Life with The Big Guy

The Big Guy is a 'senior senior.' I work with 3 vets to integrate his care, and their best guess is that he's 'between 14 and 16.' This is o-l-d for a big dog.

New owners expect to put time and energy into raising a puppy. The same amount of energy and effort goes into helping an old dog retire to heaven with grace and dignity. It's hard to watch my beloved boy becoming frail and weak. His life is more and more circumscribed, his world smaller and smaller.

When he was a young buck, there were times when he'd take himself for a walk and be gone for 3 or 4 hours. I'd be sick with worry, envisioning him being hit by a car, or stuck in a trap, or shot by an unfriendly neighbor. I'd also be aggravated, annoyed that he wasn't The Perfect Dog.

What I would give to have The Big Guy at that level of glorious, robust health again. His spine, hips, and knees are all degenerating. Now he has difficulty rising. Just as bad, if not worse, he has problems lying down. When I'm here it's easy to help him get up (especially with his spiffy new harness). It's not as easy to help him lie down.

Since he's loosing control of his hind end, I have to watch him like a hawk when he's outside. I won't allow him out of sight. If he gets stuck in a snow drift or caught up in bushes and falls over, he cannot rise without help.

He's lost control of his bowels. Poop just comes out, whether he's walking or lying down. Thanks to his new improved diet, the amount of poots is tiny for a large dog, but it still needs to be cleaned up. This is not fun when he's got an upset stomach. Diarrhea can get *everywhere*

Deafness is another issue. He's stone cold deaf. He doesn't hear the food bowls clattering when I'm preparing meals. He can't hear me call him, he can't hear cars.

Last night, for the first time, he pee-ed in the house. This is probably my fault, since I didn't make him get up to go out when The Little Princess relieved herself half way through the evening. It's hard to force him to get up, especially when he's comfortably ensconced in bed, and sleeping heavily.

As much as I dislike living with undone floors and ratty rugs, last night showed the wisdom of not putting in expensive new flooring. Until he's gone, the floor stays undone, and the ratty carpet stays on the stairs.

Despite all this, The Big Guy (now being called 'The Old Man') still loves his life. He loves to be groomed and petted and fussed over. He still loves to (try to) bait the Little Princess into play. He still wants me to vacuum him when I'm cleaning up dog hair. Food is still manna. He's thrilled when his various aunties and uncles come to visit. He wants to take his twice daily walks, although they're at a snail's pace. He still woo's from time to time. Despite the shrinking quantity of his life, he still has quality of life.

When that delicate balance shifts, I'll release him. I pray to the God of Akitas I know the exact nanosecond that it occurs.

Sneezing, coughing, runny nose...

watery, itchy eyes, fatigue, lack of appetite.
Sounds like a commercial for NyQuil.
Relapse.
I've had *enough* of this!
I'll be better tomorrow.
(Sounds like something I said on Tuesday. And Wednesday. And...)

ZSL

The Zoological Society of London -- a.k.a. the London Zoo -- houses over 15,000 animals. There's a Butterfly Paradise, an African Bird Safari, and an impressive aquarium. (The term 'aquarium' actually originated at this zoo). The aquarium contains exhibits of fish from the Amazon, as well as a coral reef.

London's zoo is notable for unique or beloved creatures. It housed the only living quagga ever to be photographed. The quagga, which looks like a cross between a horse and a zebra, was hunted to extinction in the 1870's.

A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh was based on Winnipeg Bear ('Winnie'). Milne's son, Christopher Robin became so enamored of Winnie, the author scribed his Pooh books to immortalize him.

In 1949, the zoo bred it's first polar bear, Brumas. Although the press announced Brumas was a male, he was actually a she -- a fact that was not disclosed to the public. She (or he) led to record attendance numbers of 3 million visitors in 1950 -- a record which has not been broken.

More recently,in the summer of 2005, the zoo put 8 humans on display. These human volunteers were adorned with fig leaves, and were intended to highlight the fact we are indeed animals.

I visited the zoo when I lived in London, and was reminded of its history by a passage in a book I'm reading. The zoo was founded by Stamford Raffles and Humphrey Davy in 1826 and received a royal charter two years later.

During World War II, most of the animals were moved to safety at the ZSL's Whipsnade location. The East Tunnel, constructed in 1830, links the north and south parts of the zoo. It provided shelter to thousands of Londoners during the blitz.

Trivia: The python scene from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was filmed at the zoo's Reptile House.

Today - even less

Tomorrow, I'll be better....
I hope!

Today - not so much

I've been feeling great and bumping up my exercise regime. Tri season approaches! Was apparently in excellent health yesterday morning. By lunch, I felt like I'd had the stuffing knocked out of me. Took a nap before heading to school. Major sore throat, headache, sneezing.

Today, I've got a whopper of a head cold. Except only on the left side. Watery eyes, running nose (wow! that's an understatement!) misery, misery, misery. Right side: nuttin'

Off to the Land of Nod. Here's hoping the infection stays contained on the left!

Vote With Your Fork

I heard on the news the other day that obesity in infants is now a big issue - no pun intended. I was shocked. Of course we've been barraged with information on the obesity epidemic in the U.S. Our sedentary lifestyles (what am I doing now? Sitting at a computer typing. And what are YOU doing?), lousy diets and consumption of fast foods add up to a problem with fat. Teenagers are fatter. Kids are fatter. So, no surprise: infants are fatter, too.

In short, (in wideness?) we have an obesity problem. Americans are indeed fat, dumb, lazy and happy (or clueless). And we're killing ourselves by the way we eat. Skyrocketing rates of Type II Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers -- all are diet related.

Take action, America. Eat more fruits, veg, whole grains. Get away from processed foods! My food hero, journalist Michael Pollan suggests shopping along the outside of the grocery store -- not in the middle aisles, where the processed foodstuffs sit.
He also recommends eating foods that have no more than 5 ingredients. Or, look at the label. If you can't envision where something on that label comes from, don't eat it!

Fast food = bad food. Too many calories, too much fat, too much sugar, too much processing. Ah, but that convenience! Not worth the price you eventually pay, in my mind.

My mother was ahead of her time. In an era where housewives were being brainwashed by the new concept of brand marketing, she stuck with the basics. Rather than buying Wonder Bread (with 14 essential vitamins added!) she'd buy fresh bread from the baker.

'Why would you take something out just to put it back in?' she mused about how Wonder Bread was processed. 'Why not just eat it the way it's supposed to be made?'
Wonder Bread! I wonder what's actually in it.

She thought the same about meat, fish, vegetables, fruit. Fresh is better. Fast food and soda were treats. Of course, when we first went to McDonalds, far fewer than 1 million burgers had been sold.

Although she was not fond of cooking -- loathed it, in fact -- my mother had a profound impact on the way my siblings and I view food. And decades before Mr. Pollan made his millions off dietary concerns.

Rest in Peace

G.L., the good friend of one of my closest friends, died over the weekend. I'm weirded out. I'd never met him, but had heard stories of B's adventures, trials and tribulations with him. And we were facebook buddies -- of course, friending someone via facebook makes them instant compadres, right?

I'd never met the man. Why does his death leave me so unsettled? Perhaps because there, but for the grace of whatever god(s) there is/are....