Faithful service dog and friend need home

I received a forward today from a puppy-raiser friend of mine. It seems a lady, a quadroplegic, passed away. She was dead two weeks before anyone knew. She had two dogs, an 8 year-old Australian shepherd, her service dog, and a 7 year-old cocker spanniel. They both stayed by her side for those two weeks, with no food. They survived the ordeal and are now on hold in Lancaster at a shelter waiting for her family to claim them. But the family doesn't want them. What! How could they not want them?
Well, the brother is willing to set up a time to transfer ownership of the two dogs to someone interested to adopting them. Please don't spam me, but if you're interested, send me an e-mail at megmil85@aol.com so I can send you the neece's contact info and pictures. The dogs only have until the 29th before animal control gets control of them, and then they could be put down if not adopted quickly.
So, please, pass this along and don't let these faithful companions go without a home and even die. They've already lost their person and lived through that and almost starving to death. Don't let them die now.

Woo hoo, I passed!

Woo hoo! Woo hoo! Woo hoo! I passed, I passed, I passed! Yes! I passed the qualifier! No more worrying about that. Now, its buckle down, finish a paper, two stats assignments, correct the other stats assignments and turn in the portfolio, and study my behind off for my ethics and stats finals. That sounds like a lot still, but I'm so relieved I passed the qualifier! Woo hoo!

All done

Well, I'm finihshed with the qualifier. Actually I was done earlier but just have been chilling out and napping. It took me the three and a half hours, but I think I passed. If not, I've got to be close. So good. I'm tired. I was studying until 5:12 and got up at 7:00! Ugh. So, I still have some more studying to do and a bit more work for my other classes for next week, but I'm just so done for today, none of it is happening. Unless maybe late tonight. Sleepy time, and I just woke back up. Just wanted to update.

Panicking!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! My qualifying exam is tomorrow! I've got to pass it to graduate. Mind you, I get two tries but I'd really rather get it the first time. So aaaaaah! I'm starting to panic because its going to be really long with theory, research methods and stats. And I'm doing a stats assignment and am all confused. Uh-oh. Not good. I need to not be confused. I need to know this stuff.
I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight, that's for sure. Breathe, breathe. Don't panic. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! No, don't do that. Don't panic. Just breathe. Study. Try to sleep. Wake up. Drink coffee. Take test. Concentrate. Don't rush. Concentrate. Don't fall asleep during test. Think. Remember stuff. Finish. Breathe a sigh of relief, eat, drink, pass out for a nap and hopefully go out with a friend. Monday, get results and pray I passed. It'd be a nasty birthday present if I find out I didn't. Cross your fingers for me!

Pasta's getting a little brother!

So, I checked with my manager, and I can only have one kitty. Bummer. However, I can keep Pasta, whether she is working or not. So that's definitely good news! So, decision time. Well, it ended up being a very easy decision who I wanted. Tofu just won my heart.
I don't have him yet since I'm not all moved yet and so haven't had my home visit, but it looks very promising. And yes, its the kitty with the vision problem. I went with the foster mommy to the eye doctor Wednesday and asked about the long-term care needed for his eye and if I'd be able to do it properly. My main concern was that I wouldn't be able to do his eye drops and ointment he'd been getting.
Well, it turns out, the vet thought the eye drops and ointment weren't necessary on a regular basis afterall. Since he had the herpes virus, the eye gunk he'd get from time to time was it reemerging, and the ointment and drops were more for if he got a bacterial infection as a result. They wouldn't help the virus, and all that would is giving him an L-lysine capsil with his food, which is being done. I can do that easy! I asked how I'd clean the eye if he got a break-out, and he said just to flush it out with eye wash. Heck, I can do that! The vet said he saw no problems in me adopting him and thought he'd be very low maintenance. And, it turns out, while they had thought he has some vision remaining in his left eye, they now believe he doesn't. When a light was shown in his eye, his pupil did not constrict. So, they said it may be best for him to remove the eye so he doesn't have to worry about outbreaks returning. He'd be lots more comfortable without the irritation of it, and he can see perfectly fine out of his right eye. And since he can't see out of his left anyway, he wouldn't be missing anything.
So, right now, the foster is talking with another vet she's worked with before with another non proffit to see if he can do the surgery cheaper than this vet quoted. If so, she wants to do it at the end of the month. If it happens, I wouldn't even need to flush out the eye, since it wouldn't be there. I guess they'd just take it out and suture the eyelid closed and that it'd heal very nicely, as I am told.
So yay! After the vet left the room, the foster mommy gave me a big hug and said "Yay, I'm so happy." When Pasta hears yay, she gets happy, too, so she stood up and wagged her tail. The foster mommy said "Pasta, you're going to get a little brother!" So woo hoo! I know I haven't had a home visit yet, but I'm feeling good about this, especially since she said that about Pasta getting a brother and since she didn't want me to put any money down for his adoption now. She seemed very touched when I told her I already bought a pet carrier and a cat tree.
So yes, it looks like Pasta's going to get a little brother. Yes! I love this kitty. Oh, by the way, his name is Tofu. So how funny; both my animals will be named after food! He is a boy, obviously, and is about nine months old. I'll have to see if she knows his birthdate, but I know its in July. It looks like he'll be a big kitty, so this carrier I have won't fit him long since I bought a small. He has some Siamese in him because he has the kink in his tail, blue eyes, and is quite a talker when he wants food. He doesn't seem to be a lap cat, but he loves attention, to be close by, and to play. His fur is creamy colored with grey around his eyes and ears and tail, and it is long, fluffy, and very soft. Can you tell I love him yet?
I'm just so excited, I had to share. I'll let you all know once I get all settled in and have my home visit, when/if he gets his surgery, and of course, once I get him home!

