I must apologize for being so behind on my blogs. As mentioned in the previous post, I have been working far too many hours and have barely had time to sit for 5 min at the computer in “relax mode.” I’m either at the computer working on the “real” job or rescue, doing the daily animal duties, at the veterinary clinic, or assisting my mother with a project (basically tacking on a 3rd job). I have yet to slow down, I’ve certainly lacked in sleep, and I have been dashing to and fro for one job or another. I’ve even rode the wave of delirium and confused myself on what I did last…did it include food, by chance??

As a result, I am going to attempt to give a brief synopsis of what’s taken place here in the past few weeks. No promises made as to whether or not it will be in order or whether it will include a logical pattern of thinking. 😉

Anna and I visited Dr Shrum last week for her throat. Oddly, it felt like she had a baseball stuck in it about a third of the way down. I happened to feel it one evening when I was playing with her and enjoying our “Mommy/Puppy bonding time.” I immediately panicked when I felt this enormous, hard mass in the throat, and I went into my “Oh Dear God don’t let her have cancer!!” mode (I tend to immediately prepare myself for the worst, despite the fact that in reality I’m only displaying signs of scattered thoughts entwined into a fine layer of psychosis). In my state of shock, I managed grope all of the dog’s necks to feel their throats for comparison, causing a massive state of confusion and utter terror. The looks they gave me were along the range of “What the…?” and “Have you gone mad, Mother?” with the occassional “What are you trying to do, kill me?? Suffocate me?? Is that what you want…for me to die a slow, miserable death?? IS IT?? What on EARTH could I have done to you to make you want to place me in such misery?? Dear God, someone SAVE me, please!!” Drama was everywhere, ranging from my “cancer mode” to the dog’s flailing attempts to get away from me. I even put the animals through it again when mother came over by making her poke and prod on everyone’s neck. Again the looks displayed their complete dissatisfaction with our outlandish behavior.

Dr Shrum confirmed that there was, indeed, an enlarged area on her neck, so we did an x-ray to find only a hint of a fine line shadowing a suspicous area. As a result, we (he) aspirated the baseball and found lymphocytes, sending me into panic mode yet again. He started her on antibiotics, and we sent it off for further inspection. Fortunately, the lab informed us it was simply infection vs. lymphoma. I finally breathed a sigh of relief and gave Anna a big hug. We will return to the clinic when the antibiotics are finished for a recheck.

Abraham is doing quite well. Only one week to go!! He’s so funny…we have a little routine for the morning and evening potty breaks of going outside, which entails stopping by the bathroom for meds, a little luvy duvy time, and filling up the water can (which refills his water bowl). When we do this, he gets this huge, sloppy smile on his face, and it always makes me laugh. He has the silliest grin! Sometimes he’ll lay down and roll over, and other times he’ll just rest his head on my chest while I give him a hug and a kiss. Then we go back to his kennel, but not before he takes a good look out the window and sniffs the same area that he smelled just a short while before. He’ll generally just sit in front of his kennel, I’m guessing to waste just a few more minutes before he has to go back into it. Then I have to talk to him and remind him that it’s a “must” but will be over soon. Sometimes he does great and walks right in (most of the time), and every once-in-a-while he’ll be obstinate. Can’t say that I blame him…it has to be terrifically boring and lonely…but it’s necessary. So, he’ll scramble a bit, I think just to add some spark to his day, and finally go in and wait on his treat. He’s done excepetional, however…I’m very proud of him. I’m sure it can’t be much fun to stay in that blasted crate 24/7 for a month. But again…only one more week and he’ll be free!! Yipee!!!

The puppies got their 2nd round of vaccines, which was a fiasco in itself. En route, Keelie decided that it was appropriate to vocalize her disapproval of riding in her own crate without the companionship of her sisters. So, she vocalized for the entire 45 mintues while my brain split into halves from the blaring, high pitched sound. Once we arrived, however, she became immediately quiet and acted like an angel in the clinic. She sat quietly, looked innocent, and questioned me as to why I would ever suggest that she was even slightly naughty.

The technician took her to the back, and I headed out to the car to get her siblings. Lucky for us, they’d found themselves with a bit of an upset belly, and I found them covered in the remains. I simply stared at them for a few moments after I opened the crate, trying to decipher how to get them out without covering myself in their regergitation (I couldn’t help it…I just turned into such a girl and didn’t want the gross all over me). As I mapped out a plan, one of the receptionists came out to help me (Bless her!). We got the two pups out of the crate, pulled the crate out of the car and placed the stinky thing on the outside of the car to tend to later. We headed back into the clinic, only to be reminded that the pups didn’t know how to walk on a leash. She fortunately got Kiley to walk fairly decent, but Kala refused to walk on hers. So, I picked her up and held her a little bit in front of me, as if she were a martian baby that I was presenting to the world’s ambassadors.

God love that clinic and it’s employees…they took those stinky and dirty little girls to the bathtub for me and bathed them back to white. They brought them back to me wet (technicians, not dogs…the dogs dried well), and there the pups stood, crispy white and clean, just as darling as ever! Then one of them was kind enough to go get my dirty crate and wash it out for me and the pups…what a darling man for doing it. It had been one of those days where everything went wrong, and they just made me appreciate how the bad can always end up showing signs of goodness. They were so kind to me that day, and I truly cannot thank them enough!

So, the pups received their 2nd round of vaccines, and on the next visit they will be official dogs…they’ll get their rabies vaccine! Wahoo! After that, they’ll get spayed as soon as possible and finally be ready for their new homes.

Oh! They’ve gained quite a bit of weight! Kala is 31.4lbs, Keely is 29.7, and Kiley is 24.9. that’s 10-12lbs more than they weighed the day I brought them home! Yipee, little piggies!! We then hit mother’s house and they all ran around the yard. They’d finally learned why all the big dogs loved to go to “Grandma’s house.”

Lastly, Lewis the cat found a home with a very nice man. I am very excited for him, as I know he will thrive on the attention he’ll receive. He is such a snuggler of a cat, and so very, very affectionate, so he’ll love the thought of no dogs and more “Lewis time.” He’ll also have a brother, another feline, having that buddy around when he wants a companion. Once he gets past the initial change and the transition period (harder in cats than dogs in a lot of cases), I know he’ll really be happy.

I’ve also been engrossed in preparing for “Petmania 2009,” an upcoming event on the 26th that was designed to promote animal adoption and awareness. I am really looking foward to it, hoping it will be a way to introduce our rescue to the community, hopefully open some doors, sign on some potential volunteers, and just allow us to be recognized in the area as a legitimate (albeit sometimes crazy) animal rescue that works hard for these guys. I have been preparing things nonstop, like education pamphlets, banners, business cards, presentations, things to sell for some extra fundraising…it’s been both fun and overwhelming, simply b/c I have so many ideas for that day. I’m excited and hope it goes over well. It’s supposed to be a huge event, so pray for no rain and a great turnout! This might really get us out there into the public eye…we can hope and pray for recognition and support! I’ll be sure to take pictures that day, and if anyone is around Greenville, SC, be sure to come out! I’ll post more on it later.

I will now close, as I’ve rambled on for quite some time. However, I did want to update you on the events that have taken place. Hopefully I won’t get so behind and write many more of these eight hour posts. 😉 I might be putting some of you to sleep!

Smoochies to all of your critters from the Miss Alli’s crew!