Bubble Wrap?? General Chat

Four years ago today, Cat-dog, Aunt C and I drove four hours to pick up Cat-dog's new baby brother.

When we arrived, they brought him out to the car (Covid days). Cat-dog tried to climb over me and out the car window to get to him. It was love at first sight. See wanted that puppy so bad.



When we got home, she gave him a rundown of how things work here. She told him about the monster in the couch (aka Looney2) but he didn't believe her - he learned soon enough.


That night, we went upstairs to bed. He followed his sissie and they went to sleep safely under the bed.


To this day, he splits his nights between sleeping on the bed with me (and the original Twooney - aka Looneys 1 and 2) and under the bed with Cat-dog. I believe Looney1 spends part of the night under the bed with them too.

Who'd have thunk such a cute chubby little thing would turn into a cheating, lying thief.

Happy Anniversary Tornado-dog!

Ah, so soft, sweet and roly poly. Those pictures make me feel quite broody. Happy Gotcha Day Tornado Dog. xx

Today, I had my groceries delivered. As I walked the bags into house, Cat-dog was standing in the doorway...

As I walked the bags into the kitchen, Cat-dog was walking in my footsteps - the footsteps I was currently making.

As I put the groceries away, Cat-dog was in front of the fridge as I put cold foods away, in front of the pantry as I put canned goods away, in front of the paper bag storage as I put empty bags away.

I don't know how I ever put groceries away without her help...

Tornado-dog found a throw pillow the cats knocked on the floor and curled himself on it out of the way. It is amazing how small of a ball he can curl into. It was a 12 inch square pillow and he barely hung over any side.

Earlier, I was checking out the front yard and Looneys 1 and 2 decided to open the front door which wasn't latched. I came back to an open door and no cats. I called out to Looney1 and he came trotting onto the porch to go back inside. Then I heard a very loud unhappy roar. Poor Looney2, he forgets how much he hates the outdoors until he gets out there. He was next to the gate to the backyard staring into the yard where the dogs were wondering how he could get back in. I was able to scruff him and pick him up long enough to get him back on the front porch where he made a beeline back into the house.

Last night at bedtime, Panther failed to appear for dinner. I thought I had locked her downstairs so I checked at the door but she wasn't there. I called and called and checked downstairs again. No Panther. Finally, I got in bed hoping she'd appear or I'd find her at the door to the stairs after a while. As soon as I got settled, she jumped up on the bed and came up to me for a moment as if to say "it's OK. I'm here." Then she went off to play with Punx who was in all out elephant stampede mode in the hallway.

Never a dull day.

Tally likes to watch the shopping being unpacked. Anything that she eats, carrots, peppers, broccoli, crisps, yoghurt etc., has to be sniffed and approved with a wag. She doesn't beg for anything but seems happy to know that they are back in stock.
My daughter was just the same at her age.

Yes, Cat-dog was definitely sniffing everything. She is definitely no longer trying to avoid attention - she is right there in your face.

Tonight, I made fajitas and dropped an onion slice on the floor. Tornado-dog checked it out immediately, but both he and Cat-dog are anti-vegetable dogs. They are junk food dogs. Glad in regards to the onion slice, but it'd be nice if they worked harder at cleaning my floor of veggie droppings...

Looney2 is due his annual in March. Cat-dog and Tornado-dog are due in April. I put in the request to make appointments for all three and they scheduled them all at the same time at the end of March. I'm debating whether I should ask to move the dogs to April. Aunt C will help me, but with Cat-dog's anxieties, she gets Tornado-dog stressed and it's chaos. I think it will be too stressful for Looney2 in that mix. With just the two dogs, I can have Aunt C sit with Tornado-dog in the waiting area while Cat-dog gets examined and then Tornado-dog can get examined while Cat-dog is getting her nails clipped.

