Novel Eye

My pets are old--one ancient and one a senior citizen. Mephisto (cat, 20 yrs. old) had a stroke and is blind and deaf. The other senses are fine--he can smell us when we come in and will scream to signal. He can feel and purrs loudly when we hold him in our laps--which he always wants to do as it is his only sensation. The stroke though has left him wandering in circles and he bumps into things, so he is not feeling space the way that he should as a cat. Guinness (dog, 13 yrs. old) is deaf in both ears. The ear canal has been removed from one, and the other is so blocked that it too will require removal. He does not wake when we call to him (he never came) but we use hand signals which seem to actually work better, but you must touch him first to get his attention. We have to be careful to touch him gently if coming up on him as he startles. We have always suspected that his vision and smell were not what they should be, as he would often jump upon encountering things outside, b...

When after 11 years, Mephisto let Guinness put his head on Mephisto's butt to sleep. They've slept next to each other over the years, but never quite this. I love how they almost form a yin-yang. I came downstairs and they were on the couch. Guinness was awake and raised his eyes to me as I reached for the camera in a way that seemed to say, "Don't ruin this for me." In the end, it was Guinness who moved away first.

Happy Birthday, Guinness!

Gave the dog a haircut: Guinness before Guinness after

Guinness went for his ultrasound today. This became a much bigger process than it should have been for several reasons. One, there are only two animal hospitals in Boston and the more convenient one to us only had weekday slots. We also couldn't just bring him in for an ultrasound, he had to be examined and then the Vet would decide if he really needed one, or something else. The other is located in the heart of south Boston neighborhoods--areas we are not familiar with, where I had gotten lost only Thursday, and where certain areas are...less savory. We'd been there before, but late at night with no traffic. So we went down taking a long a roundabout way (I don't want to sound like a travelogue, but for those in Boston, Storrow to Kenmore, to Longwood , to Huntington St., to JP), but had given ourselves plenty of time. Guinness doesn't deal well with other larger dogs, so I walked him around the little park while husband waited. Vet was very nice, very thorough. Coul...

Post haircut.