Rudy's New Diagnosis

 

This little idiot gots the diabetus.

We found out Wednesday and have been scrambling the rest of the week to get things ready to start him on insulin Monday. 

YES, insulin. For our cat. Because other than the diabetes (technically super high blood and urine glucose), he's very healthy for a 17-year-old cat.

Initially, I was overwhelmed. First is finding an insulin dose that works. After that process (expensive because every 10 days we have to buy a new glucose monitor AND take him in to the vet to get it placed three times), he has to have two shots of insulin every day for the rest of his life. 

Honestly, I can't do it. I can't commit to that. He could live 5-7 more years and I already have so much on my plate.

So D has stepped up and said they can manage his care, with me as a backup. James will do what he can, but his work schedule is so random and Rudy will needs shots at pretty much the same time every single day.

The last time Rudy went to the vet was about a year ago, and he had some kidney function issues, but those have actually improved (probably because of the copious amounts of water he's drinking). We took him in this time because he's going through the whole diabetic playbook: weight loss, extreme thirst, always being famished, sleeping all of the time (in all fairness, he has slept most of the time, anyway; but now he's lethargic even when he's awake). 

We've already changed his food to a high-protein, low carb wet food. He and Aish both seemed to like it at first, but weren't thrilled with it this morning. I finally got Rudy to eat a full serving, but Aish wasn't desperate enough. We'll feed her the same as what we feed Rudy, for now, because it's a senior formula and not a prescription food for diabetes. The higher protein and lower carbs might help her keep muscle mass that Rudy seems to have lost.

D is getting all of the supplies today, Sunday will be a little break in the action, and then Monday morning we head to the vet for shot coaching. Whew, I'm already tired and we haven't even started. So grateful that D is taking point on this because otherwise, we'd just be doing the diet change and hoping for the best. 

As I say with our trips: If our financial house of cards falls down, the couple thousand we're spending on this little adventure wouldn't have made the difference. Huzzah and happy weekend!

Puppy Fever

We've been talking about and thinking about getting a puppy for months. D is not in favor at all, and I understand that. When we adopted Shelby, it was a last-minute decision, and we were just not prepared. Little did we know that some of Shelby's habits would prove to be triggers for D's mysophonia, namely the barking and the constant snoring (even when awake).

So this time, I wanted to make sure we knew what we were getting in to. Although in the past, I've always adopted animals, in order for this to work in our house with the two very special children I have (and the elderly cats), we needed to get a young pup who could be socialized in our home and grow up with our house's rhythms.

Also, we needed a dog without likely breathing issues, and one that doesn't bark (much). This shrunk our pool of options considerably, and since I am already familiar with sighthounds, that seemed like a good choice. I got on a waiting list for a borzoi up in Missouri, and I tried to get on a waiting list for a Scottish Deerhound up in Dallas (I never heard back from the breeder after the initial contact).

This past weekend, though, I found a very reputable whipped breeder in Dallas who is planning a litter in June. Although we found them through AKC, they seem to cater more to people who plan to have the dogs as pets rather than showing them, and this was a plus. I really liked the borzoi breeder, but she made it clear that she loves to have "her" dogs involved in the AKC on some level, and that's just not really my thing.

We actually put down a deposit and are in line to get our dog in August!

I'd already been purchasing some gear, and went ahead and ordered almost everything else we needed except for the food items. We've already moved the cats food to where we want to keep it so they'll have a private dining space once there's a puppy in the house. In late July, I'll put up the baby gates so they'll get used to those without having the dog to contend with.

One interesting thing is that the pair of dogs that is supposed to be paired has a litter of bi-eyed puppies. It'll be interesting to see if ours is.

Oh! Another VERY cool thing is that the breeder sets up a live feed when the mama puppy goes into labor. If we're awake, we'll get to see them all whelped. Then we can keep an eye on them when they're in the birthing nest until it's time to pick the dog up. We don't know whether we're getting a male or female, or what it will look like. We aren't super picky, so it's just fine that we're toward the bottom of this list. We just want a sweet pet!

We'll be spending the next four months getting everything (and ourselves) ready. We definitely need to take the cats in to get their vaccinations up to date (Rudy is good, as he's just now had dental surgery like five hours ago -- so he's been caught up) and give them time to calm back down before we introduce a new animal. And I'm learning lots of stuff on YouTube and podcasts that I think will be helpful. If I can remember all of it.

Of... Cats and Men. And Women. And Children. Oh, and Mice, too, I Guess.

This evening, I got out to acquire Malcolm some "potato Pringles." This is just regular, original, unflavored Pringles. He calls them "potato-flavored." Because, you know, it's potato sludge. Which is why they have to be called "crisps" instead of "chips," because the chip lobby didn't like that and made sure there was a law. Whew! We're safe.

