Some Non-trivial Things That Annoy Me.

[Noclevername]

Our puppy ate a grape.

Seems like no big deal, right? A grape. But turns out grapes are toxic to dog's kidneys, even in low doses, and he's a small dog so not much "buffer" there. Had to consult a pet poison line and a vet visit, neither was free. 370-something altogether.

They induced vomiting and gave him activated charcoal. Bloodwork in a few days to check kidney function. And he hates car rides so it was stressful coming and going.

Poor little guy is sleeping on my lap as I type, all tuckered out. He's had a big day!

[schlaugh]

Our puppy ate a grape.

Seems like no big deal, right? A grape. But turns out grapes are toxic to dog's kidneys, even in low doses, and he's a small dog so not much "buffer" there. Had to consult a pet poison line and a vet visit, neither was free. 370-something altogether.

They induced vomiting and gave him activated charcoal. Bloodwork in a few days to check kidney function. And he hates car rides so it was stressful coming and going.

Poor little guy is sleeping on my lap as I type, all tuckered out. He's had a big day!

We once had a Lhasa Apso that was a garbage eater. If it was on the floor she would eat it, or try. She once ate a woman's nylon knee-high stocking and another time about 20 foil-wrapped Hershey kisses (also bad for dogs). So we got to be pretty good at inducing hydrogen peroxide and then chucking her into the bathtub and letting nature take its course.

[PetersCreek]

We once had a Lhasa Apso that was a garbage eater. If it was on the floor she would eat it, or try. She once ate a woman's nylon knee-high stocking and another time about 20 foil-wrapped Hershey kisses (also bad for dogs). So we got to be pretty good at inducing hydrogen peroxide and then chucking her into the bathtub and letting nature take its course.

The most serious eating-related episode for our dog came when he got hold of a length of dental floss, unbeknownst to us. It looped over his tongue and as dog's are wont to do, he ate some grass in an attempt to relieve his discomfort. The grass made a tangled ball at the end of the floss, resulting in an unmoving obstruction in his esophogus, which put pressure on the loop, gradually cutting into the sublingual frenulum.

He went off his feed of course and I checked his mouth for injury or a bad tooth. I couldn't see anything amiss but I did notice a foul smell. I didn't lift his tongue because it looked normal and...well...80-pound labrador retriever don't wanna. It briefly stumped our vet, too. He found the obstruction on x-ray quickly enough but didn't quite know what to make of it. On a hunch, he checked his tongue and found the floss. He said that he felt bad for not catching it right away but explained that these cases are almost exclusivey involve cats. A quick endoscopic removal and he was back to normal. Expensive but at least I got to watch.

[Van Rijn]

When I was a teenager we had some toy Pomeranians. One of them had a habit of eating things too big for her, so we tried to watch the size of food for her, but at least three times my mother called me in to help when the dog was having trouble breathing. Typically, I would hold the dog’s mouth open with one hand and stick my finger down her throat with the other. I saved the dog’s life each time.

[Extravoice]

I hope your dog does well.

A number of years ago, our dog ate a pack of sugarless gum. That’s far more toxic than you might think. She spent several days at the vet with an IV treatment, but pulled through with no apparent long term issues.

[Noclevername]

In his tummy they found half an unchewed Milk Bone treat, and half a playing card... 9 of clubs!

[PetersCreek]

In his tummy they found half an unchewed Milk Bone treat, and half a playing card... 9 of clubs!

That's the card I picked! (Glad to here it all came out all right.)

[Noclevername]

That's the card I picked! (Glad to here it all came out all right.)

1 card Monty.

[schlaugh]

In his tummy they found half an unchewed Milk Bone treat, and half a playing card... 9 of clubs!

That would have been the punchline to one heck of a magic trick.

[Noclevername]

That would have been the punchline to one heck of a magic trick.

Hmmm.... a show-stopper for sure.

[Extravoice]

My son in law has asserted that, like the shark in Jaws, they’d find a license plate in my dog’s stomach.

[Selenite]

He said that he felt bad for not catching it right away but explained that these cases are almost exclusively involve cats.