Air Choice One's Website Stinks

So, in order to get back to Iowa now, I've got to buy tickets from two different airlines because the stupid Air Choice One airline won't partner with any bigger ones. Now, don't get me wrong, they could be a fine airline I've never flown with them before since they're new in Burlington, but what a pain this will be. I'm going to have to get my flight from Chicago to Burlington and vice versa first since there are fewer flights with the small airline, and then I'll have to get a flight out of here into Chicago and guess how much time I need to leave in between the flights. The only good thing about this is that I can fly from Long Beach to Chicago via Jet Blue, thus avoiding stupid LAX and flying a nice airline.
But if this wasn't already complicated enough, plus the fact that I'd better not bring any checked luggage unless I want to pay for it twice, but the website for Air Choice One is terrible. Its got lots of flash and I don't know what all, but I can't even navigate the thing. The homepage only reads as having four links and two say the same thing. That doesn't seemm right. Anyway, I can get to the booking page, but once there, I can't pick my dates. I can go into the combo boxes and say how many are flying and to and from where, and I can read the combo boxes, but I cannot select a date, because its some stupid read only box that brings up a calendar when you get inside it. My screenreader will read the calendar but when I hit enter on the next button to move to the next month, it doesn't do anything. I have Window-Eyes but have a demo of Jaws, and that didn't work, either. So yeah, I can't even find a flight online because the stupid website doesn't work. Isn't this supposed to be illegal to have unaccessible websites? Ugh! I can't even complain since there's no phone number readable on there that I've found, and when I clicked on the E-mail form link, I got a "this page cannot be displayed" message. So, if you Air Choice One people read this by chance, fix your website! Its terrible, and I cannot book a flight through it or even find a phone number to call.

Kitties!

