Taking care of Kirby

Tags

canine illnesses, Dogs, Help on the internet, Thankful

My sweet Kirby has been very ill. I have spent $1,100 for testing with no treatment plan from my vet. I have been reading on the internet voraciously and found a site/forum that is awesome. Kirby was first diagnosed with Cushings disease and then more recently diabetes. Still with NO treatment plan.

To make a long story short(er) the Cushings site sent me to their sister site for diabetes. They felt that was the first and most critical thing I needed to address. They have helped me learn how to test Kirby’s ketones and blood glucose and how to administer insulin. They have given me a starting dose for the insulin and Kirby is already responding. They have even taught me to regulate his feeding schedule (he just turned eight at the end of September.) While none of the members are vets they all have (or have had) a dog with diabetes. I have been a member since Thursday and have had over 70 replies.

I can’t tell you how happy I was this morning when I had to chase Kirby to get the ketone reading (you have to put the stick in his stream of pee.) Until today it had been super easy – he was that sick.

He has lost over a third of his body weight. He went from 31 pounds to 19 pounds in 6 months. I have been very upset about this and my vet had me feeling hopeless. Maybe Kirby has other issues but I am thrilled he is acting more himself today.  If anyone needs advice or support for either of these canine diseases PM me and I will give you the names of the sites.

We see a new vet Monday 🙂

SO HAPPY!

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Winter Blues

Tags

Are you KiddingMe, Weather, winter blues

Courtesy National Weather Service

Snow showers with areas of blowing snow before 3am, then snow showers likely between 3am and 4am, then scattered snow showers after 4am. Low around -1. Wind chill values as low as -20. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Please tell me what the difference is between blowing snow before 3am, snow showers between 3am and 4am and scattered snow showers after 4am. There is also a wind chill warning and wind chill watch that goes through February 16.

I am really posting this because it depresses me to see it and I want to talk about it. I have asthma and can’t go out when it is below zero. I’ve been feeling trapped since I first saw the forecast. I get almost claustrophobic when I think about it.

Horoscope for Virgo Jan 2015

Tags

About Me, Horoscope, Virgo

http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/virgo.html

Servetus mentioned her horoscope from Free Will Astrology. I looked mine up and don’t know whether to be frightened or excited 😀

RL kicking my butt

Tags

Anniversary, Dogs, John Thornton, North and South, Real Life, Richard Armitage

Mr Thornton to cheer me up!

Real life has been seriously interfering with my fangirl life. I’ve missed a lot and don’t know if I’ll ever catch up 😀

I’m planning on watching North & South tonight and following on twitter. I hope I can make it happen. I’ve been having problems with my Linksys wi-fi and it may or may not work tonight. I’ve spent more time on it than I care to think about. I have a “smart” router and apparently it needs extra care. Who knew if I bought the more expensive router I would have more problems! NOT impressed with Linksys customer service.

On a positive note I have not seen a dog off leash since the post where I thought I might have to move. I’ve only seen one of the dogs and he was being walked by his owner 🙂

Hope to see you tonight!

Tree

New Camera and Still Green

Tags

Blogging, Fun, Learning, Outdoors, Photo, Photography

Tree in front yard late October.

Tree in side yard.

Tree in back yard.

Potted geranium and vinca.

I live very near Lake Ontario and it has a warming effect in the fall. It also has a cooling effect in the spring 😦

I bought a Nikon Coolpix on Amazon in an attempt to motivate me to leave the house more often 🙂

Personal Grief Part 2

Tags

Grief, Real Life

The memorial service for my step dad was this afternoon. His daughters had already had a funeral in California. We were not asked for any input, not asked if the time was convenient and not invited to participate. My step-dad’s daughters, son-in-law and brother all came in for the service. As mentioned in another post, my step dad and mom were married for 35 years and he spent every holiday with our family during that time. His daughters and brother all lived out of state and visited here a handful of times in the 35 years.

My best friend went with me and it was a comfort to have her there. My sister, her husband and son were there as well. I have to confess I was mad during most of the service. Amazing how they described his life with 35 years missing. We were seated in the “family” row but never mentioned or asked to speak.

Twelve members of the village band (he played in for 30+ Years) were there with their brass instruments. They played a number of songs and for me that was the best part. He loved playing his trombone and it was a nice tribute that they came.

