The BDH calming vibes must’ve worked and Kid 2 made it through the appointment like a champ. We are all very proud of her. She kept it together and although things were a little traumatic – she is just not a fan of scraping – this was the best dental visit we’ve ever had.
This year has been interesting for us collective at Chateau Andrews. One of the fun interesting things that happened is that the sidewalk at Kid 2’s house settled. Normal sidewalks use a relatively shallow layer of concrete, but the sidewalk by Kid 2’s house is really thick and heavy. Whoever poured it was very generous with concrete. So generous that over the years and after some heavy rains, the sidewalk sank and disconnected her sewer pipe.
I discovered this when she called me and said, “Mom, I’ve got a bit of standing water in the tub.”
It was quickly discovered that water was also in other places, like under the cheap vinyl in the bathroom. The wax seal failed. All of this happened at the tail end of January, the claim was filed on February 2nd, and this week she is finally getting new floors put in.
Because of this development, the two German shepherds had to be boarded. Kid 2 worries about boarding the dogs. Last year one of the boarding kennels in our area had a fire with very tragic consequences. At the time, our animals were boarded at another facility because we went on a short vacation, and we are all still freaked out.
Everyone, including Gordon, Kid 1, and me, assured Kid 2 that nothing bad would happen. She drove Artha and Quincy to the boarding kennel she trusts an hour away.
Phone rings.
Floor repair person Rebecca: Hello, I am so sorry.
Me: Oh no.
Rebecca: You know how we told you the floors would be there tomorrow? They’ve been delayed by 5 days.
So Kid 2 goes and gets Artha and Quincy back. Five days later, they are boarded again. She drives them an hour, comes back, and stresses out that something bad would happen. Once again everyone assures her that since the kennel is attached to the veterinary hospital, it will be fine.
Boarding count: 20 hours.
Kid 1: OMG!!!
Me: What?
Kid 1: You know how we told her nothing bad would happen?
Me: facepalm.
Kid 1: Quincy might have been stung by a bee on his paw, and she is trying to pull the plug on the boarding.
Me: Oh no, no, no, no.
Me, calling to Kid 2: Please don’t take him out.
Kid 2: My baby! How could he have gotten stung?
Me: It’s spring in Texas?
Kid 2: I have to go get him.
Me: If Quincy was strung in your backyard, what would you do?
Kid 2: I would take him to the vet.
Me: Well, he is already at the vet. Problem solved.
Thankfully cooler heads prevailed. Artha and Quincy are still at the vet. Quincy’s paw swelled up a bit, he was seen by the vet, and the next day we were given these pictures.
What you see is what you get. Hehe.
We are all crossing our fingers for their safe return later this week.
Wow; best of luck with all of this.
Both dogs looking adorable as heck. And great pictures to reassure everything is ok, they look happy and relaxed.
I love getting your updates. Very happy all is well.
Tell Quincy I feel for him.
Less than two weeks ago I was stung under the toe by an ambushing wasp that had decided that the carpet between the bed and the bathroom was a nice place to sleep and didn’t approve of me stepping there…
Oh what joy – Had a walking trip planned for the next day. Decided to postpone that 😉
Hahaha Artha and Quincy reminds me of my friend’s two golden retrievers. Their first dog was the Artha equivalent of a retriever: steady, willing to please, obedient, virtually the perfect guide dog retrievers are so well known to be. Their second dog, also a purebred from the same breeder would lick a burglar to death. And unless you kept a firm hold on her, she’d dash you right into oncoming traffic.
You never fail. Made my day and gave me a good chuckle, although I do sympathize with kid 2.
A mixture of mint/camomile tea, a tablespoon of honey and a dropper full of CBD oil works wonders to calm people down. A nurse at a family friends nursing home swears by it to help get patients to complicated tests and screenings.
I love the dog stories!
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the hilarious post. Glad it all turned out well.
Memphis was a German shepherd. He was trained to protect females. He bit every single male except Dad. However the female vet technicians could do anything they wanted to him (give shots, get blood, give medication, give medicated bath, paint his toe nails poodle colors…) and he was a willing party. Male technicians always donated blood because he looked so adorable just like your Artha.
Quincy reminds me of the Rhodesian Labrador knucklehead pup that lives with me. Life is never boring. He just lives life to its fullest. He is presently digging up and checking his buried treasures that he carefully planted under my Rose of Sharon. Well, No marshmallow trees, no cat food trees…. I tell him they are very difficult to grow. ????
Thank you. Tell Kid to count her blessings that he will wear “Cone of Shame”. ????. Titan won’t. Titan won’t wear a cast either. Sigh. Also accidents happen. That why they are called accidents.
I love Quincy! ????
That picture of Quincy, LMAO. Reminds me a bit of my roommate’s dog.
Happy with a cone on is a win!
You live such an interesting life. Great fodder for the books.
Not a fan of dental scraping but have had FAR less since gifted with an electric toothbrush with timer.
And totally understand pets and vet visits. Our 19 year old cat just went to vet for feeling poorly. We know her kidneys are failing but we’re doing everything we can to keep her comfortable. New pain meds made her too loopy to walk on half dose so must try something else. Meanwhile she’s happy sleeping on my lap as much as she can. My husband suggested getting her a German shepherd puppy to boss around but I think she’s happy in her Queenly status. ????
