Jacey has been dreaming

I'm sitting on the sofa, and Sam is asleep next to me. Jacey was upstairs, sleeping in my bed.

Suddenly, I heard the thump of feet hitting the floor, racing down the hall to the stairs. She flew down the spiral stairs, dashed right past Sam and me on the sofa without seeing us, and went straight to the kitchen doorway.

She was so disappointed to find I wasn't in the kitchen. I think she just dreamed kitchen noises...

She has gone back to sleep, now. Right under my feet. No more false alarms for her.

Sam. Again.

To date: Last April--Two packages of cream-filled chocolate cookies and assorted packages of crackers. August: Ben & Jerry's ice cream. In the fall: Twenty pounds of Nutro Ultra kibble. January: A bag of Valentine conversation hearts.

Yesterday: A bag of potatoes (not his first, I might add). I snatched the bag back, but I didn't know the little *%$@! had stashed one. Later, I found him eating his raw potato, and he growled when I started to take it from him. I just grabbed him by the snout and held his mouth closed while I took back what was left of the potato. (Not much.) It doesn't seem to have made him sick.


Last night, I opened a box of animal crackers. Not the little single-serve boxes, but a larger one (16 oz.). I put the closed box back in the kitchen, at the back of the counter. And Sam didn't see me do it.

Yeah. I came home tonight to two-thirds of a box of animal crackers spread over the carpet. And they're too big to vacuum, except for the crumbled bits where Sam battered the cookies with his muzzle. So I picked up. And vacuumed. And a disappointed (still muzzled) Sam watched.

And after their dinner, Sam and Jacey scoured the carpet for the rest of the crumbs.

Greedy Sam

Both dogs are curled up on the sofa in their "nest" beds. It's pretty chilly in here, so I threw a blanket over the dogs. About 30 seconds after I threw the blanket over them, Sam stood up and turned around, wrapping the blanket around himself (and pulling it off Jacey), then laid down with the whole thing!

Dog pile

Sam commands the top sleeping position. Jacey sneaks her head onto his leg. And Sam trumps Jacey with his tail.

Letting sleeping dogs lie.

They start out side by side, Sam spills out of his bed a little, then a lot, and a patient Jacey puts up with it all.

Are greyhounds high-strung, hyperactive animals?

Not exactly.

We're home.

Sam was harder to get under than the vet expected, but he's been waking up for about two hours longer than Jacey. He's lying in the floor, but he's just acting "tired"--he's steady on his feet when he walks, and he's already visited the water dish.

Poor Jacey. Her eyes are open, and that's about it. She looked more alert at the vet's because she was walking in circles in the crate. But when I got her out, she walked a few steps, then stopped at the doorway where the floor changed colors from one room to the next. I think her depth perception is still affected--and I think she knows it and was afraid that the color change signaled a step up or down. Anyway, she's getting carried a good bit. (Good thing I can lift and carry a 55 pound dog.) She's on a dog bed and shows no interest in moving, getting something to drink, or anything. She's going to have a very quiet night. In a while, when she decides she's interested in food, I'll give them both something light for dinner. They can go back to their regular food and drink tomorrow.

If one or the other of them is "off" tomorrow, I might take them both to work with me. I have to be in from 7 to 3 tomorrow. We probably won't be too busy, so we can afford two kennels for non-paying guests and I'll be able to keep an eye on them. Both dogs need baths, too. There is clear evidence of stressed dogs who have panted and drooled all over themselves. Ick.

UPDATE: Jacey's more herself, now. She's so-far back to normal that she's trotting behind me every time I go near the kitchen. They've both had a bit of dinner and a little water. Right now, they're both sacked out on the sofa.

Right where they belong.

No news is, um, no news.

The vet tech this morning said Sam and Jacey should be done by 2 o'clock, 3 at the latest.

With no news by 2, I went out to run errands (like returning some library books). I went on to the vet's office and got there at 2:50. Sam's out of surgery, but not awake and ready to go. Jacey hadn't been started. It'll be at least another couple of hours.

I know this kind of stuff is unpredictable. They had eight procedures to do today, and they worked on the sick animals before the healthy ones (like my two). And in the past, it's been more like 5 pm before my dog was done (I've never had both in before, like this). And the guy quoting me "3 at the latest" probably wasn't expecting delays...and probably thought that a delay would be no big deal.

But I'm not handling this whole thing very well. I've looked over my shoulder to check on Sam at least a dozen times today...and he's not there. And I was so psyched to get my dogs back by 3, that the delay is not going over well with me. I wish I'd taken my crocheting with me when I went to the vet's. I'd have plopped myself down in the waiting room and just sat there until my dogs were ready. At least I wouldn't be looking around for Sam. I wouldn't be wondering why my phone wasn't ringing, wondering if the cell tower's signal is strong enough in this part of the house, shaking the thing, turning it on and off so it will reacquire the nearest, strongest signal.

And I wouldn't be sitting here crying because the vet's office is running a little behind schedule.

And Comcast is having a bad-signal day. Half my attempts to access anything on the Internet are frustrated by error messages, and bad-signal light combinations on the modem. And while I'm sitting here, waiting for Comcast to maybe show me something (eventually), I start looking around to see what trouble Sam's getting into.

I'm thinking I may pack up my crocheting and just head back to the vet's. I can sit in their waiting room and crochet and go quietly nuts, wondering what every sound I hear from the back really means. (Was that Sam? Is that Jacey crying? Why did someone just run by? Do the techs look tense? Is something wrong back there? And why is it taking so damned long?) I could drive the vet staff seriously mad and scare the hell out of the other customers. But at least I wouldn't be facing a drive back over there in rush hour traffic, where every moron who drives slowly in front of me is in serious danger of having a red Prizm shoved up his tailpipe.

