I suppose it was inevitable. I got Maria a snail to go into the fish tank I bought her for her birthday. She named him Socrates and spends a considerable amount of time observing him, admiring him and researching snails online. Maria is a creative obsessive, and when she zeroes in a subject, it usually becomes art in one form or another.
She has been telling me about snails all week, how they go up, go down, blow bubbles, sail around, explore, hide, sleep and perform aquatic acrobatics. So today, she brought me the first design of her new Socrates Potholder (with a fish theme) which will go up for sale on Etsy, I believe, tomorrow.
You can follow the journey of Socrates The Potholder on Maria’s blog. They will go cost $25 plus shipping. It’s pretty cool living with an artist, you never know what’s just around the corner,and it seems that life is art, and vice versa.
We were hit with another Nor’Easter this morning, ho-hum. It’s getting boring. We clean off the cards, feed the animals, go to work. In fact, today I’m heading to Albany to check out the library and music room at RISSE that the Army of Good is purchasing on the Amazon RiSSE Wish List.
Gus comes with us in his muzzle, he worships Fate and watches every thing she does, which is mostly run usefully but enthusiastically around the sheep. We are not impressed with this storm, I know it is hitting Boston hard but we just refuse to take winter seriously any more. It’s Spring approaching in our minds, snow or not.
Dr. Fariello told me this morning that Red has lost more than 50 per cent of his sight in his right eye, and 20 per cent in his left eye due to cataracts which are expanding.
We’ve known he has cataracts, but they have expanded rapidly over the last six months. I’ve noticed some confusion when Red is herding sheep, he doesn’t appear to be seeing everything on the right side, there is some hesitation.
He also sometimes has to grope around to find a treat, he doesn’t always see it. At the moment, there is nothing we can do about it, it won’t affect his therapy work at all, but we may have to curtail some of the sheepherding. Have to figure it out. More tests next month.
It turns out that Gus is having trouble absorbing his food, according to our vet and a nutritionists we consulted about his diet. This is a worrisome turn for him, he is losing some weight even though he is eating about a third more food than a dog his size is supposed to eat.
We are trying some probiotics and adding another half-can of food to his diet to see if his weight will pick up. The specialist we consulted said Gus should weight more than he does, given want he is eating.
This digestive issue is often related to megaesophagus, and it is a difficult one to treat. If Gus ends up suffering from absorption problems and then possibly, malnutrition, that would be a serious turn for the worse. There is no cure for megaesophagus. The mad scientist me – will have to get back to coming up with a new diet.
Gus has had a wobbly couple of days. He is having trouble swallowing and regurgitation a milky fluid. We’ll do more tests including blood work and X-rays next week to see if there is any vitamin deficiency or any other related problem.
Dr. Fariello could see I was upset, she told me to call her anytime, we would work on this together. I appreciate that, there are so many things going on in my life my head is spinning.
This is new terrain for me, for Maria. We’ll talk about it today and do some planning.
Gus is quite small, even for the breed, and even though he eats a lot, he is think for what he is consuming. I will say this news is upsetting to me, and may send us back to square one. Not sure yet, we’ll have to do some testing.
It’s snowing here, but I’m heading off to Albany, we need to get some clothes for a refugee kid whose being taunted in school. The roads are clear, and I don’t think I would sleep if I didn’t get those clothes. Check in later. I’m glad for the trip, I can think about what I can do to help Gus.
