Jacqueline and Angel Have a Visitor

My mother-in-law has been staying with us, and along with her comes her little dog, Pedie.

Pedie has grown up in a home without the benefit of other dogs, so she was a bit nervous when she first came to stay with us. But Jackie and Angel have helped her adjust, and now she feels right at home...

Pedie catches a few z's between playtimes. When Jackie grabs a toy, she typically plays keep-away from Angel, but Pedie won't let her get away with that sort of thing, and engages Jackie in a game of tug-o-war instead. Afterwards Pedie rests with Angel, no doubt plotting their next act of mischief. After a busy day, Pedie catches a few more z's. She is only 6 months old, you know. Growing takes a lot out of a girl.

Check in next week for a new chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.

48 Hours

The drug Jackie took was diltiazem. From the National Library of Medicine website, "Diltiazem is used to treat high blood pressure and to control chest pain (angina). Diltiazem is in a class of medications called calcium-channel blockers. It works by relaxing the blood vessels so the heart does not have to pump as hard. It also increases the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart."

In Jackie's case, it lowered her heart rate so much that she could barely walk because she was not able to get enough blood, and therefore oxygen, to her tissues. Yesterday afternoon, when Jackie came home, she remained listless and disinterested in participating in any activity other than sleeping. I let her do that for the most part, but I did feed her, massaged her often to get the blood flowing, and checked her heart rate every half hour for the rest of the day. Every once in a while I would get her up on her feet and get her to move around a bit to also help increase her circulation.

Her heart rate would rise and fall throughout the day from anywhere between 70 and 90 beats per minute. According to which vet you talk to, it should be between 110 and 140. The Poison Control Center indicated the effects of this medication could last as long as 48 hours. By the time I post this entry, the 48 hours will have just passed. But I guess it really doesn't matter because by 7pm last night Jackie was pretty much back to her old, cantankerous self, and assumed her role as Queen Jacqueline, ruler of all she surveys.

She also played with Angel, and chased off any cats that entered the room.

Jackie was once again subjected to shaving off her beautiful coat. Here she is shortly after she came home. Zonked out and wishing she could recognized medications from table scraps. This picture was taken later in the evening. She was resting after chasing around with Angel, and I think it wore her out a little.

For the record, I take some medications that are VERY dog-unfriendly. If any one of our animals were to ingest even a small amount of some of my meds it could mean curtains for them. That is why I am very careful to make sure my medications are located in a place where the cats can’t get to them and possibly ingest them themselves, or knock them to the ground where one of the dogs might find them. Even with all my precautions, however, I worry that somehow one of the animals could still come in contact with one of my medications.

What happened to Jackie was an accident, but it was preventable, and shouldn’t have happened. It is my responsibility to protect her from such things, and I failed to do that for her with almost disastrous consequences. At least now I know I must not only keep track of my poison, but that of the other people in my household as well.

This week has been dominated by the accident that befell my little Jackie, so I hope you all check in next week, and we'll see if we can have a more upbeat chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.

Jacqueline Will Be Home By Noon

Jackie's heart rate has increased to 90, and her blood pressure is stll good, but our vet decided she should stay there until noon.

All in all, she looks very good, and the vet said he has no problem releasing her to us today as long as someone is at home all day to keep an eye on her.

We will be watching Das Boot. (Hey, she LOVES that movie!)

Peace vs Hate

I intentionally stay away from such topic as politics here at Athenamama because I really do not have the time and energy to express any views I might have here. Besides, this blog really isn'rt the place for those things anyway.

But this morning I found this remarkable picture in my paper...

Is that a symbol of Peace in the clouds?

Morning Walk without Jacqueline

Angel was looking for his sister this morning as we prepared to go on our morning walk. When the time came to open the door, however, he was ready to go regardless.

I woke up around 1:30 this morning and called the hospital. They said they called the poison control center, and they agreed with the treatment the vet was giving Jackie. They also said that the PCS said that the effects could last 48 hours.

They checked Jackie's heart rate and blood pressure through the night, and while her heart rate was still very low it was also stable, as was her blood pressure.

The animal hospital closes at 8:00am, so we will be going to pick up Jackie soon. They told me at 1:30 that she might need to stay with our vet for the day, but that they felt she was out of the woods, and they would make their final recommendations when we pick her up this morning.

I most likely will stay home from work today, and keep Jackie with me. Our vet is only a couple of minutes away from here, and if I need to, I am sure I can make it in about one minute.

