When it rains, it pours.........

Jezibel, with her most favorite person

I’ve had a pain in my lower back on the left side for over a year now. I know it’s been over a year because I went to a chiropractor over a year ago. I thought it was helping, but the pain never really went away. Sometimes it was just a dull annoyance. I still went about my daily routines. I continued to walk every day.

A couple of months ago I noticed that I was thinking more and more about my back pain. I have not been to the chiropractor since before our RV trip in May. I had planned on seeing him when we returned, but I didn’t.

Instead, I talked to my doctor and she recommended X-rays. I was told that I had “mild”arthritis in my back, whatever that means. I asked if I could be referred to physical therapy to see if I could learn some good exercises to do that might help.

I started physical therapy on August 30. At my evaluation, I was told that I should take four weeks of therapy, two days a week. I set the appointments for Tuesdays and Thursdays. My therapist, Mike, is a sports medicine guy and he seems to know what he’s doing. He works a lot with high school kids who play football and soccer, etc. and he also coaches at the games when he’s not helping with sprains, etc.

He has shown me some stretching exercises, which, by the way, are the same ones my chiropractor also showed me. Only instead of “cracking” my back, Mike, stretches my legs and gives me deep tissue rubs. I always feel fine when I leave, but the next day, I am so sore sometimes.

I finished my eight session last Wednesday. My back is still sore and now I’m ready to try something else. Mike suggested that I do at least four more sessions to see if I felt better. I set those sessions up, but yesterday, I called my doctor. I want to see if I should get an MRI to see if something else is causing my pain. It doesn’t seem to be a dislocated disc, according to X-rays at least.

I’ve known people who have had back pain, and I really couldn’t relate. One of my friends was in such pain all of the time. She actually got hooked on pain medication and pain patches. For a couple of years she was completely “out of it”. She lost huge blocks of time that she doesn’t remember anything about.

I’m not on medication, but there are days when I feel so tired and sore that I think I would love to take a couple of the Tylenol with Codeine pills that I had one time when I broke my arm.

I just remember how I felt when I was in such pain. I’d take a couple of those babies and I felt so good. Of course, they are habit forming and after my first prescription ran out, I got half a prescription because the doctor would not keep me on them. I learned to use the rest only when I really needed relief from the pain. But, my arm was healing and I soon didn’t need them any more.

As if my back wasn’t trouble enough, I discovered a red rash under my left arm. I really didn’t pay any attention to it until I realized that I was waking up in the morning, scratching under my arm. I looked in the mirror and was surprised to see the red rash.

I thought it was from shaving or deodorant, although I had not used a different deodorant. When the rash didn’t go away and looked like it was even worse, I went to the dermatologist. She thought it was a fungus from moisture. It has been warm and I do walk so I guess I might perspire “just a little”. Anyway, she scraped the rash to send to the lab.

In the meantime, she gave me a prescription for a cream and some powder. I laughed when she told me she was giving me a powder.

When I had shown the rash to Charlie, he said “Put some powder on it”. I thought he was joking. Then a few days later, I had told him that my rash was really bothering me and didn’t seem to be better. He said, “Put some powder on it.” Frustrated, I said, “What is all this about ‘putting powder on it’? But, I guess powder does tend to dry the skin.

I will go back to the dermatologist on October 4 and find out if the lab cultivated anything from my rash, which sounds weird, but that’s what they do. I think the rash is getting better, although it does still itch off and on.

I’ve always heard that things happen in three’s. In my case, that’s seems to be coming true. My third dilemma is what seems to be a problem with my teeth.

I have my regular six month cleaning appointment on the 29th. It was set up six months ago. A couple of weeks ago, while brushing my teeth, I noticed an incredible sensitivity on both sides of my mouth. Then I started feeling an “ache” somewhere with one of the upper right molars. I know that I had root canal done up there a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t think that I’d still have pain there.

But, I do remember that one of the dental technicians told me that she had had root canal on a tooth and still had pain. She had to have the tooth pulled. I hope that’s not going to be me.

Last year I had my bottom teeth straightened, using the Invisalign plates. I had to wear them for about eight months. I love the results, but since going through the treatment, my bite has been off. When I was at the dentist six months ago, she did some adjustments. I know that my bite on my right side is off and I had planned on trying to get something done when I go in.

But, I don’t know what’s going on with the sensitivity that all of a sudden has appeared.