So, I am happy to report that I can have a kitty in my new apartment! Woo hoo! Finally! They don't even charge a pet deposit.
I get to get my keys and start moving in on Saturday. I'm not sure how much I'll do then, but I'm just happy I'll have my keys. I'll be doing a little at a time since I'm still in class, so most of the moving will be on the weekends. So, the kitty won't be coming home until a month or so from now. But I'm still so happy!
I found one on petfinder that I was really interested in. He is long-haired and has Siamese in him. He has Herpes in one eye so can't see well out of it. I felt bad for him with this and sympathize with him not being able to see well. Yeah, I'm silly. Anyway, he is awesome! I visited his foster home and met him and all the other kitties there. He is super cool! He's playful and sweet and has a super cute meow when he wants food.
My only concerns are how I'd be at taking care of his eye. He gets an ointment, and that seemed relatively easy. She just puts it on her finger and rubs it around his eye while she holds him on his back. He didn't like it but was calm and good about it. I think I could do this fine. The eye drops he gets is what makes me nervous. I'd have to figure out how best to do it so I got them in. That's my worry is that I wouldn't get them in and wouldn't know. Its a concern, but he is just so cool, I just have to figure out how I can do it right. I just love this little guy.
He's about 8 months old, and he's been in the foster ladies house with kitties and a golden retriever. He didn't seem phased at all by Pasta, and she was great, too! He even moved her paw out of the way so he could eat a kibble off the floor I dropped. It was adorable!
But, here is going to be the tough part. I was only thinking I'd get one kitty. I'm not sure if my apartment allows more than one or not. I never asked, but they never laid out a pet policy, either. I'm going to have to ask because another kitty pulled at my heart-strings, too. She's orange and white and came up to me right away, too, just like the semi-blind one.
To me, that was a great sign. I had Pasta right there, and both these kitties came up once I had the food. And, this girl was supposedly shy. But with me, while I had the food especially, she was not shy a bit. She and the other guy even both stood on my lap for awhile. And, after awhile, she went and curled up in her little house and fell asleep, only a few feet from Pasta. She was very comfortable with her, and she even sniffed at her tail.
So, yeah, I'm going to have to find out if I can have two kitties and if the foster would let me have two in a studio. Otherwise, I think it'll be hard for me to pick since they were both so cool in different ways and both so sweet and beautiful. I'm going to go back on Monday for another visit and not start with the food this time and see what happens. I'll go back at least once more, too. I think this is best so the kitties get more familiar with me and Pasta and Pasta with them.
I know there'd be advantages for the kitties if I can adopt two of them. They have basically grown up together. The female is about a year and the male is about 8 months. She even groomed him after he got his ointment on. Aw! And then they wouldn't be alone when I was at school or work, and they'd still have someone familiar with them after being taken out of their home and put in a new one. So, we'll see how it goes, but I just love those two! Cross your fingers for me that I can get both, and if not, that one of them makes it clear that they want to come home with me. I want the kitty to be happy!

I miss singing

I miss singing. I used to sing in choir all the time. I was in it in junior high and high school and at the community college back in Iowa. I loved it. I even had lessons. I got solo parts sometimes, and since I had lessons, I sang in residals, too. I sang in English, of course, Latin, Hebrew, Italian, German and French. My voice teacher liked giving me German and French songs to do.
But now, I don't have time with all my classes and all. I haven't been in a choir for like five years, and ugh, I miss it. I wish I had time. It was lots of fun for me. My sisters even got me a recording in a studio back home and I got two songs done there. Pretty cool. Too bad I don't have time anymore. Maybe someday. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to put songs on here and will post one or two of the ones I did in the studio, if I can figure it out.

I Got It!

So, I just had to write and say I got the apartment! I found out almost a week ago but have been busy and tired. But woo hoo! I got it! They didn't even call my references. I'm super excited and get to go Friday and sign the papers, pay and get the keys. I'm planning to start moving in on the 24th. So yay! I'm so excited. I loved this place. It really felt like home! So I'm super, super happy about it. Just had to let you all know while I had a chance.

More apartment stuff

Well, the apartment fell through. The guy that said I could see it on the Saturday hadn't cleared it with the tenant when he'd told me that, so he ended up wanting me to come on Sunday. I already had plans then, so couldn't come. He rented it out that day. Crap! If he'd have told me someone else was coming to see it, I could have pushed my plans back!
So now, I applied to another place. I really, really love it. But I'm so worried I won't get it. My credit isn't great, my income not super high and my rental history is basically nonexistent since this'll be my first apartment. So I'm kind of freaking out. I passed the deadline for the dorms, so now I have to find a place.
I know someone who is renting a room from a lady who has another she wants to rent, that I could probably stay with, but then I'd be back with someone else's rules, guidelines, etc., to deal with again and the lack of privacy. Plus, there's already someone in the house. I know that person, but its a guy. The owner of the house lives there, too, so it'd be three people. Not the situation I'm looking for. But it might be what I have to do. We'll see.
I'm praying and crossing my fingers that the apartment I saw this last weekend will take a chance on me. I will pay the rent always, I know that. I'm just so worried my credit will sink me. I'll update when I hear. Supposedly, I'm supposed to find out tomorrow. I wonder how much they'll actually check and if they'll call my references or not. I'd think so but that seems like a lot to do in a day since I just sent the application. Well, we'll see. Wish me luck!

Maybe promising apartment?

So I have an apartment I'm going to look at this weekend. My boyfriend's mom is going with me so I have eyeballs to check it out, too. The guy was really nice and didn't seem too concerned about my SSI and part-time job being my income. Its close to campus, and he thought it'd be perfect for me, he said.
But here's my wonderment now, what I didn't think of asking earlier. It says its a bachelor unit with a separate bathroom and all utilities included. He told me it was on top of a garage. So, now my question is, does it have a kitchen? Sounds like no. I could get by without a stove since I have a crock pot and sort of grill thing, its called the GT Xpress, but a fridge is important. I guess I could always get a small one, not tiny but not a full-sized one.
We'll see how it is when we go, probably Saturday. I hope it is okay. It'd be nice to be close to campus and to have a place where I don't have to mess with a cosigner. Cross your fingers, especially that it has a fridge!