That's quite true. A few years ago my cat decided for whatever stupid reason to chew and swallow a half empty spool of bobbin thread on the floor of my sewing room and ended up in an almost identical veterinary situation. Surgery saved one of his nine lives that night.

[Trebuchet]

The most serious eating-related episode for our dog came when he got hold of a length of dental floss, unbeknownst to us. It looped over his tongue and as dog's are wont to do, he ate some grass in an attempt to relieve his discomfort. The grass made a tangled ball at the end of the floss, resulting in an unmoving obstruction in his esophogus, which put pressure on the loop, gradually cutting into the sublingual frenulum.

He went off his feed of course and I checked his mouth for injury or a bad tooth. I couldn't see anything amiss but I did notice a foul smell. I didn't lift his tongue because it looked normal and...well...80-pound labrador retriever don't wanna. It briefly stumped our vet, too. He found the obstruction on x-ray quickly enough but didn't quite know what to make of it. On a hunch, he checked his tongue and found the floss. He said that he felt bad for not catching it right away but explained that these cases are almost exclusivey involve cats. A quick endoscopic removal and he was back to normal. Expensive but at least I got to watch.

Ouch!
One of my parents' cats was found with a piece of string hanging out of his mouth. My mother pulled it out. And out. And out. About six feet of it. Fortunately for him, he was ok. Less fortunate for me, that cat hated me for no apparent reason. Knocked me to the floor at least once.

Off the subject of pets, sort of: Our lovely niece may visit tomorrow. My wife asked me to have Rosie the Roomba vacuum. Rosie is always happy to do so. And always manages to turn her charging station around so she can't get to it. So I tried to help her to it. And finally had to get down on the floor to do so. It took me about five minutes to get back up. I'm getting so darn tired of being old; and it's not going to get better.

[Van Rijn]

Heh. Rosie as in the Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot?

[Van Rijn]

By the way, how did the house cat knock you to the floor? I’ve been tripped by a cat, but not knocked down.

[ozduck]

I had a similar experience after having cataract surgery earlier this month. I would occasionally see an arc-like shadow in my right eye's peripheral vision. Turns out it's the edge of my spiffy new intraocular lens implant. It happens most often when my eyes are a bit dialated but my brain seems to be filtering it already.

On a related, annoying note: I also have Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy (EBMD). I've had it for some years now and aside from some corneal dryness and occasional irritation, it has seldom troubled me...until about 48 hours ago. It then presented as the sensation of a large, hot, sharp-edged pebble lodged in my left eye. I've spent the last two days in my recliner with a cool compress over both eyes. I had to one-eye it for some things, of course but couldn't do it for long. As one eye moves, so does the other and my closed left eyelid felt like sandpaper as the cornea moved against it.

Things are much better this morning but far from 100%. I'll probably spend more time with the compress and I'll definitely be placing a call to my opthalmologist's office, in case this affects my second cataract surgery scheduled for next week.

Isn't getting old a grind - until you consider the alternative.

[Van Rijn]

On a related, annoying note: I also have Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy (EBMD). I've had it for some years now and aside from some corneal dryness and occasional irritation, it has seldom troubled me...until about 48 hours ago. It then presented as the sensation of a large, hot, sharp-edged pebble lodged in my left eye. I've spent the last two days in my recliner with a cool compress over both eyes. I had to one-eye it for some things, of course but couldn't do it for long. As one eye moves, so does the other and my closed left eyelid felt like sandpaper as the cornea moved against it.

Ouch! I haven’t heard of that before, but the symptoms sound like what I had when trying to wear contacts. The pebble under the eyelid feeling is very familiar as well as the sandpaper feeling when moving my eye. In my case, though, I could resolve it by no longer wearing contacts.

[Trebuchet]

Heh. Rosie as in the Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot?

Exactly! My wife is to blame!

[Trebuchet]

By the way, how did the house cat knock you to the floor? I’ve been tripped by a cat, but not knocked down.

Attacked from behind, when I didn't even know he was in the room. Hit me in the back of the knee, at what must have been just the wrong moment in a step.
When he was a kitten, he was my buddy. I went back to college and while I was gone my parents had him declawed. When I came back he was a demon from hell.
Do not ever have a cat declawed.

