October 21, 2008
Peoria, AZ
We finally had a chance to get the pups groomed (Friday), and we had a great "catching up" dinner with our friends Ana and Larry. Starting yesterday, Merlin's been under the weather.
Friday's grooming was a non-event, we thought. We're not sure if it was the source of Merlin's being ill, of course. You always suspect anything when a pet gets sick, especially when (like right now) you can't really tell what's wrong with them! He was fine all weekend, but started out lethargic on Monday morning. By later in the day, he had labored breathing and was starting to get some swelling under his chin. By evening, he was running a fever and the swelling had increased, so off to the emergency animal clinic (cleverly named "Emergency Animal Clinic") we went. They shot him full of fluids, steroids, and antibiotics, and he was OK overnight (other than snoring louder than me).
Today, he wasn't much better, and the swelling increased more, so we moved up his appointment with the vet from Wednesday to this afternoon. The vet wasn't much more definitive about the diagnosis (I suppose it's tough when the "patient" can't talk), so off we went with additional meds. He did say that some pain was indicated under the jaw, but that he couldn't find any evidence of a bite (we've never seen a scorpion, but the woman next door swore one killed her cat in the spring). So, a pain medication (1/2 dose of Geri's) got added to the mix. The poor little guy's got more meds than most humans at this point. We've made an hour-by-hour schedule (OK, I made it, being the planner in the family), and will be monitoring closely for the next few days.
In other news, we had a great dinner on Saturday night with our friends (and Phoenix residents) Ana and Larry. We made our take on "steak frittes", with filet mignon au poivre and truffle-parmegean new-potato fries. With several nice wines (Coppolla Zinfandel, Zaca Mesa Syrah, two hands Shiraz), it was a meal to remember. Capped off with Geri's Harvest Pie (apple and pear) with vanilla gelato and a 375 ml 1996 Chateau d'Yquem - oh yeah!
On Sunday, we shopped for a water softener. We really need something to address the hard water we have here, and ended up with a nice Whirlpool unit from Lowe's. I ordered a whole-house sediment filter online, and we should have everything here by Thursday, so my Friday is booked! First, I'll install a bypass so I can work on anything without having to turn the water off. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the idiots who installed the "H2O Magic" thing we have (worthless) didn't include one. We won't make that mistake...
Well, that's it for now. Gotta go give Merlin more meds!
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