2
Nov
Good grief this is cute :)
22
Oct
Today was Storm’s first ACTH Stim test since we started him on his medication. These tests are performed frequently (monthly-ish) when a dog is first started on medication for Cushing’s. And then once the dosage is figured out (due to these tests), they are quarterly. We get the results back tomorrow to see if his medication is altered.
The test is a timed test. A blood draw is done 4 hours after he gets his morning medication dose and then he is given a synthetic ACTH and then another blood draw 1 hour after that. Then he can go. When I brought Storm in at 10:15am it was 4 hours post medication. The vet said “oh, you can take him in an hour or so. And he seems to get stressed when he is here alone. So if you have any local errands to run, or want to grab coffee at Starbucks, he should be ready around 11:30am.” Uh-huh…is this because he howls the entire time by chance? Sigh…what a goober…
So I ran a couple errands and got back there a few minutes early. When I walked in….yes…that was howling I hear….One of the nurses said it will be another 7 minutes until they could do the blood draw and then he could leave. I was in the waiting room when a woman walked in with a husky who looked a LOT like Storm. She was actually bigger than Storm which is odd for a female husky. But same coloring and sweet brown eyes. Her name was Lucia and she is 11 years old.
We were talking about huskies and she mentioned that she saw Angelus out in the car and my license plate (it’s husky centric) and she said she also had another one at home. A 3-yr old male that was a rescue. She said she and her husband were in New Orleans on vacation and saw a husky in a very small fenced in yard completely shaved. You do NOT do that to a husky. They actually went to the house and the owner told them he did it because of the heat. He told them that they got the puppy for their son, who saw “Eight Below” and wanted a husky. The fact that adults make decisions like this is beyond me. You want to get a dog? Be responsible for another living thing in your home? That is dependent on you for life? Then do so knowing that. Research breeds. Understand what you are getting into.
Once the puppy grew up and was a big dog, they felt he was too big for the house so he stayed outside all of the time and their daughters had chihuahuas and they didn’t get along with the husky. Dogs are pack animals. They need a pack. Why would you get a dog, a part of the family, and keep him locked outside all the time? Oh right…you suck.
So the couple said – we will take him and give him a good home. And the they did. They cashed in their return airline tickets and rented a car and drove back to California with him. Where he now lives inside with plenty of outside yard privileges and his new sister Lucia. Plus he gets a lot of people and other dog affection along with being able to be inside when he wanted. And I will say, it was the one good thing the previous owners did. At least they let him go to a new home and life.
The old owners never even had him fixed (don’t see why any responsibility would have started there..) so they had him fixed and he settled down a bit. The original owners bought him from a breeder in North Carolina but never registered him with the AKC. It was too late to register him now but she was able to speak with the breeder to get his parents’ eyes and hip information which was all good.
She said he is the sweetest boy. A big mud monster – loves to dig. She said her female huskies have never done that. Really?? My 2 boys LOVE to dig. Assumed it was a husky thing not a gender thing. He eats dirt (yes, my guys do this on occasion too.) But mostly just wants to hang out with his people. She said he gets a bit drooley when left alone. She thought it was a result of him being alone so much in the past, that he got nervous about it now.
Truly a happy ending to his story. And a very awesome thing that these people did. Awesome. She said it seemed like the absolutely right thing to do when they saw him there. Amazing that they took the initiative like that. Made me smile. Made me believe in the goodness of others. Also made me sad to think how many other stories there are like this that don’t have the good Samaritans.
I feel if people cannot take care of their pets, or treat animals badly, this says a lot about them as people. Dogs just love their people. They just want to be loved in return. But even when you don’t, they keep loving you. I sure wish people deserved this…
I love my huskies.
And I love the northern breeds in general. I want to see them all in happy, loving homes like my guys are. But yhey are not the best dogs for some people. And unfortunately, sometimes people are attracted to their beauty and don’t do any research on the breed to find out if they (the dogs) are right for their (the people) lifestyle. They require a lot of exercise and people time. And some people just suck. So there is a need for animal/dog/husky rescue. This organization is for NorCal so of course I support it even extra amounts!
Even if you can’t send them a cash donation, they are also part of a cool recyclable program!
