…helps the Benadryl go down.
It’s easy peasy to pill Harriet, but I like to give her pills to her with peanut butter, because she gets totally blissed out when she eats it. It’s pure doggie crack.
Tag: dogs
Harriet Sunbathing
Harriet still isn’t feeling quite 100%. I think it’s the antihistamines, so starting today, I’m cutting her back to two doses a day, instead of three. Hopefully, a nap in the sun will help, too.
Polly and Henry
The cats have discovered the Amazing Cat TeeVee (AKA the patio windows). They spent most of the weekend out there, either napping or watching the birds and chipmunks.
(And, my photos are any indication, I never put my shoes away.)
Oh, and Harriet’s ear? Totally F-I-N-E. She made a big, fat liar out of me! Dr. Koch said he scoped and prodded and even tugged on the (supposedly) sore ear, but he couldn’t find anything wrong, and Harriet didn’t complain. And he’s right. She’s back to normal now. That ear sure was sore this morning, though. Weird!
Dew
All the flower seeds I planted, at least the ones that sprouted, were eaten one night by either bunnies or Mr. Groundhog. I’m going to have to replace them with mature plants or maybe with containers. So far, they’ve left the stuff in containers alone. The tomatoes are getting big, and so are the peppers I got from a coworker. The peppers I planted from seed are still really small, though, so I’m about to give up on them. Since the tomatoes still need to be thinned a bit, I may sacrifice the baby peppers to make more tomato space.
In other news, Harriet spent Friday at the vet. She was chewing her feet again and suddenly developed a sneeze and runny nose. I was afraid it was something contagious, but after spending the day observing her, the vet thinks it’s just allergies. He recommended putting her back on Benadryl, and if that doesn’t help, then Chlor-trimeton. If those don’t work, then we’ll try prescription antihistamines.
The Benadryl seems to be helping. She’s not chewing her feet and her sneezy, snotty nose has improved. But, now she’s developed what I think is a bad ear infection. One ear is super painful, and I can feel where it’s swollen, along her neck. Poor dog! She’s feeling too rotten to police the cats, so I know she has to be miserable. There’s not much to be done for it until I can call the vet tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we has sadcakes.
Speaking of the cats, they have finally decided that they’re in charge. They spent last night doing Indy 500 laps around the living room, chasing each other, while I was trying to watch TV. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they hadn’t kept cornering off the couch. Also, Henry has discovered the kitchen counter, and it doesn’t matter how many times I push her off, she bounces right back up. Ditto Polly with my computer desk. She jumps up, I push her off, and she bounces right back up again. They are nothing if not persistent. Alsoplustoo, cute. Very, very cute.
Henry
She was flopping around on the bathroom floor and being impossibly cute, so I had to take some photos.
The cone can, in theory, come off at any time now. I took it off for a few hours last Thursday night, but Henry did some vigorous licking at her incision, so I put it back on. The incision looks fine, but the skin around it is a little raw. We’ll try again tomorrow, but I’d rather err on the cautious side. And besides, it’s not like the cone is hampering her ability to get around and play, so I don’t think it’s a big deal to leave it on a few more days.
Speaking of playing, I picked up one of those bendy sticks with feathers and a tinkle bell on the end. Somehow, Polly got it down from its hiding place. She played with it for a couple of hours yesterday, and then Henry got hold of it and spent 3-4 hours playing with it. So much for it being an interactive toy! Henry even carried it into the bathroom with her, when she used the litter box, and then carried it back out again. That was $5 well spent.
Harriet is still not amused, but she’s being very good with the kittens. That may be because, so far, at least, they’re being respectful of Harriet’s personal space. I’ve been able to leave them out together while I’m at work, even. Heaven help the first cat to jump up on the bed, though. I have a feeling that Harriet may have strong opinions about that.
Kitten Update
The kittens are getting used to the dog, and the dog is (slowly) getting used to them. She’s not really cranky about the cats, but she has a serious jealous streak, and she thinks it’s her job to be The Fun Police. Both of these are problems we’re working on. For now, calm interactions are being rewarded.
They kittens were spayed on Friday and came through it fine. In fact, when I brought them home that evening, they didn’t even seem to notice that they’d just had pretty major surgery. They did start licking at their incisions, though, so I had to put The Cones of Shame on them.
They both figured out pretty quickly how to eat and drink with the cones on, which is good. The problem is that they keep getting litter in between the layers of plastic. I’m constantly having to clean their cones after they use the litter box. Not so fun, but they should be cone free in a few more days, so it’s a short-term issue.
Oh, and if you ever want a good laugh, try watching two kittens staggering around like drunken soldiers while they get used to The Cones of Shame. Apparently they forget how to walk when you first put cones on their heads. Who knew?!
Henry is turning into a total mush. She doesn’t care how I pick her up or hold her. She just purrs and purrs and purrs, as long as you’ll pet her. Polly ended up being the more outgoing of the two, which surprised me, because she seemed flightier than Henry. Probably the most surprising is that, while they play with each other and groom each other, they aren’t inseparable. They’re perfectly comfortable hanging out in different rooms.
Harriet thinks the couch should be a kitten free zone. I sympathize with her, I really do, but all good things must come to an end, and she’s just going to have to learn to share. Not today, though.
Sunbathing
Harriet doesn’t usually like to lie on hard surfaces (she is a delicate flower!), but she makes an exception during warm, sunny days. I imagine the warmth from the concrete feels good, as well as the sun shining on her.
Saturday Dogblogging
It’s Saturday, which means it’s laundry day, which means that Miss Brown made herself comfortable on the just-changed sheets.
In other news, it’s Little 500 weekend, so I’m trying not to leave the house unless I absolutely have to. The only exception is that I’m cat sitting, but it’s northeast of town, so there shouldn’t be too much extra traffic.
I’ve been sitting for this client for a couple of years now. One of their cats has been in kidney failure nearly the whole time. She suddenly went downhill and was put to sleep last weekend. I didn’t think it would bother me much, but it did. Mostly, I think it was upsetting to see the remaining cat all by himself. He’s an awfully affectionate and gregarious boy, and the owners plan to get a second cat as soon as they feel up to it, so hopefully he won’t be alone for long. For now, though, he is full of pathetic sadcakes.
Birthday Girl
Miss Brown is 10 years old today. She’s celebrating by commandeering my spot on the couch. She also had a can of damnfinetasty dog food for lunch, which she hoovered up too quickly for me to get photos of.
Miss Brown
I don’t usually bother making the bed, aside from pulling up the covers, because as soon as I do, Harriet pulls everything apart to make herself a nest. Her mission in life is to be as comfortable as possible.
red paper boat 