Happy Holidays from Olive and George

 

I am happy to say that Olive has made a remarkable recovery since her surgery. She seems as energetic as ever and seems to think she is back to normal. Of course, I know that she should take it easy for a while; for that reason, I have been keeping her from jumping around, chasing geese, and rolling in the grass. I have avoided playing Frisbee with her and have been indulging her strictly with easy gentle tosses of balls and sticks.

Olive's crate is still set up in the living room, but I lock the door only when I go out for some errand or other. She seems to actually like the crate so that I often find her napping in there with the door open. I am wondering if she will be upset when I fold up the crate and put it away. I plan to leave the bed there in that spot, but the crate does get in the way of access to my liquor cabinet and stereo system.

A few people have told me they think Olive is walking strangely. I have been watching and have not noticed anything being off. If she is walking differently, it is very subtle. I will ask the vet for an opinion the next time I bring her in for a shot, which will be in January.

Olive's fur is filling in nicely except for a spot on her lower back, which I believe is slowly starting to grow back. In all, I think she is well on the mend and has come out of the whole ordeal very well.

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A few bits of dog humor that I have been saving:

Olive is a better watchdog than that, though not by much.

Of course, 1000 love.

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After minimally decorating for the holidays last year, I put up my tree and other decorations for this year. The decorations include a dog Advent calendar that someone gave us with twenty-five cardboard doors that each open to reveal a doggy treat. I coordinated the openings so that Olive will get #25 on Christmas Eve.

I hosted a holiday roast beef supper with a few close friends that Olive knows well, not wanting to get her too excited with too many people. Olive has already gotten several nice holiday gifts, including a box of gourmet dog treats, a few toys, and an electric dog biscuit maker. The biscuit maker is similar to a waffle iron or donut baker, with indentations in the shape of dog biscuits. I am looking forward to making some spent grain biscuits with a quantity of spent grain that a person who home brews beer gave me. I have in the past made such biscuits in my oven with peanut butter from a simple recipe; Olive loved them.

I had a 100 year old suitcase that belonged to my grandfather. The suitcase is a bit beat up and doesn't even close properly, so I didn't think it would be worth much as an antique. I had thoughts of junking it, but then thought it might make a nice holiday accent piece if I filled it with gifts under the tree. So far the reviews have been positive, and I think of it as a way to include my grandfather (a very kind and intelligent man) in this year's holiday celebration, some 39 years after he left us. 

With that, Olive and I wish all a happy holiday and a good new year.

So when are you going to make those dog biscuits you mentioned?

Olive doing "fantastic".

 

I brought Olive back down to the hospital in Middletown for a progress checkup today, October 26. I am happy to report that the veterinary surgeon told me Olive is doing, in her words, “fantastic”. Olive’s surgical staples were removed and we were sent home with instructions on tapering off all of her meds. After about two weeks Olive will be down to the thyroid medicine that the local vet prescribed and Olive has been taking almost a year. That will mean I no longer have to buy roast beef at the deli to hide Olive’s meds in.

OK, They took out the staples. Now can I get out of this crate?

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Olive will need to be kept calm for a few weeks, as there is still some healing to take place. No jumping, no stairs, no Frisbee or catching sticks. After a few weeks I can, according to the surgeon, ease her into a more normal routine. That would mean walks around the circle and allowing her to go up the stairs to her doggie bed at night. That was good news for me as although I am getting used to sleeping on my living room couch near Olive’s crate, I would like to go back to my own bed and quilts as the weather gets colder. I think Olive would like to go back to her doggie bed as well. The trick will be to get Olive to understand that she has to get back to her old routines GRADUALLY.

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A few pieces of border collie humor I have been saving:

Olive is Home!

 

Olive had successful surgery on Tuesday, was kept at the hospital Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The hospital was kind enough to send me a photo of her resting comfortably after her surgery.

Olive resting comfortably after surgery. Looks like she got some very good care!

