Day 2288

Last night just before we went to bed, Dot's left rear leg became completely lame. She wouldn't put any weight on the leg at all and had a lot of difficulty standing even while I was supporting her using the Help 'Em Up Harness. It was almost impossible to tell whether the injury was a temporary numbness, a torn ligament, or another ruptured disc in her spine. I did my best to make her comfortable, putting her to bed on her side, with the bad leg on top in a relaxed position. We all went to sleep and when we woke up the next morning, the leg was fine.

This is how fragile Dot is these days. There is no margin for error. If she sleeps on her weak leg wrong, she is unable to walk when she wakes up. If she stumbles while we are walking in the park, it might take her two days to recover. The Palladia pills make her weak about 48 hours after she takes them. Just barking at Dash is enough to make her poop in the house. Right now, she is the definition of a high maintenance dog.

The dogs should have been happy today, since the weather has turned brisk and cold again. They weren't content with the weather though and pestered me all day. Dot would bark at me to help her up and take her outside. As soon as we were out the back door, she wanted to come in again. We did this over and over again. When Dot would settle down and go to sleep, Dash would start barking and get her riled up again. She pooped in her bed twice. She has one dog blanket I must have washed five hundred times. The thing is indestructible.

I balanced my checkbook today and made sure that I have enough money to finish the month. I wrote some large checks to pay credit card bills and deposited some small checks in the bank. I picked up prescriptions for myself and Dash and tried to make sure that I didn't get them mixed up. I definitely don't need to be taking phenobarbital. Dash needs the stuff to control seizures, but the last thing I need are downers.  Everyday life is enough of a downer as it is.

Just when I was finally warming up to the idea of getting a larger iPhone, Apple comes out with a new smaller model that is exactly the same size as my current iPhone 5. Maybe I'll get one of these new SE models. It's about time for me to upgrade and one of the reasons I've waited so long is that I really like a smaller phone. The larger 6 models just didn't fit in my pocket that well. Maybe these new phones will even fit in my existing case. I think I like my case better than the phone anyway.

Dash goes to the vet to have his teeth cleaned tomorrow morning. I'll need to take him in really early because he has to fast. Getting either of the dogs to do anything without breakfast is always a challenge. I'm glad we only have to do this once a year.

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day