Caution! Wet Spots Ahead.

Yep.  You guessed it.  The incontinence is back and it's back with a vengeance.  I was getting a little nervous that there might actually be something serious wrong with her until I found some of her medicine "hidden" around the house.  Now I have to watch her eat it to be sure she isn't stashing it around the house.

Sigh.

A Pintrest kind of day(s)

Since Matilda has Addison's Disease and incontinence, she takes medicine twice a day, every day.  She picks around the pills if I put them in her food, but she takes it willingly if I put it in a snack.  I had been giving her the pill pockets made my Greenies, but they are $9.00 per bag and she goes through a bag in less than a month.  Once I decided to look for a cheaper alternative, I started putting them in cheese.  She loved that, but I think the cheese was starting to give her stomach some issues.  By chance, I came across this recipe on Pintrest.

I was having a lazy afternoon, so I decided to try it.  I didn't have crunchy peanut butter, so I used the regular peanut butter I had on hand.  Mine didn't come out as pretty as the picture, but it was the exactly right consistency to neatly hid a pill.  Matilda was hesitant at first, but she ate it and now she looks forward to getting her medicinal treat.

For the past couple of days, I've been finding little bugs on Tildy.  I've decided that they are fleas and I'm not happy about it.  This is the second year in a row that Frontline Plus has failed me in the month of August.  It might be time to reassess.  Since it is too soon to do another application of Frontline, I again turned to Pintrest for help.  There, I found this DIY flea shampoo.

While I didn't see bugs floating in the water when I was done, as the recipe said that I would, I also didn't find any bugs on Tildy when I was done.  The flea dirt was gone too.

Pintrest to the rescue once again.

Both of these ideas came from a list called 38 Unexpectedly Brilliant Tips For Dog. Owners.

Devil Dog

Don't let this sweet face fool you.  Matilda has an anger management issue.

I've always known that she has separation anxiety.  To try to make her look forward to me leaving the house, I started giving her a special treat before I leave.  She now gets excited when it's time for me to go, so I thought the snack really did the trick.

I think the snacks were just a temporary fix because a few weeks ago, I came home to this.

She wanted me to think she was ashamed, but she really wasn't.

After this, I started putting the bedroom trashcan on top of my dresser when I leave for work.  Problem solved, I thought.  (Yeah, right.)

Today, while I was at work, I though about Tildy and envisioned her like this.

The reality was probably more like this.  (Cue the "Psycho" music.)

When I got home, I found two pair of my underwear in the middle of the bedroom floor.  Matilda had rummaged through the load of laundry that I had left in the hall floor and forgot to put in the washer before I left the house.  Apparently, my departure turned Tildy into a demon dog.  She ripped one pair of underwear to shreads.  The other pair was ripped in a few places.  I can only assume that she ate the crotch from both pair because there were no random scraps of cotton anywhere to be found.  I would share the pictures, but I feel funny about having pictures of my underwear floating around the internet.

I have no idea how to deal with this problem, but I won't ever leave laundry in the floor again. That's for sure.

New Shoes

                              

I bought these shoes in 2010 for the Lupus Walk in Washington, D.C..  Since then, I've used them almost solely to walk Matilda.  We walk twice a day for a total of about two miles.  By my estimation, these shoes have almost 3,000 miles on them.  I love these shoes even though the sole is separating from the toe and flopping on the back of one of the heels.  The only reason I have decided to retire them is that I stepped in a pile of poop and I can't seem to get rid of the smell.  I feel bad about throwing them away, especially when I see a homeless person walk down the street.

                           

These are my new shoes.  I bought them for this year's lupus walk.  They aren't as comfortable as my old shoes, but I'm hoping they will be after a few more miles.

Groundhogs Day

                                

This afternoon, I got home at the same time as I always do.  I went straight up the steps to greet Tildy, like I always do.  I changed out of my work clothes, into my walk-the-dog clothes, like I always do.  As I was walking down the steps, I realized that I was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants for the third afternoon in a row.  I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to the fact that I was stuck in a rut except for the fact that I saw a good looking guy during our afternoon walk yesterday and I caught him checking me out as he drove toward the hospital.  If he was on his way to work, I would hate to run into him again wearing the exact same thing.  But by the time I had thought it through, I was already at the back door and Matilda was barking incessantly, so I threw on a different baseball hat than I wore yesterday, and kept it moving.  As it turned out, I didn't run into that guy, but it did make me think I need to step up my walk-the-dog outfits because you never know who you might meet while walking your dog down the street.

Age Spots

Last night during belly rub time, I noticed that Matilda's belly has a lot more age spots on her belly than she used to. 

She had two large spots that I'd noticed before that were easily identifiable. But now it seems like they've multiplied exponentially overnight.  

My girl is getting old.  Sigh...

JINX! Buy Me Some Laundry Detergent.

Yesterday, I was reading over last year's blog posts and realized that I left y'all hanging on the incontinence saga.  I chuckled to myself at the difficulties I had last year and was happy that it was all in the past.

Then this happened last night.

Soaked clear down to the sheet.  To her credit, she did ask me to go around 3:00a.m., but it took me awhile to realize what was going on and to wake up enough to get down the steps and outside.  Once we got there, she was more interested in the smells of the night than actually handling her business.  It took her 15 minutes to find an acceptable spot to pee.  Talk about frustrating!  Then three hours later, at 6:00 this morning, she was begging to go outside again.  As I was rolling out of bed for the second time of the morning, I discovered yet another wet spot.

This is the first accident we've had in awhile.  The last series of accidents occurred when a new boyfriend was spending a lot of time here.  Once he was gone, she stopped having accidents.  Not sure what's causing the problem this time, but I'm thinking I might've jinxed myself by laughing at my prior posts on this problem.  Here's to hoping this was an isolated incident.

Please Don't Interrupt My Zen

Last week, Matilda and I encountered an unleashed Rottweiler roaming the neighborhood by himself and leaving his business all over the place.  The dog lives down the street from us and I used to see his owners walk him in the evening.  When I stopped seeing them, I thought that maybe they moved or something happened to the dog.  Nope.  They just let him out to handle his business.  Since their yard isn't fenced, he just roams freely.

This irritates me to the Nth degree.

First of all, this is a total disregard for the safety of the dog and those that the dog might encounter.  A dog around the corner from us got hit by a car six weeks ago.  He jumped the fence and ran out into the street and got hit.  The driver kept going.  The dog now has problems with his back legs and hips and may need surgery.  This Rottweiller could've gotten hurt or killed.  He could've been the cause of a serious car accident.

What if the dog had come across someone and felt threatened?  He could've bitten someone.

I've been able to avoid the dog when I've seen him, but if Matilda had seen him, I would've had a real situation on my hands. Tildy doesn't really like other dogs.  She doesn't care how much bigger they are, she'll growl, show her teeth, and get ready for a brawl.  And Lord help the dog that looks like he's out to get me!  The last time that happened, she bit the nose of a pit bull puppy.

Secondly, it is completely disrespectful, in my opinion, to just let your dog poop wherever he feels like it and not be there to pick it up. I've stepped in enough piles of poop to feel quite strongly about it.  I hate it when I see folks at the park letting their dogs poop in the same places where kids run barefoot. It's just wrong.

I think what irritated me the most in the moment that I spotted the dog, was that it interrupted the zen-like flow of my morning walk with Tildy.  That's normally the time of day that I take in the wonders of nature and have my private little talk with God.  It's also the time that good ideas tend to pop into my head.  Seeing the dog immediately made me defensive and scared. That's a horrible way to start the day.

I'll end my rant here.  I hope we never encounter this dog again, but I'm pretty sure we will.

Where My Two Worlds Collide

There are two things in life (outside of work) that I devote a lot of energy - making quilts and loving Tildy.  Awhile ago, I decided to combine my two passions and I made a quilted dog bed for Tildy.