NorSled is now participating in the EcoPhones Recycling Fundraiser program. EcoPhones pays up to $300 per item that we submit!! Help us without spending any $$$$’s or time.
There’s nothing to buy and nothing to sell. We simply ask that you and your friends donate your consumer electronics to NorSled:
* Cell Phones
* Ink Jet Printer Cartridges
* DVD Movies & Videogames
* Portable DVD Players
* Laptop Computers
* MP3 Players
* X-Boxes, Sony Playstations, Wii
* Digital Cameras & Digital Video Cameras (DVRs)
* Digital Picture Frames
* Portable Navigation & GPS Devices (Garmin, Magellan, Tom-Tom)
So if you are around here, or know anyone who is, and have any of these items and was going to get rid of it anyway – please contact NorSled. Here is the link:
http://www.norsled.org/helpus.html
And you should look at the adorable guys and gals they have looking for new permanent homes! :)
9
Sep
The Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara , CA caused these two to take shelter together. The fawn is 3 days old and the bobcat about 3 weeks. The fawn came from somewhere in the fire and the bobcat from Carpinteria. They immediately bonded and snuggled together under a desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch Office for several hours.
Fawn and bobcat
Animal Planet is reporting the bobcat kitten was rescued near Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ranch, where it was dehydrated and near death. They rescued the fawn during last weeks wildfire. Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice. During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding.
Fawn and Bobcat 2
14
Jul
…while I vehemently disagree with the notion of a “big bad wolf” due to my love of all things wolfy (Red is a lying skank…) I have loved this cartoon since I was a wee lass!! Caught myself bopping to the tune today for some reason so searched for it :) Hopefully its allowed to stay up…
Today is the last day of my birthday/4th of July vacation :( very sad…
I’ve been hiking every day and doing chores, staying and then yesterday had an afternoon/evening/night out at the park/beach for the 4th and fireworks. My hike yesterday was awesome. Gorgeous as always. But again – for the 3rd time on this trail – butterflies swarmed around me during this 1 section. VERY AWESOME! Like walking with them. I wish I could have videoed it :) On Friday I did a 3-hour hike but yesterday changed my route and it ended up being 2.5 hours. But all pretty – all the time :)
Tahoe Mountains 1
Tahoe Mountains 2
Tahoe mountains 3
I will be back either next weekend (depending on Wicked Tickets in SF!) or the weekend after but I still hate leaving. SOOO planning a Labor Day week vacay…
So because it’s my last day, I decided to just chill today. No plans of hiking, Squaw Valley pool party (going to the August one though!), hiking to Squaw High Camp, whatever. Just chill. It’s been nice :) Spent the day in the sun – on my deck, walking the huskies by the lake (although did try to avoid the sun for them!!) and then our clubhouse pool. Husband said “we should do this every time we come here.” Ummm…I always want to go to the pool – it’s YOU who can’t relax!
After about an hour, I went back home and to our deck again! Been getting caught up on my last 3 Vanity Fair magazines today that I haven’t had time to really read. As much as the articles have SUCH a grossly LIBERAL BENT, I still enjoy reading the mag for their old-world, old-society articles. Plus any Annie Leibovitz photo spreads are beautiful. For now…but if they keep up with the pathetic Obama ass-kissing, I might not renew. At some point it’s just gross. Although they did turn on Bill Clinton so who knows – might make for fun reading in a year or 2…
I was still determined to make one of the mac and cheese recipes from my new-ish cookbook. I chose the City Hall Mac and Cheese by Henry Archer Meer. I do not know who that is but futzy, fancy foodies might? I googled him and he owns a NYC restaurant called City Hall (hence the name of this recipe!)
It was fairly simple. This is pre-baking after milk and cream reduction and cheese adding/melting and spice adding and then pasta adding…
City Hall Mac & Cheese
Put it in the oven to bake and then took Angelus on a short after-dinner (his dinner) walk. And we FINALLY saw a coyote!! Hadn’t seen once since winter!!! Storm decided he didn’t want to come on our walk and all I saw was a tail out of the corner of my eye and it looked just like a fluffy Storm tail! I thought did husband bring Storm out? NO! Once I looked and saw it was a brown and grey coyote looking quite cute and fluffy like our little Storm. I tried getting a picture but he wanted no part of me or Angelus. But he was only 2 houses away from us so I am keeping my eye out tonight!! I did hear 1 in our backyard 2 nights ago – maybe the same little guy.
