Posts from the ‘Bear’ category

Auggie’s difficult day

The Auggie-boy is one tough cat.

However, every once in awhile, something sends him roaring inside like the hounds of hell are after him.

This morning, apparently they were as I heard the split screen and his feet and then Auggie up, up and away to the top of the cabinet above the refrigerator.

Auggie slunk down and warily moved around the house, looking out windows and doors … so warily, that I did a house tour to make sure that nothing came in with or behind him. Nada.

Uncharacteristically, he did not recover his sang froid…

The edge of the porch was as far as he ventured and that was later in the day.

Stepping back, to Saturday night…at bedtime, I discovered a scab on Auggie’s ear and head and shoulder…

He tangled with something…but he had not jetted inside like he did today (Monday) and seemed unconcerned about going in and out.

Today was different.

Bear was on Beardog Point when Auggie roared in. AND, as it was warm at 60 something F, I had the house windows open. Bear did not alert and I heard nothing…and believe me, a cat in a fight is hearable from some distance! So, I think no fight, but some critter or bird (eagle or owl or raven?) scared Auggie out of his wits!

“It was so awful, I can’t even talk about it…”

“It was bad!”

“I guess, I just have to muck about on my own…”

“Hey, where were you when I was about to be et???”

“I heard nothing.”

“NOTHING!”

Whatever it was, it made for a difficult day for Auggie!

Weekend catchup

I got the new machine completely set up in a record 2 days. AND, it wasn’t even all of the 2 days: 3 hours on Saturday much of which was downloading which didn’t require me to be sitting at my desk … 4 hours Sunday for my work environment which is a kind of tricky “do it in order” thing of primary tools and plug-ins … but again much of that time was downloading. No glitches, no pulling of hair or swearing or rending of clothes. This was by far, the easiest setup of a new machine that I’ve ever had. Maybe it feels so good because it took me 4 months to transition to the Acer two years ago.

It wasn’t all “new computer” stuff over the weekend. The “Auggie tree” was moved …by the Jeeper! (Auggie Tree)

It used to be there…

The Jeeper dragged it over to the firewood staging pile.

So much fun! Auggie was safely in the house, but Bear was in the Jeep with me and seemed fascinated as we pulled it onto the driveway and then over to the log pile. It is the first time I’ve used the Jeep for a chore. I did manage to scrape the corner of the garage so ended up doing a bit of touch up painting, but even that was fun.

A bit of baking happened also. I’ve been make these whole wheat rolls: hoagie buns, hot dog buns and hamburger buns, for several months. They are Mel’s Kitchen Café’s Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls and I nearly cried for joy the first time I made them. I have been experimenting with various mixes to get a sandwich bun that I really liked and these are it! If Mel sees my photos, she might cry. Mel shapes her rolls to perfection! I am a LOT more casual. The key to using mostly or all whole wheat (white whole wheat) flour is to add vital wheat gluten. This dough is easy to work with and makes wonderful fluffy buns that stand up to burgers, hot dogs and subs. They freeze wonderfully – I let them cool, then into the frig overnight and then a repack for the freezer so no freezer burn.

Although we’ve had no rain since June 2 and it is scary dry, especially for this early, the days have been sunny with temps 74-80 daytime and 45-55 overnight … kind of perfect. NOAA says that will end this week as we warm up again to the mid to upper 90’s by the end of the week. Blech. So, the other thing we did this weekend was enjoy the relatively cool and pleasant temperatures before we need to retreat to air conditioning later this week.

It was a great weekend with much accomplished and also some relaxation in the shade in the quiet of a Sunday afternoon.

***NOAA’s exact words:
Next weekend through early next week, dry conditions prevail as the
ridge strengthens quickly and high temperatures move well into
the 90s for the weekend. Next Monday currently looks the warmest,
with Missoula and Kalispell forecast to break 100. Kalispell has
not seen 100 in June since record-keeping began. We will continue
to keep an eye on the exact numbers, but the overall message
remains the same: Prepare for multiple days of peak summer heat.

And the morale of the story is: Stay close to your Beardog!

First, we are all fine :)!

Second, this is another “Wild Kingdom” story and I am unsure if there were any victims…

Onward.

About 10:30 a.m. (Sunday morning), I went out intending to do some yard chores. Bear came with me. Auggie was out somewhere. Bear was extra excited and could barely stand still for his collar which is unusual. Then we heard noises of an animal in distress. It sounded like a bird.

Bear started barking and his hackles were up but thankfully he came to me and I leashed him on the 3 foot lead I keep in my pocket for such events.

