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There Will Be Cats

July 24, 2014 By Jodi

In Tuesday’s post, I shared an adventure Sampson, Delilah and I had on one of our walks.  It was a frustrating experience when someone let their two dogs out into their e-fence.  The resulting chaos was not exactly the way I like to start my day.

Besides the dog incident there were a couple of other interesting things that happened on that very walk.

The first happened before the dog encounter and the second after.

The first one was okay because Sampson and Delilah were too busy sniffing to be looking ahead on the road.  I on the other hand, am always looking, which is how I spotted it.  At first I was unsure.  Is that a small dog?  Did someone put something in the road?  But then it turned and as I watched it run off into the rising sun I realized it was a fox!

The dogs were oblivious until we got to the spot where the fox was standing and then they picked up his scent, but he was long gone by then.

The second incident was not okay.  Mostly because I was already pissed off about having lost the wrestling match and having to man handle my dogs away from the area and it could have turned out very badly.

So we get past the two crazy dogs and I can see there’s something up in the road, just lying there.  I can tell right away it’s a cat.

Yes, sometimes there will be cats on walks.

So from a safe distance of about three houses away I say, “Hey cat, you might want to move.”

The cat who was lying with its back to me, turned its head, looking over its right shoulder and then turned away. I’m getting the cat equivalent of the finger.

I slow the dogs down and try again, “Hey cat, I have two big dogs here, you may want to move.”

Obviously he lives with dogs because he is confident that his 12 pound self can easily take on two 70+ pound dogs.  He again looks over his should and again looks away.

“Hey CAT! Go! GET!”

By now both dogs are interested.  “There’s a cat Mama, I see a cat, let go of the leash, I Must. Chase. The. Cat.”

“Leave it!” I say.

I've heard they taste like chicken.

I’ve heard they taste like chicken.

Delilah is now at the end of the leash straining to get away.  I can’t turn around because we are only five minutes from home and turning around will be too much for Sampson who is also now straining to get to the cat.

Then it dawns on me.  This cat is fucking with me.

“Hey Garfield” I say, “I’ve got my hands full here trying to keep these two BIG dogs from making you their breakfast.  You can do me a solid if you just get up and walk away.”

That fucking cat is enjoying this.  He (I’m calling it a ‘he’ because he’s acting like a dick at this point) turns and once again gives me the cat equivalent of the finger and turns away.

I say, “Enough!” and “Leave it” and “Dirty old cat, probably has fleas anyway.”  Okay, I didn’t really say that last bit.

I ask Sampson to sit and he does.  Yay for me!  Delilah though, Delilah is still thinking this cat will be a tasty appetizer to hold her over until breakfast.

I gently grab her by the back of the neck and tell her again, “Leave it.” Nothing.

I’m frustrated now and I do something very dumb.  I lift her face up to mine and tell her, “That’s enough.”  I’m well aware how lucky I am that she didn’t bite my face off.

I finally pull out the big guns, the JNC Lamb Lungs and shove one in front of her face.

That worked.  And so we made our way home, where I promptly made some coffee and laced it with a healthy dose of whiskey.

How do your dogs do with cats on the walk?  How do you handle it?

Word count, I’ve added almost 400 words to my book between Tuesday and yesterday.  My total count is now 45, 149 words.

Heart Like a Dog

Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dogs and Heart Like a Dog.

The Barks and Bytes hop is for anything at all and all bloggers are welcome.  You don’t have to be a dog blog to join. 

For new blog hoppers, a blog hop is list of links that is shared on multiple blogs.  In order to be fair to all participants we ask you to please use the linky list.  If your blog does not support a linky list, please link back to your hosts.

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Filed Under: Blog Hops Tagged With: Cats and Dogs, Humor, Life With Sampson And Delilah, sampson and delilah, Thursday Barks and Bytes

4th of July Isn’t Fun for Everyone

July 4, 2014 By Jodi

Something really important to remember anytime of year when fireworks are involved, and especially around the 4th of July.

Pets-Vets

Many of our pets are very sensitive to the sounds of fireworks and many of our service men and women come home from combat suffering from PTSD.  The sound of fireworks has a far different effect on them than it does on the rest of us.

Remember this and please be respectful.

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Filed Under: Heart Like A Dog Tagged With: Life With Sampson And Delilah, sampson and delilah

Western Medicine vs Eastern Medicine For Dogs

June 30, 2014 By Jodi

Where to start?

Sampson had surgery to repair a full ACL tear just over 3 months (almost 14 weeks ago).  

I heard from a lot of people whose dog(s) had ACL surgery and was told it was nothing to worry about, their dog was back to running, chasing squirrels etc in no time.

