Sophie needs a new sweater. We are going to get quite chilly here in Central Florida, starting tomorrow and actually lasting several days. Sophie has her new pink parka that doesn't fit all that great, that I bought when we arrived in Asheville to light snow in November, but the sweater and coat that she wore when we lived in AVL didn't last. Murphy, poor little skinny thing he is, is actually wearing the red sweater I knitted for him as a puppy, and it fits perfectly again. But Sophie has an ill-fitting coat. She doesn't like wearing it, though she submits with dignity, I know it doesn't really fit comfortably and it's annoying to put it on her, so she needs a sweater too. I have some pink Cascade 220 superwash in the stash, and no dog of mine will wear store-bought.
Sophie is, and I say this with love, an oddly shaped little dog. She is chesty and almost neck-less, and also short from where her neck should be to her tail. She's a blocky little dog, and most dog sweater patterns take a lot of adapting to account for her wide neck and general compactness. So I was totally delighted to do a search for dog sweater patterns on Ravelry and find the Pug Dog Sweater. The XS size measurements are almost exactly Sophie. So I cast on during my Downton Abbey catch-up on Sunday. I've already altered it a bit to add a buttonhole approximately (I hope) where her harness leash hook is located, and I'll probably tinker a bit to make it a bit shorter, as she is quite stubby from neck to where her tail would be, if you could see it without looking for it. (Her tail is inverted, but has never been an issue. Fortunately, it's located safely north of the unsanitary zone.) So I'm on another knitting mission/deadline. We are going to have lows in the 30s this week! AIEEEEE! She needs a sweater, stat!
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Oh, Dudleydog.
My granddog Dudley had developed a lump in the last couple of weeks, and my daughter, an observant and cautious dogmom, didn't like the look of it. He saw the vet today. It's a mast cell tumor. Shit. Damn.
The good news: It was spotted very early, and fingers are crossed that it can be removed with clean margins and not return.
The bad news: The surgery will cost as much as $750, and that doesn't even include any needed follow-up care. My daughter and son-in-law work with autistic kids full time, and are paid peanuts for the hard work they do. She's in her last semester of grad school, after which she hopes to see a significant improvement in her income, but that won't happen until summer, at best. Letting this tumor go until they can afford it is not an option, so I've told her I'd lend her half the surgery cost, which is a hardship for me, too.
But, DAMN. I still have to deal with the freaking bathroom in the house they rent from me, and I don't even have a price on that little problem yet.
Note: if you are new around these parts, you may think I'm a landlady by choice and I make money off their renting the house. Um, no. The house is mortgaged and they barely cover the mortgage payment for me. We are all barely squeaking by until she graduates and gets a higher-paying job and I can sell that house. I am currently earning secretary pay at my job (and that's a totally different source of dismay and a subject for another day) and have little to spare. $750 for Dudley's cancer surgery is huge, for all of us.
So, though I'm a very little nobody blogger I'm thinking of starting a crowd funding thing for Dudley, here on the blog and elsewhere. After I figure out how to do it I'll stick a Paypal button in my sidebar, and maybe even make a Dudley page. I feel weird about doing this, but I know people do it. He's a happy, lovable dog, and only 8 years old, in the prime of his life. One way or another, we'll figure out a way to do this.
UPDATE: I've created the button and put it in my sidebar. Please don't feel obligated in any way to contribute, but if you do, we will be eternally grateful. I will provide full disclosure of any contributions and expenditures; not the donor names and amounts but money in and out, we are not going to secretly use any money raised for anything else. Right now, the balance in my Paypal account is a big $15.60, and and that, too, will go toward his medical bills.
Friday, January 03, 2014
But of course, the most important question of all:
I know you are all just being really polite, putting up with my stories of plumbing nightmares and the like, just hanging on, waiting for the really important update:
How is Murphy doing as we head into 2014?
He's...pretty good. He's showing his age, more and more. His hearing is not so good, and his vision is getting worse. His big brown eyes are blue with cataracts now, and I think he sees shadows and movement, but not much detail. I often have to hold a treat under his nose before he notices it, and when we walk down the stairs to go outside, he doesn't have his old confidence. He takes the steps slowly and carefully, and stumbles now and then, and he definitely feels more confident in bright sunlight. But he still wants to do it himself, and I haven't resorted to carrying him up and down yet.
