Bark Blog

Katrina rescues: Bad news for Bella

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, Clint continues to improve and Phyllis receives some scarey news on Bella.

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Sunday before last Bella was spayed in a marathon spay/neuter event for about 30 of the Katrina animals. A very kind veterinarian and her staff volunteered their time and skills. It must have been a crazy day for them. Bella sure had a tough day! Not only did she get spayed, but also they removed a mammary gland tumor that I hadn’t even noticed (bad foster mom!!) and some teeth that had been worn down.

Typically, I get rescued mutts, and they usually show up spayed or neutered. I know nothing about females going into heat. So imagine my surprise when I had Bella on my lap the day before her spay, on her back and rubbing her belly, when I noticed that her external “hoo hoo” (that’s a technical term a veterinarian friend uses) was quite swollen. I checked it out by tentatively touching it with my finger. Blood! A drop of blood caused me to practically jump out of the chair! I can be so ignorant sometimes.

When I picked her up, she was pathetic. My heart cried for her. That lump I hadn’t noticed, most likely because it was adjacent to a teat – which I’m not used to feeling -- and required a fairly large incision that looked pretty nasty. She felt really miserable, but as every day goes by she feels better. She was only in an e-collar for a little bit.

Now she faces heartworm treatment. I’m requesting good treatment Zen and the sacrifice of virtual goats for Bella. I hope it all goes well. Hopefully it will all go well and she’ll be in her new home soon. I’ll really miss her, and so will my visiting niece, Meg. Bella has glommed onto Meg totally and worships the ground she walks on. It’s quite mutual.

After Fred’s new bed arrived and he’d been using it for a couple of days, I found Clint had managed to take over the new bed. Little macho man! I put him into the bed he’s already peed on. No point in marking everything. It’s enough that I have to do a daily load of Leaky Clint laundry without adding two beds into the mix.

This morning I once again found Clint in Fred’s bed, but this time, Fred was standing over the bed licking Clint’s ears. It was unbelievably cute. Fred’s tail was wagging. It was the first time I’d seen them interact like that; usually, Clint is stealing a bed and Fred looks devastated, or Fred stands by Clint sometimes when Clint is outside doing business (leaking on appropriate grassy spots). I was thrilled to see them interact.

This afternoon Clint snarfed down some little pieces of cheese like the land shark he is. Now that he’s in Wisconsin, it’s nice to know he’s an official Cheese Head.

Clint’s getting so healthy on all that good nutrition, love and vet care that he’s picking up twirling speed. He’s getting so fast that I’m a wee bit afraid he’s going to concuss himself by bonking into an object that’s harder than his head. However, that’s probably hard to do, even at his speeds. This morning he walked a semi-straight line, or at least, didn’t twirl from room to room. Watching him blossom makes me unbelievably happy.

Today came the news that broke my heart: Bella’s mammary gland tumor was malignant. They got “very thin” margins on it, so Bella will have another surgery to remove some more tissue. However, it is a localized tumor, and they feel that it will not alter her lifespan and that Bella is going to be fine. Many people have kindly told me that their dogs had the same thing and yet lived to a ripe old age. Still, the mere thought that she has cancer brings me to tears. Homeless from a hurricane and yet to face heartworm treatment, it seems she’s been through enough. But at least she is getting the medical care she needs. I don’t know yet when her next surgery will be.

I’ve been keeping her crated at night because I don’t know if her future forever family will want her on their bed, but last night I broke down and “accidentally forgot” to crate her at bedtime. She stayed downstairs most of the night but was on my bed with the rest of the crowd in the morning. Ginger threw her entire body across my torso to say “mom is mine, mine, mine!”

Clint has medical news too. He was dropping some serious weight and when he got down to 7.5 pounds from 8.3 pounds in three weeks, we went back to the vet. After a chem panel, a heartworm test and a fecal, we think that Clint is now so heathy that he’s burning up a lot more calories twirling and that his metabolism has revved up, and I just haven’t been feeding him enough. An expensive visit to learn that! They sent home some high calorie canned food with us, so Clint is essentially eating ice cream for meals. After Bella’s bad news, the idea that he’s losing weight because he’s become so darn healthy is music to my ears.

