Aquarium Success

Mother Goose cleaned the fish tank today, and all parties survived! Yay for the fishies and YAY for me! …now I’ll go and clean the birdie cages… Love, Mother Goose (keeper of many children AND pets)

Dusty the Hero Pup

The dear sister of Mother Goose has a hero pup. His name is Dusty, and he is a Bichon Frise. When she was here to visit me recently, I asked her, “What were the original Bichons bred to do? Are they hunters? Herders? Tracking dogs?”

His cute little face after grooming session.

Surprisingly, she did not know for sure, so we googled that question.

The answer quickly came back that they have always been kept as companions! Nothing else. There have been no other jobs for this breed of dog except to hang out with humans and make them happy.

Dusty has always done his job.

But last year, Dusty went above and beyond the call of duty.

My sister is a recent hip transplant victim patient. However, sometimes in the process of healing, a patient will experience a dislocation of the hip. Bunn was in her bathroom which is on the lower level of her home shaving her legs. Her husband, Allen, was upstairs asleep.

Without any warning, her hip popped out of its socket! Bunn was immediately flooded with the most excruciating pain imaginable and stranded from Allen. She could not move! Frozen in terrible pain, she could only cry and scream in agony, hoping that somehow he would hear her calls for help, but also knowing that he is a very sound sleeper.

But Dusty heard her hysterical yelling and crying.

This little white package of fluff instantly knew that something was wrong with his mom. He couldn’t do much, but he did what he could. He jumped up on Allen who was still soundly asleep, pawing at him and nudging his face with his cold black nose. He whined and barked and made as much commotion as he could until at last Allen opened his eyes.

“What’s wrong, Dusters?” he asked sleepily.

Then he heard my sister screaming in the basement. He ran down the stairs and saw what had happened. He quickly called 9-1-1 summoning the paramedics who loaded her onto the vertical gurney and carried her up the stairs to the waiting ambulance. They rushed her to the emergency room where the doctors were able to carefully reposition her hip.

Dusty was the Hero of the Day.

Yesterday the hero pup was struck by a car in the street right outside their home. The motorist, probably speeding, saw him standing on the side of the curb and assumed that he’d stay there. He didn’t.

Because Dusty is so friendly, he probably assumed that this car was bringing guests to their house and ran out into the street to welcome the guests. Because that’s what a Bichon does — they are the social committee of the dog world.

The screech of brakes and the scream of the woman brought Allen running to the street where he saw the little white hero pup laying on the ground, blood all around him.

But he was miraculously still alive! They wrapped him in Allen’s sweatshirt and rushed him to the closest veterinary clinic. After xrays, they determined that he had no internal injuries or broken bones. Many of his toes were dislocated, but the worst situation was the road rash on his rear right leg. His skin, muscle and tendon were completely gone down to the bone.

He had emergency surgery yesterday around noon. They cleaned his little leg, and gave him laser treatments to stimulate cell growth as well as corn syrup poultice. High tech and low tech treatments for the little hero. He’s also on really good pain meds, and will have to remain hospitalized until Wednesday.

Dusty and Bunn after his surgery yesterday.

But the little Hero is going to be OK.

He might not run as fast as he used to, and he might walk with a limp. But Bunn and Allen also walk pretty stiffly, and they are just so thankful that their little Dusty is alive. He’s a great companion, and a real Hero.

Hip hip hooray for Dusty the Hero Pup!! And get well soon, little fellow. Mother Goose loves you…

Olivia from Bolivia

We have such a menagerie of pets at Mother Goose’s house! There’s Fran our dog who recently suffered an aural hematoma but is now recovered quite completely. And there are the seven Zebra Finches — six hens and a little rooster who doesn’t have a clue but is very protective of his girls. Three Glass Catfish in the globe aquarium — countless platys and mollies in the upstairs aquarium. And a partridge in a pear tree. No, just kidding about that partridge.

And then there’s Olivia our cat.

Olivia was here before anyone. Her home has been her castle, and the table has been her throne. From ages past and time gone by, Olivia from Bolivia has reigned in this house. Her words and her actions constitute the ultimate law of the land here. She would like us to bow as she passes by. She knows where every ray of afternoon sun will fall because she is the ruler of the sun and the moon and the stars. They rise and set according to her wishes, her whims and her orders.

She is suspicious of any challenger to her throne, even a mysterious ceramic one.

Olivia is learning to share her kingdom with other creatures. She loves to babysit the birds, from atop their cage. She admires the fish swimming in their watery worlds. And she enjoys a love/hate relationship with Fran. Actually, Fran likes Olivia a whole bunch! Fran likes Olivia much more than she likes other dogs or strangers at the door.

The first time they met, Fran thought that Olivia was a squirrel. Fran did what comes natural — chasing Olivia around and around the house, barking with the excitement of a hunter hot on the trail of the prey. It took many months for Olivia to forgive Fran of that case of mistaken identity, but today harmony reigns in the zoological garden of Mother Goose.