Hi from Pasta!

Hi guys. So, mommy let me use the computer. Woo hoo! (wag, wag, wag) I'm so excited to get to talk to you all!
Anyway, I just wanted to ask you all to look at my beautiful pictures mommy posted and let her know which one is your favorite. I'd really like to be in the GDB calendar next year so everyone can see me! Mommy tells me I'm beautiful. As a matter of fact, everyone says that, so come on, let mom know so she can pick a photo to send in. She really wants to show me off, she says.
Oh, oh, oh, and go to the website mommy posted, too. She wrote a story bragging about me, and if enough people vote for it, we could win $1,000. But we're really behind since mom didn't know about the contest until yesterday. But its okay, because you can vote once a day until March 28th! So, please do, and tell your friends about me, too! Please!
I'll give you the puppy face!
I'm really good at giving the puppy face.
Oh, so mom wants me to post the link in here for you guys again. To read the story about me and vote for it, go here. Thanks! (lick, lick, wag, wag.) Gotta go now!

What do you think?

What do you all think about this picture? I'm thinking about sending it to Guide-Dogs for consideration for the 2011 calendar.

I submitted this one last year

And this one the year before.

But they weren't chosen

I also like these.

What do you all think?

Pasta's story

Okay, so they posted the story I wrote about Pasta on the website. Now people can vote once a day between now and March 28. So, please, please, go here, read, vote and tell your friends! Its a great, true, heart-felt story, and the money would be really helpful right now, too.

I entered a contest, please vote!

So, I was inspired by another lady on the listserve I'm on to enter a contest this
evening. A service dog organization is taking stories about how a dog has touched your life, and I entered a story I wrote about Pasta on the GDB blog almost two years ago, with some minor changes. There's two prizes, one $500 prize given by a panel and one $1,000 prize given to the story with the highest votes from the audience. So, please, please, please vote for Pasta's story! It doesn't seem to be posted yet but should be any time. so please, go to here and look for Pasta. You can vote once a day from now until March 28th, so please do and tell your friends! I could really, really, really use the money!

Hi all. So I got really excited tonight when Anthony was showing me this
E-mail he got about something called the Justice Corps. I've heard about it
before and basically, you help people who can't afford legal aid. It sounds
much cooler than my short little discription here, especially since I'm
into crim. Anyway, there was a summer program, and since I am hoping/planning
to be here in the summer, if I can find an apartment I can afford, I'd be
able to do it. They have 30 spots so I may or may not even get selected, but
it sounded awesome!
Its volunteer and you have to get yourself to the place, but they said if
you provide receipts, they'll reimburse for transportation. They'll give you
$1,000 at the end of the completion of 300 hours, 32 a week. So it isn't
much but is something.
So, what's the down side?
Well, as I soon realized, if I'm working for them 32 hours a week, I
wouldn't have much time to work in the high tech center on campus. Hence, I
wouldn't be bringing in much money a month besides my SSI and Social Security
Survivor benefits, which amounts to less than $900 now. If this wasn't
California, that'd be enough, but here, I'd be hard pressed to live off of that.
So dang it! This would be really good experience for me, would be really
interesting, I'd be helping people, and it'd be great to put on a resume. But
I in all likelihood will never find a place I could afford without being
able to work. Ugh!
It'll be hard enough to find a place I can afford even if I can work, since
it won't be a full-time job. So I'm all bummed out now and confused as to
what I'm going to do with myself. If I find an apartment, it'd be great so
I wouldn't have to always move out of the dorm every summer and pay extra
if I wanted to stay on breaks. I could also work this summer, and still go
to other events out here that I wouldn't be able to do if I went home for
the summer. I wouldn't have to have anyone store my stuff while I was gone,
either, and wouldn't have to keep having people help me move in and out of
the dorms at the beginning and end of the years. But if I go to Iowa for the
summer like I always have before, I wouldn't have to ppay for food, rent,
etc. But I wouldn't be getting any experience working or anything, and when
I came back, I'd have to get help moving back into the dorms; and the
cycle continues.
But I'm so worried about affording a place out here. I can get a loan again
for next year and use it to help pay rent/food/other living expenses, and
rehab will help with tuition if financial aid doesn't cover it all, but for
the summer, I'm worried. So
anyway, I've saved what I can but it isn't much since I'll have to make one
and a half more dorm payments, I think about $1,600 worth, before I'd be
moving. How can I afford to even move? How can I afford the security
deposit? How can I afford the rent until I'm back in school? And lots of places
want to see you have two and a half the rent as income, which I won't,
working or not, so I might not even find a place that would rent to me. The
stupid dorms want $400 next month to hold our spot for next year, and its
nonrefundable, so if I pay it and then find a place, that's $400 down the drain.
And even holding the dorm room and keeping the payments at what I'm paying
now, they are ridiculous! I couldn't afford them anymore without a loan,
and I really hate living off of student loans. I'll have to pay them back,
and I'm already paying about $300 a month out in bills to credit cards and my
cell phone.
So this is really stressing me out right now, trying to figure out what to
do and what will be best for me. Why can't I just win the lottery or
something? I guess it'd help if I played the lottery. (smile) Thanks for
listening to my long-winded rant and whine.