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Mr. Creme, doing what he does best....look sweet

On the positive side, everyone else is doing just fine. Mr. Creme does have a little limp and I don’t know if it’s from him jumping our six foot high fence, but I kept him inside for a couple of days. Then yesterday when I let him outside in the yard, I opened the gate just big enough for him to go out. That way he wouldn’t have to climb the fence. He jumps to the top from the ground and then drops down. He may have landed wrong. Since he’s 11 years old now, I am going to see if I can make things a little easier for him.

Rhody and Jonesie
Little Buddies

Rhody is back to normal. His front paws are completely healed. I let him and Jonesie out in the backyard almost every afternoon. I leave the door open and they are free to run in and out. They really like that. When you see Jonesie, Rhody is not far behind. They are really close.

The Twins with Jonesie and Rhody
having their dinner together

The twins, Jason and Kaci, are welcome to go outside as well. I don’t know if it’s because we kept them in most of their life, but they usually will just go out and look around the yard a little. Then Kaci likes to get on the patio glider and sleep all afternoon. Jason usually comes back into the house and gets up on the cat tree and naps.

The two of them used to escape into the yard when we forgot to lock the screened patio door. Jason knows how to pry it open. They would run out into the yard and it took both Charlie, Sheila and I to catch them and get them back into the house. That was before we decided to start letting them go into the backyard. Now it’s nothing special since it’s not forbidden.

Jezibel

Ellie

Jezibel and Ellie have asthma and sometimes they are so congested that they can’t smell their food. The medicine we have for them really helps though. Both of them hate to take pills, so I have learned that if I crush the pill dose, which is 1/4 of a very small pill, dissolve it in a little water, then put it in a syringe, it goes down well and no one is traumatized.

Lexi, before

Lexi, after
(she has to eat to forget about it)

Lexi is starting to look like this again
(That's Toby inside)

Lexi, our long haired calico, was shaved just before we went on our RV trip in May. We took her to be groomed and really didn’t expect that the groomer would actually shave her down to her skin, but that’s what happened. We thought she would be trimmed very close, but not SHAVED. We’ll never do that again. But, Lexi’s fur has almost completely grown back and she is looking like herself again.

Debby

Debby, our little black feral cat, is doing fine. She gets along with all of the cats who go out into the garage and visit her. She loves Mr. Creme. Sometimes when I go out in the garage in the morning, she and Mr. Creme are sleeping next to each other.

We still can’t pick Debby up or hold her, but she really has nothing against being petted. Sometimes I leave the door from the house to the garage open and she is welcome to come into the house, but she never has. I’m hoping that one day she will get curious and walk in.

Marcus, one of Debby's kittens on the left
with his "new brother", Oreo

Debby had two kittens when I found her. One was a short haired male tabby (Marcus) and the other was a long haired female black and white (Thumbelina). Both are in good homes now.

More later.........

The ultimate camping trip was the Lewis and Clark expedition. ~Dave Barry

Charlie took Rhody back to the vet last Wednesday and, as expected, Rhody was given a clean bill of health. He now has the complete run of the house and is free to use any litter box he wants.

Kaci and Rhody in Sheila's kennel
KOA Kampground

It didn’t take him long to start spending some of that energy that he couldn’t use in his room. At first, Jonesie and the twins welcomed Rhody back into their world. But, soon their enthusiasm wore out. Jonesie does like the fact that he’s not getting clawed in the face by Rhody when they wrestle and play.

Rhody still has antibiotics to take through Monday evening. I’m going to make sure he gets all of them too.

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Charlie and Sheila

We decided to take our RV and spend Friday and Saturday night at our local KOA Kampground. I had received an email from KOA and some of the campgrounds were giving a free night. If we stayed Friday and Saturday night there, one of the nights was free. We couldn’t afford to miss a free night at the KOA.

Of course, we took our dog, Sheila, the twins, Jonesie, and Rhody. Rhody had never been in the RV while it was moving and we were anxious to see if he was going to be a good traveler, like the twins and Jonesie are.

Kaci (I know it's her because she's wearing a pink collar)
Jason wears a blue one.
When you have twins, it's hard to tell who is who

We went to the campground around 3:00 on Friday afternoon. It is not far from home, so the ride wasn’t bad for the cats. Sheila was with me in the car and Charlie had the cats with him in the RV. He said they were all as quiet as mice.

Rhody, catching a few rays

That afternoon and evening, they settled right in and did what cats normally do.......sleep. Then they played at night while we watched our Netflix movie.