We went toward the sound which was coming from the state land. Halfway there I tripped over a rock and went down but thankfully on softish ground. I got up quickly and there was Auggie trotting toward home and about 50 feet behind is a fox and it is making the sound Bear and I heard. The fox was moving toward Auggie but it is trotting also, i.e. not running. Bear is ballistic by now, but not pulling me badly.

The fox saw Bear and me and turned around away from us. Auggie kept moving toward the house, but he was not running and he was moving normally, i.e. did not look injured. Bear quieted and then the fox turned back toward Auggie. I yelled, Bear barked and the fox turned away again.

By now, Bear and I were between Auggie and the fox. Bear wanted to go the fox direction but came with me on lead, looking back toward the fox often. Auggie stayed ahead of us moving toward the house. We all got inside.

Auggie did not have any obvious wounds. I ran hands over all of him, ruffled hair … no blood and he did not react as if in pain and he moved fine but immediately went behind the kitchen chair which is not usual. I left him for a bit and then pulled the chair away and examined him again…nothing.

I can only guess that there are fox kittens – Bear has been wanting to go to an area on the state land where we never go so I suspect they are there. I’ve heard sounds, but they sound so bird-like that I didn’t suspect fox or skunk. But, I found some videos with fox vocalizations and they sound like what we heard and also like the adult. AND both Bear and Auggie reacted to them. Bear was up on the chair barking and running to every window. Auggie hid. I felt really bad – usually they do not pay attention to computer sounds, but it was so like what we just heard, I guess. Maybe Auggie just got too close to the den?

The aftermath…all of that adrenalin!

Both of them, down for the count.

Me: I have been nursing a sore hip flexor and knee and it was just about better until I fell. I caught that leg on a rock. I probably could have prevented the fall if I’d not had Bear on leash. By the time we got home, I could barely put weight on the leg, but I immediately took 3 Advil and then iced both my hip and my knee and have been icing and also walking around every 30 minutes at least. It feels much better so hopefully just a minor setback.

Today’s planned yardwork will have to wait.

This is after I listed to the videos with the fox vocalizations.

YIKES!

It took about 15 minutes and another walk for Bear to calm down.

I felt horrible about playing the video.

Finally, Bear and Auggie settled…

The morale of the story: stay close to your Beardog!

***Edit 5/4/2015
I’m pleasantly surprised that my leg feels fine this morning – yea!

And kind of replaying what I saw yesterday, I am guessing that there was no confrontation, but that Auggie probably got closer to the den and kits (I’m assuming there is a den and kits) than the fox(es) liked – and was being warned off.

I think, if there had been any action, both Auggie and the fox would have been running.

If you listen or know the fox sounds (google “fox vocalizations”), they sound awful.

Taking a break

In addition to a full work schedule there have been some snafus that required me to run about town MUCH more than normal and finally after a very early start this morning, I hit the wall midafternoon. All was mostly resolved, work mostly on track, it was cold and rainy…

…so followed Bear’s example…

And took a nap!

I feel much better.

Tomorrow is a new day so onward we go.

Also, re Bear: it is 3 weeks since our trip to the internist. Based on my reading (holistic veterinary sites), I changed Bear to a high protein/low carb diet and also added a Chinese herb blend: Si Miao San (Four Marvels). He started seeming more comfortable the first week and it continues. The main thing I’d noticed was that he often seemed too warm, to the point of panting. He sought cool spots on the floor instead of his usual spot in the chairs or on the bed. That has mostly gone away and I can just see in his eyes that he feels better. YEA!

Good news for Bear!

No horrible anything showed up on Bear’s ultrasound. There are indications of non-symptomatic Cushings Disease which is not fatal and with no symptoms, not much of anything, i.e no treatment needed, just keep an eye on things.

I really liked the vet – he listened, took time and was very gentle with Bear. Internal stuff is his business so he has a VERY good ultrasound machine and is VERY good at reading it AND explaining to me. Bear did not need to be shaved and he was comfortably on his side and relaxed with me scratching his ears. Except for the fact that both Bear and I were TOO warm in the clinic, it was an easy and non-invasive thing and I am happy to have met this vet as well as I feel confident about his findings and the information he gave me.

So, no follow up appointment, no further tests and no surgery and scary thing goes on the back burner!

Bear and I are beat!

But, I am so glad we came in the motorhome. We finished up at 4:30 and no way would I want to drive home. I am glad we can all relax and enjoy this evening.

Auggie did a bit of yowling before he settled, but he was out and about shortly after we parked and got set up. I brought some of his toys which he promptly found and he has settled into RV mode!

Not sure what we will do tomorrow. I have a mid-morning meeting. I’ll decide in the morning what to do after that.

Thank you, thank you to all who lifted us up with good thoughts today. Getting the motorhome ready to roll, driving down and the vet appointment all went so very smooth. HOO – RAH!!!