Anyhoo... I also went to Petco while I was out, because they generously sent me coupons for the very cat food we use. The coupons were: $5 off a bag of dry food at least 13 pounds, buy two/get one free cans, and $3 off of any variety pack of canned food. I got a 13-pound bag, three cans, one 12-can variety pack, a big box of litter, and 2 3-packs of pinkie mice for D's snake. $10 in coupons... and I still spent $91! Our cats have to have urinary tract food because they're old and Aish specifically has issues with getting infections. The vet said just to feed them all the same thing because they're all going to have problems eventually. What I bought... the wet food will last ONE WEEK. The dry food will last a month or more because they only eat that when they're desperate; we free-feed it and they're rarely motivated since we started feeding them the WAY-more-expensive wet food (which we started for Carol, to help her gain weight... she hasn't but Rudy definitely has).

THEN I went to Randall's for the aforementioned crisps. I got 4 cans (2 plain, 2 flavored, on sale if you bought 4); I also bought two boxes of chocolate for the kiddos for Valentine's Day (I'm not always this early, but Russell Stovers was buy one/get one free) and 3 bars of boutique Christmas soap that had been $8 a bar but was 75% off. So the stuff I got for our family was $23. I feel like we're getting fleeced here.

I also don't think the cats realize how great they have it. They start making a LOT of noise around 8 AM if no one's gotten around to portioning out their wet rations yet. Even though they have food available. It's not the *good* food, and they must complain. It's usually mostly Rudy, and sometimes I can quiet him by opening the door so he can get up on the bed and snuggle. However, lately, Carol has accompanied him in and started banging (that cat-swiping they do when they're marking their territory) on the mirrored closet door.

But I love the people who love these cats, so...

Super Full Saturday

Yesterday, we got a *lot* done.

First up, I baked three types of cookies during the morning, having prepared everything else slowly over the week so I wouldn't be stressed out.

I had the idea to host a Valentine's cookie "open house"/porch, actually, The timing was perfect that just a few days earlier, a Turquoise Table had become available through ReWork Project. They delivered it Thursday, and it's a perfect splash of fun color on our front porch. Since we moved in, we have set up the outdoor couch, and that side of the porch, which I used to think was the most boring, is now the most fun...

See? Day or night, it's a party!

And did I mention I'd made a whole crapton of cookies?

Red velvet with cream cheese frosting!

Strawberry white chocolate Rice Krispie treats!

Brownie bites 4 ways!

Sugar cookies with icing and my brain-created apple cider chocolate ganache.

Snickerdoodles with some pink sugar and cinnamon.

Chocolate chip cookies

Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

We got everything fixed up and plated. I didn't know how many people to expect, so I had a plan: I put half of each type of cookie on two different plates, and I'd put one plate out at 2, and if a cookie were really popular and went fast, I could still put a second plate out at 3 for latecomers. I knew that was pretty ambitious, but had no idea how many people to expect, so that's why our kitchen table looked like this:

Before we went out to lunch, I stuck a plate of cookies into the mailbox for our letter carrier. She'd left me a note last week reprimanding me for putting some fliers in mailboxes, so...

After lunch, Mal and I went on a little walk around the neighborhood, then I set up the table.

We did have several visitors, and it was great to get to speak with each of them: First was a retired art teacher from one street over, who brought us a hand-drawn welcome card. While she was here, the Saturday alternate letter carrier came, and stepped out of her car to let me know she'd make sure our regular carrier got the cookies. So we invited her over for some cookies, too, and she said she was glad she got the route that day. Next, we met a couple who lives several streets over. They have been here, or at least the wife has, since 1979. She told us about the "Slim" whose name we've seen on a concrete slab and a big rock in the back yard. "Slim's" was a pool hall that he had built onto the back of his house (which was here, but it was a different house) when the pool hall on 1431 closed down and he felt bad that the local teens didn't have anywhere to hang out.

We also met a lady who lives on our way to the library, and she keeps her 3-year-old grandson on Wednesdays, so she might bring him over to play with Mal one day soon. And toward the end, another lady who lives right on the lake came by, a whirlwind of energy and words.

It was a neat couple of hours. In between guests, we hung around outside, anyway... sometimes just me, sometimes James would come out, and sometimes Mal would, too. We saw a lot of butterflies in the back yard. We're getting a lawn mower this week, but as long as the butterflies are here, I don't want to mow down the "weeds" they're enjoying.

Not a butterfly, but pretty cute.

As hopefully "first annual"s go, this wasn't too shabby. I learned a lot, and here's what I'm going to implement next year:

1) Invest in a sturdy, large sandwich board sign (or make one) that I can reuse every year.
2) Send invitations via the USPS, like officially, with a stamp and stuff.
3) Advertise early, then with personal messages, on Nextdoor.com. (I only thought of this the night before!)
4) Talk to people I see out and about and invite them personally.

Most of the people who showed up were either people with whom I'd connected verbally or online, with only one lady seeing the sign and assuming she was welcomed.

I made cookie plates for several neighbors, and so we got to chat with more people, too. A few seemed to know we were having a thing, so either they were busy, just didn't want to come, or didn't feel comfortable. I'll think on that to try to figure out before next year; if you (especially introverts) have any ideas, let me know!