We found very helpful info on Tanya’s Chronic feline kidney disease website. One of our cats had to have daily IV fluids. We learned we could do it at home, buy fluids online with a vet script. Even if different illness you may find info.
https://felinecrf.org/index.htm
Love hearing about the animals. ❤️
+1
And the saga continues. I’m sorry about Quincy’s bee sting, but I am very happy that the cooler heads prevailed.
Also, congratulations on the successful dentist visit.
Quincy looks like he knows how to weaponize that cone. (With joy, they always ram your shins with absolute love.)
Glad the dentist visit went well. Huzzah for the BDH love!
How many of us are Artha’s and how many are Quincy’s?
I’m more of a Quincy than an Artha ????
Never a dull moment???? In regard to fear of the dentist, hypnosis worked for me and for really unpleasant stuff I still use LaMaze techniques i.e., finding a focus point in the room and concentrating on my breathing.
So glad that it went as kindly as it could for Kid 2!
Glad that the pups are having fun even if there was spring weather injuries. May it all go smoothly and the house stuff be less of a headache.
Apropos of nothing but did you guys see the article in the Atlantic about Babel and Shinar and the fall of the tower? It made an analogy to what has happened in the 2010’s in American society. Instantly thought of KD and the first & second shifts.
Sending positive vibes to the two pups. I love hearing about them. My last shepherd died 20 years ago and I bitterly miss having one. So I live vicariously through your daughter’s pups
I’m so glad she made it through her dental appointment with less trauma than expected. Sorry about the sidewalk/plumbing issue. Oh boy.
And I hooted at your big goofy dog.
Hopefully the repairs will soon be complete.
Glad kid 2 did so well at the dentist. Thanks for the dog photos, made my day to see dignity and goofiness so well represented.
Shepherds can be an interesting breed. I used to house and dog sit for my sister’s boyfriend when he was out of town. He had a beautiful brindle German Shepherd fierce as all get out until her Master said you were okay then she would cuddle up next to you by the couch. One night while I was dog sitting there was a thunder and lightning storm and the dog literally bolted into the bedroom I was staying in climbed onto the bed and got under the covers shaking like a leaf. Once the storm was over she climbed out of the bed and went out to sleep on her own doggy bed. I talked to the owner. He was a parole officer and one of his parolee’s didn’t like his last evaluation and came after him and found where he lived. The parolee tried to shoot the owner but missed and then his dog went after the parolee and took him down. Even since then the dog would get scared at thunder and loud noises and go searching for her master. If she couldn’t find him she would hide in bed until the storm was over. She was extremely loyal to anyone she considered part of the family.
I totally sympathize with kid 2. I had a leak in my home and mine happened on Feb 11. As I type my house is still torn apart and my floors are foundation. Finally settled with the insurance co and repairs will hopefully start in another week…hopefully. I put the deposit on my floors so at least that’s done. The worst is my two poor kitties that have been segregated to two rooms for the last two months. They are elderly to boot so this has been so incredibly difficult and boarding them is not an option. I came home every night after the first two weeks and cried. It took me a little bit to get a grip and just push through. It just all around sucks that 2 mos in and I’m still in a disaster area, but glad there is now hope in sight. Hope kid 2 hangs in there because I really do understand and empathize.
So happy the dental visit went well.
Love the doggie pictures and captions.
Animals are such funny creatures. Poor Quincy. I am sure the boarding will be fine, buy I understand the nerves.
I had hypnosis for a fear of ‘rachnids that was getting irrational. The object was to create a happy association when seeing one, but for some reason my brain went for irritation, so now when I see one I get irrationally tee’d off. Better than the OMG OMG OMG OMG it’s a ‘rachnid response I used to get, so I count it a success!
Everything you write you make interesting and amusing, even a trip to the dentist and a bee stung dog. It is why I read your blog, buy all your books, and reccommend you to everyone. If I tried to tell about the dog/bee sting incident, it would be short, uninteresting, and have no punchline.
Good that all turned out well in the end.
So, cheers to House Andrews. May you write long and prosper.
Cheers
Artha: proud, serious and majestic
Quincy: Derp
Gotta love the furbabies
OMG! Oldest son lives in a cottage behind my house. We share a septic system. You have my sympathies! And the dogs??? ROFLMAO They sound pretty close to mine. Idiots. This is said with much love!!! Attached is the painting I did of my Hell’s Bell. She’s an old girl now, but you can see how she got the name…
Artha is a gorgeous dog. Quincy? Hmm. I suppose y’all have seen ‘Up’? Sweet dog, but I see a lot of ‘Bless his heart!’ in his life.
But sometimes you really need that mix to keep both dogs on an even keel.
ANd Re: Kid 2, anxiety is hard. Spouse has medical anxiety, knows in head it not real, but even say ‘take BP’ will get it to spike to 190/140. We know that playing beat star will drop it right back to 120/80 in about 3 mins, so while it is totally Real, it is not dangerous. And still so hard to watch and not be able to help or, really, understand. I am glad it went well. The worst part of it is putting off simple things that become problems that aren’t simple. So, a victory it is that needful stuff got done.