military and police dogs wearing gas masks.  Surely, there was something similar for ordinary dogs.

Like many people, my favorite website since the beginning of the pandemic is Amazon.com.  Searching there for “face masks for dogs” not only came up with the full-face military doggie gas masks (probably very effective but a little pricey), but they also had masks similar to those worn by humans – a simple design with a strap going behind the ears.  I ordered one (only $7.99) just to try it out.

Puppy Cody wasn’t thrilled.  Immediately, she pawed the darn thing off, and in the  process she managed to get her front dew claw caught in the strap and nearly broke her leg before I could get to her.  That was a little scary, needless to say.

However, I think the mask will work just fine when she’s on leash, walking and distracted by other things (like other dogs! squirrels! bunnies! or who’s been peeing on that hydrant/tree/planter?).  She’ll need a smaller size, though.  I purchased a medium, but it’s a bit loose on her face – probably a small size will work better for her.  We’ll see.

To anyone who’s now frantically searching Amazon for the same mask for their dog, bear in mind that the mask was shipped directly from it’s manufacturer in China and took a few weeks to get through customs before arriving at my home.  This seems to be a relatively new product so I would imagine that if the doggie masks become popular enough, someone in the U.S. will either start importing them or making them here, but in the meantime allow time for shipping.

And to those of my readers who live in the U.S. – have a happy upcoming Fourth of July.  I searched “noise canceling headphones for dogs” on Amazon, and yes they do exist but the good ones are fairly costly.  We’ll just keep Cody inside with us, with ACs and air purifiers running, the TVs on loud, and allow her to hide in whatever corner she chooses.  That worked well last year so long as we managed to get her out early enough before the fireworks started so she could do her business.  Within a day or two afterwards, she was back to her normal loveable but annoying self.

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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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Health, Pets, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Eternal Optimism

Posted on June 22, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Ah, to have the simple life of a pampered pooch.

Puppy Cody so loves treats of any kind.  She’ll lie under the dining room table for hours in hopes that a tiny crumb might fall down for her to savor – even if it’s the middle of the  day and no human has been sitting at that table since breakfast.

Unfortunately, poor Cody is getting older and her already delicate digestive system can no longer handle any treats containing meat, chicken, bacon or peanut butter, nor cinnamon, molasses or pretty much any kind of spice.  Well, maybe she’d enjoy that, but we don’t enjoy it when those treats make her gassy.  Even allowing her to lick egg yolk off a plate makes her smelly.  If you’ve ever been in a house with a farting dog, you know what I mean.

So Cody’s now pretty much limited to her prescription dog kibble, Milkbone biscuits, and occasionally a No Hide chew treat (yes, that can make her a wee bit gassy even though it’s vegetable based, but it’s good for her teeth and she only gets one every couple of weeks – I can tolerate that).  We did manage to find an organic treat containing only blueberries, flour, oil, sugar, and vanilla (plus a couple of minor non-spice ingredients), which she seemed to tolerate just fine the one time we gave them to her.  Heck, they looked and smelled just like human cookies – I was sorely tempted to eat one myself!

All of the non-Cody-digestable treats were given to the other dogs in the family: Maya, the traditional German Shepherd; Gunnar, the black German Shepherd; Rocket, the fluffly little white terrier mix; and Astro, the tiny guy who looks like a miniature pinscher/chihuahua mix.

Cody’s “cousins” were thrilled to get all those treats.  Cody was not so happy to see Dad put those treats in a bag and take them out of the house.

Possibly Cody’s little doggy brain has decided the only way she’ll get anything special is if she’s lucky enough to catch something falling off the dining room table.  She can lie under there all day for all I care – at least she’s not pestering me to go out to play with the bunnies and squirrels.  Right now anyway.  Later, I’m sure that will change – I swear those little critters wait for her to come out so they can tease her into a good chase.  They know there’s no way she can catch them.

For now I intend to take advantage of the quiet and work on my latest crochet project. With my feet up and binge-watching one of my favorite shows on  DVD.

Hope your day is as uneventful.

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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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Pets, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Jessica’s Oopsie (an Open-Ended Very Short Story)

Posted on June 15, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

It was an accident.  Sort of.

Jessica was a huge fan of detective novels and had just finished one in which the victim was found hanging with his hands tied behind his back.  There was some speculation as to whether it was suicide or murder.

But how could someone tie his or her own hands behind his or her back?

In the novel, the medical examiner explained that it could be done using a form of double knot or slip knot. When properly tied, the knot would tighten once the hands were placed behind the back and then stretched by extending the arms.  Much like those Chinese finger-thingies Jessica played with as a kid, except that presumably the rope could not then be loosened by bringing the arms back together.

Jessica still wondered if it was possible.  She didn’t have rope in the house but she did have clothesline.  She decided to do an experiment.

Having never been a  sailor nor ever in any circumstance where she would have gained experience with knots, Jessica tried various configurations with the rope.  She finally discovered that she could loosely tie the rope around one wrist and then form a slip knot into which she could wriggle her other wrist after putting both arms behind her back.  Then she pulled her arms apart.

It worked!  She was now tightly shackled.  She pushed her arms together and the knots did not loosen.  Excellent!

( ….. )

Well, crap.  Now she had to figure out a way to get herself out of this predicament without having to call 911.  How embarrassing would that be?  And even if she opted to go that route, how would she make that call with her hands tied behind her back?

***

The ball is now in your court, folks.  How did Jessica extricate herself?  Write your solutions in the comments section below – the more outlandish, the better.  This will be fun for all of us – but please, don’t anyone be as silly as Jessica and decide to recreate her experiment.  I surely don’t wish to be responsible for starting some new stunt trend.

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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
__________
Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

 

Posted in That's Life | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments