Missing Molly...

Tuesday afternoon I headed out of town to visit my mom and take some paperwork to my sister. After I left, Don put the dogs in the front yard while he mowed. He didn't think anything would happen...it was cooler than it's been in weeks and he was right there with them.

Sadly, he realized something was wrong with Molly when he brought the dogs in that evening. She was very lethargic and immediately began to drink excessive amounts of water (they had water in the front yard) which promptly came back up. Molly refused her supper, but again, Don didn't think much of it because she does that from time to time. He gave her a treat, which she did eat, so he went to bed not realizing that Molly was in need of veterinary emergency care.

When he got up yesterday he found Molly laid flat out on the floor downstairs and blood everywhere. He immediately rushed her to our local vet where she was diagnosed with Heat Stroke. Ultrasound showed her colon and bladder were full of blood, but the vet said Molly would pull through. They put her on an IV and Don came home. I got home last night and we both spent the evening worrying, especially when we researched Heat Stroke online.

Early this morning Don called the vet to see if Molly had made it through the night and was told she was doing much better. He decided to leave work early so he could stop and see her, plus discuss what we'd learned with the vet (we were concerned about organ failure/damage, blood clotting, etc.). What a relief to hear that they had downgraded her condition to Heat Exhaustion instead of Heat Stroke! Molly had eaten some kibble and kept it down and when Don went back to see her, Molly was up wagging her tail and happy to see her "Daddy".

She's still having bloody diarrhea so they're keeping her through tonight, but Molly should come home tomorrow. I can't wait! Even though there are still 17 dogs here, the house seems empty without Miss Molly.

Please, be very careful with your pets in this hot weather! We thought we were careful because we've been giving all the animals cool water, ice and making sure they had fans, shade, etc. If you notice your pet acting odd in ANY way, stop and make sure they are not to hot. Here are some signs to watch for...

Symptoms of Heat Exhaustion:

• Heavy breathing
• Anxiousness
• Deliriousness
• Dark red gums
• Restlessness
• Dizziness or confusion
• Thick saliva
• Inattentiveness
• Increased salvation followed by dry gums
• Weakness
• Very high temperature
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting

Molly did not have all these symptoms, but she had several of them, which Don missed because he didn't recognize them as signs of overheating. Please take time to educate yourself on Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke and what you need to do for your dog should they start showing symptoms. It could save your pet's life!

Do you recycle?

Last night Maggie (pictured above and currently barking her head off behind me) brought something into the house. Don yelled for me to check it out, but I was a little freaked because it looked like a mouse tail hanging out of one side! Maggie has been known to bring in "gifts" the cats left us at the back door. She's also been known to carry fish to the house from the pond and has been caught carrying turtles around (always unharmed and released in a safe place).

Fortunately, she did not have a mouse. Maggie had the biggest cicada I have ever seen in my life. It was one big bug! Unfortunately, it was almost dead so I told Don to toss it into the chicken pen so someone could have it for breakfast.

You see, we're big into recycling here. Aluminum is taken to the recycling center, leftovers are fed to the critters (dogs, chickens and ducks) and other items are put in the garden compost. It's a wonderful circle, especially when the animals are involved.

The chickens and ducks eat scraps and  vegetable peels which they turn into eggs for us to eat and fertilizer for the garden, which grows food for us to eat, which in turn provides scraps and vegetable peels for the chickens, etc. The horses eat grass, which saves us gas and time to mow it. That grass is turned into fertilizer for the garden, which provides food for us and the chickens, and so forth.

Last night I cleaned out the vegetable bin in my fridge and left the bucket of old stuff on the floor. I was planning to take it out to the compost pile today, but Maggie and Caoimhe had other plans. Caoimhe has obviously convinced Maggie that over sized cucumbers are REALLY good, although I think Maggie just chewed hers up. I reached this conclusion when I saw the huge mess on the living room floor. Caoimhe, on the other hand, loves to eat cucumbers. Yes, she is a strange dog.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to recycle all the dog hair I sweep up...

Crawdad Crook strikes again!

Just about every evening I walk down to the pond to check the minnow basket. I like to supplement the ducks' evening meal with live fish. They love to jump in their kiddie pool and chase minnows around and around. It's a tasty treat they've sorely missed this summer due to a sneaky thief down at the pond!

That's right...we have a thief in our pond that I call the Crawdad Crook. Every day I find one crawdad in the minnow basket and no minnows. I am convinced that it is the same crawdad who has figured out the minnow basket is easy pickings. 

What to do? Normally I get my fishing pole and catch a few small fish if the minnow basket is empty, but it's just been to hot to stand down at the pond fishing...plus, there are skeeters down there. I'd call the crawdad cops, but their number is unlisted. Should I have a crawdad boil? One crawdad ain't going to make for much of a boil! 

Guess I'll just have to relocate the Crawdad Crook tomorrow. He's going to find himself in the big pond tomorrow evening. Hopefully he won't be replaced by another sneaky thief! If so, the ducks may be eating crawdads! 

Running late...

It was so hot today that I waited until the sun was behind the trees before going out to feed the chickens, ducks and Elvis. Elvis didn't mind, but the ducks and chickens gave me an earful for running late. Fortunately, as soon as they had fresh cool water and food they all forgot about me.