That hasn’t been Sampson’s experience at all.

Western Medicine

The surgery itself went very well.  Sampson’s meniscus was intact, so the surgeon repaired the ACL and made a slight incision in the meniscus to keep it from tearing.  One week after surgery Sampson developed a seroma on his knee, which is basically an accumulation of fluid.  This was treated with hot compresses and it reduced the seroma within a couple of days.

His six week check up and x-ray showed the leg was healing well.

And yet, he was still not putting the weight he should have been on that foot.  When the surgeon examined him he diagnosed him with a strained or sore Iliopsoas muscle.  This muscle runs from the hip to the chest and is a very deep muscle.  It’s also very hard to treat.  The surgeon put him on Gabapentin and he seemed to be doing much better.  When he checked him three weeks later he said, “I think we just have a slow healer.”

Then ten days ago I noticed he was not putting weight on his foot in the house, in fact there were times when he was actually holding it up!  I mentioned this to his physical therapist who said, to speak to the surgeon, maybe it was time for him to go back in there and see what was going on.  Her gut was telling her that something just wasn’t right.

I was very upset.  Besides the fact that I don’t want to put him through another surgery so soon after the first one, as well as the expense of another surgery, I just don’t roll that way.  As luck (fate) would have it, I had a call into my own vet about Delilah and after we discussed that issue I asked her to spend a few minutes discussing Sampson.

There’s a reason I love my vet.  Besides the fact she leans towards the holistic side, she always makes me feel better.  Bottom line, she agreed with not going back in for surgery, she suggested I keep an eye on him over the weekend and if I didn’t see an improvement, she wanted to see him.

She saw him last Monday, she checked his knee extensively and said it seemed fine, she pressed into his Iliopsoas muscle and he whipped around like he’d been pinched.  Yup, the poor punkin, his Iliopsoas muscle is hurting him.  And because of this he doesn’t place his weight properly and because he doesn’t place his weight properly, his Iliopsoas muscle is sore.   Dr. Soutter said a dog with a “Psoas” muscle issue can be very frustrating.

So what to do?

Well to start with I’m stretching his hip out twice per day.  Holding his leg at the top of his thigh and supporting the bottom, I extend the leg and then gently guide it back. 

Golden-Labrador-Mix

One stretch, then some rubbies.

Labrador-Golden-Mix

Eastern Medicine

Sometimes I was told, sometimes Acupuncture can release the muscle, and as luck would have the owner of the practice could perform Acupuncture AND he had a spot available on Thursday!  So Thursday Sampson and I headed over to our vet’s office.  Dr. Atz examined Sampson’s knee, he asked a lot of questions and then he began Sampson’s acupuncture treatment.

I won’t lie, it broke my heart to see his little tail tucked between his legs. That has never happened before.
There were a number along his spine.
Some needles were in the leg.

It took some time and lots of treats, but eventually he relaxed a little.
Once all the needles were in place, he felt good enough to walk around.
Look at that face, he seems okay with it.

It was hard to see him anxious about the treatment, but I knew it was our best chance at helping him, so I did the best I could to remain calm, and keep him calm and focused.  I gave him lots of treats and lots of rubbies.

Since he hurt himself, Sampson has been hard at work on some lick granulomas, so while we waited for the acupuncture treatment to be completed, Dr. Atz gave Sampson some cold laser treatment on his Granulomas. Dr. Atz also had a pill form of Body Sore, a Chinese herb that I’ve been trying to get him to take in powder form and I haven’t been having much luck.  These pills are smaller than a Tic Tac and all fit into a slab of liverwurst and down the hatch with no problem.

Has the acupuncture helped?

 Well it’s hard to say (and I’m afraid to jinx my dog) but we went from acupuncture straight to the physical therapist and for the first time in six months, Sampson went into the vet’s office and stood on his back legs with his front paws on the counter and announced himself, not once, not twice but three times.  THREE TIMES.

Then when we got home….

Golden-Labrador-Mix

He did this.  Yes, he climbed up on his couch.  BUT I notice he’s still, at times holding that leg up.  

It’s like we’re on a hamster wheel, the Iliosoas muscle is strained so he’s not putting the proper weight on his foot, BUT by not putting the proper weight on his foot, the Iliosoas is not getting better. 

I’m not really sure what we are going to do, but he sees the surgeon again on Wednesday, so stay tuned.

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Filed Under: Health Related Tagged With: ACL Surgery, Health, Life With Sampson And Delilah, sampson and delilah

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About Jodi

jodiHi, my name is Jodi. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! I have all kinds of fun writing about my two crazy pups, Sampson and Delilah. Find out more!

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Heart Like A Dog by Jodi E. Stone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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