Finally, I got the call to come and pick her up at 2:30 on Saturday. The reunion was unceremonious; a technician brought Olive out to me at the hospital entrance with some written instructions and a bag of meds. Olive basically looked at me and said “you’re here. Let’s go home”. The tech helped me get Olive in the car in her usual space on the floor in front of the front passenger seat, and we were off. I have to make an appointment for a checkup in one week.

In the car and ready to go home.

At the vet’s recommendation I went out and bought a wire crate to keep her from roaming around, especially to keep her off the stairs. I had concerns that Olive would not take to being confined to a crate, but as soon as we got home, she went straight into her crate and lay down on the bed I placed there. I can take her out for short walks to pee or poop, but have to bring her in right afterward. After a few weeks I might be able to keep her out to walk around a bit longer, but probably none of her usual walks around the circle (about a third of a mile) for a while.

Her home for the next 4-6 weeks.

I have a regiment of medications to give her. She gets her Prednisone, Omeprazole, Cephalexin (antibiotic), and her thyroid medication twice per day, 8:00 am and 8:00 pm.  She gets Gabapentin three times per day, at 8:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m., and close to midnight. She also has a fentanyl patch (a sedative and pain medication) that I will be removing Monday. I am supposed to wear rubber gloves to remove the patch.

Olive ate well both Saturday night and Sunday morning. She wants a lot of petting and attention (who can blame her?) but mostly is content to stay on her bed in the crate. At one point she did clearly want to get up the stairs to her usual doggy bed at the top of the stairs, which is strictly out of the question for the next few weeks. I may bring that bed down to the living room. It would be a bit large for her crate, but if she wants to lay in it while I am there to watch and make sure she doesn’t get up and wander off, I suppose that would be ok.

I stayed in the living room and slept on my couch last night so that she wouldn’t feel alone. She did whimper once during the night, so I got up and petted her. She went to sleep and was fine after that.

4-6 weeks of bed rest and intensive care is what the vet ordered. It’s going to be a challenge for both of us. Then again, Olive is getting breakfast in bed, meals brought to her, even her water dish is next to her bed so that she need not so much as get up for a drink. She just might get used to that.

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I'm sure Olive would love to be doing this, but I'm afraid it won't be for quiet a while. Sorry, Olive.

Olive to the Emergency Room!

 

Olive has been low energy for the past week and was not eating. Two visits to the vet got us nowhere. Last Saturday (yesterday) I noticed some limping and took her to the vet again. This time an X-ray indicated that she had a ruptured disc in her spine. I was directed to Pieper Memorial, an animal hospital in Middletown CT (about a half hour away) and took Olive straight there.

After getting to the hospital around 8:30 a.m. I had to wait with Olive in my car for what seemed a long time. Finally, I got a call to bring her to the entrance (the hospital is following strict Covid precautions) and returned to my car for more waiting. A general vet called me on my cell phone and informed me that a veterinary neurologist would be looking at Olive.

I was not about to leave my girl, so I moved my car from the emergency spaces to a space further from the building. Along about 1:00 I decided I should eat something and took a run to a nearby Dunkin Donuts for an egg & bagel sandwich and a small decaf coffee (I was already on edge; I did not need any caffeine). I drove back to the hospital and ate there in the parking lot. To pass the time I texted some friends who I thought would want to know what was happening.

Finally, I got a call from the neurologist around 3:00. I could take Olive home for the night and was directed to bring her back on Monday evening where she will stay for the night and get an MRI on Tuesday morning. After that the best course will be determined, likely to include surgery.

I was given three medications to make Olive more comfortable: prednisone (an anti-inflammatory), Gabapentin (a pain medication that some humans take for back pains), and Omeprazole (a stomach medicine).

When I got home, I first ran out to the deli for some roast beef to hide the pills in, then gave Olive her first round of pills. She gobbled the roast beef rollup immediately, then a little while later ate more food than she had eaten all day Friday. So far, Olive is back to eating normally and a bit more active.

