Fridays are Golden

Rarely do we take only one dog anywhere in the car. However, Lucy needed to see our veterinarian. She's been having some digestive problems which didn't resolve with medications last week.

Ellie was totally shocked to find herself left behind.
Wait! You forgot my leash.

She plopped down in the bed, still wondering why she didn't get to go for a ride.

She moved from place to place, but her expression and demeanor did not change. She was down-hearted for sure.

Periodically she went to the window to look out at the driveway.

At last she heard my husband's car and ran to the garage door.

Hi, Mom. I'm home! Lucy is delighted to be back. Ellie checks her out. Perhaps she smells like the veterinarian's office.

Well Mom, I checked her out and it is indeed Lucy. No switcheroo here. But she does smell a little funny.

Both dogs were exhausted for the remainder of the day. Ellie because she had fretted about being left behind, and Lucy because of the visit to the doctor. They slept side-by-side for most of the afternoon.

The doctor is fairly convinced that Lucy has picked up whip worms. They are notoriously difficult to detect and treat and apparently the eggs can lie dormant in the soil for years. In fact, our veterinarian said that if your dog gets whip worms, you shouldn't blame it on your neighbor's dog; you should blame it on his grandfather's dog. A specimen sent to the lab will confirm the diagnosis or give us another one. Lucy has always been the dog that picks up all sorts of things...clumps of dead leaves, moss, pine cones, acorns, and even rocks.

Both dogs are being treated. You may recall that these dogs get nothing but dry dog food and the occasional carrot or two. Imagine their total delight when they found a bit of canned dog food (with the medicine stirred in it) on top of their kibble this morning. The bowls were licked until the dishes spun around in the holders. Lucy is also taking Flagyl. We spread half a slice of bread with a small amount of Laughing Cow cheese, wrap the pills inside and they think it is the best thing since, well, sliced bread. (We have to give Ellie a small piece of bread sans medicine.) They have no idea the origin of their newfound wonderous snacks, but it is marvelous indeed. It's going to be hard for them to realize that in a week, there will be no more bread and cheese for them.

Fortunately, both girls seem to feel fine and the only real problem is that Lucy sometimes awakens us in the middle of the night to go potty. On the one hand we are getting far too old to quickly fall back to sleep. On the other hand, we are retired and seldom have an early appointment.

I think all of us remain very anxious about the Gulf oil disaster. I do not have the words to tell you how much this affects me, and I live far from the coast. It's hard to imagine the future of the wetlands involved and what this is doing to the people along the Gulf coast. Our thoughts are with them as we approach yet another weekend since this disaster.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Hold your friends and family near and do at least one nice thing for someone else.