Feeling blah!!!

I feel so sick and miserable. My nose is as red as Rudolph’s from all the blowing, my throat aches and my body feels like I’ve been hit by a truck.

I’m sitting up in bed with my trusty iPad surfing the net and the blogosphere feeling sorry for myself. There is so much I have to do especially tomorrow which is my twins graduation day and honestly I don’t have the energy to do any of it.

My friend just called to discuss last minute preparations for our boys and she suggested I try making myself a warm drink of lemon, honey and whiskey – said it worked wonders for her, she slept like a log. Another friend suggested heating up some Cointreau or Dom Benedictine and adding some honey to that. I’m game to try anything that will help me feel better that’s for sure.

Any other suggestions with or without alcohol???

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When it rains it pours!

When it rains it pours!!! How can people be expected to deal with so much heartache? At times it sure feels like some people just can’t catch a break. I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that only 3 short months ago my dear dear friend was on top of the world, had everything going for her. She had a great relationship with her soulmate and husband of 34 years, a good job that fulfilled her, her children were happy living their lives, each of them successful in their own way. She was a doting grandmother, a daughter, sister and best friend to anyone who is lucky enough to know her.

Then in some bizarre horrific twist of fate, her son is diagnosed with a brain tumour, which knocks her for a six, after the shock of that blow and the surgery that followed, it looked like he was on the mend, and life was back to being rosy when wham the second blow, her husband suffers a stroke and dies at the age of 58 leaving her alone, her world shattered, this blow came so left of centre and hit so hard.

Now three months later still struggling to come to terms with her loss and another blow, her sons tumour is returning!! The medication has made working not possible, it brings with it headaches and nausea. For a young man with two very young children this is devastating indeed. For a mother who has already been through so much, even more so.

I wish there was something I could do to help her through this trying time, but there is nothing I or anyone else can say or do to help I am afraid. I feel hopeless ! Yesterday I posted the uplifting quote “count the blessing, not the worries” what happens though when you are all out of blessings like my friend. What does she count now?

Dexter is unwell

Dexter is unwell. The call came just on 3pm today from my eldest who had just come home after spending the day with his cousin. Dexter was squealing in pain which as far as my son could tell seemed to be coming from his back legs.

When I got home around 3:40pm I found Dexter shivering on the floor beside my son. He did run up to greet me and the twins (who I’d just picked up from school), but was unable to jump up and down as he always does whenever we come home. He couldn’t even sit down properly and from my first observation I could see that his hip joint seemed rather swollen at either side. Running my hand down his back and across his hips resulted in more screams of pain.

We called the Vet and Madelyn and I drove him down to the clinic, which fortunately is only up the road. Dexter couldn’t jump into the car by himself and so I had to lift him up which of course caused him more pain which resulted in more yelping.

Without an X-ray it is hard to determine what the problem is. The Vet was able to rule out knees and feet, the problem seems to be more lower back /spine and hip. It could be a pinched nerve, it could be arthritis, it could even be nerve damage.

The Vet gave Dexter an anti inflammatory injection and a pain killer injection and has sent him home with a bag full of tablets that he will need to take for the next 10 days. At the moment he seems to be comfortable although he was not able to get up on the couch or the bed, and has chosen a warm spot on the carpet in Madelyn’s room, where she has lovingly wrapped him up in her blanket.

To some people a dog is merely a pet, an animal they have taken in for one reason or another, but for us Dexter is a member of our family, he is the happy face that greets us every day, he is a best friend, a companion, fur kid and fur brother. The boys didn’t want to come to the vet today because they couldn’t stand seeing Dexter in so much pain. Hopefully Dexter has just pulled a muscle and will be back to his crazy bouncy happy ways in no time at all.

Sick dog tip

My mother-in-laws little dog Taya, chihuahua cross foxie, seems to be having a lot of problems lately with her stomach. Ever since my in-laws adopted Taya she has had good days and bad days. Numerous visits to the vet, several tests later and they are no closer to finding out what is wrong. Initially it was thought that perhaps Taya was anxious and it was this anxiety that was causing her to vomit a bile like substance, (sometimes this bile even has blood in it).

On these bad days Taya goes off her food, even getting her to drink water is a challenge. So when I stumbled upon this fantastic idea I knew that this was something I should definitely share. It is simple but effective, just add some low salt chicken broth to your dogs water, a great way to entice a sick dog to drink and prevent dehydration.

Giving pills to cats is such a nightmare – pill pockets could be the answer

So I have been looking after my friends pets while she is interstate visiting her sister. One of her cats Nibbles a gorgeous tortoiseshell girl who is about 19 years old is suffering from kidney failure, which means she needs to take special medication everyday to help her kidneys function.

When my friend showed me how to give Nibbles her tablets it seemed easy enough. You put the tablet in the syringe looking thingy, hold the cats mouth open and pop the tablet as far back into her mouth as possible, you then hold the cats mouth gently closed for a couple of seconds while she swallows the tablet. Easy.

My first attempt was quite successful although I did struggle to operate that syringe looking thingy. But since then I just can’t get it to work. After several botched attempts yesterday, I gave up and just popped the tablet into the cats mouth using my hand. Today was even worse, Nibbles just kept spitting it back out.

Surely there must a an easy way to give cats tablets or any medication for that matter, so I did some research and aside from the obvious crushing the tablets up and sprinkling them over the food ( which by the way is not recommended for all tablets so you will need to consult your vet if you are considering this option). There is the syringe looking thingy which I found out is called a Pill Shooter and although this is one of the preferred ways of administering tablets to cats, speaking from experience it is not all that user friendly. There were suggestions of wrapping the tablets in food such as luncheon meat, or hiding it in liverwurst but what I believe is the best idea is something called a Pill pocket.

