Favorite comic:
MUTTS, by Patrick McDonnell,
Starring Earl and Mooch.
If you love your pets,
Love to hug trees, want world peace,
Check out this “funny.”
My girls are fans, too
Of pets, the earth, and cute clothes
Inspired by the MUTTS.
For more Haiku, visit Jennifer over at Playgroups are No Place for Children and Christina at A Mommy Story.
For this Thursday Thirteen
I offer you Thirteen Tips for Healthy Living. The first seven have to do with physical health, and the remaining six with mental well-being. These are suggestions for your consideration, not a pretended panacea:
- Go for a daily walk.
- Eat fresh fruit and veggies daily.
- Enjoy indoor pets, including cats and dogs.
- Wash your hands after using the toilet, changing the baby, caring for pets, before handling food, or, in other words, Keep your hands clean!
- Sneeze into the crook of your arm if no tissue is available, in order to stop the spread of airborne pathogens.
- Floss your teeth daily (Brush them, too.).
- Remove all wall-to-wall carpet from your home, and cover mattresses and pillows with dust-proof covers.
- Do your part to live peaceably with others, especially those in your own home. Romans 2:18 is a Bible verse that expresses this thought.
- Think about praise-worthy, beautiful things more than “the dark side” of life. I’m especially thinking here of what “food” you feed your mind. Garbage in will yield garbage out, eventually.
- Treat others the way you would like to be treated, including your children and spouse. Matthew 7:12 is a Bible verse that speaks of this: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
- However, don’t be a Pollyanna who PRETENDS that everything is OK. Sometimes things ARE bad, or dangerous. These things can be dealt with in a responsible way, but pretending that something is good doesn’t make it so.
- Set priorities for your day, based upon your current calling in life, and do the work in order. This way you won’t be overwhelmed by stress, or the tyranny of your TO DO list.
- Cultivate the habit of THANKFULNESS. As a Christian, I am first of all thankful to the Lord for all His undeserved blessings. But I also mean, say, “Thank you!” to the people in your world.
My admiration has continued long,
Though distant first my budding affection;
As you showed kindness, the bonds became strong.
Apart from you I suffer dejection.
Once, fighting and violence marked my days.
Unmitigated hormones led to strife.
The aid you offered helped me change my ways;
I solaced myself with domestic life.
To express one’s love, it is the season;
This Valentine’s Day: Honor you on it.
For hiding my love there is no reason,
So I give to you this humble sonnet.
Nobody else can match your stroke or pat.
Please accept these loving words from your cat.
This has been a lovely Sunday. We enjoyed a time of good food and good conversation with a couple of families from church this afternoon. Judging from the quietness in the house now, I think most of the family is napping for a bit prior to leaving again for church this evening.
I haven’t posted any photos in a while so here is one of our lovable, affectionate, bossy Gigi:
Here is another photo of Gigi, this time with Reb. They are reclining on the rug that Kayla made for Rebecca recently for her birthday:
Rick purchased a new camera to take along on business trips. The main requirements for this camera were that it had to fit in his pocket, and be equipped with an optical image stabilizer. The little Canon Power Shot SD870 IS fits the bill. I promise, I will learn to use this camera, so that I will not be so dependent on the rest of the family for photos! Here are some photos of our kitties:
This is our kitty, Bonnie Boy. He once upon a time lived a few houses away, but decided to adopt us. He especially adores Rick.
You’ve met Percy cat before. Here he is, indulging his curiosity, following Rick around as he experimented with his new camera outside this evening. Hmmm . . . Percy really likes Rick, too.
This is Lucy cat. Now, this kitty likes me. She sleeps by my feet, but then during the night sneaks up near my face and starts purring loudly to let me know she needs a midnight snack. If I don’t oblige, she steps back and forth across my face, which is scary, since she weighs over 20 pounds and has sharp claws.
This is our kitty Gigi with Lydia, Seth and Rebecca. Poor Rebecca isn’t feeling very well. Forgive me for posting this photo, Dearie, but I needed to include all the cats in the post (for some odd reason). 
Today after work I went to the Nooksack Animal Hospital to fetch Lassie home. She was frantically happy to see me, and couldn’t wait to hop into the car. The vet sent her home with some cephalexin capsules, and instructions that I feed her only her dry dog food, with the addition of the occasional Milk Bone. No more table scraps for the old Lassie dog.
I asked the vet if mineral oil would have been an appropriate “cure” to give a dog suspected of having a digestive blockage. The vet said:
Thanksgiving’s bounty overflowed into our dog Lassie’s food bowl as scraps of turkey meat and skin. The results for Lassie were not so happy, however.
I reproach myself now for the lack of common sense which would have reminded me that, as Lassie has gotten older (She is a ten-year old keeshond, chow, lab mix), she has been eating less. Typically, she eats a small portion of dry dog food formulated for mature dogs, and a milkbone. Somewhere in my memory the knowledge that sudden changes to a pet’s diet are harmful should have sounded a warning and stopped me from loading the poor doggie’s bowl with all those turkey scraps. However, I did give her the leftovers (bones carefully removed), and she ate it all.
The first hint of trouble came Friday morning. Lassie threw up, and looked down in the dumps. She went outside to eat some grass to ease her tummy troubles. We were alarmed when, much later in the day, Lassie threw up what looked to be quarts of water. She couldn’t keep water down. We worried, “Intestinal blockage?”, but it was late by that time. The vet’s office was closed for the weekend.
A friend of ours, who is a farmer, recommended that we give Lassie mineral oil. (I don’t know yet if this is good or bad advice. I’ll ask the vet.) Well, since we didn’t have that, we gave her vegetable oil, purportedly to lubricate the “obstruction” and help it pass through her system. This was the worst thing we could have done, as the vet sternly informed me. It exacerbated the condition that the super-abundance of scraps brought on: pancreatitis. This is what ThePetCenter.com has to say about this condition:
Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreatic gland which is situated very close to the origin of the small intestine (duodenum) near the pyloric area of the stomach. This elongated, thin organ has numerous responsibilities including secreting hormones into the bloodstream such as insulin and glucagon which act in concert to regulate blood sugar levels within rather narrow limits. As well, life would not be possible for dogs or cats without digestive enzyme production and secretion into the lumen of the intestine. These digestive enzymes can actually cause the demise of the dog or cat if they leak into pancreatic tissues or surrounding abdominal structures. Therefore any inflammation of the pancreas has potentially life-threatening consequences. Pancreatitis can result from trauma, sudden ingestion of fat, toxins, viruses and other unknown causes. One usual consequence of pancreatitis is diarrhea and vomiting. Pain is a hallmark of pancreatitis and it is always considered a priority for treatment by attending veterinarians.
I took Lassie to the vet Monday, and she is still there. She is on antibiotics and a special diet, doing fine, but getting special care. I’m to bring her home tomorrow. I’ve learned a lesson, but it’s been the hard way, as far as our dear doggie is concerned.
Quotation of the day
