Pigs and pills

Pigs and Pills

Age 2

One evening playing darts out on the lanai, Leia came bounding up with a big gash under her eye.  It wasn't bleeding too badly, but it looked pretty deep.  As we watched her, it swelled up quickly, really quickly.  I got a bag of frozen peas and she laid there, letting me hold it to her face. Surprising, since she's never been one to stand still.   From time to time she'd lift her head but then let me put the soothing, defrosting bag of peas back on her face.   I washed the eye well, but it was starting to get infected.  Of course, this was over the weekend.  Emergency vet fees, you know!?   We thought we'd watch it overnight.

In the morning, the side of her face was swollen like someone glued a half a football  with fur on her face.  Her eye was crusted shut with puss.  It hurt to look at her.  I'm sure it hurt her more, to look at us.  We went to the Vet as early as we could on Monday morning.   Luke was left at home.  Duh!

We got in to see the vet fairly soon. Leia looked pretty bad. I'm sure it freaked out the other owners waiting.  His first statement was, "  I hope we can save the eye."  Great.    A one eared owner and a one eyed dog. There's my country song.  In addition to her eye, we noticed her right side was swollen.  There was a puncture wound, the diameter of a pencil but deep.  Like she was gored

(See Kili encounter.) The wound under her eye was like a very thick claw, or a pronged hoof. Two pronged.   Pigs!  Wild pigs are very destructive here in Hawaii.

Leia is puppy annoying.  She likes to tease Luke, or any dog, by nipping at their hind legs.   When they turn around, she is fast and darts away.  She does this to Luke sometimes to the breaking point, and then he turns on her.   ferociously, sometimes.  Scary, ferocious.   Teeth bared ferocious.  At 1/3 x larger than her, he can do some damage.  He is still learning how big he is. 

Here's my take on this;  Upon spotting  a pig she thinks.   "Look at this funny looking dog.  Think I'll nip his hind legs."  One hoof hits the eye, and turning, he gores her in the side.  We never heard any noise, but we were partying, so...She didn't seem traumatized or even stressed, but as it progressed, it was obvious she was in pain.  In spite of her deformed face, she still seemed to be smiling.  She loves attention. Any kind of attention.

They take her away and I wait.   When she comes back, her entire side is shaved and there is a tube going in  one side and out of her side.  It is to drain out the infection.   She has one of those silly cones around her head.   It's driving her crazy, but she is happy to see me.    Whatever that multiplying, foul bacteria was from that pigs hoof and tusk spread quickly.   They gave me one bottle with 2 weeks' worth of anti-inflammatory/pain pills, and one bottle of antibiotics.   One twice a day until gone.

When we got home, Luke was gentler to her than usual.  The ever, effervescent Leia  was sadly subdued. He understood this and lay by her, watching when she slept.   I gave her her pills that night.

The next morning, we went outside for her morning dose.  They were easy to give.  They make them like little yummies dogs want to chew.  So, I gave her the first one, then stopped.  I heard the pesky neighbor pups coming and I wanted to chase them away.  She should rest today.  I ran down the stairs and chased them off. Walking back, I saw Luke, proudly prancing around the yard with a prescription bottle in his mouth.  An empty prescription bottle.  Yes, the yummies!  He got them all.  Two weeks' worth of pain killers and anti-inflammatory pills.  He is a big boy, but that's a bit much.  Called the vet.  Yes, of course, bring him in right away.

We get in the car.  He is in his usual back seat.  He's very un-dog like in many ways.  He never sticks his head out the window, wind in the face.   Leia loves it.  All my dogs have loved it.  Every dog we see driving down the road has his head delightfully, droolingly out the window.  Not Luke.  He lays with his head on the seat.  He takes up the entire seat anyway.  

The vet is about 20 minutes away.  It was one of the longest 20 minutes drives I have had.  It's pretty funny, now that I look back on it.   I'm driving and reaching around, slapping Luke in the face saying.  'Stay with me. stay awake Luke.   Don't leave me.   Hang in there!   15 minutes!  Open your eyes.    10 minutes.  Oh my god, Luke are you breathing?  Yes, yes,  He's breathing.  He looks up at me with his big pale, dopey eyes.  Ok, Lukie   Almost there.    5 minutes.   Good.  Breathing.  Eyes open but pretty lifeless otherwise.   We're here.  I come around to his side and open the car door.  He comes bounding out like a 100 lb Tigger, bouncing, leaping, full of life.   I have to chase after him to get the leash.  Stepping on it is, of course the best way.  He doesn't go far from me anyway so it was easy.   It's like nothing happened to him at all.  Well, we did catch it early .