All my Beagles have loved veggies. Eddie would have eaten that onion, but none of the others. I am surprised by their different tastes.
Tally would not eat any mushroom. Eddie and Merry would eat a piece of chestnut mushroom if I dropped one, but no other varieties. Lurcher-cross Tweed ran free, and would pick her own field mushrooms. I did try to stop her but she got to more than she should have - they didn't harm her.
Tweed was obsessive about blackberries. Our walks were very slow in blackberry season as she would stop at every bush and pull off the juiciest ones by the dozen.
Eddie didn't eat berries. Merry loved wild strawberries and raspberries but wouldn't eat a blackberry. Tally loves most sweet berries, but again - not blackberries. They have all loved apples, segments of orange, and crunched on raw carrot, cabbage and broccoli stem.
This was Tally's lunch on Monday - still on her diet. It is working, she's lost 2.5k - I wish she looked slimmer though. Still got her little round tum.


I agree about your vet visit. The two dogs are enough to cope with if one of them is nervous. I would prefer to take the cats separately.

@CaroleC well done Tally, keep up the good work
Mine will eat anything that falls to the floor, be it potato peelings which they love for some unknown reason, carrots are there main favourite, blueberries raspberries, beau doesn’t like strawberries or bananas but buddy does, broccoli stems or any veg to be honest except mushrooms and onions, which I’m quite happy about tbh.

Sigh... These two just won't touch their veggies. They don't really eat fruits either. Maybe if my blackberries and raspberries fruit this year they will give them a try.

But they LOVE goldfish crackers and potato chips and other crackers and breads and mashed potatoes and cheeses and such. And butter mints and butter rum life savers and licorice and marshmallows and werthers originals....

They'd both eat chocolate if I let them. But Cat-dog had bad diarrhea after eating a piece of a chocolate chip cookie when I first got her so I've been careful not to let them get any. Tornado-dog has stolen a piece here and there so I don't think he's overly sensitive but I don't want to take the chance.

@CaroleC yeah Looney2 really doesn't care for the wildebeests.He can ignore Cat-dog for the most part, but Tornado-dog is super annoying. Although, he HAS decided that he can sleep on the bed AND cuddle even if Tornado-dog is on the bed. That's taken him four years. Of course, Looney2 was trained by Bat-dog who had strict rules about what the cats could do.

I emailed the office and asked them to reschedule the dogs for April after making sure Aunt C will be available.

Oh dear. We've been going to this vet practice for years. Last year, a long time vet left to take a teaching position as UC Davis. I had taken Bat-dog and Moose-dog to see her years ago and liked her, but mostly saw the other longtime vet, Dr Fisk. She is the vet who got Punx through her eating disorder. And Looney2 absolutely adores her - he even lifted his leg up so she could rub his tummy when they first met. WHILE he was standing up.

Anyway, she is retiring at the end of this month. Looney2 will be the last to see her.

So, we now have to experience the other three vets to see which one will be our primary. The dogs see one vet in April. She has been with the practice for about 10 years and I've heard good things but haven't met her. The other two vets are new to the practice. Looney1 will see the first in May. Then we have to decide if we like one of these well enough to choose or if Panther will see the newest vet in August.

We may choose one for the dogs and one for the cats. I was going to do that in the past, but the two vets were both tall thin blonds of a similar age so I couldn't remember who saw who - so I picked one for everybody.

I really hate choosing new doctors - for me or the pets. My criteria is simple - treat the animals with gentle kindness, be good at diagnosing, and respect that I have a lot of experience and if I say the cat has an abcess, check for an abcess before doing expensive xrays, etc (that vet really pissed me off - she wasn't even going to look at the cat until she had done xrays and you could see the abcess and bite mark through the fur). And now they are all a good 20-35 years younger than me.

It can take a while to feel settled with your vet. Our practice has about 6 or 7 vets, some of whom have special interests and have taken extra courses in those areas. It might be worth looking at their profiles to see if they have specialist areas.

I did do that. The first is preventative health, surgery and internal medicine. The second is dentistry, preventative care and long-term care for chronic diseases - she also has a BA in neuroscience and behavior and worked exclusively in emergency for a year before going into general practice. The third has special interest in surgery and eye and skin issues and is certified fear-free.