Actually, it wasn't all that hot today. I think our high was 92 degrees, but the heat index was 102. Heat indexes really irritate my son. He says that if it FEELS like 102, then it IS 102, which makes a lot of sense to me! According to Wikipedia, "The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity in an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent temperature..." so I think my son is on to something!

Personally, I know it's hot when sweat trickles down my back within 60 seconds of stepping outside. It's also pretty evident that it's hot when the chickens are walking around with their wings held out from their bodies and their beaks are agape. They weren't doing either of those when I went out this evening, so maybe they aren't to ticked off that I was running late!

Fergus and his fantasy...

Yesterday evening, while feeding the ducks and chickens, my attention was drawn to my cats, Fergus and Kearie, playing. Fergus escaped from Kearie's clutches and went up a fence post. I was delighted to see this as Fergus is often spotted sitting on top of fence posts, but never seen actually climbing up one. He had an odd way of going up the post, more a form of hitching himself up than actually doing a graceful feline climb. This didn't really surprise me since Don and I are convinced that Fergus believes himself to be a dog.

When Fergus was five weeks old a cruel person threw him out of a moving car onto a concrete driveway. The man who found him brought Fergus to the vet's office where Don and I just so happened to be...guess I was in the right place at the right time! When the man came in with something wrapped up in a brown paper bag I was instantly curious...and very concerned. Don says I was hopping from foot to foot, but I don't believe him.

When the man handed the paper bag to a vet tech he asked her what they were going to do and she said they would have to put it down. I immediately blurted, "What is it and can it be saved?" and was relieved when she said that it was a kitten and it might possibly survive. I replied that I would take full responsibility for the tiny kitten. The man thanked me (as did everyone else in the vet's office) and told me what had happened.

Poor little Fergus...his nose had been ripped off when he hit the pavement and he was in very bad shape. So the vet's office kept him overnight and I returned the next day to bring him home. We put the large dog crate in the family room so that the dogs and other cats could become accustomed to Fergus.

For two weeks it was touch and go. Fergus was in so much pain he would just lie in his bed with his head hanging. I had to feed him with a syringe because he couldn't breathe and suck a bottle at the same time. Eventually he healed as best he could and became a happy little guy.

Today Fergus is a big beautiful cat and we don't notice the horrid disfigurement where his nose used to be. He spends most of his days lying in the yard with the dogs, which is why we think Fergus believes he IS a dog...after all, he grew up in a dog crate surrounded by other dogs! He never purrs and seldom meows. I told Don this is because Fergus thinks he should bark and it doesn't come out right so he stays quiet...probably embarrassed by the girly meows.

Yesterday, after climbing the fence post, Fergus hopped down into the back yard with the two dogs that live back there. He's the only cat that ever gets in the back yard...probably because Fergus thinks he's one of the dogs. When I came in the house Fergus was sitting next to the doghouse like he belonged there.

I guess, in his mind, he does!

We need more food!

You may have noticed I don't blog on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. That's because those are Don's off days...our Saturday and Sunday. Usually I let him stay home and babysit the zoo, ummm...farm, while I do my errands and buy groceries. Then we spend Wednesday together at home. I don't get much computer time on those days as I let him have it. After all, I have the computer the other five days!

Because of the heat I put off my Tuesday errands for a week or so, which meant a big shopping day this past Tuesday. When I got home all the dogs and some of the cats were very curious to see if I'd gotten them some treats. Putting the groceries away is always a challenge with ten or more four-legged "helpers" getting in the way!

Wednesday Don and I met a friend at Ajax Diner in Oxford for lunch. If you ever find yourself in Oxford, Mississippi I highly recommend stopping in at Ajax Diner for lunch. They have the best Southern home cooking you can find outside of Grandma's kitchen! YUM! I always have the fried catfish and sweet potato casserole.

Afterwards we stopped at the State Trooper's Station in Batesville to get our licenses renewed. Don's had expired on his birthday back in February and mine expired on my birthday this past weekend. It was packed, but we used the new kiosk and were out of there in five minutes.

While in town we noticed that, for once, the temperature in the truck matched the temperature on the bank sign...111 degrees! I'm glad I didn't know the heat index! When we got home it was 107 at the farm with a heat index of 113. Don made sure all the animals had fresh cool water and filled up the kiddie pool I'd bought for the dogs the day before. Then he and I crashed in the house and enjoyed a lazy, drowsy evening.

Now you know why I go missing for two days and what I normally do on my "weekend". Y'all stay cool and keep your fingers crossed that this heat eases off soon!

Who let the cat out of the bag?

My cats love to hide in odd places. I've found cats napping in the kitchen sink. I've found cats crammed into boxes much to small for them and I've found cats hiding in bags (like Norah in the photo above). Every time this happens the old saying, "...let the cat out of the bag" runs through my mind, which got me to wondering, where did this saying originate?

After some research it became clear that no one knows where "...let the cat out of the bag" originated. There are two theories though...one being that in the 1700s or so farmers would trick buyers by selling them a cat in a burlap bag when they thought they were buying a chicken or a piglet. Another theory is that the phrase comes from English sailors being punished with a cat 'o nine tails, which was a whip. Researchers don't put much stock in that theory, nor can they find conclusive evidence of the farmer trickery.

So, I guess in this case, I'll just have to let sleeping dogs, er...cats, lie...which I highly recommend doing when you find a cat in a bag!