Into the door, on the leash.  We're here.  Emergency!  They know we're coming and take him immediately.  It's a long wait.   2 hours.   After about a half an hour, they assistant comes out and says they pumped his stomach.  It was hard to tell if the pill's had been completely digested because...  are you ready for this one?  There was an entire chicken in there.  A small chicken, but a whole chicken never the less.  That probably saved him.  The problem is not immediate, but poison effects the kidneys.  It takes a little time to see if they or the liver were affected.   But, he should be fine.  They gave him large amounts of charcoal and are waiting for it to be eliminated from his system.  After 2 hours, they said he was find to take home, but he might have some  "drippage."  I was given absorbent pads to put on the back seat under him.   As soon as we drive off, he starts  turning around in circles, making a bed-in-the-grass motions, clawing at the pads until he is sitting directly on the seat.  Um,   until he is "shitting" directly on the seat.  It seems there was plenty more charcoal passing through him.  At least it didn't smell.  But it went everywhere and I mean everywhere.   On the back of the seats, the windows, the ceiling, the floor.  Black splotches everywhere.   This was the 2nd longest drive of my life.  I pulled over and tried to get him to sit on the pads but it was useless.  It was too late as well.  How much more charcoal poop could be in there?   Well, he's a big dog; big bowels, large intestines. Turns out, quite a bit more.   I was grateful that I took Dard's car.

He was waiting when we returned, happy to see that Luke was okay.  He's not a very observant man usually, but this was quite obvious.  Immediately, he took out the hose and hosed down the entire inside of the car, upholstery, ceiling, (also carpet like), floors, doors.  That seemed to work, but now the car was soaked inside.  Puddles.  He got out the wet vac and hosed out as much as he could.  There was still so much left.   For weeks after that, the car smelled like mildew.  Our poor photographer, Angy, had to ride in the back with the moldy fumes for a road trip .  At least she didn't know what was there before.  We didn't have the heart to tell her. Some days and deodorizers later, the smell was gone.

Luke suffered no ill effects at all.  Leia had a long road to recovery.  The swelling, both on her side and her face took days to heal, the side, oozing all the time. We had to put a t-shirt on her to keep it from going everywhere and to keep her from pulling out the drainage tube.   We went through a lot of t-shirts.  Lucky we have more than most people ever imagine.   Dard participates in triathlons and marathons,  6 Ironman triathlons.  With every race, he gets a t-shirt. Plus he has them from many other places.  I've never seen a man with so many t-shirts.  The man has more clothes than I do.

 After  a  week, we were able to take off the t-shirt.  She never wore that humiliating cone.  That was one of the few times she looked sad.  The swelling around her eye also subsided.  She could now open it.   We had drops to put in several times a day and she was so sweet about it.  Like I said, she will do anything for attention.

On our checkup at the vet, he was amazed at how quickly she had healed.  He pronounced that the eye could be saved.  Yea.   But, she might need reconstructive surgery in order for her eye to close properly.  $$$$

As it turned out, that wasn't necessary.  The lower lid is uneven but the eye can drain and close.  Now, it looks like she has a clown eye, with a couple streaking tears, like one of those decorative masks.  It becomes less obvious with time.   It just looks like that's the way her eye is.  

It wasn't long before she was annoying again.

more on the morphing of Leia

More on the morphing of Leia with Luke;
She now farts.  Never did before.  At least not that I smelled.  As a puppy and always, Luke had the stinkiest farts!  I know other dogs have this claim to fame, and there are even farting dog books ( I've read several ) but Luke was the King of Farts.   And you never, ever heard them.   Soundless  SBDs  Silent But Deadly, as we used say.  Without moving a muscle or a hair,  he'd drop the bomb like slow seeping gas filling the room.  Our first exposure filled the car the day we took them home.  We looked at each other and wondered where that smell was coming from.  After all, we were driving through cattle land at the northern tip of  the Big Island. But we both figured out, it was coming from the back seat.  We just laughed, not knowing  it would become one of his greatest skills.  Now Leia is developing that skill.  I thought hers would contain audio.  She has a strange way of making human sounds;  like sighing, snorting, burping, snoring, sometimes singing sounds.  She cried like a human when we put him in the ground, kinda like sobs.  Sorry for that sad bit of information.  This is how I deal with my grief.   Grief is a necessary part of life.  It makes us feel alive.  When we allow our selves to deeply grieve, we open our hearts for the inevitable joy to come.    Now, Leia's my best pal and faithful follower.  Her playful spirit  fills my heart with joy. 

