Week Wrap-up on Thursday

Because that's the kind of week it has been.  A long week with beautiful weather and I'm pretty much inside with my eldest dog because he's recuperating from surgery. 

This is Eugene 

Notice the HUGE swath of missing hair on his neck and his ode to Michael Jackson glove on his right leg. 

Eugene has laryngeal paralysis, which I've mentioned in former posts, I think...anyway, long story short, (which means of course that's not going to be the case) Eugene scared us to death because we thought HE was approaching death a few weekends back. 

After more walks than usual while on vacation at the ocean in early August, he overheated and could not breathe.  Poor guy (poor us! we panicked a little and the conversation between my hubster and I was not exactly in muted tones) was trying to open his mouth as wide as possible, his tongue hanging out and his chest heaving and roaring as the air tried to enter past his paralyzed larynx.  The nearest emergency vet was 80 miles away, which when you can't breathe may as well be another continent.  We put a fan in his face, I put an ice pack on his head and his paws, the overhead fan was on high, the ac turned low and we prayed he'd cool down enough to calm down.  I don't know why, but heat makes this problem worse.  

Here's a link to Wikipedia to explain what this is all about:   laryngeal paralysis

We'd been discussing for months the idea of surgery and I admit I was the one against it.  This convinced me either he has it or next time he might die.  What was to lose in that case?  We had a consult when we got home and he had surgery the next day, less than a week after the episode.  

Glad to say he's doing really well.  Bonus: He has a magnificent scar he can show off on his next beach trip.  At 13 he's still quite the manly he-dog. 

Mid-Summer Madness

and so it goes

When you leave your little angel out of his crate and unattended for two hours.