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11/30/2008

Ridonculous

It's been one of those weeks. You know, the kind where you shake your head, and maybe even want to cry, but decide you'd better just laugh at the situation (and/or yourself) and move on. Admittedly, there were a few tears.

It all kind of started with the Great Fruit Fly Invasion of 2008. In my house. So disgusting. We'd noticed a few of the little buggers buzzing around and then suddenly, the kitchen was swarmed. They were hanging out everywhere! I tried making a funnel trap, but must have left too much of a gap because it didn't work so well. What has been working is leaving bowls around with a concoction of vinegar, apple juice, water, and dish soap. I'd read to use cider vinegar, but only had white, so added a tiny bit of juice. It's amazing how many of the critters have drowned. Oh, and the cause of this infestation? My failure to empty the compost bin we keep under our sink.

Note to self:
Don't forget to empty the kitchen compost bin into the outdoor one!

I did shed some tears on Friday. Little Guy had an appointment with the vet to check out his back legs. Recently, his arthritis progressed to the point where, after lying around for a few hours, he occasionally had trouble standing up on his own. A brief walk and some range of motion and stretching exercises seem to loosen him up, but only temporarily.

Recent mobile phone photos of Little Guy, aka Hobo Dog, lying around on some newspapers and dirty socks and underwear.

Two hours later, thorough vet exam, blood work, x-rays, and several hundreds of dollars, Little Guy was diagnosed with a possible torn knee ligament. The arthritis in his hips didn't look too bad on the x-rays and ligaments don't show up. So, he's being referred to a specialist to look at the knee, which very well may be a surgical situation. He also got some pain meds for the meantime. I didn't mind the length of the visit. Seeing as it was Black Friday, it beat braving the stores. It was kind of emotional though as one woman brought in her dog who had passed away at home (but unfortunately missed the jolly guy from the pet crematorium, who told some really frightening tales of attempting to shop at the local Fry's Electronics earlier). Another woman discussed euthanasia options with the front desk staff for quite some time. It was killing me.

We finally got out of the vet's office, made one quick stop, and headed home. I lifted Guy out of the car and set him down on the ground. He was holding his rear right leg up very high, with the paw up near his back. When his hips (or now I wonder, his knee?) have bothered him before, he's not wanted to bear weight. This was different and the wrong leg! His bad knee is on the left. I noticed he was trying to nip at his paw. Taking a quick look, I saw a bee stuck right on one of the pads. I knocked it off and sure enough, the stinger was embedded in his paw. I pulled out the stinger, grabbed my cell phone and called the vet. They suggested I come back right away. I have no knowledge of Little Guy ever getting stung, so didn't know how he'd react. I piled him and my bags back into the car and raced off.

This time, there wasn't much of a wait. Our vet had gone home, but we saw one of her partners. She checked out the paw and then gave him Benadryl and pain medicine injections. He was in so much pain that he would not put his foot down, thus putting all of it on his "bad" knee. Several hours later, he was feeling much better and had no signs of an allergic reaction.

So, the flies are nearly gone and Little Guy is bearing weight on all legs.

Coming soon: My musings on Bolt, which I LOVED!!!

10 comments:

ren said...

oi! crappy days. hopefully this week will be better for you. and you didn't tell me about all your new (fruitfly) pets! how nice. wanna write some poems about them? no? didn't think so. anyway, fruitflies are a pain but think of the buggy alternatives...yeah...yuck.

Anonymous said...

Oh you poor things. Black Friday indeed. I've had a few days like that in my lifetime too.
Still, I'm so glad the little guy is ok now and out of the pain.
Eww to bugs. We are having ant infestations over here due to the hot AND very humid weather. We daren't leave anything on the benches for even a minute or it's covered with swarms.

the slackmistress said...

Poor little guy and poor you!

Anonymous said...

Ohh, I'm so sorry to hear the funnel trap didn't work so well for you. The funnel probably needs some tape adhering it to the jar...or a smaller funnel hole. HUGS! Fruit flies drive me batty.

Nanette said...

Sorry to hear about your rough week. Hope this one is better!

Anonymous said...

Man that sucks. Hope he feels better soon.

madretz said...

Nothing makes me sadder than an unhappy beloved pet. My kitty has arthritis in her hips too, so we are both pulling for Little Guy and all his poor little ailments.

Unknown said...

Hugs to you and Little Guy.

Unknown said...

My dad's toy poodle had her knee ligament replaced 10 or 12 years ago (when she was 10 or 12 herself). I was working for the vet who did the surgery at the time, so I got to assist. It didn't take her long at all to recover, and I'm sure the surgery's progressed since then.

Brenda Griffith said...

I hope Little Guy is better since his bee encounter. ugh. For flies, I am partial to using the vacuum hose to suck them off the ceiling and walls. The traps are just too... passive--and way slow. Hunt 'em down and kill 'em, I say.

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