Aggie Update, December 18, 2011

Sweet, sweet Aggie. :)

Learning to trust, learning to accept love and affection and the pack hierarchy. Learning manners and working through different situations

These are all things we've been working on for the last few months. And we're making progress.

Of all the dogs Randall and I have fostered, Aggie is one of the ones whose backstory I'd really like to know. If only because it would help me figure out what makes her tick. She was obviously a pet, but what was her situation? No way to know, so we're figuring it out as we go along.

When Aggie first came here we really thought she was deaf. As the months have spun out, we've come to realize that's not strictly true. She does hear. And it appears she can hear maybe 30% to 40%...especially if there isn't something going on that's seriously distracting her or thrown her into a panic. She will turn around and look at you if you're across the room and you start talking to her. She hears knocks on the glass at the back door. She can hear you call her name. I think a lot of it was that initially our words were just noise she heard. Now that she's been here a while, she realizes those noises have meaning.

It would still take someone with patience and understanding to adopt her, but her handicap isn't NEARLY as bad as we first thought.

There are a couple of complaints I have...things we're working on, but have yet to make the sort of progress I want.

First. Her relationship with other dogs. Aggie doesn't understand body language. This makes it VERY difficult for her when she tries to interact with other dogs. Her main problem is she runs up to them with her mouth open. Understandably, that's very threatening to other dogs, and they react accordingly. She means absolutely nothing by it and it's not really an attempt to bite or attack, but it caused real problems at first. It still can if the other dog isn't expecting it, but most everyone here now has figured out this is an Aggie-ism and means nothing. Randall and I still work on shutting that behavior down, but since she can't hear corrections, this is taking longer than I would like. I am particularly careful with her and Padre because of his insecurity issues.

Second. Is related to the first. She is very mouthy. Particularly when there's food involved. You do NOT let her get hold of your finger when you're passing out tidbits. I can't tell you the number of times she's come close to skinning my finger down to the bone or trying to detach it from my hand. Interestingly, there's absolutely nothing vicious here. She just seems to not understand that your fingers aren't part of the treats. There are times when she'll take something very gently from you. I don't know why it happens, and I'm trying to encourage it, but it's a rare thing and I never count on it.

Aggie still nibbles all fingers that appear at her level. This is less of a problem because there's no food there. She'll mouth you, but only until she realizes there's no food. So call it a second or two and she never bares down. Sometimes those nibbles turn immediately to little kisses, so it's pretty obvious her intent is to "taste" your hand. :)

One place she's made really good strides is in being picked up. She's still not fond of the trip up or down, but there is a whole lot less struggling than at first. I'd say she's about 80% of where I'd like her to be. Some of it appears to be that she doesn't like anything pressing or binding her belly because I can "tickle-tickle-tickle" her and she'll jump around. She also really seems to have fun with that, so it's kind of a conundrum. We're having fun with one thing, but it's causing some confusion in another area.

When the lifting is combined with sitting next to you on the sofa (something she's learned to really enjoy) or sitting in your lap, things are just dandy with her. While she's never climbed into my lap, she's coming closer, and I suspect in a few weeks she'll get there. Probably if I bribed her with food it would happen today, but I want this to be her decision driven by her need to be with me...not just to grab another treat.

Last week was the first time she'd had her toenails clipped. She's had baths, but I kept putting off the nails because I knew it would panic her and since she can't hear, reassurance can be tough. She actually handled the procedure pretty well. She got a treat after each foot, and since Aggie is VERY food motivated, it went pretty smoothly. Randall held her while I did the trimming, and since he was the food dispenser, she followed him around very focused for the remainder of the day.

She's also learning some social skills when it comes to other people. She tends to be fearful of new situations, but you can tell she wants to please her people, and she wants to be with them, so she sort of steels herself and pushes on through so she can be with you. This is relatively new, and it's promising because it tells me she's looking to her people now as opposed to avoiding uncomfortable situations. I expect more of this from her as time goes one.