The next morning around 6:00, the sound of crows cawing woke us up. It sounded like there were hundreds. They were in the tall trees on the hill above the campground. I didn’t know that crows could make so many different noises.

After breakfast, Charlie and I went home to check on the other cats. Mr. Creme and Lexi were fine. They wanted to go outside for awhile so we let them. Ellie, Jezibel and Debby were also fine. They were asleep and didn't really change their positions much while we were home.

When I got the mail, I saw a card addressed to “Master Jonesie Walker Bell”. I knew right away that it was a birthday card from our friend in Virginia, Jan. I don’t know how she remembers all of our cats’ names (even middle names) but, also their birthdays. In fact, I think she remembers their names better than I do.

Jonesie

Jonesie was a year old on Thursday, the 15th. We had seen Jan when we were in Virginia last May. Of course, Jonesie was with us and he was a big hit with everyone who met him. But, for Jan to remember that he would be a year old this month is amazing.

We started calling Jonesie “The Yearling” and since Rhody is six months old now, he is “The Halfling”.

Mr. Creme and Lexi came back inside before we went back to the campground. We like to "camp out", but it’s nice to be able to go home and check on things too.

We had a nice afternoon back at the RV. I found that when I am in the RV on a Saturday afternoon and I feel sleepy, I’ll take a nap. But, at home, I won’t take the time because I can always find something to do. The nap felt good.

Afterwards we took Sheila out for a long walk. We enjoyed it, but she is just as happy to curl up inside of her kennel and sleep. She is really a lazy dog.

Charlie and Sheila

We sat outside for awhile. The cats were at the door looking out, watching the people go by, some walking their dogs. A couple strolled by. The man was carrying a little dog and the woman was pushing a stroller which contained a big cat. I guess we’re not the only crazy people who take their pets camping with them.

This morning we were awakened at 6:00 by the crows in the trees squawking and trying to get their day organized. When they finally did, they flew around and some landed in the park and walked around like inspectors, checking the campsites. Our cats were watching every move.

More later..........

I had been told that the training procedure with kittens was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana

Rhody, five months old, at about 8 pounds
9/7/11

Our electricity went off at 3:40pm on Thursday afternoon. We waited for a few minutes and then Charlie checked our meter and it was blank. Our neighbors were also without electricity so we knew something else had happened.

By listening to the radio, we learned that the County of San Diego, south Orange County, Imperial County and part of western Arizona went dark. About 1.4 million customers were without power.

It was caused by a maintenance worker in Tucson, Arizona. He did something major wrong!

We were in the last day of a terrible heatwave, so thank goodness it was cooling down that night so we could sleep.

I woke up at 3:00am and the power was on. I think I must have heard something come on and it woke me because that is the time most people say they got power back too. So we were without power for about 12 hours. It could have been worse.

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Rhody seemed to be doing very well after his vet checkup last Sunday. Although he had a bad report that day because his right paw was not healing properly, we were giving him his pain meds and antibiotics like we were supposed to do. He was even having to wear his collar to keep him from biting his paws.

On Wednesday, I checked his paws and they looked pretty good. They didn’t seem to be open or have anything stuck to them. That evening we decided to remove the collar.

Whenever we’d had any cat declawed before, we never had any problems with them healing. I think the twins were running up and down the stairs a day or so after they came home from the vet. They had to get used to not having claws when they climbed the cat trees, etc., but it never really was an issue.

Rhody seemed perfectly normal. He was playing with his toys. He was eating fine. I checked his paws again on Thursday night and they still looked good.

On Friday morning, I was in the kitchen getting ready to feed the cats. I noticed that Rhody didn’t come in to eat. That is totally not like him. He likes to eat several times a day because he’s a growing boy.

I found him in the livingroom, lying on the floor. I petted him and noticed that he felt hot. I picked him up and brought him to the family room and sat down with him. He was very lethargic. I told Charlie that something was wrong with him. We both agreed that he felt like he had a fever.

I offered food to him, but he refused to eat. So, I laid him on a blanket on the couch. When I tried to examine his paws, his right paw seemed to be swollen and painful to him. It looked like he had also gotten some cat litter on his paw.

We had filled one of the litter boxes with “Yesterday’s News” litter and it was in the middle room upstairs. But, we really didn’t enforce Rhody staying in the room for long. Soon he was wandering around the house. Since we’d never had any problems with the other cats, we thought Rhody would be fine after a couple of days and going back to the regular litter boxes would be okay too. Apparently we were very wrong in our decisions.

