"On the plains of Oklahoma, with a windshield sunset in your eyes like a watercolor painted sky, you'd think heavens doors have opened."
Fly Over States



Sunday, October 12, 2008

Set Back for Ms. Jezebel


Last night at dinnertime, shortly following a spirited chase of the fat, stupid squirrel-with-a-death-wish, we called Jezebel to dinner. When she didn't appear, I glanced over to see her tentatively trying to walk but apparently not able to get her legs to work. As you can imagine, my heart froze.

She gingerly made her way to the kitchen and when husband reached down to pat her shoulder, she screamed.

We couldn't tell what leg she was favoring and for a time, I wondered if she'd had a stroke. Perhaps she had a pinched nerve.

Perhaps the cancer had matastasized to her bones.

Although she looked confused and could barely walk, she gobbled down her dinner like it was her last meal. For all I knew, it was. Only goes to show how concerned I am for her. I keep working to avoid the thought that the melanoma is probably a death sentence.

She was in pain the rest of the evening. We broke down and gave her an aspirin and that seemed to ease her. I kept telling myself that she probably pulled something but I couldn't help but worry. She couldn't make it up or down the stairs without crying out. I insisted that I would carry her up the stairs and Husband insisted that there was no way I could lift that dog. I insisted I could lift a Volkswagen if I needed to. He ended up carrying her with me yapping at his heels that I could do it.

She cried out when she got on our bed.

I lay awake off and on last night worrying that it was the cancer. I also worried that she had torn her ACL. We still couldn't tell exactly where she was hurting. Her feet didn't seem to hurt.

This morning, she was in fine spirits and was moving better. She cried out when we moved her right hind leg and she appeared to be favoring it and not putting weight on it. Her hips appeared out of alignment. I've been helping her up and down the stairs, all day, and she immediately learned to call for taxi service whenever stairs are involved. I think she kind of likes husband carrying her or me assisting her.

She has been eating like a horse.

At one point, she was outside and barked to be carried up the deck stairs. I headed out, Husband headed out. We had the same ridiculous discussion that I could NOT lift her and while he was impuning my superhuman-furmom strength, Jezebel glided up the stairs on her own.

We deliberately did not give her an aspirin because she did not seem to he hurting unless she was moving, and pain has its function. We decided that would encourage her to rest. Husband suggested that she ought to be going up and down the stairs to work out whatever was bothering her and I found myself getting a little testy because "obviously" the poor thing needed to be coddled. We've been keeping an eye on her and making sure that we don't leave her alone on a given floor of the house because she'll try to come find us.

As the day has gone on, she began limping on the back leg more noticeably, but it no longer seemed out of line with the rest of her. If she does not feel considerably better by tomorrow, we'll take her in. At this point, we are hoping that she just strained something.




At least her muzzle continues to fill in.


I worked on the surf and sand quilt top, today. Let me just say it. That thing is a son of a bitch. A SON OF A BITCH!! Okay, I have just lost 3/4ths of my readers and my children are embarrassed for me.

Grr. I love paper piecing blocks but they are no fun to stitch together for a top. In addition, I set them on point and kept losing my place on where the large center stars needed to be. Several times I laboriously lined them up, got the seams straight, stitched them down, ironed them out, and realized they were on upside down. I'd rip them out and do it, again. What is wrong with me? I think I am just distracted and worried about Jezebel.


That being said, I am quite pleased with how it is coming along.




I am going to put a thin strip around the quilt top but haven't decided if I will go with a brown or a dark blue. I kind of wish I had more of the striped fabric because that could look sort of cool. I have several pieces of fabric from this line that I haven't used yet that I plan to use in the outer border.



NEWFLASH!!! We let Jezebel out to "go" in the back yard and she hobbled out like a cripple. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash and it was Jezebel, racing to catch that stupid, arrogant squirrel-with-a-death-wish that has been vexing her. She left Evelyn in the dust (not that Evelyn really has any concept of what it is like to be a predator - that girl can't catch a potato chip). Jezebel darn near caught that rodent.

Better get out the aspirin. She's going to pay for that.

10 comments:

Kim West said...

Sorry about Jezebel, hope she is better soon.

The top is simply gorgeous! PIA in all...

Anonymous said...

I'll keep my fingers crossed that Jezebel pulled a muscle somehow, and that she heals up real soon. From the sounds of it, you can blame a lot on that $#@& squirrel.

Janet

Lady Beekeeper said...

Janet, she darn near caught it. I don't know how she did it. I think that ^&*%$ squirrel is retarded.

Holee said...

Both Eskie's and Samoyed have a history of hip dysplasia. My Eskie has it and was put on cortisone which really distressed me. Worse, it didn't seem to help much, he still limped and cried out in pain.

While at a dog show I saw K9 Liquid Health-K9Glucosamine. I went on line and found out a lot about it and ordered it from:
http://outletnutrition.com

That was a year ago. Griz takes it daily and shows NO signs of dragging his leg anymore. He has not cried out in pain since a week after starting the treatment.

I am thinking Jezebel might need a nutritional sourse added to her diet because the cancer treatment takes a lot out of the system.

Just something you might want to think about. My Vet is impressed at how well Griz has done on it.

Hope Jezebel has a better day tomorrow and the rodent leaves town!

Stephanie D said...

My heart almost stopped when I saw the title--was so glad to keep reading and find out the whole story. Whew.

My daughter's cat was struck by a car once--strained the ligament in his hip, and he limped for a long time. Since we fed him on top of the dryer to keep the dog out of his food, we had to start picking him up and placing him by the food, since he couldn't jump up alone.

Several months of this went by, and the limp disappeared, but not the expectation of being lifted to the dryer. And then, whenever he wanted a little sympathy, or got perturbed at us, he limped again. On purpose. Clever little critters, aren't they?

Oh, and I love the Surf and Sand Quilt! Paper piecing is the forerunner of hades for me, but I do love the way it looks.

JessicaSews said...

Dear Penny,

Your quilt is stunning, it's really coming together quickly (even with the distractions!), seems like you just finished the last one the other day!

I wanted to check in on Jezebel -
we're hoping the best for her.
Chasing squirrels! Like a kid, you can't tell them to to take it easy!

**She's a big doggie, I hope you take care not to hurt your back should you decide to lift her.

Give those pretty dogs a hug
from us!
~ Jes

Nancy said...

Penny, the quilt is fabulous! From the photos, it looks like you not only have super human strength, but that you can also fly with camera in hand! Or were you just hanging from the ceiling fan for the angle over the bed?
As for Jez, hope she heals well and soon. Sounds like you got some good suggestions from the others. Good luck keeping her immobile so what ever it is can heal. Please keep us posted. I think we've all taken an interest in that puppy.

elsie123 said...

You're such a good Mom to Jezebel, she's lucky to have you. And your quilt top is gorgeous! That pp book will probably be on my Christmas wish list, just because of your pictures of various projects.

Kathy Raker said...

Penny, sorry to read Jezebel is having difficulty walking. Hope she feels better soon and it isn't anything serious. Your quilt looks very nice.

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

Poor Jezebel. I hope she's doing better today. Give her a big hug from me. Riley was whining every now and then when he moved which I thought he had hurt his leg or something too, but it turned out to be gas from the new dog food formula. Fingers crossed she's OK!!!