Christmas Miracle, the 2012 Edition -- UPDATE with Pic

Remember last Year's Christmas miracle? When Moogie left her purse sitting in the middle of an aisle at the grocery store and no one stole, or even ransacked, it? That was pretty unbelievable.

This year's miracle makes 2011's pale by comparison.

We still have Bouie, and he's healthy, thanks be to God and a couple of skilled, kind veterinarians.

We arrived at Elder Daughter's home last Saturday and got to play with Baby Jack while ED's family, both canine and human, got to know Mysti. Bouie had fun playing with ED's pups, Tyson and Pippi. Sunday was pretty uneventful, until Pepper and Bouie came back from their evening walk at about 8:30. Bouie was not himself.

Halfway through their walk, Bouie began to get shaky. By the time they got back to the house, he could barely hold his head up and could hardly stand.

SIL#1 had treated an ant hill in the front yard that morning and Bouie had seemed very interested in it. We wondered whether he had gotten into the poison, so I called the emergency number noted on the container. I got some information from their hotline, but that didn't seem to be the source of Bou's problem. After he could barely get up, we decided to head to the emergency vet clinic across the river ASAP. And thank God we did as quickly as we did!

Vet#1 examined him and ran some blood work.

The tests revealed that he had ingested antifreeze!

50 to 70% of dogs who ingest antifreeze do not survive, especially when the levels are as high as Bouie's were. Their kidneys and liver are destroyed.

Treatment for antifreeze poisoning includes oral administration of activated charcoal to coat the intestines and IV administration of, in essence, pure grain alcohol. The PGA chemically binds with the antifreeze and causes it to be eliminated through the urine.

We had to leave our Bouie in a strange place that night, in the care of strangers.

I slept maybe 1 1/2 hours.

He did well overnight, and his kidney and liver values were strong at 6:00 Monday morning when Pepper picked him up, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.

When our former Vet's office opened at 8:00, I called to explain what had happened, and they said to bring him in, along with any records we had from Vet#1. We took our drunken sweetheart in before 9:00 and, once again, left him among strangers.

We had a very quiet breakfast, and both of us spent most of the day trying to stay occupied.  I called the vet at midday, and he told me that Bouie was doing well, and could probably be discharged Tuesday afternoon, barring complications.

Complications, thy name is Bouie.

Monday night, he pulled out his IV.  Vet#2 didn't know how much of the drip he had gotten, so, to be safe rather than sorry, they kept him another night to keep the drip going.

Then, Wednesday -- which just happened to be Pepper's birthday -- dawned, and Pepper got a call while he was in the duck blind from the vet. Bouie's blood work was great, and he could be released at 2:00 in the afternoon!

I arrived at Vet#2's at approximately 2:01.

My boy looked pretty rough, and he had a blood alcohol content of about 80 proof, but he was happy and alive!

 

Vet#2 took pictures to share with colleagues who were very interested in the lab who beat antifreeze, and let us leave after advising me to bring him back in a week to double check his kidney function, just to be on the safe side. And, also advising that Bouie would likely have the mother of all hangovers for a day or so.

I have never been so happy to have a dog in my backseat in my whole life.

There are other heartwarming details, but the upshot of this post is that I got everything I could ever want for Christmas when Bouie staggered through the door that afternoon, and to see the expression on Pepper's face when he got home from a Bouie-less hunt to find his bestest buddy waiting for him.

There are good, and miraculous, times in Moogie's World. And I wish the same for all of you.

A Little Holiday Cheer, and Welcome!

I've been incredibly pre-occupied lately, with the house and Christmas and something else kinda exciting that I'll share in a few weeks, so I've been kinda neglecting Moogie's World and the blogosphere.  I'll try to do better, but I can't make any promises, seeing as how I have done very little shopping, and we're getting ready to travel for the holidays, and we have a 10 week old black lab girl puppy!!! 

This is the visual definition of cute (and hell on four large paws!):

 

 

Say hello to Mystic Roux (her mama's name was Roux), more commonly known as Mysti (or other "colorful" pejoratives, e.g., "you little fill-in-the-blank"):



She's getting the house training idea insofar as piddling goes, but we're still working on the poop angle.  Bouie is very good with her -- he plays so gently with her.  Perhaps he understands that she is his email-order bride and he needs to treat her right if he expects to wed her in a year or so.

She has gained over 3 pounds in two weeks, so she has an insatiable appetite.  It's been pretty much a sleep-deprived, multi-ring circus around here since Thanksgiving (we picked her up on the way home from Arkansas).  So, this video that appeared in my Inbox today was a calming, welcome pleasure.  Just look at the children watching in awe. 



I think the puppy needs to watch this. Often.

From Today's Inbox -- Cutting the Deficit

Pepper forwarded this to me today.  It really puts things in perspective:

object: I'm cutting back and you may want to also!

I'm cutting back and you may want to also....

    I'm going to bite the bullet, too!!!!

President Obama ordered the cabinet to cut $100,000,000.00 ($100
million) from the $3,500,000,000,000.00 ($3.5 trillion) federal
budget.

I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same

thing with my personal budget. I spend about $2,000 a month on
groceries, household expenses, medicine, utilities, etc., but it's
time to get out the budget cutting axe, go through my expenses, and
cut back.

I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio (1/35,000) of
my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of
spending $2,000 a month, I'm going to have to cut that number by six
cents. Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what
sacrifice is all about.

I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries
- six cents worth.