I love it, but she barely uses it.  I then decided to make a pillow cover for the couch pillow she has claimed as her own.

A couple of weeks ago, I threw the couch pillow cover in the washer.  It didn't hold up so well.

One of the seams began to come apart.  I think next time I need to use a bigger seam allowance.

I couldn't bare to part with it because I love this fabric so much, so it is now serving as a mat under Tildy's water bowl in my bedroom.

Works for me!

The Saga Continues

Last Friday, I dropped off Tildy at the kennel for a weekend stay.  I updated Kay, the owner of the kennel, about Tildy's frequent accidents.  She told me that her little dog went through the same thing and it turned out to be renal failure.  Sufficiently scared out of my mind, I called the vet and got an appointment for first thing Monday morning.

When I picked up Tildy on Sunday, Kay told me that they hadn't noticed anything like the bladder emptying episodes that I had described.  Hmmm....

Sunday night, I was not awakened by a wet spot or a request to go outside.  Something in my gut told me to cancel the appointment, but I ignored that feeling and we went to the vet anyway.

Monday night, no accidents and no requests to go outside. 

The vet called with the lab results on Tuesday evening.  A series of tests and $300 later, I'm told that there is nothing wrong with her.  The vet increased her dosage of Proin and told me to keep watch on her.

Tuesday night, no accidents and no requests to go outside.

Last night, the day after receiving the news from the vet, she had an accident and didn't request to go outside.

I'm thoroughly exhausted, frustrated, and confused.

Pee pads and diapers aren't working for us.

I named this blog "The Tildy Spot" for a number of reasons.  First, I thought of it as the spot that you could find out about Tildy...kinda like "the jazz spot around the corner" or "the burger joint down the street".  I also found myself saying it a lot when I first got her, especially when we were outside.  "C'mon, Tildy.  Find your spot so we can go home."  She also has spots in the house that she's identified as hers and of course I refer to them as the Tildy spots.

Over the past few weeks, she's been leaving spots on the couch and the bed; large urine stained spots.

I tried putting training pads all over the place, but inevitably, she would either move them before she laid down or she would find the one place that wasn't covered with a pad.

Yesterday, I broke down and bought doggie diapers.

Getting her in one was somewhat of a challenge.  She didn't appreciate me putting her tail through the hole.  She didn't like the way they sounded.  She didn't like the way they constricted her movement.  Here she is after I finally got one on her.  She was not happy with me.

Once we got upstairs for the evening, I had a sense of relief.  I really thought I'd be able to sleep through the night without encountering a puddle and maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't wake me up at zero dark thirty to take her outside.

Those diapers gave me a false sense of security.

Around 2:00 this morning, I caught a whiff of urine and rolled over to find a huge wet spot on my favorite quilt.  I turned my head to find Matilda pawing at me, which is her way of asking to go outside.  As I got up to get dressed, I found a dry, completely intact diaper at the foot of the bed.  She must be some sort of Houdini.

Pee pads and diapers aren't working for us.

We're Joining Facebook!

I post sporadic updates about Matilda on my personal Facebook page a lot.  So much so that I'm sure some of my friends are sick of hearing about my dog.  So today I am announcing The Tildy Spot's Facebook page.  I'm excited to have a place to talk about Matilda when I just don't have enough to write a whole blog post.  So join me and Tildy on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thetildyspot.  Hope to see you there!

My Partner

Matilda and I are a lot a like. 

She likes to sleep in and so do I.

She does not tolerate the sun and heat very well.  Neither do I.

We both have chronic diseases.  She has Addison's Disease.  I have lupus.

She loves sweet potato pie.  So do I.

She loves to lounge on the couch and watch television or stare out of the window.  So do I.

She's my partner and I love her dearly.  I'm glad we found each other.

"This is so you won't pee on me. One, two, three!"