Jacqueline is in the Hospital

I know many of you won’t see this until later, but right now it is 8:30pm here in California, and my baby Jacqueline is in the animal hospital.

Jackie got a hold of some of my mother-in-law’s high blood pressure medication, and is staying overnight at the hospital for observation. At the time of this writing Jackie’s blood pressure is stable, but her heart rate is between 70-85. It should be around 140.

The vet said she thinks Jackie will be OK; the meds were sustained release and Jackie got into them somewhere between 8:30am and noon, so we all think she is past the worst of it, but of course there are no guarantees.

I can’t lose her. I really, really cannot lose her.

Favorite Spam E-mail Subject of the Week

This was the subject of a piece of spam in my mailbox today...

Endometrios Jeff you are not alone

That is exactly how it was written.

Gave me a good laugh, thought I would share.

Happy Birthday, Athena

Today Athena would have been five years old, so I thought I would share a couple of pictures of her as a kitten, and the two more of her as an adult. So, here we go...

We were fostering Athena and her siblings for a local cat rescue operation. Their mother was found dead, but Athena and her brother and sister were all huddled together in an attic of an empty house. Here they are huddled again, only much safer this time, even if they are in my hamper. The black and white one is Rocky, so named because when he arrived he would literally sit up on his haunches and box any hand that tried to pick him up. The grey one on the right is Mitsy. She's very sweet. On more than one occasion, when all the kittens were playing somewhere in the house, Mitsy would lose sight of Athena and Rocky. When that would happen she would run to the middle of the room and cry once. Rocky and Athena would appear out of no where in response to her cry, and come running to make sure she was ok. Athena, at the top left, was the leader, and the bravest of the three. She would set an example, and the other two would follow her lead. She was the first to eat from our bowl, and only after she did it would the other two eat. In fact, it was she that led them to this laundry basket. Rocky is almost impossible to see in this shot, but he is there just above Athena. Except for Rocky, this picture captures perfectly the personality of Athena and Mitsy. Mitsy is looking at the camera with a trace of shyness in her big, beautiful eyes . Athena, however, is approaching the camera, almost as if to protect her brother and sister. She was always the first to investigate new things. I honestly believe her first interest when dealing with new experiences was to first determine the level of threat to her brother and sister. I think she assumed the role of their mother for the short time between their real mother's death, and their rescue from the attic. It tore me up to break up Athena's little family. I felt in my heart that I was doing something very wrong by separating them. Yet, the rescue organization is very thorough in their screening process, so I know they both went to good homes. Mitsy went to a man who had just lost his cat of 18 years. He's single, and spends much of his time at home. Just what Mitsy needed. Rocky went to a family that had adopted another kitten just a few days before. The family found out quickly their new family member needed a playmate. So Rocky had a friend for life that he could play and box with. We weren't in the market for a cat, but my wife saw the strong bond that had developed between Athena and me, so she got her for me as a surprise. I often wonder how Rocky and Mitsy are doing. I suppose they are happy and warm, and spend their days on their human's lap, or on the back of a sofa some place. Maybe one of them rests face down in a sheepskin throw.

You never know.

Athena 04/09/01 - 08/31/03 Happy Birthday, Mama.

The Post Morning Walk Cool Down with Jacqueline and Angel (With special appearances by Salem and Thalia)

You might be thinking to yourself, "What do Jacqueline and Angel do to cool down after their exhaustive morning walk, and breakfast?" Well, today we have the answer to that burning question...

Both dogs insist on being on the futon with me after they have finished their breakfast. That little black lump to my left is Jackie. She makes a great hand warmer. To my right is Angel. At first it was Jackie who wanted up on the futon with daddy, but now Angel has decided he needs to be up their as well. At least my thighs are warm before I leave for work. A nice aerial shot of Jackie, my big belly, and Angel. (Editor's note: Bellies may appear larger than they really are.) Thalia knows that between the dogs and the morning paper, she has no chance at my lap, so she snuggles up with her favorite sheepskin throw. Face down, of course.

And so that is how Angel and Jackie spend their morning after the 5:25 am walk to get the paper. You might be asking yourself, "Boy, with the dogs up on the futon, who uses all those doggie beds?"

Here's your answer...

Salem says "hello".

All of us here at Athenamama hope your morning has treated you well, and that you also enjoy a great weekend.

Check in next week for a new chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.