All in all, Aggie is really a much braver girl than when she first came her. She's better adjusted emotionally. She's learned that her people do good things and being a part of those good things can be rewarding.

So could she be adopted? Absolutely. She's very quiet (related to the deafness), she's crate trained and gets along well with cats. I would not recommend children (at least not young ones; maybe teens), and I'd be very cautious bringing her into a house with another dog. If the adopter is dog savvy and understand the deafness handicap and has a well adjusted dog, it could work.

The longer she's here with us, the more she'll learn, so the recommendations could be updated as we move along down the road.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a few photos. Like I said with Padre's update, I've not had the camera out too much lately, so these photos are at least a week or so old and there aren't as many as I would like.

Aggie in the wire crate we borrowed for Padre. It's now "her" crate.

There was much discontent that the Halloween pumpkin wasn't particularly edible.

 

The kitchen is always interesting, but the food prep area is REALLY interesting.

 

Padre update, December 17, 2011

I figured I would start with the new kid on the block and work my way backwards. :)

Padre has been with us now for nearly two months.

For the most part, he's gotten settled in and he no longer wanders around with a lost look on his face. He's a member of the pack, albeit he's not top dog, and I think that bothers him some. He's cool with Haley being higher than him, but I think he'd like to be next in line, and he's really not. It doesn't cause a conflict, but it's just a feeling I get.

His coat has improved tremendously. It's not where it should be, but he got another bath yesterday, and this time, rather than me coming away with red furry palms, the breakage was mainly running off in the stream of water. You can see the frizzy ends still, and there are some of the lighter, "deader" patches, but they've thinned out considerably, and what has come in gives me the nice, deep chocolate that I prefer (I'm picky about chocolates in ways that I'm picky with few other colors).

Since the weather has cooled off, Padre is doing what every longhair I've ever known does...goes outside at every opportunity. He's loving the cooler weather, and has even started going on walks with Randall. Since he has the longhair rear rather than the type of rear I'm used to in my smooths, his movement tends to be slower, but Randall said as long as he doesn't get bored, he's happy with the walks. Since Haley, my very senior 16 year old, is no longer able to make the long walks, it's nice for Randall to have company...though he does have to work Padre's stamina up.

One thing, though, when Randall takes Haley out (and she goes first even if it's only to walk down a couple of houses), Padre stands at the gate in the hall and whines. He gets very animated when Randall comes back and he knows it's his turn. :)

He is still not allowed to come in for the final plate licking with the others. It's simply too dangerous for the others, so he gets a little saucer with rice and some of what's left over. That seems to suit him fine, so we'll just continue doing that. I've never had a dog that was food aggressive with other dogs (I've had one that was food aggressive with people, but only with food in his food dish), but with a little compromise we've worked out the solution.

Padre was "advertised" as crate broken. Well, no. Maybe at one time he was, but now? He whines and moans and scratches at the gate. We tried for a few weeks to get him settled in, but the only way we could get him to sleep was to hit him with Valium. Sorry, but I refuse to drug a dog to that extent. So, for Padre, I've made a concession I've never made with any other dog...he's allowed to sleep loose in the house. We've got a blanket that we fold up and put under my computer desk, and before we've settled in to read (and after Haley has settled into sleep in her crate in our room), Padre is let out. He wanders around a bit and then heads to the blanket.

One thing I will say, this dog is very well housebroken. So my concern there might be problems there have been put to rest.

He still hasn't had his dental. Things are delayed there, but I'm hoping after the first of the year we can get that done. He does need it, though some of the tartar is coming off (makes me wonder what he was being fed). He's also tonight, for the first time, chewed on a rawhide. He's usually not done that, and I thought it might be that his mouth was sore, so if it was, it's apparently improved.

w/r/t his foster status. He's a sponsorship/permanent foster for us. Linne and I talked it over, and I told her that at his age, and with what he has been through, if ATDR wants him here as a permanent foster, we'd be happy to have him. Granted, when he was first scheduled to come here it was thought he was 16 1/2, but he turned out to be 14 1/2. That was OK. Hell, he's still a senior. He's happy. His environment is stable. He's healthy and loved, so he's welcome to stay with us for as long as he wants.