[Jim]

... My wife asked me to have Rosie the Roomba vacuum. ...

Heh. Rosie as in the Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot?

Exactly! My wife is to blame!

The Trebuchets at home.
https://www.gocomics.com/drabble/2021/01/23

[Gillianren]

The Trebuchets at home.
https://www.gocomics.com/drabble/2021/01/23

Have visited; can confirm.

Simon is going through another stretch of not handling his feelings. He's supposed to be getting help for this through the school, but the help he's supposed to be getting involves socialization and spending time around groups of kids, and [shrugs]. Yesterday, we agreed that we're going to spend at least one half-hour time a week just talking about his feelings and how he's processing. It's not an ideal solution, but last night, we did share frustrations and I tried to explain why his sister's driving him crazy.

[Delvo]

They should have a roomba with an arm on top that just flings stuff around the room.

[PetersCreek]

They should have a roomba with an arm on top that just flings stuff around the room.

Why reinvent the teenager?

[Trebuchet]

According to Worldometer, US Covid-19 deaths passed 450,000 yesterday. And deniers are still denying, anti-vaxers are stil at it.

[Gillianren]

I saw yesterday that a group of anti-vaxxers shut down a vaccination center at Dodger Stadium yesterday; of course they weren't wearing masks.

[Swift]

I saw yesterday that a group of anti-vaxxers shut down a vaccination center at Dodger Stadium yesterday; of course they weren't wearing masks.

"Annoyed" doesn't come close to describing how I feel about these people. If I elaborated further it would not be appropriate for CQ.

[ozduck]

Right in the middle of our Covid lockdown we have now had our worst bushfires for years. They are not on the scale that hit the Eastern States last summer but over 70 houses have already been destroyed in the outer suburbs and hills. Many more people have been evacuated, including our friends who were woken up at 03:00 and told to leave immediately. We are not in any danger but there is a lot of smoke in the air.

The weather has been in the mid to high 30 C's but the worst thing has been the strong easterly winds fanning the flames. Today 70 km gusts are expected to push the fires closer to more homes. The weather conditions are expected to improve in the next few days with a change of direction. There is also a chance of a thunderstorm on Saturday.

[Van Rijn]

You have my sympathy. It sounds too much like my last summer, so I can empathize.

[ozduck]

You have my sympathy. It sounds too much like my last summer, so I can empathize.

It really hasn't caused me any problems except for a strong smoke smell last night but that is much less in my suburb today. I live fairly close to the inner suburbs so am not going to suffer from the fires except for smoke. The wind seems to be coming a bit more from the south today and pushing the smoke away from us. Unfortunately the wind is expected to really blow up late today and push the fire towards another small town on the outskirts of Perth - and an Air Force base.

[ozduck]

Yesterday morning I went to do some work in the garden and when I bent down something black kept appearing in the 'side' of my eye. After several minutes of trying to clean my glasses and cutting my eyebrows I realised that it was inside the eye. It looks like a black disc in the eye that moves down when I bend over. It almost seemed to behave like the bubble in a spirit level.

Today I got my eye dilated and had lots of bright lights shone into it. The diagnosis was that I have had a "Posterior Vitreous Detachment" which is "a condition where your vitreous comes away from the retina at the back of your eye.". Happily there is no retinal tearing. There is no "reasonable' treatment and apparently the brain will eventually 'ignore' the black spot - similar to the way it ignores the "blind spot" in every eye.

The good news is that the eye that has been affected is my 'bad' one. Due to a childhood injury I have less than 10% vision in that eye. I can see light and shadows and just see my outstretched hand in bright condition. Still it is of some use and I am glad that at least that little bit of vision will remain.

Well after a couple of weeks the black spot is still there but as I was advised I am beginning to 'notice' it less and less. It only really seems to really annoy me when I bend my head right over like brushing my teeth at the basin (I now trend to shut my left eye when I bend right down.) or sitting up with my back straight and reading a book. Luckily I am an inveterate 'sloucher' so it has not been that annoying when reading.