As Nanne and others advised, no more jumping for Olive. I hate to think that she cannot chase a Frisbee anymore, something she loved doing, but it may be necessary to take measures to keep her calm and quiet. At this point she seems to know that she cannot run and jump as she used to. A little while ago, however, I had a friend on speaker phone asking about Olive. My friend made a remark that Olive was now an “old lady”. At that it looked as if Olive was laughing. “Old lady? Who are you talking about” she may have been thinking? Nonetheless, her jumping days are likely over.

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No cute pictures of Olive being Olive this time. Sorry that this post is not as upbeat as usual, but I wanted Olive's friends and blog readers to know what is going on. So many people have been very supportive and encouraging.

I have heard nothing except high praise for the Pieper memorial veterinary hospital. It seems to be the premiere place in Connecticut for pets. I, of course, wouldn’t want anything less than the best for Olive.

Happy tenth birthday, Olive.

 

No, I haven’t forgotten about my “Life with Olive” blog. I had hoped to blog about getting back to normal after the Covid virus had been virtually eradicated by vaccination. Instead, one side decided to make vaccination a partisan political issue by refusing to wear masks or get vaccinated. As a result, the delta variant spread like wildfire (which is another issue the right-wing refuses to take seriously) so that we are looking at masking requirements and worse again. One might have thought that Donald Trump would have put science and the country first and urged his supporters to get vaccinated. Again…..well, this is Donald Trump we are talking about.

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My understanding is that Olive was born August 1, 2011. That means August 1 was her tenth birthday. Unfortunately, it was not entirely a happy birthday for her. I grilled some chicken for her and my sister gave her a dog puzzle that I think she will enjoy. The hitch? She came down with an ear infection a few days before her birthday.

I went off to a fiddle camp at Ashokan music, arts, and nature center, leaving Olive at Candlewick. After I picked her up at the end of camp, I noticed her shaking her head as if she was trying to shake something out of her ear. I tried cleaning out her ear, but it seemed to get worse. I called the vet on Friday and got an appointment for Monday. Over the weekend the infection seemed to get even worse. Finally, we got to the vet on Monday morning. The vet cleaned out Olive’s ears, applied some medicine that will remain in her ears for a week, and gave me three medicines—an antibiotic, a prednisone, and a probiotic—to give her orally. I am happy to say that I have had very little trouble getting Olive to take her meds, though I had to buy some roast beef from the deli to wrap the larger probiotic pills in. Peanut butter worked for the other pills.

I am happy to say that the meds seem to be working and that Olive seems to be recovering well. The ear looks worse than it really is because the vet had to shave some fur off to treat the ear. I thought to include a photo of the ear, but decided not to as the ear, for now, looks pretty gross. At least Olive is enjoying walks and playing Frisbee, lively as ever.

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On August 6, a few days after Olive’s birthday, I was scheduled for some minor skin surgery. Nothing major, just a growth my dermatologist wanted removed from the top of my head. I made sure to give Olive both a walk and some Frisbee time in the morning before going to my 8:30 appointment. That left little time for breakfast, which ended up being some oatmeal, grape juice, and a banana.

The surgeon got right to work giving me a local anesthesia and removing a small section of skin from my scalp. I felt virtually nothing during the entire procedure, which took less than an hour. After leaving the surgeon’s office I decided it was early enough to stop at a nearby diner for eggs, toast, potatoes, and coffee. One more stop on the way home at the grocery store for a sandwich to eat for lunch and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, which the surgeon told me to use to clean the wound when I take the bandage off on Monday.

I had arranged with my sister to give Olive a walk around ten, a big help since the surgeon told me to take it easy for a few days. Subsequent walks were slow and leisurely around the Georgetown Drive circle. Olive seemed to understand that I was not feeling well, though later on she seemed a bit put out that she was not getting her Frisbee sessions.