Timed walk to be done with mac & cheese baking. Looks and smells SOOOOO good:
Baked mac&cheesey goodness!
Having with BBQ hot dogs (since I didn’t get one yesterday for the 4th – I have been craving one!) and they will compliment this mac&cheese nicely! I just tried it….OHMYGOD good!!! Page 32 of the Macaroni & Cheese cookbook “52 recipes, from simple to sublime” by Joan Schwartz. Get one!!! :)
I saw this headline and had to watch the video! The Skunk Whisperer (hehehe) was called by a woman at an apartment complex (in Tulsa, OK) and he came out to rescue 2 baby raccoons who were stuck in a Pepsi vending machine. OHMYGOSH they are so cute!
Now, they are little savages too (they are *wild* animals) so I’m glad this woman was smart enough to call a professional to do this. I know they can be little beasties because several months I went out to our backyard to investigate a weird noise and came face-to-face with a baby raccoon who charged me! I think he was making this weird noise (the same noise the baby raccoon makes in this video!!) calling his Mom. The raccoons, cats and skunks in the neighborhood use a small hole under our house to move around from our street to the one behind us. I consider it their very own Underground Railroad..the scents in the yard drive the huskies CRAZY! And this also means I always have to check the yard before letting them out so they don’t surprise any critters (or get surprised by the skunks!)
So anyway, it was like 7am, I went outside to investigate this noise. I walk down the stairs from our deck to the backyard and all of a sudden I hear the noise right behind me. This teeny, tiny little raccoon is screeching and comes running at me! I start laughing because the thing is SO dang cute but it is charging at me and I know they aren’t quite as sweet & cuddly to people as my huskies so I start yelling to wake up my husband to help me.
But I literally cannot stop laughing either because this little guy keeps charging at me (blocking the stairs so I can’t go back up to the deck.) So between the laughing and screaming (which of course does not wake up my husband – good thing not a serial killer!) I’m thinking what if the Mom comes back too with me out here?
Now, in reality, I could have kicked the little thing if I was really worried. But if you know anything about me, you know I would never do that unless the thing was actually threatening my dogs (who were inside by the way.) So it’s not like I was worried about my safety too much. More just not sure what to do because I did NOT want to hurt the little guy but he was very snarly and kept charging me and keeping me away from the stairs. But…I simply cannot stop giggling and thinking it looks like one of those battery-operated stuffed animals :)
So finally I make a move to my right so he charges that way and then I run up the stairs to the left and he FOLLOWS ME! I slam the gate shut so he can’t come up on the deck and he is at the gate sticking his little head through the slats! Brave little bastard :) But I was giggling for minutes at that!!
But yay! I outsmarted him…the little baby raccoon…umm…OK….so here is this cute (it’s short – watch it!) video of the racoon pepsi machine rescue :)
16
Jun
Watch this short video!
Beautiful lioness who was confiscated from a scumbag drug dealer who had her de-clawed and kept her in the basement (I’m sure in his grand attempt to be oh so cool and own a lion – hopefully he is someone’s playtoy in prison right now.)
She now lives happily at Big Cat Rescue: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/ Watching her makes me think of Angelus :) Chicken is her favorite food (just like Angelus!) and when she is guarding her food she looks like Angelus does when Storm comes sniffing around to see what he can steal (which he knows he cannot but the is a persistent bugger.)
I’m a HUGE animal lover. Only charities I ever donate to are animal rescue and care and I donate pretty much every month. Although I like to stick to smaller ones like this one as I believe my money is truly going to help the animals and not pay the giant salaries and admin expenses of large charities (my cynical side never quits!) And I do tend to get all weepy when reading all about the abuse animals suffer at the hands of jackass people who I would like to take out into the woods and shoot. In my opinion, if you can abuse an animal, you are simply 1 step away from doing it to a person so why should it be considered less of an offense?
Anyway – it’s a cute little video to put a smile on your face! I LOVE big cats – they are amazingly majestic. Enjoy :)
