Living … One day at a time.

Hi,  well this has been one of the longest and at that the same time shortest weeks of my life.

Each day wrapped in what felt like a time capsule.

Moment to moment filled with hope.

Hope for a good healthy “poop.”

Really, I have never or not recently hoped for someone to have a good healthy poop.

Yes, I do remember wanting needing to have a good one for myself…. LOL.

Each day, every time that we go outside, I say to Alvin “please have a good poop.”

This whole week has been wrapped up and around “poop.”

Not really funny or humorous but at the same time how can you not smile.

So much of our lives … okay all of our lives revolve around having a good daily healthy poop.

We write about it …. doctors journal about it and test it ….. we think about it daily.

It is necessary for a good healthy life.

Yes, it does.

I cannot believe that we, I have been home with Alvin for a whole week filled with eager anticipation around a bowel movement.

But alas I have.

Still no “good poop” today so we have another appointment with the Vet for bloodwork.

Argh, I was ever so hopeful that it would have happened and we would not have come to this point.

I cannot believe that he has not had a good poop yet.

He jumps onto the sofa, sniffs when we are outside, happily eats his chicken & rice meals, drinks water and pees.

You would not know upon looking at him that there is anything wrong with him.

In all of the nine years that we have been together he has never had diarrhea for this length of time.

We started the medications on Tuesday late afternoon and I had high hopes that yes, he would have had a good “BM” by now.

Perhaps he can feel my frustration and anxiety.

I feel badly that I have left my coworkers with extra work to do for a whole week only one week after returning from vacation.

I feel guilty that I cannot magically make Alvin better.

I feel guilty that despite my days at home that I have not really done anything …

Well I have looked after my boy.

We have walked, I have cooked for him and put salve on his bum.

I am available to jump on a moment’s notice to go outside …..

Well our appointment is for 3:30 p.m. so as I am a glass half full kind of gal …. I am hoping for a miracle …..

Time will tell.

 

Alvin has remained patient …. more than me during this whole ordeal.

Considering it is his insides that are not functioning properly.

Considering that his life has been turned upside down for the past week.

Missing his friends …..

But that is me Alvin ….. always surprising me.

 

Quick little story to share before I sign off.

Yesterday morning while we were outside with hopes for some bottom end action, the good kind.

Something flew above us and landed on the railing on the deck.

I ducked while squinting in the bright sunshine to see what it was …. I was pretty certain it was not a bird.

In seconds I realized that it was a bat.

I have been carrying my phone with me to take “poop photos” here and there.

Okay I know, crazy poop lady.

That will be a handle that I will not soon lose that is for sure …..

While the bat was busy on the railing ….. I called out to my neighbour ….

Quickly made sure that Alvin was out of the way (into the house).

I managed to capture some video.

I did not see the face of the bat clearly due to the bright sunlight but definitely could see the wings when it landed and was about to fly away.

Never been that close to a bat.

It was small and we thought it was a baby or young bat for sure.

My neighbour thought perhaps it was injured but we could not tell for certain.

It was definitely trying to get out of the sunlight.

I had the umbrella open on the deck and it flew underneath.

At one point it actually was hanging upside down.

After opening the kitchen window …. the baby got active once again and flew away.

We figured that it was in my neighbour’s tree.

Later on I sent the videos to my kids and they replied with a phone number for Animal Control – with the Bat link.

So I decided to call just to ask some questions and was happy that I had called.

The guy on the phone just happened to be the “bat guy” …. yes, he was.

He said that the adult bats have already left for caves and other spots but the juveniles are still about trying to get their bearings.

Some may fly into an object and then be confused or could be sick or horror among horrors be rabid.

He said under no circumstances to get near to it and to keep my dog away as well.

He also said to watch when taking my dog to the backyard for a brown patch on the grass as it might be the bat.

ARGH.

Anyway, I have been examining the grass and the deck every time we go outside, just in case.

No baby bat.

I do hope that it survived and found its’ way to a safe place.