Cut off by a cop car

Okay, I meant to write this the other day but forgot. I don't remember for sure which night this was, but I know it was dark or almost dark. We had taken the campus shuttle back to the dorms. It drops people off in the parking lot across the street from the dorms, so when you get off the shuttle, you turn right, toward the back of the shuttle, and start walking. You walk a bit in the parking lot and then cross the street.
Well, when we were finishing the parking lot section and stepping into the street, a car flew right in front of us. Pasta didn't have to back up, but she slowed down to almost a stop so it could pass safely in front of us. And, I swear, it looked like a cop car! It was black and white with what seemed to be something written on the white driver's side door. A cop car cut us off! All I can say is, it better have been chasing someone down to have done that to us, but I doubt it since its sirens and light weren't on.
I just thought it was kind of crazy that a cop car did that. We've been cut off by lots of cars before or had lots of cars speed up and then end up stopping at the last minute so we can cross here on campus, but we've never been cut off by a cop before. Crazy!

Grapes deadly to dogs!

I already heard from the local puppy club that grapes and raisins were poisonous for dogs, and after learning this, I did some research online to find out why. Unfortunately, I did not always know that and had once given Pasta a few grapes. Luckily, nothing happened. Once I heard they were poisonous, I vowed never to feed them to her again, and this message my dad sent me via E-mail further solidifies this vow. Read it, but I warn you, its sad.

If you have a dog, PLEASE read this and send it on. If you don't have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.
Written by: Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville , OH
This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea, and shaking about 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't
call my emergency service until 7 AM
.
I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn't
seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me -had heard something about it, but . . . anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National
Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 &1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.
The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids. At that point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care.
He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given Lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting.
Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was
at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220. He continued to vomit and the owners elected to euthanize.
This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners . . . who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this
very serious risk.
Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know
give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any
exposure should give rise to immediate concern.
Onions, chocolate, cocoa, avocadoes and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too!!!!!!!!!
Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.
Confirmation from Snopes about the above:
http://www.snopes. com/critters/ crusader/ raisins.asp

Help!

Okay well, its still huge and so you can't see the whole thing. I have no idea how to make it show the whole picture when you click it. I guess maybe I should shrink the picture before posting but then it'd be smaller on my computer. Any other ideas besides this? Otherwise, I'll do it this way.

One more time

Well, let's try again. Its still huge when I click on it but is smaller in the post. Hmmm. There's another radio button I'll try to mess with, but it doesn't read very well. Hopefully, this time it won't be ginormous when you click on it, but at least I figured out how to put them in the blog!
Oh, by the way, I should have said this for the others, too, but this picture is of Pasta in her harness licking my chin. It was taken on Nov. 29, 2009 on her 5th birthday in the park. The picture in the previous post was also taken on her birthday in the park but is just of her in her harness. She's sitting in that one and you get a side view of her face. In the one on this post, you get the whole side of her, you can see her harness really well, and her tongue on my chin. The very first post with a photo is of her lying in front of some flowers on campus. You can't see her harness well, but she's looking right at the camera. She looks really shiny in these photos; she's a very photogenic black lab! I wish I knew how to tag the photos, but I think if I renamed them before I posted them, that'd come through, since they seem to be called what I called them, with the image tag in front of the title.
We'll see if it is huge again once I post this one and click the photo. Cross your fingers! If it is, I'll just give up and keep doing it like this. At least you can see the whole photo in the post.