Matilda is getting old.  The best estimates have her between 77 and 84 dog years old. (That's between 11 and 12 people years.)  In the past couple of years, we have started to battle incontinence.  It started with little dribble drops on the sofa while watching television.  Then we started have minor "oops" moments while settling in for the evening.  That's when the vet prescribed Proin drops to help her with bladder control.  At first it was a struggle getting her to take the drops.  Eventually we got into a good habit of taking the drops after going for a walk.  But the only way she would open her mouth for the drops is if I sing-songingly said, "This is so you won't pee on me.  One, two, three!"

Every now and again, I would go stretches without giving her the medicine and she would do well without it.  But then the dribbles would start again, so we would start back up with, "This is so you won't pee on me.  One, two, three!".

When the pharmaceutical company stopped manufacturing the drops we had a slight problem.  Matilda refused to take the tablets for quite awhile.  Once I figured out that she would eat anything that was covered in peanut butter, we were back on track.

We recently went through a very long successful stretch without the medicine, but incontinence came back with a vengeance.  This time, there were no dribbles or "oops".  This time, she emptied her bladder three times in one night, while she was sleeping...on my bed.  What's worse is that right before going to bed that night, I had decided to change my sheets.  After the third accident, I was praying that there would be no more because I had no more clean sheets.  During that same night, she woke me up three separate times and asked to go outside.  Two of the three times, she squatted for almost a minute.  The third time, we smelled the presence of a skunk, so she decided that she wouldn't handle her business at that time...which was 4:30 a.m.  But at 5:50 a.m., five minutes before my alarm clock sounded, I rolled over to find a guilty face staring back at me.  Yes, another wet spot in the bed.

We're back to medicinal peanut butter treats, but we're still having small incidents.

Matilda is getting old.  Sigh...

Dog Teeth are Worth a Vacation?!

I have had Matilda's teeth cleaned three times in the past 6 years that I've had her.  When I first adopted her, she had the worst doggie breath you've every smelled and her teeth were green.  Two years later, during her cleaning the vet discovered a few problems and had to surgically extract four teeth.  This latest cleaning turned my vacation into a stay-cation.

I had been putting off setting an appointment for this cleaning because I knew it was going to be a huge financial hit, but after noticing her favoring one side of her mouth more than the other when she crunched on a Milk-Bone, I decided I couldn't put it off any longer.  I dropped her off that morning and headed to court.  After leaving court, I noticed that I had missed back-to-back phone calls from the vet.  I knew that meant trouble.  When I returned the call, I learned that Matilda needed SIX teeth removed.  My stomach dropped.  I felt like a horrible dog mom for putting off the cleaning for so long and I felt sick because I had no idea how I would pay for this bill.  The vet was still talking, explaining what she saw and what she did, but all I heard was "Blah, blah, blah, guilt.  Blah, blah, blah, bad mom.  Blah, blah, blah, way more than you can afford.".  Thankfully, she summarized her actual words in a document for me.
"Matilda had moderate tartar and periodontal disease.  There were multiple loose teeth which were elevated and the gum sutured closed.  Tooth 207 had a cavity and distal root resorption and was surgically extracted." 

This cleaning/extraction didn't cost as much as the last time, but it definitely cost me my vacation that was scheduled for the following week.

Loss and Tumbleweeds

Matilda sheds. And not just a little bit. Her wiry fur is all over the place! In the car. On the sofa. In the bathroom. On my bed. In my bed. On my clothes (and I like to wear black). In my hair! It's really quite irritating, especially for a person who named shedding as the number one reason never to get a dog.

Everyday she has to mark the couch and my bed with her scent by rolling around on it like she's lost her mind. She lays on her side and scootches around in a circle, then flips on her other side and scootches around in the opposite direction. Then she stands on all fours, does the shimmy-shake, and then lays down. It's as if some crazy doggie spirit has possessed her because this craziness is not a part of her normal Tildy charm. It's absolute insanity for about 30 seconds. Everyday. Twice a day.

Between her fur and my hair that falls out whenever a comb or hairdryer gets anywhere close to my head, there are always fur/hair balls all over the house. They're like little tumbleweeds. Somehow, as much as I hate having fur all over the place, I've grown accoustomed to it, because she's my girl. And I love her so much.

