Latest

• So the Dandy Girl does NOT have a tethered spinal cord.  She has one vertebra that did not completely form.  This is called spina bifida occluda, and does not in itself cause any problems.  Whew.
• Our big dog Rex had a big lump removed and has a bunch of staples closing the incision.  This means he has to wear one of those big collars.  Why anyone ever decided to call them "Elizabethan Collars," I don't know.  I think the more recent "Cone of Shame" is far more descriptive, based on how dogs act when they have to wear them.
• Anyway, a cone of shame suitable for a Great Dane has an opening with a diameter of at least 18 inches.  Consider the problem of doorways and narrow passages. Clearance is very slim.  Poor Rex has been getting stuck for a couple of weeks now.
• Consider also the problem of stairs. Rex's cone of shame is big enough that it rams into the risers. This causes his whole body to jam backward and he falls. He can get up, because he did figure out a pattern of taking a step and then lifting his head for clearance. Mostly, though, he whines at the bottom of the stairs.  It would be pitiful if it wasn't so frustrating.
• There is one advantage that he has discovered- it works as a kind of snow plow.  Rex has been shoving us around insistently, towards his food, towards his leash... It would be kind of funny if it wasn't so annoying.