Norman's not feeling well


Today has been a stressful day. Norman, our four year old Chihuahua, was clearly distressed this morning and when I tried to look at his rear end he really got upset so I knew something was very wrong, especially since he was crying even lying in his bed alone. We took him to our Vet and found out quickly he had an impacted anal gland, which is easy to express. So the Vet did that. He also found a lump beside the anal gland, that we are hoping is from some of the gland fluid leaking and causing a small infection. Otherwise it could be something else, which immediately made my heart stop beating. Having lost Buddy, our hound, to an anal gland tumor this past summer, I was scared. The Vet says now is not the time to panic, the fluid inside the gland was really yucky and is likely the cause of this lump. So for now, Norman is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication for the next 10 days. I gave him a small dose of a laxative tonight to make things easier for him. He's still eating well, and drinking, and able to get around, but he's very, very, sore now after the Vet expressed the gland today. He's just being very quiet on his own, in his bed.

We go back in a week to make sure the antibiotics are doing their work. I'm worried about him, mostly because I hate to see any of my animals in any kind of pain. The pain medication is helping but he's still sore, and I wish I could take all that away so he wouldn't have to feel it.

We spent most of the afternoon in town, at the Vets, and then we had to do some grocery shopping and pick up a couple things while we were in there.

Charlie picked up his cat (tractor) today, he finished our roadwork for this year yesterday. We've got some great new trails opened up for driving on and they will also help us access more dead trees for firewood. Kevin and Joe have got a lot of firewood in, enough for a couple months at least, so we are ahead of the game now.


I made our turkey dinner on Sunday, which meant most of the day I was in the kitchen. It all turned out good, and we enjoyed a good meal, and we were left with lots of leftovers! Because things were a little chaotic here, I forgot to take pictures.

Kevin took me out Saturday night to have a look at the roads. When we were headed across what we call our dam road, Bartholomew the beaver (don't ask) was out working on fixing his dam. We've got a lot of pictures of him but he was extra curious of us that night and he spent a great deal of time working on his dam and checking us out.


Two of the roads we got built this fall will really help us, especially when hauling wood out.


Way out, close to where we got the pictures of the fisher cat, while they were working on the trail, leveling out a harsh corner, they unearthed some pottery sherd's. It's such an odd place for pottery to be so far away from the house. It looks like someone left their plate and bowl there after lunch and forgot to ever go back and get it.

We find artifacts from Kevin's ancestors all over the farm, but this was by far the most unusual spot.

It was a really beautiful evening out, a good night to be out enjoying this unbelievably warm weather that we continue to get.



Tonight for dinner I made a quick shrimp and pasta dish. Really there is no recipe, just melt a bunch of butter, put some garlic powder in it and lemon juice, cook some shrimp in it and toss the whole thing with some pasta. It tastes good and it doesn't get much quicker than that!


Shrimp and I have a funny relationship. I like the taste of shrimp a lot, but I have a problem with the texture. It's the only food so far I've had this problem with. I had a friend who couldn't eat beans, not because of the taste, but because of the texture. Quite frankly I thought she was just being goofy, but I've stumbled across the same problem. So I try to bring it into my diet a little bit at a time to adjust to the texture of it, especially since I do like the taste of shrimp.

Tonight it's quiet in our house. It's raining outside right now, a cold, heavy rain, and Kevin is getting the wood stove going. The animals are all asleep, or building nests, in the Prairie dogs case. I'm finishing up my research on where to find Arrowroot flour locally, since Kevin wants Arrowroot cookies and cannot buy the store bought kind because of preservatives.

After I give Norman his bedtime meds, I'm hoping he'll be able to be comfortable enough to get a good nights sleep.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Poor Norman,,, I know how he feels,,, I don't let anyone look at my bum either,,, Looking at all this food you cook is making me hungry Mrs D...

You all stay dry and warm, I already have my nest done and ready for a long winter,,, NOT

Herb
luckybunny said…
Thank you Herb, Norman appreciates the support! I'll have to cook for you sometime. LOL good luck with that nest, I'll send the Prairie dogs over to show you the best way to make it!

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