Clint is officially mine and his vet bills are now my responsibility, but Bella is still a foster. Her medical care, as well as that of the 100-plus other dogs and cats brought here (several of which are tiny puppies and kittens), has a high price tag. What Shelter from the Storm needs, as does every other rescue group who took in Katrina and Rita animals, is a lot of cold hard cash. If you could see your way clear to sending a few dollars – any amount will help – either to Shelter from the Storm or a rescue group in your area – it would be more beneficial than you realize. Shelter from the Storm has 15 heartworm positive animals, many intact animals that need to be spayed or neutered, multiple kittens and puppies that need vet evaluations and first vaccinations, and sundry surgeries like Bella’s tumor and removing Clint’s rotten teeth all cost money, no matter how much labor the kind veterinarians in the area donate.

And good news to help offset the news of Bella’s cancer: Shelter from the Storm has its first reunion between cat and owner! Jasper’s people lost their home in Katrina.  The foster family that has Jasper in their care will hold on to him until his owners are able to take him in again. They had four cats and Jasper is the only one they’ve found, so let’s all celebrate in the joy of their impending reunion once the family has a home again! -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com

In the news

In the category of strange but true, the story of Skeeter, an Idaho dog with narcolepsy:

Skeeter once spent his afternoons roaming the fence line in the Henderson's one-acre yard. When Shari's husband, Darrell, took him for two-mile walks, he pulled on the chain wanting to walk faster.

Now that Skeeter falls asleep in mid-trot, the Hendersons place him in a stroller for his customary walk.

Skeeter can no longer eat regular dog food, so the Hendersons hand-feed him cooked vegetables and lunch meat. To keep Skeeter awake during the meal, they hold up his back legs and massage his neck.

OK, so that's the strange one. For the heartwarming, head to the Washington Post (need a log-in?) for this story about a soldier's fight to bring home a dog he befriended in Iraq:

Laurel lawyer John E. Smathers, a captain in the Army Reserve, returned from a year in Iraq with a broken arm, a wrecked knee and a chest full of medals.

During his tour, Smathers helped thwart a bank robbery and assisted in recovering stolen Iraqi artwork. He survived an ambush and a high-speed auto crash.

But when he got back in March 2004, he was determined to complete a final mission: to rescue Scout, a dog he and other soldiers had adopted, from the increasingly bloody streets of Baghdad and bring him to his Howard County home. Scout was resolute, loyal. So was Smathers.

Katrina rescues: Clint gets social

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, it's Bella's turn to see the veterinarian, and Clint is the life of a party.

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Bella went to her check up Monday morning. Unfortunately, she is heartworm positive. She has not been coughing and has not had any signs at all. This week she will first be spayed, and then the examining veterinarian will decide the best approach for her heartworm treatment, but we suspect it will be two injections 24 hours apart.

During the blood draw, Bella shrieked as though they were removing her spleen. The Drama Queen is not one to suffer in silence. At home, she went upstairs to rest from the trauma. They also gave her more Advantage, and gave the rest of her vaccinations. Allison thinks she is anywhere from 3 to 5 years old.

Clint came along because I wanted the rescue folks to see how well he’s doing. The biggest difference is that he is not sleeping 23.5 hours a day, and physically his eyes are much improved. His eyeballs were so dehydrated that they were shrunken. They are now a normal size. When I started giving him the opthalmic meds, his eyes looked so tiny I wasn’t sure I could get anything in there! My vet thinks that with the rehydration, he may have a bit of peripheral vision.

Also, his mysterious bleeding appears to have ended, at least for now. Who knows?