If we can get a pretty good turnout next year, and the next year, and it becomes a "thing," I might make it a "cookie potluck." I think I maxed out on the number of cookies. I can do it again next year, but I probably can't handle more, unless little dude decides he wants in on the action, or goes to see Nana and Pappy for a few days. I was fortunate that he "let me" get as much done as I did.

My husband wrote this blog post about what happened next, so I don't have to rehash it! Except I will say that I did *not* complain in the car the whole way, and that my husband is an ass. It happens to be a very nice ass, so I let him get away with it. But otherwise, his description is pretty accurate.

I only got a few "phone pictures" yesterday, so thus far, the best picture we have of Shelby is probably one of the couple I took this morning when she was hanging out with Mal in the master bedroom.

I'll try to get more pictures of her later. She does stuff, like stand up and walk around (a lot; she's a follower, AKA "Velcro dog"). And she seems to like walks.

This morning on the way to church, I was thinking, "This dog is seven years old and has been cared for very well. Her teeth are gorgeous; she doesn't have doggie breath; she's in perfect shape and with no scars or abrasions (other than the spay scar)... She's microchipped. What if she got away and the owners just hadn't updated their information? James seems to think that when she's outside, she's trying to find her way back home. What if it's our job to help her?"

So I scoured the internet for "lost Catahoula" in the Austin area(s)... for a long time. Then, we finally got through the paperwork we received at the adoption and were able to put this together:

Until last Tuesday, this dog had a home. She had someone to care for her. She had a name - that almost certainly was not Shelby. I tried random names all afternoon, and none of them caught her attention. Tuesday, for whatever reason, she was voluntarily surrendered by her owner to Austin Animal Center. On Wednesday, she was given her necessary shots, and tested (negative) for heartworm. On Thursday, she was microchipped. On Friday, she was transferred to the Austin Humane Society. Saturday, she had to endure what was likely the most busy day the Humane Society has ever had, as there were city-wide free pet adoptions.

James mentioned that she was "sleeping" when we saw her. I watched her. Her breath was shallow. She was so stressed. During our initial meeting with her, she seemed to want to connect with James, but she was clearly overwhelmed by the noise and the people and the barking... she was more bothered by it than Mal, and he didn't like it much.

But Saturday night, we brought her home. James thinks she's been around cats a lot and was more emotionally hurt than physically when Rudy flew at her. But the way she horned in behind me, shaking... she was scared. She knew, though, that the place to go was to a human... so she's been loved, protected.

It hasn't even been a week since her world changed, and so much has happened to her.

So she might think we're nice people, and so much better than the noisy places... but who knows how long it will take her to feel at home? We've gotten tail wags, and she's equally happy to see everyone over the age of 3 in our household (Mal just jumps everywhere, including up in her face, and I don't think she's used to that)... But it's just going to take some time.

The good stuff: She is such a kitten of a dog. More than 24 hours, and she hasn't barked once. She is NOISY, but only when she sleeps. She "growl/snores". Like every exhale sounds like a growl! She and James are the perfect bedfellows. She also has not been retaliatory to the cats, being very leery of them at times, and even trying to make friends with Carol at one point. Well, and Rudy earlier today. Rudy's not ready yet. None of them are. But they'll get there. Also, she and Aish had a disagreement over the cat food (both wanted it, and both at the same time) and though neither was too happy, there was also nothing more than some heated stare thrown by Aish.

Shelby is nervous about Mal, but just backs away from him, with no worrisome nervous behaviors like "tittering" or lip-curling or "play" snapping or anything. (And, yes, we are doing due diligence keeping them always supervised, and teaching Mal how to treat the dog who is almost twice as big but so skittish about this little energetic human.) She knows "sit." She seems to know how to SPELL "sit," because when I was telling D about it but didn't actually want her to sit, I spelled it instead, and she... sat. She's great on a lead, which is good because she's a tank. She likes to explore a bit on walks, but I found today that one can stop that simply by jogging and letting her go faster. I am not sure whether that's good or bad, because... ugh, jogging. Plus, when I was running down the middle of the street in my church clothes, singing a song about how Shelby loves jogging even though Mommy hates it, I'm pretty sure our sweet elderly neighbor thought I was nutso. But, truly, he has no idea.

This morning, when Mal and I were leaving for church, Shelby wanted to get outside for a while. James was going to walk her, but needed to do something in the house, so I got her leash and took her out. She REALLY wanted to go somewhere in the car, but I just put Mal in and shut the door. Then this dog straight-up jumped onto the hood of my car, put her paws on the roof, and was looking all around, like she was trying to get a lay of the land.

Our next obstacle is what to do Tuesday: we have an appointment in town and need to be gone for about 2 hours. A kennel for this dog would be hugely expensive, but we don't trust the family dynamic yet. So we can close her into our bedroom, with her food and water, and hope for the best... but we really love that bed. So we'll see what we can come up with between now and then.

Otherwise, after the fluff-up last night, it's been a relatively smooth transition so far. Hoping tomorrow eases inter-species' tensions even more, and soon this sweet Shelby girl can't imagine living anywhere else.

There are three pets in this picture. Click on it to blow it up. :D