I haven't done much picture taking in the last month or so, but here is one from a week ago and then another from tonight when he was under my desk.

Updates coming

Because I'm a REALLY rotten foster parent, I've neglected to update this blog in nearly a month.

I've got a few hours of commitments here, but I'm going to do a separate update for each of the kids. Watch for updates later tonight or in the morning. There's been a change or two, so those will get posted. I also have some photos, though must are just candid shot.

See you later!

Little Aggie Lost...

(I know I need to do a major update, and I hope to get that and maybe some new photos of each of the foster dogs done by Thanksgiving.)

Tonight, we lost Aggie. She was gone. Poof. Disappeared. Missing. AWOL.

After her dinner, she went out in the backyard as usual with the others. And like the others, she came in and got a small treat (it started as a bribe to get my husband's Chihuahua in, and now everyone gets a small puppy-sized biscuit). Then went on into the den like normal.

This was about 5:40. Fast forward to 6:25 when everyone is going into the crates so we humans can have OUR dinner in relative peace. Everyone goes up, and Randall can't find Aggie.

We looked EVERYWHERE. Even in rooms she couldn't get in. Even in the garage where neither of us had gone since earlier today. In closets where the doors were shut or there was no room. Under furniture she couldn't fit under.

In short. No Aggie. And we're in a full blown panic trying to think could we have possibly gone out the front door or out in the garage and not remembered. Nope.

So while I'm making another circuit of the living room, Randall yells out, "Here she is! The damned dog is stuck!"

Sure enough. She'd managed to get in the small space between the airline crates and the wall. And not a word did she say, but when I went in and looked down into her white-masked face, you could hear her say, "It's about time you people found me!"

So Aggie has been found. I think she's still a little ticked it took us so long.

No Update. Just a photo. :)

Pack o' Dachshunds.

Padre update, October 28, 2011

Since it's been a week since Padre came in, I thought I'd do an update.

Things are going well for the most part. There are a couple of issues. One serious. One not so serious.

First the serious one.

For the last several nights, we've made an attempt to include Padre in the evening "plate licking." That's where everyone gets a chance at a final plate after our dinner. Sometimes it's rice. Sometimes it's soup. Sometimes it's a little bit of what's left over.

We didn't try this until he'd eaten a full meal since I knew food aggression might be a problem. For three of four nights, there's been a varying amount of conflict between him and one other dog. We were always able to make sure he only had one dog to compete with (and never Aggie since she's a piggy eater). The first night he lunged at Skeeter. The second night, he was fine. Last night he growled at Haley. Tonight he nailed her...or would have if I'd not been right on top of them waiting.

So that's it. No more including Padre in the plate lickings. He's just fine around the others if he's handed something, but he turns into a jackass when he free feeds. I had told Randall I would give him one last chance. That was tonight and he failed it. I won't endanger the other dogs.

The other thing, which is not so serious is his possessiveness. It's completely understandable, though it's not allowed. Mainly it's growling. I've never let it go past that, but he's never shown much interest in anything beyond that. It's also happening less and less frequently, so I suspect in a week or so it won't be an issue.

Beyond those two things, he's an absolute doll.

 We're still brushing and working on his coat. It seems to be improving. He's still itchy, but between the bath last Sunday, the grooming, and good food, it's making progress. Hopefully within a month we'll see the dead/dying coat come out and be replaced by healthy shiny coat and good skin.

Randall also took Padre for a walk today. With the cooler weather, Padre has a ton of energy, and he was going out in the backyard every chance he could. Since Haley has declined over the last several months, we knew her days of keeping Randall company on long walks were over. She's pretty much limited to the shorter ones. But Padre has taken on that role happily. He went for a nice long walk this morning, and Randall said beyond teaching him to heel, he's just fine. Nothing bothers him. He won't go for the night walks until Randall is comfortable that he's steady on heel, but that shouldn't take long.