They gave me his paperwork from the emergency shelter in Hattiesburg. It is so sad; many notations on his refusal to eat or drink, and how many fluids they gave him, and how many medications. Apparently his owner was a sweet little old armless lady in a wheelchair; needless to say, she had trouble taking care of him. She surrendered him to the shelter for the storm, and the veterinarians there told her the dog was not doing well and that it would be best for him if she turned him into the shelter permanently, and she agreed.

Saturday Clint had a bath in the kitchen sink; he was stunned. I could almost hear him say “what the hell?”. My dogs are a whopping 20 pounds each, so they get bathed in the laundry sink downstairs, not the kitchen sink. When his bath was almost over, I lifted the plastic/metal drain plug; I didn’t want to take it out completely because I didn’t want him to drop his leg into the drain and get panicked. He stepped on it, flipped it over, and it jammed into the drain where I could not get it out. He was unhappy to be in the “tub” (he does not appreciate the “Calgon, take me away” philosophy). Finally I took him out despite not having rinsed his legs. Clint, aka Stinky Boy, felt the whole event was beneath his dignity and twirled himself dry in a huff. I’m sure his dignity did not grasp how unmanly he appears when soaking wet. He’s so skinny that other poodles are going to kick sand in his face at the beach.

Clint was definitely the hit of the party! He had a great time. His social debut went well and I was thrilled that he never shut down-- for two and a half hours little old ladies held him, he was handed around from cooing woman to cooing woman, and kids played with him. Not bad for a guy who rarely stepped outside the crate. At one point the kids got on their hands and knees and twirled with him!

The little land shark smelled the red beans and rice and really, really wanted some. He's underweight, so even though I knew this wasn't a particularly good idea, he was practically jumping out of someone’s lap to get to my plate. So I gave him a bit of red beans and rice that he inhaled. It made him so happy! The Katrina women told me it’s traditional to serve that on a Monday and Clint should have it once a month. I had to do a load of Clint laundry this morning because he pooped in his playpen...twirled around so much he flattened the poop like a pancake.

Bella has figured out the dog door! I am so pleased. It only took a month, but now she can zoom in and out at will with the other dogs. It may sound like a small thing, but I’m really happy.

Bella is in heaven at the moment. My niece Meg, who graduated from college last spring, arrived last night from Arizona to look for a job here. Meg loves dogs too, and they are now all going to get enough attention. Changing the person to pet ratio from 1:5 to 2:5 is really helpful.

Clint went to the vet yesterday (again). His eyeballs are quite improved and much more hydrated. They were so dehydrated before that they were quite shrunken. Now he has normal sized eyeballs, essentially. Last time Dr. Rachel measured the level of moisture in his eyes, there was none. Dry as a bone. So when she got a good measurement, it was a huge improvement. I can stop the eye drops, and change Optimmune from three times a day to twice, but add the over the counter lubricant once a day. He will need some opthalmic lubricating ointment for the rest of his life.

The x-ray of his heart showed that his heart is not enlarged, despite the heart murmur, and he does not need heart medications at this point. I am so happy! We also looked at the arthritis in his spine. It’s in an area over his hips, which is quite common. While I haven’t seen a noticeable difference after using the aspirin, it’s really too soon to stop it. I ordered some liquid joint care stuff (my clinic doesn’t carry a liquid).

I also ordered another bed and some more Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids for Clint. Fred deserves to have his bed back! Actually, he can have the new one. I think it’s safe to say Clint has peed on the old one.

Clint was feeling great all day yesterday until the whipstitch edging on a fleece throw got wrapped and stuck around one of his nails. Not a peep out of him (I have yet to hear him make a noise other than a grunt) and I found him panicked and scared with the fleece blanket twisted a few times. I had to cut the fleece away since he wouldn’t let me examine the toe. It only took a minute to get his toenail released but he didn’t seem to recover from it all day. Poor Clint; it only takes a small incident to ruin his whole day. Good thing he has such a lovely temperament. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com

Katrina Rescues: Worrying about Clint

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, Clint has a mysterious medical problem.

