Sunday, December 28, 2008

Checking-In (So You Don't Worry)

I hope you all had a wonderful, restful, fun, restoring Christmas! And thank you for your Christmas greetings to us. :o) Our Christmas was less-than-restful, so I haven't posted in the past few days. Here's why:

1. We had trouble with our Internet connection after all the ice storms last weekend and early in the week. Freezing rain wrecks havoc with our above-ground cable lines and connections. Hopefully that's behind us (I'm on-line today again, finally).

2. All the human kids were in for Christmas (including Sarah and Chris from ME, who brought the Baxter Boos with them). Yay! It's fun to be with and spend time with everyone (and that means less time on the computer).

3. Christmas Eve (early evening) my 85 yo mother slipped on an icy sidewalk and broke her femur (thigh bone) right next to where it attaches to the hip. It was a complete, displaced fracture which required surgery Christmas day to insert a rod and pins, but all went well with the surgery and she is expected to make a full recovery. My DTS and I have been covering bases -- visiting her, double-checking on her care, contacting family members, navigating with the doctors, etc. DH has been covering the pups/canine duty on his own while I've been doing family stuff. It's been a bit crazy.

4. While I was at the hospital Christmas-Day-evening sitting with Mom after her surgery, Ridge (our fox-red 7.5 yo yellow male Lab and sire) started running a fever (104+), stopped eating and drinking, and could barely walk. Poor boy; he was obviously in distress. So we got him to the vet's office first thing Friday morning (the day after Christmas). After the vet examined him, lo and behold, we discovered Ridge was dehydrated (from not drinking) and had pretty significant muscle/soft tissue swelling and inflammation in his lower abdominal region (uhmmm... how do I say this in a family-friendly way?... uhmmmm.... Ridge hurt his wee-wee? ... uhmmmm, he sprained his manhood?.... ahhhh... he injured his private part?.... ahh... you get the idea). How in the world did that happen? For the first time ever, we allowed Ridge to mate with a female who did not belong to us (after carefully screening her and her owner and making sure she had her healthy certs in order). He did so successfully last Sunday and Monday, and then was absolutely fine until Thursday afternoon (Christmas day) when he started symptoming. Go figure. But after several hours at the the vet hospital with an IV drip (to restore his fluids), pain meds, and decent doses of Rimadyl (an anti-inflammatory, which we're still giving him), Ridge is good as new. :o) We won't, however, sire him out again.

And so it goes.

At least you can't say it's boring at our house!

Elsie, Pinot, and Kenya visited the vet Friday, too, for their annual exams and vaccines. Elsie weighed in at 85 pounds, Kenya at 76, and Pinot at 70 pounds. All are doing well.

The little boys, visited the vet Friday as well (yes, we made three trips to the vet the day after Christmas: morning, early afternoon, and evening). Rudy is doing fabulously, and there's no evidence of any residual joint pain or discomfort from his recent infection. He has full range of motion in all limbs and doesn't mind in the least the vet pushing and prodding and stretching his joints. It's all good. Rudy weighs 27 pounds now, and Bear, who is also doing fabulously, weighs 31. They're fourteen weeks old now, and have completed all their routine puppy checks and vaccines except for a Lyme booster in three weeks.

Rudy and Bear are both still with us for now (we've gotten some promising inquiries about Bear this week and will keep you posted there). Both are completely crate trained, and both are (for the most part) getting the idea of housebreaking (yay!)

Oh, and (hehe...I'm so excited) DH got me a digital camcorder for Christmas! You know what that means? I can finally take decent video clips of the canine gang (instead of the awful, out-of-focus, dark clips my point-and-shoot camera takes). Yay!

Now I just have to learn how to use it ( in my spare time).

That's it from here. I just wanted to update you while I had a moment. We're okay and hanging in there. :o)

'Til next time,
Joan

5 comments:

Life With Dogs said...

It's great to hear that you made it through the ice storm, that your mother is well, and that you will be armed with a video camera to capture future adventures.

I must admit (and I'm certain others will concur) that as the haze of years fades my memory, there is one great big gem of a fact in this story that will remain emblazoned in my memory: Your dog sprained his bone.

Classic. : )

Anonymous said...

Oh, boy! I'm so glad Ridge is okay. I thought for sure it was going to be more bad news.

I'm sorry to hear of your Mother falling and having to go thru surgery. Trauma at Christmas time is so very hard. It's icy here in MN, too. Very dangerous for all.

Oh,....and it's definitely not boring at your house.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad everyone is okay ... some better than others, but still okay. You know, we do worry when we haven't heard from you for a while -- kind of like a nervous mother ... ;)

Take care of yourself, and remember to enjoy those little boys. They sure grow up fast!

Mrs. Kenagy said...

Merry Christmas Joan!!

Chester said...

Whewww! What a week you've been having! I don't know how you keep it all together! Sorry to hear about your mom but good to know she will make a full recovery. Poor Ridge-man. Good to know he will recover too although he probably won't be happy with no more girlfriends! (Heehee-maybe best not to tell him.) Glad Baxter Boos made it home to see the gang for Christmas. All in all it sounds like you still had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to seeing some major movie-time with the new toy DH got you for Christmas. Best wishes to all of you for a great New Year-I think you've had enough excitement this year!