The vet didn’t open until 8:00am and it was only about 5:00am. Rhody was really needing to go back to the vet. We were very concerned about him.

I called the vet’s office at 8:00am, but the recording was still on. I waited for a few minutes and called again. They answered and I told them the problem. They said “Bring him in.”

We immediately got him to the hospital. It was about 8:30am. When we checked in, we were told then that “The doctors won’t be in until 9:00am.” Well, it would have been nice if they had told us that on the phone.

Anyway, the hospital’s computers were also offline from the power outage yesterday. They didn’t know who had appointments, etc. Although we didn’t have an appointment, we had basically told them that we thought Rhody had a fever and it was urgent that he see a doctor.

As we waited, other people started coming in. One man came in with his daughter’s cat. He did not have an appointment either. Most of the other people who showed up probably did have appointments, but the staff didn’t know for sure.

So, when the man with the daughter’s cat got called into a room, we had already been waiting for about an hour and we’d been there before him. Charlie went up to the desk and asked them if they had forgotten about us. They assured us that they had not.

We had arrived at 8:30am and at 10:00am, a technician came to take Rhody back. She said that the doctor would see him, but there was no empty room and they would check his condition in the back. We were at least glad that he was getting taken care of after him being in the kennel for 1-1/2 hours.

When the technician returned, she said that Rhody had a very high temperature and his right paw was swollen. This was exactly what we had reported when we were trying to get in to see a doctor earlier. We kind of thought that since we were the first ones to arrive at the office, and since Rhody apparently had a fever, we would have gotten attention first.

But, we were glad he was being attended to now. We waited a little while longer. The technician came back and said that they had to soak Rhody’s paw in an antibacterial bath and clean it out some. The doctor would also be seeing him. It would take awhile so she suggested that we leave him and come back.

We were both worried about Rhody, but we left and went home. I had an appointment at 11:00am and went to that and then ran some errands.

When I returned home a couple of hours later, Charlie had just gotten off the phone with the vet, Dr. Bernhard. He said, “I was just politely scolded about Rhody’s condition.”

The vet was very upset that we had let Rhody’s paw get infected. He said that we could come and pick Rhody up, but that he would have to return Saturday and Sunday to get his paw soaked. He said, “Oh, and as we were cleaning the paw, we noticed some cat litter. Should I send “Yesterday’s News” home with you.”

Charlie said, “No, Doctor. We have learned the error of our ways. We will take care of Rhody when we get him home. We will confine him this time.”

The doctor wasn’t finished with him yet. He said, “Oh and I noticed that you just had Rhody in here last Sunday and Dr. Carpenter had to clean his paws then too!” All true. We have been bad parents and we know it. I pictured Charlie lying on the carpet by the time Dr. Bernhard got through with him!

So, we went over to pick Rhody up. We were relieved that we didn’t have to see the doctor face to face. Rhody had been given an antibiotic injection and we had pills to give him every 12 hours. I also was told to finish up the pain meds, which were every 12 hours. He had a little bandage on his right paw. It looked like a boxing glove.

When we got him home, we took him straight up to his room. I fed him and he was pretty hungry since he hadn’t eaten earlier. But, he was a different kitten from the one we took to the vet at 8:30am that morning, burning up with a fever.

He was purring and relaxed. He didn’t like his bandage, but really didn’t bite at it or anything. After he ate, I gave him some pain medicine and he curled up and went to sleep.

I checked on him during the rest of the afternoon and he was just fine. I had thought of sleeping in the room with him that night, but he was settled in the cat bed and I didn’t really need to keep an eye on him.

This morning I went into the room and he was asleep, but woke up and was very happy to see me. I fed him. I wanted to get him on a regular schedule for his meds, so I gave him his antibiotic and pain meds.

Charlie took him back to the vet this morning. This time, Rhody got a good report card. His paw looked better. He came home with a new bandage and will have to go back again tomorrow.

That is when Charlie will have to come face to face with Rhody’s regular vet, Dr. Carpenter. She is the one who has seen Rhody since the first time I took him in. She also is the one who did his surgery, so I know she’ll have something to say. She will probably not be happy that we didn’t follow her instructions from last Sunday. But, he said he would tell her, “I’ve already been scolded by Dr. Bernhard, so I don’t need another scolding.” I think he can handle it though.

More later.........

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet -- Roger Miller

Yesterday was Labor Day. We woke up to cloudy skies and rain. Yes, rain, here in Southern California.....where the song says it never rains.