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Clint went to the veterinarian on Tuesday to find the source of the mysterious bleed from Monday night. I waited a day to see if it continued; it didn’t happen the next night, but he bled even more the following night. Then the following night it didn’t happen.

Well....the vet has no idea where Clint might be bleeding from. I brought in the bloodied towel so she could see it. No blood in the urine or poop. No cuts on his feet, pads, tongue or underbelly. Both teeth still there, all nails there, so nothing has fallen off and bled in the process. Anal sacs okay. Rectal showed nothing unusual. Unsheathed the wienie and it's okay. No kidney stone on x-ray. Gums are pink, so he's not anemic.

Since he did poop in his crate two nights in a row before all this started, she's wondering if it's poop related. So I was instructed to watch him poop, although he usually twirls around outside by himself for a while to get his business done. If it's not solid, I could switch foods. If it's solid, then it’s probably not the source. If he bleeds again, I should call.

She wholeheartedly agreed that he is feistier when she checked to see if he had both teeth. A great sign of improved health! On the up side, she said his eyes were looking significantly moister, which is the goal of the two thrice-daily medications.

Wednesday and Thursday, no blood was in the crate. I went outside with him on Wednesday morning to see if his poop was solid. Watching a pot of water does not help it boil any faster, nor does eyeballing a dog so you can examine his poop make him go. It was a cool, moist morning with wet grass. As he just stood there not twirling and not pooping, I heard the birds, I looked at the sky, I watched the breeze move the branches, and wished desperately that I had made coffee first. I felt like I was camping. I don’t like camping. I sat on the porch steps, a discrete distance from Clint. Chelsea was inside wondering where the heck her breakfast was and why the maid had not cleaned her litter box. Bella sat between my feet getting her head scratched. After 20 minutes I just gave up. No blood, no poop, no coffee, no nothing.

This morning, however, he was in the mood to go. I brought out a cup of coffee (I’m slow sometimes, but I can learn) and waited a couple of minutes, and there it was, a solid poop. Apparently the problem is not food related. I am running the sample into the vet today just to see if there is anything in it, but it’s not bloody and appears normal.

Watching him over the past few days I’ve realized that Clint gets very stressed going into a crate. Apparently he’s spent enough of his life in a crate and now that he’s had a taste of freedom during the day, he’s not about to go back into a crate happily. Because he’s blind and I worry about him getting hurt wandering around, especially around the basement steps that have to be available for the cat, I can’t just leave him out. Last night I bought a used mesh playpen for $18 that I found at an online “garage sale” provided by the city to keep stuff out of landfills. The people were dog lovers and didn’t mind that a poodle was going to use it. I told Clint that this play pen is his safe place and he doesn’t ever have to be in a crate again. I also used one of those heated discs (Snuggle Safe) that you microwave and put under a blanket for arthritis relief. This morning he was one happy camper. He has plenty of room to twirl around in the play pen, and compared to his crate it’s humongous. Clint still views it as the equivalent of jailing a political prisoner, I think, but it’s a wonderful improvement.

After three and a half weeks, Bella has still not figured out the dog door. She has gone through it once without help, and that was when she viewed a squirrel on the other side and then she plowed through at terrier hunting speed. However, after the sadly unsuccessful squirrel chase, she came back and just flapped a paw at it. Pathetic! So now instead of holding the door open for her, I am gently pushing her right through it from behind so she gets used to opening it with her head. This Sunday she’s going in to see the rescue folks for her heartworm check and to finish vaccinations.

She has found a special spot -- a place of power, perhaps --under the one drawer in my desk. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com

Katrina rescues: Clint has a bad weekend

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, Clint and Bella go visiting.

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Clint had a rough weekend. First, I re-stuffed the nesting bed with new polyfil, and unintentionally made the bed so high he had to scale it like a mountain climber. Then I had the audacity to take him and Bella to Barktoberfest, a function at our local shelter where rescue groups show off their adoptable rescues. Shelter from the Storm had a booth and asked those of us with fosters to come if we’d like. I’d hoped Bella’s puppies would be there, but they weren’t. A friend of mine from out of town had a booth, so I bought Clint to meet her because she’s heard so much about him. She knows he’s spoken for! It wasn’t cold enough for Clint to wear his new manly blue suede coat with fleece lining, but he did wear his new manly blue nylon collar.

