D's headache

Louie has been incredibly difficult. Perhaps it is because we have been separating Kiya and Louie when we leave for work - Louie is "secured" in the kitchen, while Kiya has the rest of the apartment. Kiya has the sweet end of the deal because she truly is a marvellous, good dog.

This did not quite work out. Last Friday, I was at work when I turned on the webcam and I watched, with increasing apprehension, Louie removing one barrier after another, systematically and determined. Within 30 minutes, with a bit of whining and pacing but always with a goal - I watched him break free with a triumphant leap over the wooden fence -- to pee on my bed. Oh.. the things I wanted do with his neck.























[Two full cups of detergent, hot laundry washing, vinegar, sun drying, and some perspective from S, I could look at Louie calmly again]

I secured him in the kitchen on Saturday night, making sure it was foolproof as we were off to watch Angela Gheorghiu (!) at the Esplanade. [What a concert! She was jaw-droppingly amazingl and we had great box seats such that I could even watch the cellists' techniques, e.g. drop their arms to switch strings].






I wouldn't want to feel gutted watching Gheorghiu while being tormented wondering whether Lou had broken through and peed on our bed again. Anyway, I had nothing to worry about. A wonderful concert, great dinner at Overeasy, and two obedient dogs waiting for us back home. I got complacent.

On Monday, S set up the kitchen barrier as I did on Saturday evening, but by 9+am I saw to my horror, that Louie could not be found in the kitchen. He could not be hiding by the foot of the fridge for such a long time, and I knew he must have escaped again. I got home only to find he had managed to wedge his annoyingly skinny body through the chairs, (somehow) pushed the glass door open, and got through to Freedom again - and peed on our bed. That was the third time.. it was difficult not to feel absolutely exasperated and incredibly furious.



S found Louie amazing and joked about getting him on TV as a Houndini dog. I was not amused. We finally devised a fortress and put it to the test on Tuesday. Louie tried, but could not get through. We had won. For now.

This is what I want to see everytime I turn on the webcam. Maybe if I imagine it hard enough, it will come true, everyday.

(clearing old photos): at the park

I took these pictures of Kiya and Louie several weeks back - when Kiya still had her leg all wrapped up, and the flowers on some type of tree were shedding profusely and sakura-ly.








Kiya in her lime green pear collar.










He can't keep still.

Louie's loss: Kiya's callous surgery

One fine morning, Person D discovered some blood smears on the floor. She traced it, to her horror, to Kiya's callous on her front left elbow. It was swollen, with a small scratch which was bleeding. She cleaned it and applied Betadine ointment liberally.

The next day, the swelling on that callous lessened, but now, the other callous on her hind left knee swelled. It was quite a sight.




Even with cleaning/antiseptic and a day of rest, the swelling persisted. The next day, Person D informed Kiya's rescuers and they came, and because I am a high-maintenance dog, Person D stayed behind to walk and take care of me, while they took Kiya to the vet. The verdict was not good. Kiya has a completely torn ligament on her left hind knee (which explains her VERY slow sprints, and her on/off limping ever since Person D fostered her in January!), and by sheer coincidence, the callous on the same leg suffered an infection (reason very unknown).

To operate on her leg to 'fix' the torn ligament, the infected callous would first need to be surgically removed, i.e. she would need two separate surgeries. I think Person D was very upset. The financial toll was depressing (less lamb meat for me?!) and we all live in a walk-up apartment on the fourth floor, which made it very uncertain whether, even with the ligament surgery, Kiya would recover (think of the impact of going down four flights of stairs at least twice or thrice daily).

In any case, she was given antibiotics and a jab to hold down the infection, and a week later, she had her surgery. When she returned, she had a thick white cast which kept slipping down her knee. When her leg began to swell, Persons D and S decided to remove the cast immediately, but had a very hard time removing it. The cast was wrapped much too tightly around poor Kiya's knee.

This is the very leg.




It isn't a pretty sight.






Over the next week, Person D constantly fussed over Kiya's leg. I have to grudgingly admit that Kiya's tolerance of pain is quite astounding. She was given no pain killers so that the dull throbbing pain would remind her not to sprint or jump around, potentially pulling open the wound. One day, Person D changed the dressing and only put a thin layer of gauze on Kiya's leg, and then left us for a short while for grocery shopping. When she and Person S returned, ha ha! I had a good laugh seeing their reaction, as Kiya had bit through some parts of the stitches and even the plastic tube thingy (which was supposedly to help the skin stretch).





Person D was furious with herself. Some parts of the wound was gaping. She bought Steri-strips, sterile surgical strips to hold wounds together, and spent hours doing up Kiya's leg.







It was all very systematic.










Even when the wound finally began to heal, Person D was still extremely careful, and would only remove the dressing when she was around, and let the wound 'air' out a little. Here is Kiya, looking murderous with her shaved leg. I'm sure she is putting on that expression to hide her embarrassment.




The dreaded box of bandages, tapes, strips, antiseptic ointments, gauzes, etc.







Sometimes I tell Kiya to simply chill out. "Everything will be better", I told her. She glared at me.





Today, the stitches have long been removed, the wound has all but healed, and hair has started to grow back. Kiya looks almost normal now! Her next ligament surgery is still uncertain, but if Persons S and D get a place with a garden (so I overhear..), they will send her for the surgery then.




I do miss the very first meeting I had with Kiya. We were both taken to a fenced dog park in Pasir Ris, and Kiya was very interested in me. But I was quite terrified of this big black thing. I was finally brave enough to play with her, and I let her chase me. Of course, no dog is fast enough to catch me. Still, she was rather fast for a "Rottweiler", and she bunny-hopped as fast as she could, tongue lolling out, having the run of her life. I will always remember that. And I will remember it for her.

Sunday Morning

This morning I took the dogs to the park. It is a Sunday, so it was quiet. There were no passers-by to throw us evil glares, no f*! of a neighbour to make me fantasize about the ways to kill him.. And Person V handed me her (not so old?) digicam (aperture-priority!) just yesterday, so I brought it along. Pictures!


Louie whined this morning - like most other mornings! >:|




one of his very few redeeming factors - his good looks.




and his cuteness.










More difficult to get good shots of Kiya, as she is so dark! All the light gets absorbed by her black hair..




My lovely, sweet Kiya.











In the park, Kiya usually sits and watches the world go by. Louie usually sprints around (at an amazing speed) for a few minutes, then he'll be up to his usual mischief - chewing sticks, eating grass, etc.








Louie getting tired, so he sat.





To really irritate me, he'd roll all over the grass, getting his clean coat all dirty. Sigh.








I love this shot of my dogs.













I wonder if they chat with each other?