He has an appointment Monday morning with Dr. Walthall. He's in good shape, but he is going to need his teeth cleaned, and I want her to see him before hand so she can do blood work and check him out. I would like a heartworm test done just for the records, and I want her to check him out good. Then we'll schedule the dental.

Other than the two problems I mentioned up top, he's really a good house guest and fits in well with the group. He's going to do just fine here, I think.

Acceptance...

It's a good thing to be part of the pack. :)

Penny Update, October 25, 2011

Real quick update on Penny.

She started her heartworm treatment last week with the biweekly heartworm preventative coupled with the two weeks on doxycycline and two weeks off doxycycline.

And, well, no can do. She can't tolerate the doxy.She has either spells of vomiting, frantic scratching or the runs.

So as much as we'd love to do that treatment, there's just no way. She'll simply stay on the monthly preventative and the adult heartworms should be dead in two years. If immiticide ever becomes available again, we may rethink that protocol, but as Linne said, the chances of Penny actually leaving here are slim, so we'll just go the long, slow route.

When I call Friday to set up Padre's dental, I'll have Melody make a note in her file that she's allergic to doxy.

Padre. The new kid on the block.

Sweet, sweet Padre. Sweet, sweet, younger-than-expected Padre. :)

We originally thought the small standard, chocolate long boy, Padre, was 16 1/2, but as it turns out, he's really 14 1/2. Which makes a lot more sense considering his movement and mental faculties.

He was transported to Waco on Friday. His itinerary over the last week has been really hectic with our home being the fourth place in just a little over a week that he's landed...fifth if you include the two hour drive from Dallas sitting on Rosann's lap. And needless to say, this was one stressed and insecure boy. It's tough for a younger dog to handle, but when you're retirement age, well, it's really hard.

The first evening here, all he did was pace and pant and pace and moan. Very insecure, though you could tell he was going to get on fine with the other geriatrics at the house. He wasn't interested in eating and the look on his face would break your heart. He just did not understand what was happening to him.

Yesterday was his first full day here, and the stress must have finally been too much. He spent most of the day passed out on a blanket by my desk. Most of the other dogs camp out there, so he found a place and collapsed. He did show enough interest in what was going on in the kitchen when I went in there, and there was a LOT of interest in the fridge.

Still he just mainly wanted to sleep. He didn't eat dinner, but did nibble some and ate any treat you put in front of him. He got lots of love and sweet talk and petting. And brushing.

His coat. Oh my. It sucks. There's apparently a combination of things going on. Bad food from his original home, lack of grooming, lack of bathing. His coat is really rough. Split ends and blowing and felt like he'd been rolling in dust and dirt. I slickered him a couple of times and between the flakes, the scratching and the coat coming out, I could tell he was miserable.

This morning when I got up, he was at the den gate to say good morning. Tail wagging and bright eyed which was a definite improvement over the stressed and shut down boy he's been for the last 36 hours. He also had a bit of breakfast which was the first substantial amount of food he's had.

His day has really been taken up by a lot of attention, and you can tell he's loving being around the other dogs. He's not been a huge fan of the cats, but that generally takes time. Like every other foster we've brought in, he gravitates to Ollie, my big, black Oriental Shorthair boy. For some reason the house panther is the most fascinating. He showed some interest in Howdy, my Devon Rex mix, until he realized that her posture and eye contact didn't make her a good candidate to chase. As I told him, Ollie is the cat he can chase and not catch; Howdy is the cat he can chase and wish he hadn't caught. Not to put too fine a point on it, Howdy takes no shit from any dog.