Did this President actually think no one would do the math? Please
send this to everyone on your list so people understand how idiotic a
$100 million cut is in a $3.5 trillion budget - ludicrous!!!!!!!

"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation...

    One is by sword...

    The other is by debt."

    John Adams 1826



*sigh*

Our Friends Abroad

From today's Inbox (. . . as slightly edited to correct some grammar and punctuation issues.  Sorry.  I couldn't help myself.):


As you know America is the first country to send aid when others are in trouble.  Neighbors helping neighbors, right?  So, just look at the list below of all those who have offered to help us in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

I think it is highly appropriate that we send THANKS to all of the countries that have reciprocated for our help with their disasters, misgivings, social turmoil, & poverty, by returning the favor and sending monetary and physical help to the United States of America after Sandy ravaged our East Coast leaving deaths, homelessness, and utter chaos in its wake. Listed below is a roster of the Countries and World Wide Organizations that are giving us gracious assistance. Please assist me in Thanking these entities by passing on this email so people from all over America can join in and THANK our neighbors ... in whom we have invested BILLIONS!!!! 1. Yeah. I hope this is exaggerated. A lot of countries helped New Orleans after Katrina -- even the Vatican.  I guess the global economic crisis affects benevolence. Perhaps our smug president hasn't gotten the idea across that we're slipping into third-world-nation-status.  He'd better work on that during his current romp through Asia if we're to be the beneficiary of foreign aid anytime soon. Meanwhile, indulge me in a little bird-walking here.  There's been another mishap in the Gulf -- an oil rig was consumed by fire; at least one man is dead and another remains missing.  My deepest and most sincere sympathy goes out to the families.  And I expect oil production to be curtailed any minute now. Solyn-dra!  Solyn-dra!

Scandal and Secession

A few hours ago, a Petition Permitting Louisiana to Secede from the United States of America amassed more than the number of signatures required for the White House to issue a response.  BayouBuzz reports:

Louisiana secession petition signatures reached the threshold for a response from the White House on Tuesday morning. The White House We The People programs offers all citizens the power to initiate a petition drive. Once a petition reaches more than 25,000 signatures in a 30-day period, the issue is routed to the appropriate office for review and a response issued.  

As of Tuesday morning, Louisiana’s petition to secede had 27,028 signatures, according to the Atlanta Black Star . Louisiana celebrated its statehood bicentennial earlier this year. A man identified as “Michael E” of Slidell created the secession petition on November 7, according to The Advertiser .  

University of Louisiana at Lafayette political science professor Ryan Teten had this to say about the We the People petition drive:

“It doesn’t represent the state and its population. It’s another form of protest. Given Louisiana’s position and its struggles."
 

 As of this afternoon, the HuffPo is reporting that some 30 similar petitions have been filed on the White House website's "We the People" feature. 

[Of course, there's also a petition seeking to name Duncan Trussell as Emperor of Planet Earth. (Don't ask me -- I have not made the acquaintance of Mr. Trussell.)  Mr. Trussell has already accumulated 221 signatures.  Personally, I don't see the Young President granting the status of Emperor to anyone but himself, so Mr. Trussell probably should put off ordering the leopard skin cape with ermine trim for awhile.  (You don't want to know what he wants his throne made of.  Seriously.) But, it's nice to have aspirations, I suppose.]

Interestingly enough, one must create an "account" and "log in" before one may add a signature. Yeah.  I want to create an "account" on the White House website.  When pigs fly.  I'm sure someone already monitors every time I brush my teeth or eat an extra potato chip or two, so I'm pretty sure I don't want to give the squiggly-wire-earpiece guys tacit approval to monitor me .

I'm seriously unsure of what to make of the secession movement.  There are already more than 78,000 signatures on a Texas petition.  More than 27,000 on Louisiana's. Kick in Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri, and another 74,000+ add to the total.  Heck, even someone in Wisconsin and Kalifornia has filed petitions -- and people are signing them!  Of course, these are statistically insignificant numbers, but they are relevant numbers. 

There is a cauldron of smelly stuff, and fear, coming to a boil out there while the media go on and on about the indiscretions of senior military leadership rather than voting discrepancies or murdered ambassadors. Something is getting ready to hit the fan, and I doubt whether those who plan to pitch it are willing to wait four more years.

Get ready to duck.

It's Veterans' Day

The day that we formerly celebrated the termination of WWI on the western front -- Armistice Day.  Many still recognize the Armistice with two minutes of silence at the Eleventh hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh month.  I did, turning my thoughts to those who served, those who lost their lives, and the families left to keep the home fires burning.

And I am grateful to each and every soul who dons the uniform, voluntarily, with pride, to serve and protect American interests both at home and abroad.  I am grateful to those who serve today as well as those who have hung up the camo of whatever hue.

Thank you!  Wholeheartedly, thank you.

My father (USNR, 20+ years), my father-in-law (Army Air Corps), my son (ARNG), my great-uncle (WWII).

And that fella I live with:

Army and Army Guard (34+ years).

My children have a pretty good gene pool!

Is this guy saluting with his left hand?  I just noticed that.  Hmmm.  But, you get the idea, right?

REALLY Important

                Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito, and Elena Kagan.  Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John G. Roberts,  Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg



In light of the White House tragedy that befell our country yesterday, the most important mission will be to urge the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to eat their Wheaties and take their vitamins so that His Eminence won't have the opportunity to appoint another one.

Or, at least urge about five of them.