Paparazzi, no pictures, please.

Matilda and I take almost the same path on our walks everyday. The park that we go to is right next door to the local hospital. During our early morning walks, we get passed by hospital personnel on their way to work.

Same people. Every day. For almost three years.

There have been a few that have stopped to talk to us. There was one nurse that rolled down her window in the rain to tell me how much she enjoys seeing Matilda every morning. Another met us in the parking lot to tell me how much Matilda reminded her of her late dog and that she looks forward to seeing Matilda because it brings back such great memories.

The woman that drives the bus that comes through the area has stopped to tease Matilda on a few mornings. (Matilda likes to bark and run after buses and large, loud trucks.) The only conversation directed at me was "What's the dog's name?". After that, whenever she stops, it's all about Matilda. "Whatchu gonna do now, Matilda? You've caught the bus. Whatchu gonna do now? Hahaha. See you later, Matilda! Bye!"

All of the hospital folks that pass us in the morning wave at Matilda, and THEN look to me and wave. Some folks that we've never even met have learned her name through the grapevine and will roll down their windows to speak to my dog. Matilda has become somewhat of a neighborhood celebrity.

No one knows my name. I'm just the lady that walks Matilda twice a day.

Quote of the Day

I had to take Tildy out early tonight because I have dinner plans. As we were cutting through the hospital parking lot, I observed a child exchange - you know, parents that don't get along or don't want the other anywhere near their house or new "friend" meet in a public place to exchange the children for the weekend. This woman was dropping off her two children to a man driving a refridgerated truck. The baby was handed off in her car seat. He just put it on the seat. Didn't bother to strap it down. The mom got two bags out of the car at the same time as she was escorting the second child that appeared to be about four years old. As she was passing off the bags, the man said, "You don't need all this shit for a baby!". All I could do was shake my head.

Intuition

My walks with Matilda take us by the Dorchester General Hospital. I've heard that they have a busy mental health ward. Our path takes us through the lit parking lot and into the park that abuts it. During the early morning and late evening hours, it is not uncommon to encounter someone who has been or should be a patient.

This morning, as we were walking, I saw a car parked near our normal path. The passenger door was open and I found that to be quite odd. I decided that we would take a right and walk towards the playground area of the park instead of left toward the open field. Matilda must have sensed my change of plan because instead of leading me left, as she does every morning, she pulled me right.

As we started for home, I heard a man screaming, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I figured he was off of his meds and I decided to just keep it moving. But then I saw this dark blur coming towards us. And then there was a bark. Matilda went crazy. The dog ran towards us like we were a gang of cats or a wagon full of steaks. Matilda lunged toward the dog and started with her "I mean business" street fighter bark. The dog got to us so quickly and Matilda was jumping around so much that I couldn't pick her up. I just kept turning in circles and yelling "No!". Thankfully, the dog's owner was able to get the dog's attention through his indiscernible screams, and neither of the dogs were injured.

Something told me we shouldn't have walked near that car. If we had, that dog might've gotten to Matilda much faster and somebody might have gotten hurt.

Intuition is a powerful thing. Listen to it. It will never steer you wrong.

Post script on The Street Fighter

A friend of mine read yesterday's post and emailed me the following comment:

"When I woke up that morning at your house and found Matilda sitting on my chest staring at me, I knew she didn't play around, and this just confirms it!"

WHAT?!

First of all, she never told me about that event. Second of all, what kind of dog do I have?! That's a little scary - especially to a person like my friend, who thinks that a dog will kill you in your sleep.

When I asked her why she never told me about this, she responded with:

"I can't believe I didn't tell you this! I'm thinking that I tried to black it out, since Matilda was probably all, 'and you'd better not tell her what happened!' I am so serious dude...your dog DOES NOT PLAY, and I know I have to sleep with one eye open or else I might get it."

Now I have an image of Matilda that involves a motorcycle, leather pants, red bandana, a tattoo of "Bad to the Bone" on her back, and a northern Jersey accent.