I suspect he will come to understand the cats fairly soon. :)

This afternoon, I decided that no matter his stress level, he HAD to have a bath. His itching was too much (even with a Benadryl he was still scratching) and, frankly, he just smelled houndy. So tub time for Padre. He got a good, long soaping and a heavy slathering of conditioner. I didn't dare try to blow him dry...his coat was literally breaking off in my hands. You could run your hands down his back and sides, and little clumps of hair about 1/4 inch would be all over.  He got lots of treats during and after the process, and while he's not a fan of bathing, you could tell the play of the water over his back felt good.

He's going to have to air dry, and I suspect he'll have a really bad case of the frizzies, but at least he'll be clean and he should have some relief. Daily brushing and good food will take care of the rest, though it will take time. For now, he's passed out again on the blanket, so I know he's at least feeling somewhat better.

Randall and I talked it over and I asked Linne what ATDR's plans would be for him. When everyone thought he was two years older, we knew he'd be a permanent foster. At 14 1/2, though, I wasn't sure. After some discussion, though, Padre will be a "sponsorship" dog. Like I told Linne, if someone saw him, fell in love and just HAD to have him, well, that'd be one thing. But the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, and really the poor guy needs stability, so he's here until he has to leave us.

So I doubt I'll post too many updates on him. He will have a photo album like the others do, but this blog will concentrate mainly on Aggie and Penny.

I did get a couple of photos of him. The first was yesterday afternoon when he was awake between naps. The others are just after his bath (don't look at his toenails, they're awful and will get cut when he goes in for a dental in a couple of weeks).

And I do want to thank everyone who has been involved with this sweet boy for the last week or so. Janice, Don, Rosann...thank you all so much. I know Padre doesn't understand what's been going on, but I do, and I appreciate everyone's help in getting him here to us.

One of these...

is new. :)

I'll give you a hint. It's the large brown blob on the right. AKA Padre who came in yesterday after an eventful week or so of making his way from west Texas to Waco. 14 1/2 year old chocolate long whose owners moved and left he and his buddy to be taken in by ATDR.

More on this sweet boy as he gets settled in. We thought he was a couple of years older than he is, but regardless, he's sweet, laid back and quite insecure right now. Not sure what his status with ATDR will be, but he may be a sponsorship dog.

From L to R: Haley, Aggie, Penny, Padre

HW treatment starting today (Penny)

Penny is starting her heartworm treatment today.

Since immiticide is no where to be found, her treatment will consist of a heartworm preventative every two weeks, and a round of doxycycline for two weeks on and two weeks off. This will go on for some time, but she doesn't have a heavy infestation, and I've got Pred here in case she starts coughing.

Aggie will also need the same course of treatment, but I'm not going to start it until I see how well Penny is handling hers. I'd prefer not to have to problem children at the same time. I suspect I'll start Aggie's treatment in early December.

 I'll post updates on how this is going for Penny in here most likely weekly or bi-weekly unless there is some problem.

(Also, stay tuned for a special announcement on Saturday.)

Aggie's Fav-O-rite Thing :)

I discovered this the other day. She REALLY likes it when the hole in the bone is stuffed with peanut butter.

Aggie Update, October 12, 2011

Things around here are pretty calm for the most part.

Aggie is settling in with us, and we're settling in with her. We still have some behavior issues to work through, but I'm seeing some progress.

Picking her up. She's still not a fan, but she is handling it mainly pretty well. The key seems to be do give her time to realize what you're doing, and to not try to pick her up when something else is causing her to agitate. If she's worked up, she'll panic. And the first thing she does here is use her mouth. She's not biting. She never bears down. But she "mouths" at your hand.

Which leads to the second thing. The "mouthing." She's pretty indiscriminate, but with Randall and I, we understand she's nibbling fingers in the hopes of there being food. Sometimes she'll mouth your fingers and sometimes she'll lick, but it's always in the hopes of a treat.