Also I learned if you happen to get near the bat and see that it is agitated or making clicking noises …. signs that it may be rabid so GET AWAY and call him.

So even at home waiting for poop to happen we have had visitors.

 

Well time to get back downstairs once again.

Time to sweep the floor and do a couple of things before we leave for the Vet.

Time for one more small meal for Mr. Alvin.

He has been eating four small meals each day.

Also he just passed some gas.

Not great.

Oh, my poor boy.

This has been the week for sure.

 

Showing kindness and respect to all creatures is important.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

Well this is not how I had planned or expected these past few days to be.

In a blink of an eye life can change and does quite often.

Still don’t know the actual cause of Alvin’s “grief” but at least we have medication.

So shall I start at the beginning as I have not posted much over the past few days.

Last Friday was a regular day …. worked ….. my daughter gave me a ride home …. I had stopped at renewed my driver license.

I do think that I may have posted that information …. after my daughter left we went right into our regular after work.

I took him for a walk followed by supper.

After supper we had been invited out to a friends house.

Now with the weather taking a turn I was unable to take Alvin with me.

So he stayed home.

I was gone from 7:00 until 10:25 p.m.

As usual I left the television on and lights.

He was happy to see me.

We went outside and then upstairs to bed.

From that point until this moment things changed.

He was not himself.

So did he eat something?

Or perhaps it was stress over the last few weeks with the significant change to our routine that being my vacation.

Being away from home and me.

He has become even more stuck to routine as he ages.

 

At some point I believe around 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning …. he needed to go outside.

Then it was all downhill for the boy.

He was shaking …. had bad bad GAS …. so bad it startled me and scared him.

The gas blow-out was so bad it appeared to have ruptured a blood vessel.

So blood then was added to it all.

We have been one poopy mess for days.

The gas factor continued until yesterday.

We were up and down every couple of hours from Friday night until we slept for six hours on Sunday night.

Monday and last nights we slept until the alarm went off.

 

He has definitely got upset intestines, “tummy” and his bum is raw.

If you remember Mr. Alvin is not so fond of car rides, not at all.

Keeping watch to ensure that he was not dehydrated (still drank lots of water during this whole episode), I decided to wait until his Vet was open on Tuesday.

I called them twice or three times on Tuesday morning only to get their automated message.

This concerned me as I knew they were to be opened.

So I just decided to walk over there with Alvin.

When we arrived we found a fish tank with four turtles, large ones sitting in front of the door.

I tried the door and it was locked.

The OPEN signed was not turned on.

I peeked through the window and no lights or movement.

So decided to take a photo of the turtles and head home quickly.

We got home and I called our City line for assistance.

I was able to get someone from Animal Control – Peace Officer to go and pick up the turtles.

So now what.

I was texting with my daughter and son-in-law as Alvin still had diarrhea and needed to be checked.

Clearly nothing was going to stop and heal without medical intervention.

My daughter remembered the Spay/Neuter Clinic not far away from us and they said in their ad – they took new clients.

I was stressed at this point …. between me Alvin and the turtles.

Before leaving home I had perked a pot of coffee but only drank a sip before unplugging it.

So I decided to have a mug of coffee and just sit for a few minutes.

Alvin was okay for the moment and the turtles were going to be rescued.

Just breathe …..

What a morning.

After the coffee, I was going to call the new VET but then had this strange feeling that I should try our Vet again.

The receptionist answered, I was dumbfounded.

She explained that she had mixed up the dates therefore came in later than she was scheduled.

Our Vet arrives at 10:00 and I was there just after 9:00 a.m.

What a relief.

I explained what had happened with our first visit and the turtles and what was going on with Mr. Alvin.

She said the Animal Control were there and that the Clinic had an arrangement with several different animal rescue groups.

One of them had dropped off the turtles thinking someone would be there at 8:00 a.m.

I was able to make an appointment for Mr. Alvin to see his own Doctor at 2:30 p.m.