It’s just hilarious when people realize there’s an airborne little poodle in that black purse.

Bella enjoyed the event. First she played “find the hot dog,” a shell game with three cups and a slice of hot dog under one of them. The border collie rescue group offered it as a fund raiser. She sniffed several dog butts and emitted low growls at lots of dogs and enjoyed herself immensely. She was also well behaved. My friend’s booth on cancer information and research was inside, so we went inside the shelter to say hi. Jo loved Clint and Bella, and I had to check my poodle purse when I left to make sure Jo had not “borrowed” Clint. Unfortunately, this interior area was where bunny rescue was situated; Bella the Jack Russell mix was mesmerized by the bunnies (yum, yum) until she saw the ferret rescue. Oh dear. We left.

Bella, Fred, Ginger and I went to the dog park on Sunday. Bella now knows the way to the dog park and has started to whine in excitement along with my dogs just before we arrive. As she gets more comfortable, she gets more brave and feisty. That’s only natural! She sticks with the pack quite well, but she’s not clear on the concept of recall, which is why we go to a fenced dog park (I feel safer with Ginger in a fenced area too; Fred’s umbilical cord doesn’t stretch very far so I don’t worry about him). She barked at a couple of men and a young girl holding a stick. She’s never barked at women. Everyone falls in love with her pretty little face.

Clint pooped in his crate two nights in a row, so I didn’t use the fancy new crate pad. Then he peed in the crate and it looked like there had been blood in the urine, but this morning there was no sight of blood. He didn’t pee in the crate so much as it looked like he leaked. I hope this ends eventually; I’m going through Odormute at a rapid rate. It’s a good thing I have almost no sense of smell, but I can’t be so sure about my visitors. This morning he wandered so far in the back yard that he nearly twirled into the fence.

The day Bella arrived, I bought a toy for her and brought it to the staging area. She ignored it completely. She didn’t seem to recognize toys as items to play with. Fred and Ginger have taught her how much fun they are. Yesterday she grabbed the bungee iguana and hopped up onto the couch and rolled around on her back playing with it. She’s still learning about tug of war, not quite grasping that she’s supposed to tug. All that happens is that she catches part of the toy in her mouth and then Ginger tugs and the toy flies, much to the surprise of both of them.

I bought Clint two tiny toys, but he ignores them too. Maybe someday he’ll enjoy them, as Bella has learned to do. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com

Katrina rescues: Clint's health report

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, Clint goes to the veterinarian, and Bella takes a job as a model.

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Since I’m going to be keeping Clint, I took him to my vet today. After the rescue group’s vet removed the rotten teeth and neutered him, he still has several medical issues.

I love my vet. She didn't charge me for Clint's visit - not for labor, tests, medications, anything. I walked out the door not having paid a cent for what must have been a $300 or $400 visit. The staff and vet all fell for Clint; I heard lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” amidst the “that poor thing.”

I told them my goal for Clint is to be comfortable for the rest of his life, and no need for extra step measures like chemotherapy. Almost as a joke, I suggested a pool on how long anyone thinks he'll live. Dr. Rachel guessed 2 years but wouldn't be surprised if he went more. The vet tech guessed 3 years. Dr. Rachel says she's seen both 10-year old and 16-yr old dogs look like that, so we really can't guess his age. He weighs 8 lbs and 3 oz; she'd like to see him at 9 lbs.

Clint has quite a litany of concerns:

1) He has a yeast infection in his ears, as suspected. Got a tube of ointment for that.

2) He is not a good candidate for cataract surgery.

3) His eye pressure was surprisingly close to normal despite his very dry eyes (even after lubricating ointment three times a day), but the eyeballs have an oddly soft feel to them that she doesn't like (that would go with low eye pressure). He has two kinds of eye drops (one steroids, one for autoimmune issues) both to be given three times a day. We go back for an eye recheck in a week and a half or so.