So they all have something to offer. I like that there is a strong surgical background overall at the practice.

The first has been working the longest. I like that the second worked ER - she may have the strongest diagnosing background. The third is the least experienced, but not without merit.

I think the second vet may be the most well rounded to handle all their ongoing needs. Punx's ongoing health is probably my biggest concern. Who knows how her rough start will affect her in the future. Having a vet who can think quickly on her feet may be important. She is seeing Looney1, who has no issues, so I may discuss Punx with her a bit at that appointment and see how she responds. I may also ask Dr Fisk which vet she would recommend to take over Punx's care specifically due to her eating disorder.

I will say that I am confident with all the vets. Dr Fisk is the medical director and I don't see her agreeing to hire someone not competent or good with the animals.

Maybe I won't commit to one vet. Just do one vet for each animal, but see all of the vets. Panther may like the newest vet the best as she is big into fear free and will be extra sweet to Panther and Panther doesn't have any medical issues. Tornado-dog is a good boy but he is excitable so he needs a vet who won't be intimidated by him. That may be the first vet as she has a pit bull so may not be as nervous around imposing personalities in large packages. Cat-dog and Looney1 will be fine with any of them. Looney2 will want a vet who will talk to him.

Here we have 3 practices and one you can not get on their books at all as it’s always full to the point they closed it years ago, they are that good and nearly every year I try but never get anywhere, these vets opened up as independent when the company they worked for sold out to these big franchises own by pet companies. The one they left I had always used for years but the prices went through the roof and yes they did help woody when he needed it most, but not so long back I rang them as he wasn’t to good and they said that they only had one vet at the practice and she had caught COVID so would I take him to the next county practice, so I flatly refused and told them he was told old, not well and I’m not driving to there in soaring heat in a car, anyway they agreed to transfer his notes to another practice in town and they seen him, so now I use this practice as it’s closer to home and a little bit cheaper.
But I feel nowadays when you take your animals to any of them you’re giving the symptoms and solutions all at the same time and they just agree or disagree with it. Yes ok nobody knows your animal like you do but when they stand and look at you and say nothing but hmmm, you have to say well do you think it might be, this or that? Sometimes you have to wonder. It seems old fashioned veterinary advice and manners has long gone and this is why I think that is why you can’t get on this other practices books because this is what they always offer and everyone has gone there.

Fortunately here most vets are willing to diagnose. COVID changed a lot of things and some vets refuse to return to the old ways. There are a few vets here that won't let you in the room for the exam - how can they diagnose if they don't ask you questions???? I'm OK if they take the animal out for shots, etc, but I WILL be in the room for the exam (unless a pandemic lockdown is in order).

I prefer vets (and doctors) who are direct with me. I don't want them recommending invasive and/or expensive procedures if the animal isn't going to survive it. Or waste my time with unnecessary tests when the end result will be the same regardless of the results. I had one vet insist on doing an aspirate, then a biopsy, and then surgery if the tumor was cancerous - on a 13-1/2 year old dog. My Mom called her vet and asked him. He said "the tumor needs to be removed whether it's cancerous or not. Bring the damn dog down here and I'll remove the tumor." One procedure, one anesthesia, one day at the vet, and less than half the cost as the other vet. The other vet was wasting time and money AND putting an old dog at greater risk of dying with multiple procedures under anesthesia.

Last night, we had an issue. Bedtime, we all went upstairs. I fed the cats and Punx did not appear. I warned her that she needed to show herself or I would have to hold her. She didn't come out. I went into my room and waited for the cat cam to catch her. Nothing. I checked the history - she hadn't triggered the cam since around 8:30 pm and it was after midnight. I went to the stair doors and no Punx waiting to come up. I checked the day room - nothing. I went back upstairs and still no Punx. I went back to bed and kept checking the cam video. I finally fell asleep but woke up early. I checked the videos - nothing. I checked the stairs door - nothing. I checked the day room - nothing. I checked under the furniture in the cat room - nothing. I was calling the entire time practically in tears. I left the stairs door open and went back to bed. After about 30 minutes, she triggered the cat cam. I got a couple hours of sleep and then got up to feed the cats. She came right out. True to my word, I picked her up and cuddled her. She screamed at me. But she let me get one good cuddle in before she physically fought to get away. She glared at me for a moment and then let me pet her. When I put out the canned food, she came straight over and ate without any attitude.