I got ready to go walking with my friend, Kim. The sun was trying to appear when I went out to my car. The street looked dry, but my car was still wet. When I got to Kim’s house, she asked if it was still raining and I said, “No, it’s all over. It’s gone. It’s nothing.”

So we walked our usual walk and I left to drive home. As I was driving along, I noticed a sprinkle on my windshield. Now, if we lived in Virginia or somewhere that had rain all the time, I wouldn’t think anything about it. But, here it is, early September and I don’t think we’ve had rain here since February or March. So, rain is a big deal.

The sprinkles turned into real rain drops and I had to use my windshield wipers. This was serious stuff. Of course, by the time I got home, the rain had passed over and I didn’t have to run to the house to miss the drops.

The day remained cloudy though and it became humid. Humidity is also something we don’t experience here very often. At least what we usually have is not noticeable. On the east coast, it’s a given. Humidity comes with the summer, etc. I don’t really mind it because I have lived on the east coast and I can actually tolerate humidity more than most people can.

It was a lazy day. I was trying to catch up on some reading, so I curled up on the couch and settled in. After awhile, I guess I looked too comfortable because a couple of the cats, Rhody and Kaci, came by and decided they wanted to also curl up. I can sit in one place for an hour and then decide I need to get up and do something. That is when they always want to sit with me.

Charlie took Rhody back to the vet on Sunday. He had been declawed and neutered and the vet wanted to make sure he was doing okay. We thought he’d get a clean bill of health. But, no. As Charlie said, “He got a frown from the doctor.” Apparently, Rhody had been chewing on his right paw and had injured a toe. We didn’t notice it, but I guess we thought since Rhody was walking around and seemed normal, we didn’t think there was a problem.

They took Rhody back and “cleaned up the paw” and he was given antibiotics to take for a week. The dreaded collar went back on.

So, as Rhody sat on my lap, I took his collar off so he could tidy up a little while I watched. He licked and washed and licked and washed. When I caught him licking his paw, I stopped him and he went to licking something else. He looked like he was really enjoying himself. His fur was getting all wet. I think he figured that as long as he washed himself, I would let the collar stay off.

I had one of his toys and I teased him with that for awhile. Then he wanted to play with my hand. He started nibbling and sometimes a little too hard. The collar went back on and that was that. I didn’t even feel guilty about it. He was getting sleepy anyway.

Charlie decided he would go out in the yard and trim some bushes. Since he was going to be out there, I put the “dresses” (collars) on Jason, Kaci, Jezibel and Jonesie so they could go out for while. I usually sit outside with them, but today I just went out to check on them. Charlie was out there too and he knew where they were.

I went back to the couch to read some more. Then I heard rain drops on the cat’s patio roof. That’s a small enclosed patio just off of the living room. I went to the back patio door just in time to see Charlie carrying Jonesie to the patio. Apparently Jonesie was getting wet and didn’t really understand what was happening. He’d never been out in the rain.

We got Jonesie last December and he’s always been an indoor only cat. We just recently started letting him and the twins out into our backyard. Supervised at all times, of course.

Well, Jonesie was having none of this kid glove treatment. He ran back out into the yard. The raindrops were hitting him and he got so excited. He started running around the grass like he was chasing imaginary bugs.

The rain didn’t last long, but it did sprinkle off and on for the rest of the day.

This morning when I looked outside, I saw that it had been raining again. Well, when I say rain, it would actually be what people in normal rain states would call, “sprinkles”, if that. But, it’s enough to make the walks and streets look wet.

Then I heard on the radio that it would be “raining” off and on today and some areas would have thunder and lightning. Probably not here on the coast. That’s usually more like what they have east of us in the mountains. I hope there are no lightning strikes which could possibly start fires. It is that time of year, I’m afraid.

The humidity is a big.....81%! I know that would feel pretty dry to our friends and relatives out east. But, like the rain, it’s big news here.

We lived in Virginia when hurricane Isabelle went through. I know what strong winds and rain look like. I've even seen wind and rain storms here that were pretty scary and did damage to property.

I remember going to work on rainy days and most of the conversations were on the weather. It was not even a storm, just winter rain. Time was wasted just looking out the window at the rain coming down. I guess it would be like watching snow in Honolulu.

More later...........

When a cat sleeps all day it's natural, not annoying.

Rhody, in July

On Tuesday we took our five month old kitten, Rhody, to the vet to be neutered and declawed. He had to stay overnight, so I called at noon on Wednesday to see if he was ready to go home. No, he had a little fever and his doctor had to come in and check on him.