Lunch consisted of the tuna sandwich I bought at the grocery store. Around 1:00 pm the anesthetic wore off. I expected the operation area to feel like a bad scrape. Instead, it felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. By supper I was not feeling up to the task of cooking, so I decided to eat at a restaurant. Glastonbury has a number of lively “hot spots”, which I was not in the mood for, so I headed to a family place. Rather, a family place that seems to try to pretend to be a hot spot. It tries, but most of the clientele seems to be senior citizens and much of the rest families with kids. Television screens everywhere showing an Olympic soccer match. The place was a bit crowded, and I was seated at a high table in the middle.

So why is it that restaurants seem to think single people all want to sit at the bar? There were people milling around on both sides of me. I felt as if I was at Grand Central station in New York, had gone to the somewhat upscale Oyster Bar located in a lower level of the station, and been seated at the only table in the middle of the grand concourse. I ordered fish and chips with a root beer (the surgeon ordered me to have no alcohol for at least a day) and found it to be ok but not particularly good. I suppose I was a bit grumpy from the surgery and the sore scalp. At such times I try to adjust my outlook by imagining that I had just been trekking through the north woods for a week with nothing to eat but whatever roots and berries I found out there. If I suddenly came to a family restaurant and was offered a plate of fish and chips with root beer, I would probably think it nirvana. With that thought I had my fish, paid the bill, and drove home.

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So, with that, Olive and I are recuperating from our respective ordeals and I hope that our next entry will be much brighter and cheerier. Happy birthday, Olive.

An Easter Scare

 

On Easter Sunday (April 4) I decided to give Olive a treat for Easter. Someone had given us a chew stick for dogs which I gave her at lunch time. Later that evening I opened a package of lamb flavored treats and gave Olive a few with her supper (they were very small).

The next morning Olive was very low energy and did not want to eat her breakfast. She did not want to play Frisbee or even go for a walk. That is very unlike her, as she has always been a high energy dog. When she showed no improvement by noon and still hadn’t eaten anything I called the vet and made an appointment for that evening. She finally did eat around 3 p.m., but was still low energy. The vet checked her digestive system for any obstructions, but found nothing. Thinking that it might have been the chew stick, I was told to monitor the situation and call back if there was no improvement. Perhaps if it was something she ate it would pass through her in a few days.

Olive seemed to eat well over the next week and on the following Sunday seemed to perk up a bit. She seemed to improve little by little after that, but I was concerned that she did not seem to be interested in going out back to play Frisbee, which had always been one of her favorite things. I resolved to call the vet again the following Monday. That seemed even more imperative Monday morning. I had given her one of the lamb treats Sunday night, figuring that they were so small one could not do any harm. Monday morning, she was back to where she had been the previous Monday, not eating and very low energy. There was some improvement as the morning went on, but I made a vet appointment for Thursday (the first opening they had).

On Wednesday afternoon Olive suddenly came alive. I started to take her out for what I thought would be a leisurely walk, when she suddenly started to pull me to the back of my house where we play Frisbee. I let her lead me there where she grabbed the Frisbee and ran around the yard with it. I gave her a few tosses which she caught (something she hadn’t done since Easter). A neighbor who has a dog named Donner about Olive’s size who gets along well with Olive came by, and the two started playing together. It looked as if they were getting a good workout until, not wanting Olive to overdo it right away, I ordered Olive back in the house and she obeyed. Since then, Olive seems to be pretty much back to normal (whew!)

I kept the vet appointment. The vet took a blood sample and a few x-rays. Everything looked normal. I am waiting for one test result, but it looks as if we may never know what was causing the problem. I brought the wrapper from the chew stick and the package of lamb treats. The vet saw nothing obvious in the ingredients, but cautioned that dogs could have sensitivities to ingredients, just as humans can be sensitive to gluten or other normally benign ingredients. I discarded the lamb treats and resolved not to give her any treats or chew sticks from Wal Mart ever again.

I am just glad to see Olive back to her old self.