Little punk!

This how the vets used to be when I first started to use them when we had the Rottweiler, he was the type to laugh and find it highly amusing that a springer spaniel had bitten him and he hadn’t responded back. But he was the type to tell you what would happen and what he was going to do and how it was, you just knew he wasn’t going to pussyfoot or sugar things over with you, that’s what I’m used to and what I liked about him.
Well I’m glad your cat showed her face eventually, what a madam! I know they are a worry sometimes if they are anything like mine and they are regular as clockwork, you will feed me because I’m ready for my food now, but one of mine disappeared for nearly two days and I even put her up as missing because I hadn’t seen her for nearly a day and she was nowhere to be found, so I thought she’s escaped out the back and the dogs have let her out, looked around the garden the house, the streets, over the field where we go with the dogs and nowhere to be found, so the next day I left open the back door went out the garage door and left it open to look for her out the front and still nothing, later that afternoon I heard a meow and thought where the heck is that coming from, open the garage door to the house and she came waltzing in like I’m hungry, she’d only been sleeping in the garage in some boxes I had in there and totally ignored us coming in and out of it.

What a brat. Looney1 gets out often. Fortunately, he doesn't go far. He used to like to run off into the neighbor's backyard, but since they put the fence between my driveway and their yard up, he stays in our yard. As soon as he runs out, I hunt him down and make him come back inside. He is pretty good about it. I do let him go out on his harness and tie out on nice days. He mostly wants to chase the strays away.

Fortunately, while the girls will watch out the security doors if I open the main door, they run if someone approaches the door. So, I don't worry about them getting out. If they did, I don't know if I could get them back in. They are still untrusting of me when they get nervous.

Squirrel discovered the peanuts I put out for the scrub jays. She's been very polite, coming up on the porch to take one peanut and then running off to the fence to eat before coming back for another.

I wonder where she was to hide away for so long? Sometimes they can get shut in a wardrobe or similar, but usually end up yowling to be let out. I remember once missing a Cavalier puppy. The litter had been trapped into an outside area using a wooden board, but my daughter had moved it and not replaced it carefully enough - only a kid at the time. I was getting het up about the missing puppy, searched down the lane with no result. Eventually I found her in the garage, sleeping against the warm motor of the dog's chest freezer.
I have usually been happy with all my vets once we got to know each other. The elder senior partner has always been a little withdrawn - it is just his way. He specialises in opthalmics, exotic species and his beloved Irish Wolfhounds. The other vets are caring and friendly and if I have a specific problem I ask to see the one that has that special interest. It is not part of a chain but there are three clinics. The children of my original vets are now vets in the practice too.

Normally when the girls hide, they are under the day beds in the cat's room upstairs or the day room downstairs. Punx was in neither room. She must have been hiding under the furniture in the living room. But she is back on her good behavior.

I don't think I'll have an issue with any of the vets. I just hate having to break in a new one.

A bath and primp day for Tally and self today. We will be off to Crufts early on Thursday morning. Usually I bath Tally a couple of days before so that her coat has time to settle. Being on the broad side she needs to look as sleek as possible. Not that we expect to be placed, but want her to look her best as so many photos get taken.
This will leave Wednesday free to gather all that we will need to take with us.
We are going by train, so I'm hoping that our connections synchronise, and whoever has booked the adjoining seat likes dogs - especially fidgitty dogs!

You wouldn't LOVE to sit next to Tally!!!!

And you!!

Have tons of fun and who knows maybe those judges will see Tally and realize she is unique and special and deserves to be Top Dog of the Show.

How was the first day of the show????