I went with wallowing in a Beer + Sad Expression —> Elicitation of free shot from the bartender:

Rough day.

ROUGH day.

Imagine if you have a window of 20 minutes to answer, “well, you either pay 6k up front right now for this emergency surgery for your dog, or else he’s permanently paralyzed and will have to be put down.”

…. ummm….

6k is a lot of money. Combined with the 3k we just spent on him for his ACL repair, plus the 1.5k we spent on the cat who decided to get two UTIs and infect and rupture her anal glands (yuck)… we’re approaching 10k just on ani-mules for the past 5 weeks. :::exhale:::

How much constitutes “too much?” At what point is the “contract” you have between you and this trusting, loving and loyal soul moot?

At what point are you putting your own dreams aside (Paramedic school, travel to see afar and much missed family) aside to possibly only extend a life by a little? When is a dog just “a dog” and not a member of your family?

How the HELL does anyone make these freaking decisions??!

We decided to do it. “He’s been a good dog.” *cry* But I’ll tell you, it was NOT an easy decision to make.

Linus is under the knife RIGHT NOW and could be in the emergency vet hospital for up to 3 days. We’re allowed to go see him during Visiting Hours tomorrow, from 8pm-10pm. We can bring some special treats and toys. He saw the “best of the best” Neurosurgeon and I’m sure they did a wonderful job. Did you even know dog neurosurgeons existed?

:sigh:

More details of the exact procedure to come… but in the meantime I needed to make a complain-y post to wallow. Grab a Stella and join me and Andrea (((thannnk you))) and I in this cozy booth. My misery right now could use some company.

We love you, Linus!! Heal up fast, Boy.

This video of Linus getting scritches at our 4th of July BBQ has gotten almost 6k hits!

::Edit- now almost 9k!::

I wish there was some way in youtube that I could figure out where all the traffic was coming from (was it linked somewhere? put on Digg? reddit? etc…), but I don’t think there is. One time Earl posted a picture of Linus eating peanut butter on digg my traffic to this blog shot through the roof.

Oh well. Thanks to the youtubers for enjoying Linus being cute!

Making a run for it:

This is Flea, our neighbor’s cat. She was hanging out in the sunbeam on the railing of our porch when I went out there this morning to water the plants.

She’s a little stand-offish, but sometimes friendly (I believe Earl warmed her up with some Kitty Greenies before). This morning after I saw her and grabbed my phone to catch a shot, Linus loped over to her spot beneath the railing, butt wagging, and attempted to dopily make friends. Flea rebuffed his advances, hissed, and made this speedy exit to a neighbor’s fire escape.

She’s a handsome girl, though… another time I will have to try for a better shot!

Now… get packing.

Don’t forget to pack my crate, my toys, my food, my bed, my brushing equipment, my treats, my toothbrush and peanut butter flavored toothpaste, my …..

Living the Good Life

Squeak balls + beach = fun

OMGSQUEAKBALL MUST POUNCE!!

I find it very cute how he “plays” with the ball all by himself. He actually rolls it away with his nose and then will pounce on it!

We enjoyed ze sunshine! In fact… I even got a *teensy* bit of a burn, which faded into a nice tan today.

I know my keyboard is crinkly and my laptop is located in the sunbeam, however NO SITTING ON MY COMPUTER, Confounded Feline!

Just look at that guilty expression on her face! She knows she is not supposed to be there!

*yawn* I just got home from a 24hr shift this morning, took a nap and woke up. Now off to walk the dog to the park, run some errands and then attend a lecture series tonight and the gym. Computer will be closed and relocated out of the sunbeam to make it less enticing to cat butts.

Came home yesterday after work and then the gym to find this note:

How spoiled are we? TWO WALKS? A FOUR HOUR HANG AROUND AT HER HOUSE? Plus she hangs out and plays with our cat? !!!

Linus has a very plush life. He’s with me most of the time, however the two or three days a week I go to work, he gets the royal treatment from Robin.

Our dogwalker, Robin, is the greatest. She’s such a caring and loving woman to the pets. She works with my oddball schedule that changes all the time and is extremely reliable. Linus ADORES her and they have so much fun together. A lot of the time she brings him back completely covered in mud or sand, because they play in the dirt pit at the dog park. But we don’t mind because we know he had so much fun.

If anyone’s looking for a dog walker in the Haight Ashbury area, Robin has our highest recommendations. We’ve been using her for a year now and she is stupendous. If you would like her contact info, please contact me here and I will be happy to send it to you! She doesn’t really advertise and most of her clients are found via word of mouth.

Woke up this morning to the following email blast from my SF Corgi listserve:

Some of you may have seen the news about an early morning fire at the
Berkeley Humane Society shelter. They fire destroyed a significant
portion of their facility including their cat shelter and all of their
offices.

They are heartbroken to have lost a number of cats during the fire,
but about a dozen cats and all of the dogs were saved.

They are in need of emergency assistance both in the form of
individuals who can temporarily foster animals, as well as immediate
financial donations. Once the situation is further stabilized they
will need volunteers for cleanup and recovery.

As their offices were destroyed and their utilities cut, their phones
are out and they are coordinating all efforts from their website.

www.berkeleyhumane.org

Thank you!

So sad! Heartwrenching to think of the cats that perished in the fire

I just emailed them to help volunteer with the cleanup and we may also temporarily foster (if they have a dog or cat who would get along with another dog and cat!). Perhaps you would like to help out as well? They are looking for people to help clean, temporarily foster animals and also monetary donations. I’m sure spreading the news of their situation on your website, twitter or facebook would help too. Find out more updates and how you can help here on their website: www.berkeleyhumane.org

Here is hoping they get back on their feet quickly and back to helping animals in need!

Aww, man. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get out of bed to go to the gym when you’re taking a nap and the cat crawls up on your chest, takes perch, and purrs up a storm?

It was like she was physically holding me down with her paws and lulling me back into snooze with that hypnotic purr. I’ll admit- I txt’d E to bail on the gym and fell back asleep for another two hours. ZZZzzz. *yawn*

…. dogs so funny lookin when they pose upside down?

I reckon it’s the goofy expression:

Tried on cats. Doesn’t work.

(also, based on my sample size of one, cats seem far less inclined to pose upside down and must be bribed with chin scratches).