I hadn’t been back to this church since my mother’s funeral five years ago. I am feeling unsettled but haven’t really figured out where my feelings are coming from.

I just wanted to write something down tonight.

Tree

Need Advice on Protecting Myself from Dogs

Tags

Dogs, Need Advice

I have a new problem that seems to be multiplying. One neighbor had a doberman for years. It was extremely well trained and never a problem. Unfortunately it died last year and he has replaced it with a puppy (doberman) who is not trained at all. I don’t believe it’s vicious but it has jumped on me at my mailbox and it is bigger than I am. It is loose at least once a week if not more. I have called the police because the owner was chasing his dog in my backyard at 2 am.

Another neighbor has a very well trained dog – seems to be a mix but I’m not sure. She decided to get another dog. She now has an 8 month old rescue pit bull. It has been loose on several occasions and likes to hang on my porch when it’s loose. It attacked her own cat which is now missing a lot of fur and seems mentally impaired (I assume from the shaking.) Now that I think of it I haven’t seen her cat in days. I have called the police on her dog.

Today a new neighbor let their pit bull run loose and it headed for the little girl (about 5 years old) that lives upstairs. She was crying in our driveway and I knew it was a real scream. I called 911. The owner did corral the dog while I was on the phone but they still sent the police. The little girl was not hurt but extremely scared.

I am somewhat nervous walking to my car now as this is three out of the four houses across from me that have an aggressive dog. I am more concerned for my Schnoodle because although he is a fluff ball that weighs 30 pounds he thinks he is tough and barks at these dogs if given the opportunity. He barks at our outside door at times and I know it is because one of the dogs is on or near our porch. There is a leash law in our area so they are breaking the law when the dogs are loose. I also know I would try to protect him which is probably a very bad idea.

It’s bad enough that I have been looking at apartments. I have lived here for six years and it has been mostly positive. I love my next door neighbor and like the people upstairs. Anyone have any ideas?

Blogging 101

Tags

Blogging, Dogs, Flowers, Real Life

I am participating in Blogging 101 which begins today. The instructions for today are to introduce yourself.

I have had my blog for about nine months but I have never really written much. I believe I created it because to open a Tumblr account I needed a WordPress account. I chose my name because I am a fan of Richard Armitage (best known for playing Thorin in The Hobbit and most recently John Proctor at The Old Vic Theatre) and I think of a treehouse as a playground – hence Richard Treehouse. I also chose it because it was available across most social media. I have occasionally referred to myself as Tree.

I am a mom of a 30 year old son and I have a permanent disability. I have been married twice and am currently on my own. For the first time in my life I am deciding how to spend my time. I spent a few years on illness websites and discovered it made me feel worse more of the time than not. I was searching for something to do and came across several very interesting blogs about Richard Armitage and his fandom. I am often intimidated by the intelligence and writing skills of many his fans. I had never been a fan of a celebrity before nor had I spent much time watching TV or movies. It has been a very interesting and entertaining experience.

I also am interested in photography and follow several photography blogs. Once in a while I will join in on one of the challenges. I am not a professional and I take most of my pictures with my smartphone. There was a time was I was pretty obsessed about gardening so you may find some photos of my gardens from time to time.

I almost forgot to mention my dog, an adorable Schnoodle. I am allergic to most dogs and never thought I could own one until about seven years ago. He is independent, can be very funny and occasionally will cuddle. He will only cuddle if I have been very good that day 😉

So I guess what I’m saying is you’ll find some things about Richard Armitage, some things about my life, some photos and some news about my dog. Welcome!

Depression

Tags

Depression, Real Life

http://www.esquire.com/features/chris-jones-on-suicide-1111?click=feed

Excellent article on depression.

Personal grief

Tags

Grief, Real Life

My step father died in California last night (I live in NY.) He married my mother 40 years ago. My mother died 5 years ago and he remained living in the same area as my sister and I. This spring his daughters decided it would be a good idea to move a 95 year old man across country. They didn’t move him to be near either of them (both live in different states). Before all of this came about he was active and got around well. He had his own apartment and had been playing in the same band for almost 40 years (he was a classical musician.)

I am feeling grief but probably more overwhelming right now is anger. I feel that if they had let him be with his family (us) and friends he could have lived a few more good years. It’s hard to completely know anyone else’s motivation but his daughters had ignored him most of their adult life. I’m going to stop now before I say something I might regret.