These perfect size treats have a convenient hole in the centre for the pill to be placed and the treat is then moulded around it, so that your cat feels it is being rewarded with a treat when in actual fact it is merely taking its medicine in a happy, stress free manner. I guess hiding tablets in butter or liverwurst is kind of the same but these pill pockets are designed so that if the cat does spit out the pill it remains relatively intact.

Pill pockets are available for dogs too which is great and they are relatively inexpensive eBay has three 45 packs of pill pockets for $17 US. Not too bad for peace of mind.

I will definitely be recommending these to my friend when she gets back from her trip. Anything that reduces an animals stress I am all in favour of.

How a pregnancy test can save a mans life

I read the most amazing thing on Facebook today, it was a post that someone else had shared, to alert people, especially men to testicular cancer. After reading the post I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps all men should take a pregnancy test from time to time.

Melbourne is shock after 11 year old murdered

Melbourne is in shock today after the senseless murder of an 11 year old boy by his father after cricket training last night. Although the details have yet to be released what we have so far heard is the the boys father attacked the poor child after his cricket training session in front of his team mates.

He brutally beat his own son with a cricket bat and then stabbed the little boy repeatedly with a knife. Police were unable to subdue the man with capsicum spray. When he finally turned on police they had no choice but to fire their weapons. The man died hours later in hospital. Counselling has been offered to all the children that witnessed this horrific event.

From what I have read the father had been estranged and had a history of family violence, in the last few years he had become homeless. Police believe that this was in fact premeditated.

As a parent I cannot get my head around this horrific event, it makes me sick in the stomach to think that a parent could do this to their own child.

Tonight as I check on my children sound asleep in their beds, I pray that they will always be safe and sound, healthy and happy. I pray too that this innocent boy will rest in peace.

Don’t Forget The Wildlife

Well the cool change is coming and we are all waiting with bated breath. Melbourne has not had a heat wave like this in over 150 years and everyone is feeling the heat.

However it is not just the people struggling with this heat, our animals and especially our wildlife are really suffering. Within minutes today there were two incidents of native possums in distress.

First a girlfriend sent me a message telling me that her dog had found a mother ringtail possum and her baby up in the apple tree both suffering from heat stroke. My friend tried to cool the animals by carefully using fine mist from the garden hose, she also used the tip I had shared via Facebook from the Save A Dog Organisation which is to use a empty soft drink bottle with a panel cut out of the side as a container for water and suspend it up in the tree using a coat hanger.

Only moments after receiving my friend’s text, the kids and I were getting ready to go back into the pool at mum’s, when we saw this ringtail possum on the fence. Upon seeing us it dropped behind a pot plant and lay there looking really hot and bothered. We put some water out for him but he made no attempt to drink.

The RSPCA suggests picking up the animal and placing it inside a box with some water and putting it inside the house. Leave it alone for a couple of hours and then at nightfall release it back out into the garden.

The best way to handle a wild animal is to place a towel over it and scoop it up with the towel. Not everyone will be able to do this though and that is ok.

The possum at mum’s although hot was not as bad as the mother and baby ringtail at my friends house. To try to capture mum’s possum would have only caused it unnecessary stress, which would have been counterproductive.

By leaving the poor animal alone with fresh cool water and something to eat was the best thing we could have done for him. I believe my friend also made the right choice with her mother and baby.

Thankfully the cool change is just about here and the possum at mum’s house has recovered and is back up in the trees. I hope my friends possum and it’s baby are ok also.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

The beginning of a New Year is always quite exciting it is an opportunity to start again. To explore new pathways. To challenge oneself and to alter the path you are on, if that is what you desire. It is also a time to reflect and appreciate how fortunate we truly are and to be thankful for the special people in our lives that help make us who we are.

This year has not begun like others though, a fatty lump on Bolt’s knee that started to become a wound and was on the verge of exploding, has forced my sister to have him operated on at very short notice.

What we always considered to be no more than age lumps and bumps that did not appear to be causing Bolt any discomfort, suddenly had to go.

Several hours of surgery and $1200 later Bolt was home. Still under the affect of the anaesthetic and covered in stitches all over his shaved body and his knee, his right eye weeping from the laser that was used to remove the lump above his eye; Bolt recovered on my sister’s bed.

The whole family along with some close friends congregated at my sister’s place and together we all welcomed in the New Year. I think Bolt felt better having his whole family around him, I know we all felt better being there with him.

Happy New Year may you always have loved ones rallying around you in good times and in bad.

Gemma

Money will buy buy you a good looking dog but it will not buy you the wag of his tail.

I don’t know who said this quote and I’m sure I have used it before and I know that I will use it again, because I just love it. But tonight I am reminded of this quote again as yet another friend of mines dog is diagnosed with a genetic defect, despite being a pure bred Labrador from a reputable breeder that they paid almost $1500 for. Like humans, dogs will suffer genetic defects it is inevitable, no matter how rigorously they may have been screened by the breeder.

Whether or not a dog will get sick will depend of how well the dog is looked after not how expensive it was to buy. Just like it’s personality will be shaped by its owner and the way he/she treats the dog.

However sometimes luck can also play a role and tonight my poor friend and her gorgeous black lab Gemma have simply been dealt a bad hand. Gemma is a gorgeous little girl who woke up this morning unable to use her back legs. An X-ray revealed a genetic defect that will require her to be confined for four weeks in order to heal up, before further test can be performed.

Exactly what is wrong with Gemma my friend could not say, to be honest I don’t think the Vet actually knows either but it is related to her spine and they believe it is definitely genetic.

My thoughts go out to Gemma tonight, the poor darling will need to be kept locked up in a small area and only allowed out on a lead to relieve herself. That’s not much of a life. Hopefully once the four weeks are up the Vet will be able to perform the test needed in which to make Gemma all better again.