His remaining teeth are terrible, and I feel terrible that there's not much I can do about it. His groomer mentioned this today, and I told her the issue about his roots going to the very bottom of his jaw, and how I was afraid to have them removed surgically at his age. She nodded immediately, "No. He could lose his jaw." I shuddered, but that is of course exactly what I fear. He's so little, and his little jaw is so tiny and so delicate and the roots of those teeth are so ridiculously HUGE, and all the way down at the bottom of the jaw, on the bone. And of course, those tiny, delicate bones are old, and then there is that underlying disease that rules every decision and weakens his system. No, I really don't think surgery is an option.
He'll be 14 in March, and though his breath is horrible, his teeth don't seem to bother him. Even as I type this he's under my desk DEMANDING animal crackers. I've found that baby cookies and animal crackers are low-fat enough for his tolerance, and they are much easier to chew than dog treats, though he demands those too, and somehow manages to chew/gum them. So, though I hate the idea that his teeth are hurting him, he's soldiering on, and the alternative is just too risky. I'm certainly not going to do anything to deprive him of his ability to demand animal crackers at this stage of his life.
So the body is failing in bits and pieces, but the spirit is still strong. He's still totally Murphy. He went to the groomer today - this is only his second visit to his new groomer, because I swear even his hair isn't growing as fast as it used to - and she remarked at what a good boy he is, and how he's a pleasure to groom. He's bossy when he wants me to do something, and I still swear at him and tell him to quit pestering and shut up, though I'm pretty sure he can't hear me anymore, but he's always a sweet little gentleman for everyone - neighbors, the vet, the groomer, random children in strollers, he charms them all. The frailties of age don't mean a thing; he's still the Bossy Little Dog, and the day he stops bossing, I'll know he's too tired to go on. But we definitely aren't there yet.
How is Murphy doing as we head into 2014?
He's...pretty good. He's showing his age, more and more. His hearing is not so good, and his vision is getting worse. His big brown eyes are blue with cataracts now, and I think he sees shadows and movement, but not much detail. I often have to hold a treat under his nose before he notices it, and when we walk down the stairs to go outside, he doesn't have his old confidence. He takes the steps slowly and carefully, and stumbles now and then, and he definitely feels more confident in bright sunlight. But he still wants to do it himself, and I haven't resorted to carrying him up and down yet.
His remaining teeth are terrible, and I feel terrible that there's not much I can do about it. His groomer mentioned this today, and I told her the issue about his roots going to the very bottom of his jaw, and how I was afraid to have them removed surgically at his age. She nodded immediately, "No. He could lose his jaw." I shuddered, but that is of course exactly what I fear. He's so little, and his little jaw is so tiny and so delicate and the roots of those teeth are so ridiculously HUGE, and all the way down at the bottom of the jaw, on the bone. And of course, those tiny, delicate bones are old, and then there is that underlying disease that rules every decision and weakens his system. No, I really don't think surgery is an option.
He'll be 14 in March, and though his breath is horrible, his teeth don't seem to bother him. Even as I type this he's under my desk DEMANDING animal crackers. I've found that baby cookies and animal crackers are low-fat enough for his tolerance, and they are much easier to chew than dog treats, though he demands those too, and somehow manages to chew/gum them. So, though I hate the idea that his teeth are hurting him, he's soldiering on, and the alternative is just too risky. I'm certainly not going to do anything to deprive him of his ability to demand animal crackers at this stage of his life.
So the body is failing in bits and pieces, but the spirit is still strong. He's still totally Murphy. He went to the groomer today - this is only his second visit to his new groomer, because I swear even his hair isn't growing as fast as it used to - and she remarked at what a good boy he is, and how he's a pleasure to groom. He's bossy when he wants me to do something, and I still swear at him and tell him to quit pestering and shut up, though I'm pretty sure he can't hear me anymore, but he's always a sweet little gentleman for everyone - neighbors, the vet, the groomer, random children in strollers, he charms them all. The frailties of age don't mean a thing; he's still the Bossy Little Dog, and the day he stops bossing, I'll know he's too tired to go on. But we definitely aren't there yet.
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