This isn't a problem for us, though we're trying to gear her to licking as opposed to mouthing, but she also mouths the other dogs. Which would be OK, except Aggie mouths by putting their muzzles in her mouth. That hasn't gone over well with our other foster girl, Penny (and I suspect it was the source of their disagreement when Aggie first got here). Haley just ducks her head, but I can see the look in my husband's Chihuahua's eyes when she tries it with him...probably because there isn't much muzzle to take, which means it's most of his head. Skeeter is not a fan. LOL

The weirdest thing, though, is her licking the floor. And I mean she'll go from one side of the room to the other. Lick. Lick. Lick. Lick. It will drive you mad. Watching her and it seems to be mainly in the evening, which makes me wonder if she isn't bored. Lets face it. Her world is very quiet. During the day, there's stuff going on...maybe not much, but at least some and she's usually wandering around watching. At night? Not so much. Pretty quiet around here, and she walks between the bedroom where I am to the den where Randall is. Back and forth. Pretty soon, she's licking the floor.

So tonight, I decided to give her a rawhide chew flip. She's ecstatically working on it in her crate. So I'm hoping I can find some things for her to do. This only happens in the house, so I suspect it's a lack of mental stimulation.  Bored to tears, in other words.

Her weight is stuck. I can get her to right below 17 pounds and that's it. So for now I'm not going to worry much. I'm hoping some exercise can be worked in for her soon (whether we're playing with a toy or a short walk with Randall), and that should help. Plus she's not been here that long and the weight is still shifting around. She's got a bit of a waist, but I would like to feel some ribs. So she doesn't have much she needs to lose. Maybe a pound, pound and a half.

Hope to get some pictures, soon, too. I'd like to get some outside, though she's about the color of all the dead magnolia leaves, so it might be hard to get her to show up. Still worth a try, though.

I will probably update again Sunday or Monday. All in all, I'm really happy with how she's doing. Now if we can only get that licking...errr...licked. :)

The zone has been reached :)

Comfort zone, that is.

Livestrong, October 2, 2011

DFW foster families needed

Dachshund Lovers of Texas posted this on their Facebook page. They help a lot of needed dachshunds in the Metroplex, but they need YOUR help now!

Dachshund Lovers of Texas

We have an URGENT need for foster homes in DFW. We simply cannot take in anymore dachshunds until we have more foster homes to help. If you'd like to try fostering let us know! No long-term commitment necessary! Please help us continue to save the lives of dachshunds in need! Foster one doxie and save TWO lives - their life and the life of the dog who can use the kennel they vacate!
Email us at info@dltrescue.org

OC Update :)

For those of you who thought we only fostered dachshunds, here's a photo of our last foster dog for the HSCT that we fostered earlier in the year.

OC went to a marvelous home where he's spoiled and loved to death. Sweet, sweet little man who had to learn to trust people and be an indoor dog....something that he dived right into after the first two or three weeks.

Here he is at a charity event benefiting the Waco police department's K-9 division. It was a bathing event, which I imagine he'd have preferred not to attend. :)

Modeling

Well, OK. I'd hoped for something different in the posing department, but sometimes you go with what you can get. :)

Aggie and her new bandanna

Aggie Update, September 24, 2011

Now that I've had a few days to live with Miss Aggie, I've got a bit better handle on her.

I still maintain she's not pure dachshund. Mostly dachshund, for sure, but there's something else in the mix. There's too much leg, too little bend of stifle and a head that speaks to another breed (Beagle, maybe?). All in all, no biggie, but just something to keep in mind.

Her current weight is between 17-18 pounds. It's shifting around, so it's hard to say exactly where she needs to be, but I'd like to see her around 15 pounds. That's going to take awhile to accomplish because while there's something besides dachshund in the mix, I think there's also some pig in there. :)  Miss Aggie is a chow hound.

Her deafness isn't total. She can hear when I pitch my voice right. I'll see her ears go back and her head will come around. Not always, and I'm not sure exactly *what* she's hearing or how, but she is hearing. I'd say she can hear at most 10%. Still, we got her Deaf Dog bandanna in the mail today (I'll try to get some modeling shots tomorrow), and she'll be wearing that when she goes out of the house.