For those of you who weren't here in March of last year and don't know why I'm so stressed: My Oreo broke her leg in a freak accident, needed orthopedic surgery, and never came out of the anesthesia; she suffered a pulmonary embolism. And I know that whole series of events was just a batch of freak occurrences--just really shitty luck. But I'm not absolutely convinced that I've exhausted my quotient of shitty luck.

Hell, I'm taking my crocheting and going back to the vet's. If Sam's awake and ready to go before Jacey, he and I can sit in the waiting room, and I can hug him and cry on his shoulder. (I've done it before.) And I'll be much more patient with lousy drivers on my way home with my dogs. Don't expect to hear any news from me for another couple of hours.

Dental Eve

I'm about to give Sam and Jacey a snack and a last drink of water for the night. The water dish comes up at 11 pm. They're due at the vet's between 8 and 9 am tomorrow for their dentals. Right now, they're curled up on the sofa, sleeping, and have no idea what's in store for them. (Sam is sleeping with his head on Jacey. Jacey is growling in her sleep.) The vet called with the results of their bloodwork. Jacey's thyroid numbers are low, even for a greyhound (they have chronically low numbers). Since she's not showing any other signs of thyroid problems (her coat is terrific--nice and thick, her weight is stable, she's certainly not lethargic), we aren't going to start her on meds right now. Sam's urine showed a slight trace of red blood cells. My vet consulted with another grey-savvy vet, who said it's not something to worry about. I'm trying not to fret about the dentals tomorrow and about having my guys anesthetized.

We'll sleep a little late tomorrow. I'll get dressed as soon as I get up. Then I'll take the dogs out--for their morning walk, they'll think. After the walk, I'll stick them straight in the car--before they have time to start agitating for breakfast. I'll get something to eat after I drop them at the vet's. When I get home, I may go back to bed. It might be nice to have the bed all to myself; on the other hand, I might just lie there and fret. If that seems likely, I might try some housework. And I have to do my taxes, but I'm still waiting for a 1099. (My next day off will be Sunday, and I can do my taxes then...if the 1099 finally shows up.)

I've e-mailed a print job to FedEx-Kinko's. It's the premium list for the SEGC's next lure coursing event. I love being able to e-mail the files over, then call with printing info: four PDF files, each with two pages that print back-to-back, printed on Ivory paper, 75 copies each. No folding, no collating. Call Kinko's to confirm, then pick up the job when it's done. (I'll pick it up in the morning on the way back from the vet's.)

It's 31 Days of Oscar on TCM. Tonight: The Hurricane, Wake Island, and the Maltese Falcon (on now).

Newsy stuff...

The dogs: Sam kicked me in the mouth last night while we were sleeping--managed to split my lower lip. Coincidentally (I swear it wasn't retaliatory), the dogs went to the vet today. They both got 3-year rabies shots, office exam, heartworm test, and the "senior wellness exam" blood work. Total? $182.50. Each. Sam generally gets blood work done twice a year to check how his thyroid is doing (he's on meds). But both dog are going in next Tuesday for dentals, and my vet likes to get the full panel for "elective" surgery like the dental. (It's not that elective: Jacey's gums bleed when I brush her teeth.) The senior exam also includes a urinalysis, so the vet tech and I were outside with the dogs (between rain showers); both dogs cooperated. We want the urinalysis for Jacey, especially, since she's still having urinary tract issues. (There's some inflamation, but she doesn't seem bothered by it.) The vet commented favorably on the dogs' coats; since both dogs get glucosamine, fish oil, flax seed oil, and cranberry pills daily--on top of their super-premium dog food--they damn well better have good coats. Next month we'll make a return visit to the vet for the other shots and the bordatella-vaccine-up-the-nose fun.

The dogs are going in for dentals on Tuesday. This is a HUGE issue for me, and I'm doing this on short notice to get it over with before I chicken out. Sam had seizures (probably from the ketamine, they think) the last time he had a dental. Jacey almost predictably demonstrates some undesirable side effects from any drugs she takes. And Oreo died in surgery last March. So I'm not just enormously enthusiastic about having my dogs knocked out to have their teeth cleaned. On the other hand, tooth and gum trouble are likely to lead to unwanted infections; both dogs appear to be in good health right now (the lab work is to check on that); neither dog is dangerously old for anesthesia (Sam is 6, 7 in May; Jacey is 3, 4 in May). And I'd like to be able to brush Jacey's teeth without making her gums bleed. I could do without having all this expense at one time; but if I'm going to stress and worry about the dogs under anesthesia, I might as well worry about both of them at the same time and get it done. I'll deliver them to the vet on Tuesday morning, pick them up Tuesday afternoon; in between, I may have a house-cleaning orgy. (I'm trying not to dwell on coincidences: last year, my dogs saw the vet and had good check-ups; Oreo broke her leg the next day, and she died the day after that. I'd sorta like to bubble wrap both dogs for the next week or so.)

Crafts: I've finished the first 32 rows (of 172+) of Ashley's afghan. I've done about 30 rows of Daniel's. I've learned not to do the black part of his afghan at night; there's just not enough light to see clearly. I've also done four squares for the BC Convention afghan, and I'll take pictures after I block them--and before I send them off to join companion squares. I've wanted to learn Tunisian crochet; I went to a Web site, followed the videos, and practiced the stitches on these squares. Now, if I can learn how to keep the stitches from rolling up...