the huntress

                                                      Leia's first taste of feathers.
The morphing of Luke and Leia continues.  Today she caught her first chicken.  Luke was the hunter and he never shared his spoils. Her wouldn't let her anywhere near his catch .  Now, she became the hunter and she was delighted with herself   She trotted along the entire length of the trail with the poor, scrawny thing hanging from her mouth; it's long, limp neck dangling. At least it died quickly. The only marks were on it's neck.  She didn't shred the feathers with  fangs, like her brother. He should have been a chicken plucker, (except for when he swallowed one whole as a pup. That's a story for another day.) She just carried it like a prize.  At one point, it's wing was over half her face, covering her eye like half a Mardi Gras mask. Wish I'd had a camera.  When we got to the water she finally let go of it for a minute to put it in the ocean, so I grabbed it. With it's feathers wet, it looked even scrawnier.  Not much meat on this one.   My friends who live at Keei beach got a plastic bag and disposed of it for me.  I didn't want to ride home with a wet, limp bird.
       We do have another hunter in the house.  The score for this week - Lilo the cat - 5.   Rats - 0
                                                        The birth of a new huntress!

"Here's looking at you, kid."

Leia is starting to pick up Luke's qualities.  Now, at the beach when I am in the water, she is the one who stands there with her eyes fixed on me.  Before, she would wander around the beach, roll in the sand and then jump with reckless abandon into the ocean, where she would proceed to pounce on me in the water.  Luke never did that.  He would swim out to greet me, kinda lumbering though the water with a rhythmical snorting till he reached me.  Heading for shore, he would swim right alongside me.  With Leia, I've learned to turn my back on her and it does seem to keep her from climbing on me.  She is improving with that as well as with her wandering.  She has taken Luke's place at my side.  I think we're going to be very good friends.  I hope for a very long time.

Loving Leia: This is one of my favorite photos of Hayden with Leia
in the dog crate. Now that Luke is gone, she is becoming much closer
to me. Luke wouldn't let any dog get close to me but he loved the
children. He was possessive and protective. He was MY dog and he
claimed ME. Now, Leia is getting all the love and attention. We are
getting closer. I know you shouldn't have favorites but Luke loved me
so much it was hard not to favor him. Leia loves us both equally, but
I'm learning to love her more each day. She will do anything for
affection and now she has our undivided love.

dog blog

Luke started out like this; a little scared and sad, overwhelmed, puzzled,  apprehensive.

Then he learned to smile.  See?

He had a very good life,  never had to be caged or tied.    How many dogs get to go to live in a tropical jungle, go to the beach in the morning, chase pigs and chickens,  protect the neighborhood,  and eat avocados  while looking out over the lanai at sunset?  He was happiest when he was going somewhere and when he was with me.  Going somewhere with me was the greatest joy but he loved just being by my side.  He was loyal and happy.  His face was so expressive.  We could see the sadness when we drove away without him and the joy when we returned.  His face actually changed.  While standing in the water watching me swim in the narrow channel at Keei, he would grin from ear to ear.  Seriously!  He also had a fierce, scary look that made me feel well protected.  I felt safe by his side but he did have a mean streak.  He could have been trained to be an aggressive attack dog, but I taught him to be gentle.  Maybe that was his purpose and he learned it quickly.  Too quickly.  Time to move on to his next lessons.  Love is a great teacher.  Lessons of the heart are never forgotten.

Penny Schilling

Yesterday  April 2

Luke, Leia, and Lilo. Lilo is FIV positive, ie. feline AIDS. He was a feral cat who found me. More on that story later. Because he tested so high for FIV, I have looked at every day with him as a gift. Shouldn't we do that with everythi...ng and everyone? I didn't think he would live very long but he will be 11 in July. He is blind in his left eye but that's OK. I am deaf in my left ear. We're a good pair. He sleeps with me every night. Hard to believe he outlived Luke. Now, he and Leia have become better buddies because Luke liked to chase Lilo and Leia would follow, but only outside. In the house it was a "safe" zone. Now, outside is as well. I am happy to see them become friends. There is something good in everything if we take the time to see it.See More

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Penny Schilling

Yesterday

Luke, Leia, and Lilo. Lilo is FIV positive, ie. feline AIDS. He was a feral cat who found me. More on that story later. Because he tested so high for FIV, I have looked at every day with him as a gift. Shouldn't we do that with everythi...ng and everyone? I didn't think he would live very long but he will be 11 in July. He is blind in his left eye but that's OK. I am deaf in my left ear. We're a good pair. He sleeps with me every night. Hard to believe he outlived Luke. Now, he and Leia have become better buddies because Luke liked to chase Lilo and Leia would follow, but only outside. In the house it was a "safe" zone. Now, outside is as well. I am happy to see them become friends. There is something good in everything if we take the time to see it.See More

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Luke and Leia puppies

Loving Leia: This is one of my favorite photos of Hayden with Leia

in the dog crate. Now that Luke is gone, she is becoming much closer
to me. Luke wouldn't let any dog get close to me but he loved the
children. He was possessive and protective. He was MY dog and he
claimed ME. Now, Leia is getting all the love and attention. We are
getting closer. I know you shouldn't have favorites but Luke loved me
so much it was hard not to favor him. Leia loves us both equally, but
I'm learning to love her more each day. She will do anything for
affection and now she has our undivided love.