What a relief.

So we just relaxed and waited until it was time to go.

Of course, during that time Alvin had one of his small meals.

We left the house about 2:10 p.m. as I thought we may have some stops along the way which we did.

Poor boy.

Once arriving at the Clinic, he was weighed and we went into one of the exam rooms.

The Vet Assistant came in and took his heart rate and then his temperature.

I knew when I asked about where the thermometer had to be inserted and she said his “bum” that things were not going to be pretty.

He cried so loud and sharp that we both jumped.

My poor, poor little guy.

That would have hurt so bad as his bum was raw.

After that we waited a few minutes for his Doctor.

I went through our last few days and what was going on in our house.

I explained about our trip and the changes to his routine.

She asked me some questions.

At the end of the exam she said he will need some Probiotics to heal his intestines, his insides and Metronidazole to stop the diarrhea and some salve for his raw bum.

Upon receiving instructions we were out front to pay.

I also had her clean his ears as I had not been able to these past few days.

After payment and final run through instructions we were on our way.

Upon returning home I gave him his medication.

Alvin’s Doctor had put some salve on his bum at the clinic.

I am happy to say that since his first medication there has been no diarrhea which is great.

Doctor, our Vet said she would like him to go one whole day with no bowel movement and only peeing.

Which so far so good.

Medication.

Well the Prebiotic is a chewable tablet and there has been no issue with that but the other pill the one that will stop the diarrhea well that has been another story.

I told his Doctor “that he is such a foodie there will be no problem with him taking the pills.”

He proved me wrong.

So I am trying to get creative.

He has now had three of each pill and I hope so hard that later today he has a regular poop.

My life has been way too much about “poop” as of late and I, we are ready for back to normal.

The weather has been great.

I am so grateful for the change in weather.

Sunshine has been such a relief.

I only want to go on our regular walks and then get back to work.

 

I hope that you all are enjoying life.

My life has been stressful the past few days but am hopeful Mr. Alvin is on the mend.

So hard to see my little guy suffering.

Despite his pain he has remained a happy guy.

 

A kind respectful gesture can be life changing.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

P.S.

After I wrote this post earlier today I realized that I had missed out some very important information.

Throughout this stressful time both my daughter and son-in-law played an important role.

They offered up support and advice.

One of the bits of advice was from my son-in-law and that was back on Sunday in the thick of things when I was at my wits end.

He suggested putting Alvin immediately on a “bland diet” which would be cooked chicken breast (with no salt or spices) and white rice (no salt or butter added).

As I did not have any chicken breasts or rice in the house that afternoon; I quickly ran over to the nearby grocery store to pick up these items.

I added to this list some paper towel as it was needed during this time.

Upon returning home I quickly boiled up the chicken breasts and made some white rice, just plain old MINUTE RICE.

After I had everything cooked up I made a batch up for Mr. Alvin consisting of a ratio of 1/3 cup chicken to 2/3 cup of white rice.

I fed him half of the mixture and then two hours later fed him the other half.

I would say this was the beginning of a turning point for Alvin as it was that night that we had a full six hours of sleep.

We both desperately needed this sleep for health and sanity.

Alvin’s Doctor was pleased to hear that we had done this and I would never have thought of this; if had not been for my son-in-law.

I am eternally grateful to him for this bit of advice.

So I forgot to mention this earlier but he is to remain on this diet for up to five days.

Once he begins to have regular bowel movements I can slowly start to introduce his regular food back into his diet.

 

It is about 12:35 p.m. and I am pleased to report that Mr. Alvin has not had any “diarrhea” (oh, how I despise that word) since about 3:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

With luck, medication and prayers, he will be regular soon.

I am excited to get back to normal for both of us.

 

Life is full of ups and downs.

It is all how you view the whole picture that determines how your life will be.

I chose to look at it through light rose coloured glasses, seeing the glass half full and the positive in ALL situations and in ALL people.

Learning at each step of the way.

Until tomorrow……..