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 I finally got my second Covid shot in mid-March. Now I can finally go to the mall, to a museum, grocery shopping, or even out to a restaurant without fearing for my life. I do wish everyone would get vaccinated so that the world could get back to normal. Those Covid variants and mutations are most likely to develop and occur in un-vaccinated people.

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This is a short posting because little has been happening with the Covid pandemic still happening, though hope for an end has never been higher. To me, online festivals and events are a poor substitute for actually being at a gathering and interacting with others.

To end, here is something I cam across on the internet recently. To border collie people, and I suppose to dog people in general, this is very relatable. To non-dog people, it’s a dog person thing.  😉

 

 

Medical Edition

 

Olive and I went for her routine vet appointment last Thursday. While Olive is generally healthy, a blood test showed that her thyroid is not producing as it should. The vet prescribed Levothyroxine, a supplement. My brother-in-law, a pharmacist, informed me that it is essentially the same thing that doctors prescribe for humans with a similar condition. It’s fairly common for dogs.

The medication is in the form of small blue pills that I give Olive a half pill in the morning with breakfast and a half pill in the evening with her supper. In the past whenever I was given pills for Olive, I would wrap them in meat to make sure she took them. I was glad to see that she has been eating this pill up with her food, so I don’t have to wrap it up in roast beef to get her to take it. She will likely be on these pills for the rest of her life (if I understand correctly), so it saves me some cost and trips to the deli. While I have to pay out of pocket for the pills, they are not nearly as expensive as I had feared.

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With Olive healthy, I managed to book an appointment for my first Covid-19 vaccination shot at a mass vaccination temporary facility in a nearby town. By coincidence my friend Julie had booked a appointment the same day at the same facility at nearly the same time. We met up at my house and drove in together. We were given no pushback for riding in together; in fact, one attendant told us that they prefer people to car pool. We never even had to get out of the car; the nurse injected both of us through car windows. We then had to park and wait the mandated 15 minutes, after which an attendant removed a magnetic marker from my car and waved us on to the exit.

This was the Pfizer vaccine, so I will have to return for a second shot. Julie and I coordinated over the phone to book shot #2 at the same facility at the same time. So, we will be back on March 22, then my understanding is that three weeks later, on April 12, I will be fully vaccinated.

Of course, I understand that I will not necessarily be virus-free. The vaccine works by teaching my system to fight Covid-19. I still might get the disease, though it will be a mild case. I could also conceivably pass the virus onto someone else so that I will still have to follow the commonsense procedures such as wearing a mask, frequent hand washing, and social distancing. Still, I will be able to, say, shop at the mall if I need to without fearing for my life. This fall I will be able to attend and enjoy the country fairs (if they take place). Sadly, I don’t expect contra dances or other activities that would lend themselves to spreading the virus to start up again anytime soon. Travel will likely be on hold for some time to come.

I had a bit of a sore arm the next morning, but no adverse reactions or complications.

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Needing to get away for a day, I took Olive to Candlewick for a day with her dog friends and took a ride with a friend out to the Ashokan center in the Catskills for the annual hot chocolate festival. The entire event was outdoors, everyone was wearing masks and maintaining reasonable distance, so I felt reasonably safe from the virus. We started with a nature walk led by a staff member who seemed very knowledgeable about the history of the center as well as the plant and wildlife. Six flavors of chocolate were offered—coffee, banana, spice, raspberry, coconut, and peppermint. Lunch was included, which consisted of an egg sandwich, a cup of chili, and a cookie or brownie for dessert. There was a nice hill for sledding (which a number of kids were enjoying) and live music over a speaker system performed by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason. It was a nice getaway for a day.

There was also a demonstration of ice sculpture, as seen in the photo.

Dragon Ice Sculpture

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A few bits of dog humor I collected over the past month.

What kind of chocolate shop doesn't have chocolate covered tennis balls? Happy Valentine's Day.

Olive is one of the herders shown above, but she is just as much a loving dog in her own way as the "potato" at the bottom is.

A refrigerator magnet that someone gave us for the Holiday.