4) He has two months of heartworm preventive in case he was infected in the past 6 months, which would not have shown up on his blood test. Since there is no liquid form, I chopped up some Heartgard into little pieces and he ate it with his canned food.

5) He has a heart murmur. If he coughs I am to let her know. He just stopped coughing from the nasal cavity infection from his rotted teeth. If he coughs it could be a sign of congestive heart failure.

6) Arthritis is in the spine. She said there was no need to take an x-ray to determine this as it was pretty obvious. We didn't do anything about the arthritis today, but I'll bring it up when we're in for his eye recheck. With his list of issues, you just can't do everything at once.

7) She agrees that the twirling is obsessive/compulsive and that he was probably in a crate far too long.

So far, he has tolerated the eye drops and ointment but he’s not quite as calm about as he was (having energy and wherewithal to get annoyed is a good sign that he’s feeling better; we used to say the same thing about my dad when he got finally got cranky after being sick).

Our heat wave has ended. We had a 30-degree overnight drop that has Clint a little confused. I’ve ordered a winter coat for him (Velcro closures for fast off and on), and will knit him a sweater. At 8 lbs 3 oz, he needs help staying warm.

Bella was my doggie model this morning when I had to take photographs for a identification tag product comparison article I’m writing. She was a little confused by my playing around with her collar so much, but she was thrilled with the attention. After lunch. Fred, Ginger, Bella and I went to the fenced dog park and met our pug friend Abigail. The 50-degree temperature helps heat-intolerant Fred really enjoy the dog park – all the dogs enjoy it more when it’s cool. Bella was so well behaved. She stayed close to the pack and never took off. I wouldn’t exactly say she came when I called her every time, but she’s doing very well.

The rescue group wants Bella to stay where she is until the pre-determined time of October 22, so she won’t be joining her beloved teenager early. It would be a lot of changes for her if she went someplace else and then Bella’s owner reclaimed her. She is to be spayed before she moves and I think she still needs a heartworm check. She is just a lovely girl who needs some obedience training. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com

Still finding, still saving

USA Today has a story on its front page about the animals of Hurrican Katrina:

Five weeks after the flooding began, animal rescue teams continue to fan across New Orleans and surrounding parishes every day at dawn in a race against diminishing odds. They gather up hundreds of desperate pets every day — more than 8,000 so far. And they leave behind fresh water and dry food for the dogs and cats roaming the streets that rescuers do not have enough staff to find or collect.

The rest of the piece is here. It's a long, and good one. -- Gina Spadafori

Katrina rescues: New homes on the horizon

In addition to starting her "Snowball Effect" campaign, Phyllis DeGioia has taken two Katrina foster dogs into her home. In this report, Clint goes shopping, and the dogs both meet their futures in what may be their forever homes.

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Someone has applied to adopt Bella. She's not available until Oct. 22, and the potential adopters know that, and they know her owners might yet find her. The rescue group doesn't want to have 70 animals become available on the same day, so they're starting the process early. That way when Oct. 22 arrives, many animals can go to their new homes without waiting to start the process.

Bella, her three puppies and Clint were all listed as being strays. I find it hard to believe that Clint could stray anywhere, so they must have used a pretty broad definition of "stray." The manly man is doing well, twirling with higher speed as he feels better. Watching him twirl for too long makes me a bit dizzy. He finished his pain meds this morning but has another week of antibiotics.

I feel so protective of him. We'll never know what really happened to the manly man, or what he's been through, and I don't know how far he can get past his current seemingly senile state. But he is warm and safe and now pain-free, although undoubtedly a bit arthritic, and he is happy. He wags his tail for food, for me, and for being petted. He makes almost a perfect dog, if you think about it: no barking to annoy the neighbors, no upsetting the letter carrier, no chasing cats, no fighting with other dogs, no need to exercise outside the house (twirling does it), he's not finicky about food, and the best part of his day is to sit on a lap and snuggle up.