Now for what I see are the negatives that are going to need work.

She hates being picked up. She'll struggle and fight and while she won't bite, her mouth is definitely open and she's gnawing sideways at your hand. Once she's in my lap, she's fine. She'll give kisses and be sweet. I'm going to work on this hard. She has got to have a less panicky response. Since she's so food oriented, it figures that rewards are going to be very liberal (one reason the weight loss may take some time). Somehow or other I'm going to have to figure out how to cut her toenails. This may be a case of needing Valium. :)

She really has no idea how to relate to a pack of dogs. She gets along just great the vast majority of the time, but when she's startled, she strikes out. And since she's practically deaf, she sleeps like the dead and one of the dogs waking up next to her startles her badly. She jumped Haley (my senior dachshund) last night when Haley decided it was time to get up and head into the kitchen. It wasn't serious, but her teeth were flashing and there was some serious growling going on. Again, this happened very close to me, so I was able to jump right on it. This time, she got a tap across her muzzle to go with the finger in her face. It doesn't take much for her. Correction is something that really upsets her. I suspect this is something that will happen less and less as she becomes more comfortable in her surroundings and with the other dogs. But it's something to watch for, and it will take time for me to trust her.

She also did the usual food aggression bit when everyone was cleaning a plate the other night. I've been expecting that since I think it's happened with every dog we've fostered, the behavior was corrected and it hasn't happened since. This tells me that while she has negative behaviors, she also learns from her mistakes. I've been watching for this, and I suspect it will only take the one time and I won't see it again.

And for some real positives.

Aggie is incredibly sweet. Really is. She's learning the petting and kisses and rewards part of being a pet. She's a dog that may find a forever home with someone, but with her personality, I wouldn't object to it being here if it needs to be. She's not a beautiful dog, but she has a lot of love to give.

Cats. She's actually doing really well there, and I would have no hesitation putting her in a home with dog friendly cats. The only cat she has an issue with is my Devon Rex hybrid who can be a bit pissy. Aggie and Howdy will sometimes lock eyes, Howdy gets puffed up, and Aggie responds accordingly. No chasing, but I stop it before it gets there. And about 99% of the time, she and Howdy ignore each other. Ditto for my big black cat.

Her age is sort of up for grabs. The vet in Wichita Falls put her at about 10. I thought he might be right until I had a chance to be around her more. I don't think she's 10. She's a senior, but she is VERY active. VERY fast. Also, I've not seen any senior cloudy eyes. They look clear from what I'm seeing.

Monday I'll call the clinic and schedule and appointment for her with Dr. Walthall. I'd like to get the HW staged. I'd also like her to go over her and make sure there's no obvious medical reason she doesn't like to be picked up. I know it's not her back, and I think it's something she doesn't like because of a past event, but I'd like to be sure.

I'm hoping to give her a bath mid-week. That should be fun. And I'll try to get some outside photos with her new bandanna tomorrow or Monday. Stay tuned.

Penny Update, September 22, 2011

Quick update on Princess Penny.

She's doing just fine. Got a bath and blow dry today, so she looks MUCH better. I pretty much like to bath her every week while she's getting so dusty when she goes outside, but I had to hold off a bit until the sutures from her spay could take it.

She is still looking sideways at Aggie since their words late yesterday, but I suspect all will go back to normal in a day or two. There wasn't much to the spat, but Penny is very "soft" so I'm not surprised she's still a bit out of sorts.

I'm still waiting a bit before doing anything with the heartworm situation. What with immiticide being so short, chances are she'll get treated the slow way for awhile. Nothing can happen for another couple of weeks anyway, so I'll have plenty of time to talk to Linne about how to handle this.

I also added some new photos out on Photobucket. They're all similar to ones that got posted, but there are more of them. Once Aggie settles in, I'm hoping to hook up with Alissa to get some good pictures of both of them.

That's it for today. :)