Stumbling Blocks
Life has a way of throwing in a few stumbling blocks every now and then just to see if we can get past them. This past week has been so chaotic I’m here to report I’m not doing very well. I’m falling over blocks!
My old dog, Bitsy hurt her back leg. She was walking outside and suddenly jumped in pain. She’s been to the vet, had x-rays, medication and they think she pulled something. Nothing shows on the x-ray, but she still won’t walk.
Instead, she barks for me to carry her everywhere. Bark, I want to go outside, I’m thirsty, I’d like a treat, can you fix me dinner? She seems perfectly happy, and even wants to play with her toys. If someone comes to the door that she really wants to see she’ll get up and walk, but otherwise I carry her everywhere and she watches my every move. I can’t believe she could learn that I will carry her if she barks. Have any of you ever heard of something like this? Now I’m worried there might be something else wrong.
Then there’s my husband the absolute animal lover. Our neighbors know how he is, so they tell him if they see any lost or injured animals. He’s heard about a little cat in the neighborhood, dragging it’s back legs and coming around houses looking for food. He’s been watching for it. Yesterday he saw it!
1. The cat showed up in our front yard.
2. My husband grabbed it and ran for a carrier.
3. The cat was biting him all the time.
4. We spent the AM in the emergency room.
5. Animal Control took the cat. Has to be tested for rabies, plus it’s back legs are severely injured.
6. Today hubby went back to the Dr. because of red streaks going up his arm.
7. He now goes to Dr. everyday for 4 days for a antibiotic shot. Guess where?
I’m cooking, cleaning, doing chores I never even knew existed, carrying Bitsy, and anything else you can think of . I’m trying to pick up those stumbling blocks as I go along, but more keep showing up! Ever have one of those weeks? Not much is getting done in the Bunny Hill studio. Life got in the way!
I’ll keep you posted on my patient’s progress.
Hugs,
Nurse Sutton
49 Comments
Nancy C. in Utah
Anne, I’m so sorry that Bitsy isn’t feeling well. I just had to write when you wrote how she is acting. We had a little dog that was badly abused the first 4 months of her life. She was just a darling little mutt with short legs and the long low heavy body of a Corgi. Most disturbing was that her abusers were friends of ours who had always impressed us as kind, caring people! My husband was at their house one day and there was Molly, right where she always was, in a bare, cardboard box so small that she couldn’t even lay down in it. Her back and neck had obvious, serious injuries. My hubby simply picked her up out of the box and told her owners that he was taking her home with him where she would be loved and cared for. The vet said she had almost the equivalent of ‘shaken baby syndrome’ without the brain injuries. Point is, that we nursed her back to health, but her back was so fragile her entire life that if she played too hard, she would be immobile for a few days. But when her back bothered her, she would do exactly the same thing Bitsy is doing…whine first, then bark to tell us what she needed, and we carried her wherever she needed to go. Much like a babies cry, we learned quickly what the different barks meant…need to out, I’m thirsty, I’m hungry, etc, just as you said. Sometimes it would take her over a week to get back on her feet but once she was, we just couldn’t slow her down. Consiquently, we carried her a lot during the 12 years we were blessed with her company and love. It was worth every step. I also had to remark about your hubby’s cat bites. My daughter worked for a vet for several years and a number of times she got bitten by cats, even through heavy leather gloves. She learned very quickly that a cat bite will almost always become infected almost immediately. Of the five time she got bit, four of them required daily trips to the doctor for the heavy duty antibiotic shots in the same place (I’m certain) that your hubby is having his. She could barely sit down after about the third shot, but it did take care of the infection and streaking on her hands and arms. As for ‘life’ getting in the way of our normal routines…Red Skelton called things like this “lifes little Anne, I’m so sorry that Bitsy isn’t feeling well.
Ina
Oh my gosh!! I started out laughing reading this post about how Bitsy has you trained and then read about hubby and his serious infection….OH MY GOSH!!! What a chaotic mess. Poor husband. Poor Bitsy. Poor stray kitty. Last, but not least, poor Anne!!
Hope all settles down soon. You’ll have to buy hubby thick leather yard gloves. If he is going to rescue animals he needs to protect himself! ;0
my best, Ina
Sandra
I sure hope that Bitsy and your husband are well soon, we feel so helpless when our animals are hurt because they can’t tell us what hurts. I know I would carry my Zeusie every where if he was hurt (kitty). Bless both of you for caring about God’s animals. I hope things are back to normal for you soon.