I still can't get his poop schedule right. He seems to save it all up for a couple of days and then let it go over the course of the morning. A very nice guy from the company that makes AtmosKlear sent me some bottles as a press evaluation sample, and that stuff has just been great in reducing "pet odors" (I love that phrase -- like we don't know what that means!). In a few weeks they're coming out with a "pet and urine" specific version and he's going to send some of that. Woo hoo!

Today I'm contemplating taking Clint for his first outing. I need to pick up some sale yarn, and my friend at the store has not yet met Clint and wants to. I'm going to try taking him in with me, as I have a dog carrier that looks like a purse. Next week I'll take Bella to the dog park for the first time. I want to make sure she's not too skittish before we go.

Friday, Sept. 30

Our little road trip went fairly well. I have a purse-like dog carrier left over from a product comparison article and Clint barely fit in there. Ten pounds is heavier than you think when the weight is on your shoulder. He trembled all the way to the fabric and yarn store, and I wondered if I'd made a mistake in bringing him. Being airborne isn't every dog's cup of tea.

While inside the store lots of people petted him up and fussed over him. It was inventory day and the regional director was there so I couldn't let him out to show off his twirling skills (but I did get some ribbon yarn on sale). By the time I was finishing up in the store (it takes quite a while when everyone asks to see the dog in the purse) Clint was getting into it and poking his head out. It's very odd to have your purse tickle your armpit. I'm sure having women ooh and ahh over him did wonders for his self-esteem. Walking out of the mall, I talked to my purse.

I never thought I'd be one of those women who walks around with a poodle in her purse.

Then I stopped for Chinese carry out and placed it on the passenger seat. His carrier was on the floor of the front seat to avoid the air bags. The little runt started to crawl out of his bag to smell the Chinese food. Good luck chomping cabbage with two teeth!

After we got home, he celebrated his road trip with a good long twirling session in the living room.

Tuesday October 4

Yesterday Bella met some potential adopters, a mom and teenage daughter who fell in love with her pretty little face. They have lots of experience with pets, and Bella and the teenager fell in love on sight. Bella glommed onto this pretty young woman. As far as the teenager was concerned, it was a done deal in 15 seconds. She wanted to bring Bella home last night, which we really couldn't do. However, in view of the circumstances, we're looking into seeing if they could foster her for the remainder of the time before she is allowed to be adopted on Oct. 22. We'll see what happens.

Bella sensed that something was going on. I'd come home and let her out of the crate, and instead of shooting out, she skulked out, as though she'd been caught chewing my knitting again (which she hasn't because I have appropriately put it away). She sat still in the car on our way to the appointment, which isn't like her at all. She could benefit from a car restraint.

Clint has found his permanent home -- with me, of course. Yes, I'm a failed foster mom. Someone should make pins that say "failed foster mom" and "failed foster dad" as a fund-raiser.

It started out that Clint was just supposed to hang out here until he died, which wasn't expected to be far off. Then the veterinarian said his blood work was good, and in better shape than we thought. That changed things a bit: I had to decide if I wanted to take care of this guy for what could be two months or several years. That was unnerving. As far as he's come, Clint will always be a special needs dog. But I didn't decide to keep him because I felt sorry for him, or because he was unadoptable; as a matter of fact, both the woman who handles adoptions at Shelter from the Storm said she'd take him, and the family who looked at Bella yesterday said they'd decided they'd take the most unadoptable dog that no one else wanted, so they originally wanted Clint. So now I have started saying "keep your hands off my poodle" to keep this unadoptable poodle in my own lap.

I don't even particularly like miniature poodles -- I dislike the frou frou connotations, that overdone silly show coat, rhinestone collars and nail polish. But the reality is that I fell in love with this worried little guy. I am determined to make his remaining time wonderful to make up for appears to have been an unappealing life stuck in a crate.

Whatever he needs, he'll get. We should all be so lucky. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com