I don't like Pill Pockets

It's been quite a week. When I came home from the emergency vet last Monday with more pills, mom thought Pill Pockets would be nice for me. As if! Those things are icky and the only way I'll take one is for mom to cram it down my throat. At least they go down like an oyster - or like I think an oyster might slide down never having eaten one.

Smokey likes them but he is becoming a dog of less discerning tastes than he used to be. Anyway, I  ate pretty good on Monday and Tuesday. Then we went to Gainesville again and I had another dose of chemo. We got home with no mishaps. I ate a little chicken Wednesday night and a little more Thursday morning and then my appetite went to sleep and I didn't want food any more. Mom got worried. On Friday she went to Publix and bought organic chicken breasts and thighs, little cans of gourmet dog food, sliced roast beef and roast turkey lunch meat. I turned down everything - even peanut butter.
 

There is no nice way to say it - mom panicked. She called Gainesville. The doctors said not to worry, sometimes dogs don't eat for a couple of days after treatment and suggested I go to the vet up here for a quick check. So off we went. I got poked and prodded and squeezed. But my blood was OK, I had no temperature, and my tummy wasn't tender. I wasn't really dehydrated but I'm not drinking as much as I should so they gave me some fluids. I look like I have a goiter. What next?? The vet said it would disappear. Mom said she would try not to panic but with the holiday weekend coming and me not eating she was still worried.

We went home and all took a nap. When we woke up mom remembered an errand she had to run. We dogs jumped around and barked, "We wanna go!" I looked so lively - and my goiter was gone - so she let us get in the car and we were very happy. We had to stop on the way so mom could move a turtle out of the road. When we got back home, one of mom's friends called. She works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and she's in Alabama coordinating oil spill cleanup - yes, there is still lots of oil coming ashore on the Gulf coast and it isn't pretty. Anyway, her husband had gone out of town on a fishing trip and her daughter would not get home until late in the evening and the dog needed to be let out. So mom left us and went to take Miss Molly for a little walk. Molly was very appreciative.

When mom got home some other friends called. There was a hawk in their yard and it would not fly away. What to do? Mom said she would be right over. She handed out treats and I was interested so she gave us more treats. Then she went off. The bird was a young red-shouldered hawk that must have fallen from the nest. It looked healthy but still had some down. It could fly a little but not much and it was really scared. Mom got a box and a broom and explained what she was doing and why to the bird. It calmed down a little and mom got it into the box and taped the flaps shut. Then she took it to the wildlife rehab place. 

By the time she got home my appetite was really awake and I had some roast beef and crunchy raw carrots but I didn't like the roast turkey. Smokey and Buddy had some. When that package comes out we all line up. I had roast beef for breakfast the next morning. Mom had to go to Publix to get prescription refilled for me and some more roast beef and she got some rotisserie chicken too. WOW! That was really good! So mom baked the chicken thighs and I had some of that too. 

Sunday morning I ate a little bit of dog food but I really want that meat. Mom says she feels like a carnivore but she'll do it for me. For every big bite I get, Smokey gets a small morsel. So far, he hasn't noticed the difference. One day he'll have to go back to regular dog food, but for now mom is happy that I'm eating. She says my ribs aren't quite so noticeable. We have two more days to build up my weight and then back to Gainesville for more chemo. Even though it's a different drug I will probably have no appetite for a couple of days so I really need to bulk up. Mom feeds me four or five times a day but if she'd set all that stuff in front of me at one time I think I could eat it. In between meals I nap on mom's chair or bed or outside. It's warm now but I still like to be outside and sniff and listen to the birds. 

That silly Smokey likes to roll in the leaves.

Smokey and Pasquale are on the wrong side of the door.

We follow mom while she looks at what's happening in the yard. The beauty berries are beginning to bloom. They have pretty teensy pink flowers that become clusters of purple berries in the fall. They are kind of bitter so birds don't eat them until almost everything else is gone.

And the mailbox wren finished laying her eggs and is now on the nest.

Beady eye of wren.

That's it for now. I'm resting but mom promised me a couple slices of roast beef before we turn in for the night.