March 27

Pillow?  What pillow?  I didn't see a pillow!

March 25

Getting litter mates was not a good idea, in retrospect.  They riled each other up and got into more trouble together as you see from this feather pillow episode. It's amazing how many feathers are in a pillow!  They were like " Marley and me"  X two.  They reinforced puppy behavior; jumping, licking, leaping, nipping  and... Drum Roll...........  Chewing!  That's the subject for another day. Without an older dog around to keep them in line and teach them how to behave, they remained perpetual puppies for a long time.  I guess you could call it arrested development.  Our neighbors called them the clowns.  Send 'em in.  I could use a little laugh.

What is it about grief?  If you hold it in, does it build up inside like repressed anger, frustration, suppressed emotions?  Or does it  eventually fade away in time like everything else?   I usually indulge myself in tears and grieving at the beginning;  like I will use it up or something.  Thinking, maybe I'll get over it faster this way if I let it all out? I do feel better after a good cry.  And I tend to cry a lot.  Just ask Dard.   Right after Bruno died, we got together.  Poor guy.  His friends said, "You didn't marry a widow, did you?"  The logic is this;  Her husband becomes a hero or Saint.  Divorcees are far from idolizing their exes,  like " Do you know what that  *#^%&$* did?"

 I'm now  pretty much past the crying stage with Luke.  The first week, aside from the tears, I felt fairly strong and positive. Soothing myself with  comforting thoughts, like  " He really didn't suffer long.  It was his time.  He is in a better place.  It was meant to be.  His spirit  has evolved and passed on to a higher level of existence.  His soul has achieved its purpose so it's time for him to go. He had a happy life,  etc"   Then  I was blindsided by a couple of depressed days  Couldn't shake the sadness. Couldn't sleep.  ( I could eat, though! too bad!)  Didn't feel like doing anything.  Had trouble concentrating.  Now, it's the 3rd week and I'm feeling pretty good.  No more tears.  Time to share the joyful memories.  This is a fun one, but it wasn't at the time.  We had feathers in the yard for weeks.  Maybe now he has feathered angel wings.  After all, he was a bird dog!

March 24,

They were 2 of 10 pups.  Purebred Labrador Retrievers with no papers, not that I ever cared about that.  She was the last of 3 females.  5 males remained.   Luke was the biggest but that's not why we chose him.   He had the shortest fur.  After we lost Kili,  (a Husky in Hawaii) I vowed to get a short hair dog.  The puppies all looked pretty similar except for Luke.   We were told they were black nosed curlies and he was a brown nosed shorthair.   There was just something about his eyes.  The others were playfully romping at our feet when Luke walked up the 5 steps to the lanai and plopped down, like he owned the place.  Contrary to the usual puppy selection advice, ie. pick the one that comes to you,  I picked him.  He was the biggest  by far and  we think she was the runt.  So submissive,  she will  roll over if you look at her.    He was the big bully and she was used to being picked on.  Funny combination for a pair of pets.  That's how it would go in the wild, though.   Survival of the fittest.  " Yes, the strong gets more  While the weak ones fade. Empty pockets don't ever make the grade."  Sound familiar? Are we putting a new twist on nature?  Has it become survival of the richest?  Are the wealthy stronger, wiser, better than the rest of us?

 "Them that's got shall get
Them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own."    Billie Holliday

From the beginning, Luke dominated Leia.  As you see, he always had the upper hand, or paw, as it were.

We had to give them treats or chewies separately because he would take hers.  It got to the point that when she saw him coming, she would drop whatever was in her mouth at the sight of him. So, now...

 Here comes Pollyanna.  You will be hearing from her often in this Blog:  

 Maybe that was one of Luke's gifts in passing.  Now, Leia can get all the attention and have us to herself.  Luke would rarely let her get really close to me, unless he was too lazy to bother, which was becoming more often. But, basically, he claimed me as his person and let no dog near me.  We always said, "Leia craves so much attention.  She should be the only dog in a family." 

 Now, she is.

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Luke was a  Master hunter.   Driven to hunt.  He lived for it.  From a dead sleep, he would wake up and bound down the stairs, amazingly  fast for a big clumsy looking fellow.  I've seen him catch a mongoose with his paws.  They are mean and fast.  Anything was game:   Birds, (sad)   chickens, (not quite as sad)   Roosters   ( Not sad at all.  In fact, after he brought home a chicken,  I said,  "Luke why don't you get that noisy rooster who wakes me up all the time?"  And 2 days later, he did.)