Our dogs just will not get over this diarrhea stuff. I don't know what to do. The older dog is back to needing to go out during the night (2x last night) and then yesterday morning, while I was upstairs in my office and DH was outside talking to the paving guys, I guess he couldn't hold it and went on the floor (at least it was the hardwood floor part). The other dog's stool is either these tiny little hard long poops or soft. The younger dog just went through that 5 days the prior week of having an antibiotic for the diarrhea, that seemed to help for about a week. Then yesterday afternoon older dog had it outside again and there was blood in it. I called the vet and he called me back in a bit. He said the blood isn't a major worry - it's just the colon is aggravated by what is going on and blood comes out with the stool. He's putting both dogs on that antibiotic the other dog had been on (but only for 5 days) and doing a longer treatment period. He also wants me to give both dogs that Fortiflora for dogs for 30 days. I was going to order that via Amazon as it's offered via Prime. I share a Prime acct with DD and her address is the default. When I put it in the cart it showed it would arrive (at her address) on Thursday. When I changed it to my address.....8 FREAKING days! I see Petsmart in the city has it, so I will pick some up this afternoon when I go in to check on my mom.
Our neighbors are on vacation all week (I think they left last Friday), so it's working out good, because we need to use their driveway to park, in case we need to leave, while the paving job is happening. While we were outside Monday their dogs were outside the kennel. What in the heck?! Did the lady who comes and feeds them twice a day maybe left something open? We put them away and started to walk around their fenced in area to double check and next thing we know they are out again! There was door to the outside from their basement open. It has one of those handles you push down, so the dog must have figured out how to push down on it. We tried to lock it up, but the lock is broken and won't lock. We shut the interior door into the room, but it has same type of handle. When the feeding lady got there I went over and told her. She tried to block the downstairs door with stuff. We never saw them get out again, but when she came back to feed dinner she said it was open again. So, she said she blocked it with even heavier/more stuff. I don't think they've escaped again.
How do you leave your house for a week, knowing that it isn't locked up? Yikes. I couldn't do it. They did take the problem dog to boarding for this week, so "just" the 2 dogs right now. But, still, knowing they have a barking problem when they aren't home, they didn't put the bark collars on them this week.
We have this bird annoying the heck out of us the past few days! It's a Western Bluebird
As I was looking out at him the other day I see the flash of bright yellow fly by and land in a nearby tree. What a colorful bird I have never seen before. Figured out it's a Western Tanager. So pretty!
So, I think I now know what my mom was telling my uncle about "she would like a bigger place". In talking with my mom Tuesday morning, she brought up that she really likes the place and the size of the kitchen and that she can have her table in the kitchen (instead in living room) and the size of the bedroom - all exactly what I was thinking! She apparently doesn't like that the kitchen doesn't at least have a stove top and that is what she wanted to ask if there was another unit that does (that is what she must have meant in talking to uncle). I told her no, unfortunately, they are all kitchens like that. I told her I'll bring her our extra little microwave we have and she had a good idea to put in on a cart next to the end of her sink/countertop area, kind of in the corner of her living room, where there is space. I said that's a great idea and usually those carts have extra storage underneath, which will help with storage. She also mentioned she likes how the bedroom is much bigger than what she had.
I'm taking off early from work and going in to see her this afternoon. Any bets on if she's actually taking her medicine from her pill box correctly? We'll see. That's one of the main reasons I want to go in and see her. If she hasn't gotten it done, I'm taking her pill bottles with me and only leaving her pill box.
Your house looks just lovely - and how nice to be able to get it just the way you want it. Also those birds are beautiful too, so colourful. I occasionally get birds flying at a bedroom window "to attack itself" I believe. Not quite sure what happened last night but I found a small dead bird outside my living room window this morning too.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) We have poor birds who fly into our windows. Most times it just knocks them out for a short bit, but sometimes they don't make it :(
DeleteIt’s funny your mom said that about the stove because yesterday when I was reading your post I kept thinking not having a stove or oven is what would bug me most.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I was thinking it's probably for the best. With her memory now, I'd be scared she'd forget to turn off the oven or a burner. I have a feeling after awhile she'll forget about not having it. There seems to be a lot of "common" things she is forgetting about. Like in her gift basket was a box of Bounce dryer sheets, which of course I know she used for years. Now she doesn't even remember they exist.
DeleteThat’s very true. They had to unhook my mil’s stove because she about burned the house down. They just unplugged it and put a sign on it that said it was broken lol. That’s kinda how they took her car away too. They sold it and whenever she asked they told her it was in the shop. They tried keeping her in her home but it just became to risky.
ReplyDeleteI remember we had to do that with my grandpa's car when he started getting Alzheimer's. My uncle told him he was taking it to the shop to get repaired and he quickly forgot about it. That's what we were kind of thinking of doing with my mom (because her Prius did need a new battery) and then if she'd happen to ask we'd say it was in the shop, but she was ok to give it up.
DeleteThey had a terrible time with my mom and her car. I finally suggested my sister tell her they were going to give the car to my ex brother in law because he needed a car for his brother. Even though him and my sister divorced over 20 years ago he has still stayed close to my mom. It worked. She reluctantly agreed. She was 86 at the time and they wouldn’t renew her license so she was driving without one lol.
ReplyDeleteThey try to keep us old people safe or at least that’s my way of thinking. RE your dogs. My last dog had colitis so lots of antibiotics. I did learn though that when the diarrhea starts to put him on a rice and meat diet. Cook up some rice and add a bit of cooked meat. I used beef, bison and lamb. I also used brown rice since that is what I had. Between the antibiotics and the cooked diet it cleared up much faster. Depending how fast the diarrhea started to clear then I would add in cooked vegetables ie carrots peas beans whatever Dexter liked. It worked for us. Others in my extended family do this also as it soothes their tummies. When everything is good start adding some wet kibble in, then dry cutting down the rice diet each feed. Hope this helps. Jean from Manitoba Canada
ReplyDeleteHi Jean. that sounds like a good plan. I also read about giving them like boiled chicken and rice to help. I finally have rice stocked back up in my pantry - it's been hard to find during this pandemic.
DeleteHave you thought about medication through amazon for your mom? Their pill pack will group them all together and they come shipped in baggies for each day and time of day. Already sorted ready to go.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to look into that more. Might be worth a try to see how she does with that method.
DeleteShe might look for the bottles and be worried. Or, will she forget. Maybe you could tell her the bottles were empty. Or leave a note saying to use the pill box that the bottles were empty. I didn't realize she did not even have a microwave! That would be annoying. I suppose the place she is does not have oven and stove to keep them safe. It is good she is getting a microwave. I would miss cooking. Okay, maybe I would not!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of putting a note with the pill bottles that she would see if she tries to get into them. I think that is what I will do next visit! I really don't think she misses cooking at all...she never cooked in her previous apartment! maybe heated up a can of soup, is all and she can do that in a microwave.
DeleteI checked on Amazon to see if they have some sort of daily timed pill dispenser for her. I see that they do have them with 28 departments to put pills in. They open only for the set day. Maybe something to look into so you won't have to go everyday to check on her. They are a little under 100.00.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alice - that sounds like it might be something that would work! Especially if I can't get in there every week to fill up her box
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