I went to get a haircut in the meantime. The girl who was going to cut my hair had orange/pink hair, a stud in her tongue, a three rhinestone pin in her upper lip, but, ahhh, no tattoos!

I have to say though, she was very intelligent and she gave me a good haircut and blow-dry. She said that she taught hair cutting at two schools. One in El Cajon and one at Miramar. She even allowed herself to be used as a guinea pig. Yes, she allowed her students to cut her hair and bangs. She said that otherwise, they would not have enough confidence in themselves to go on and get their licenses. When I told her that her hair cut looked good, she said “Well, I have extensions because I got a really bad cut and my bangs were really messed up, but......”

I knew a girl one time who went to cosmetologist school and she said that she practiced on wigs. Maybe they have changed their schools over the years. Anyway, this person who cut my hair yesterday did a good job.

I asked her about her hair when I first saw her. Maybe I’m getting older and I really don’t care what people think as much, but I was really curious as to how she got that color in her hair. She was not at all appalled that I would ask. I asked if it was permanent and she said “Yes, but it does run when I shampoo”. She said she had to first bleach her hair out and then put the color in. It took quite a long time to do. I didn’t tell her, (maybe when I’m in my 80's or 90's I will), but I wouldn’t have wasted so much time on it. It really didn’t look that good.

When she was shampooing me, she said that when she had new customers like me, she never knew if they would be conservative and not want her to fix their hair, because of her hair color, etc. I said, “Well, I wouldn’t want that color on my hair, but if you can cut my hair like I like, I couldn’t care less.” I also mentioned that I would never have a piecing in my body except for my ears, but I really didn’t care how many she had either. Then she told me that she would never get a tattoo. I stopped short of telling her that it was a good idea because by the time she got old, the tattoo would be a big waste of time. What was up is down by that time.

So, after the haircut, I called the vet again and Rhody was ready to come home. I went by to get him. The technicians told me that they had been holding him and he was so sweet. I knew that. Rhody is really calm and a special boy. They gave me some pain meds to give him every 12 hours for five days.

I brought him home. The other cats sniffed him. He was pretty hungry and he ate his dinner and then went to the other bowls. He had already had his pain meds at the hospital so we didn’t have to give him anything, just keep the collar on so he couldn’t lick anything.

I got up early this morning and checked on Rhody. He was fine. Jonesie and Rhody are used to playing in the morning. They chase each other through the house and then get up on top of the cat tree in the family room and wrestle.

I was lying on the couch and all of a sudden Jonesie ran up the cat tree. Before I could stop him, Rhody tried to run up the cat tree. He doesn’t have claws anymore and he came crashing down. I couldn’t help but yell because I thought he might have hurt himself. He ran away. I went looking for him. All the noise woke up Sheila and Charlie. We found Rhody under the coffee table in the front room. We checked his paws, etc. and he seemed fine. All of this with his cone head collar on.

I fed the cats and then we gave Rhody his pain medication. I probably wouldn’t have, but he seemed to be worried about his paws and that is usually a sign that he has pain. He’s supposed to get a dose every 12 hours.

I remember when Taz had his surgery last year, we had Tramadol to give him. I think we only gave him a dose because he really didn’t seem to need it. Sometimes the side effects are worse than the treatment. It made him nauseous. I think the taste of the Tramadol was bitter.

Rhody took his meds easily and I think it helped him through the day. He was due another dose about 4 hours ago. Before bedtime, I will see if he seems to need it.

They gave me syringes with already measured doses of the medication. That way we don’t have to draw it up in the syringe ourselves. Last year with Taz’s meds, I had a syringe which I had to measure the amount to give and I drew it up from the liquid in a bottle. Not that big of a deal, but we see how things change from year to year. It’s easier having pre-dosages.

So Rhody has done well today. He won’t get to go outside for awhile, but he really didn’t complain about that much. We have been letting everyone outside in the backyard for a couple of hours in the afternoon. We watch them carefully and they run around the yard. It’s good for Jonesie because he seems to be building his muscles up, running across the yard, etc.

Jonesie is nicknamed “Marshmallow Man” because he feels so squishy when I pick him up. He’s so soft and doesn’t feel heavy. Although I weighed him this morning and he now weighs 9.8 lbs.! Rhody is 8 lbs. already, at 5 months old. It will be interesting to see how big that guy gets!

More later...........