June 3, 2015

  • Looking Damp

    Ranger has been sliding downhill for over a year. When we got back from vacation I realized how bad he has gotten. Sparky is still in denial. On Thursday night, Ranger was having a rough time. We have to leash him at night so that he won't wander and fall down the stairs. He is on a retractable leash that must be a good 40 feet long. Of course since it is so long we adjust it so that he can move around freely in the computer room, the hall and the bathroom. All the other doors are closed, including our bedroom door. We used to let him come into the bedroom where he would settle next to the bed on Sparky's side and sleep all night. In the last year he has taken to night time pacing. He will pace around the bed and down the hall and back ALL NIGHT LONG! So that we could sleep, the bedroom was taken off the list of options for his nocturnal wanderings. He had intermittently done a goofy thing where he would run into doors, butting them with his head. We attributed it to his fading vision. Thursday he was head butting the bedroom door constantly. It got so bad that I got up and shortened his leash a bit so that he couldn't reach the bedroom door. That stopped him banging on the door but he was standing just outside the door panting heavily. Eventually he went to sleep (about 3:30 AM). Sparky got up at 5:00 Friday morning and in an attempt to let me sleep another hour and not wake up Ranger, he tiptoed into the hall bathroom and closed the door. It worked for me but not for Ranger. When I got up, Ranger was panting and drooling at the bathroom door. It appeared he had been panting for awhile as the carpet looked damp with some dark drool spots. I mentioned to Sparky before I left for work that he needed to dry the carpet where Ranger had drooled. Friday night the carpet was still wet. (frowning face) Saturday morning I asked Sparky if he had checked the bathroom toilet to make sure it wasn't leaking since it looked like the carpet was still damp and was actually looking wetter! He nodded and said it was fine. I was skeptical. I went barefoot into the bathroom and using my amazing big toe, determined that here was standing water behind the toilet. Grabbing a towel I started sopping up the water. Then I started squawking. Sparky came running (I don't make that noise unless there is something wrong or there is an unusually large spider in my vicinity). Soon there were towels blotting the carpet and tile, cups bailing the tank, and the floor fan blowing on the wet carpet. This is not the first time this has happened with this toilet. I think there is a crack in the tank from numerous plumbing repairs. It may be time for a new toilet... This will make 3 toilet issues within 4 days. If I have to replace the toilet I'm thinking of getting one of those tankless models or maybe a dual flush model.

    To go with the above theme I give you my entry for the Stressed-out Scavenger Hunt using the prompt for today - stronger every day. (An acrostic poem for those who may not get it... vacation memories! hehe!)

    First you detect
    A faint transient hint
    Remembering yesterday’s meal
    Then a more persistent aroma
    Insidious and pervasive
    Nauseating and it builds
    Causing the eyes to tear
    And the nose to burn
    Realizing it grows stronger every day
    “Sparky!” – you place blame

Comments (14)

  • It sounds like Ranger just wants to be able to be near you and Sparky, perhaps to check on you, perhaps for his own comfort. I am sorry for his poor health and the problems (lack of sleep and drool issues)this is causing. This reminds me of old people who want to die in their own homes, not a hospital or nursing home. Maybe Ranger feels his age is getting up there and is confused why he cannot go to his usual sleep spot, but due to pain, or age, he just cannot sleep the night through, hence the pacing.

    Best of luck with the toilet issue. It's good your big toe realized it's something that has to be dealt with before it got even worse and you had a complete flood and astronomical water bill.

    • The toilet is temporarily fixed. I'm not saying it is completely fixed until it has had a bit of use to see if the fixing Sparky did will hold... As for Ranger - his regular spot to sleep is in the computer room but we would let him have run of the house. Now for his own safety we can't so that.

  • Poor Ranger.
    Your poem almost made me think I was getting stomach flu. Ugh!
    Sounds to me like a new toilet is in order. I wonder if Mcbery's husband travels to your town?

  • Goodness! I remember when the only problem we men created, with regard to toilets, was leaving the seat up, in a two-gender household. Had my brothers and I done so, we'd have felt the hairbrush!

    • Hehe! My mother broke a hairbrush over my sister's behind once! But is had nothing to do with the toilet seat!! I think that Y chromosome influences a lot of things including the production of natural gas!

  • Poor Ranger was trying to tell you the carpet was wet. Good boy, Ranger!

  • LOL poor Sparky :)

  • The head butting thing sounds like my old dog, Daisy. I'd come home and find her facing the corner and panting. Sometimes she would whine. Eventually, we learned she was having seizures that would leave her enervated for days. Sometimes we have to give them that final kindness no matter how much it hurts us.

    • Unfortunately it isn't my call - Ranger is mostly Sparky's dog and he isn't ready to let go. The heart problem is getting worse as is the muscle weakness. Last night Sparky let Ranger sleep downstairs instead of making him climb the stairs.

  • It put me in mind of a very cute west highland terrier I had, and some of the things she used to do. She was very smart, and now passed. I look back and smile at things I did not understand... and wonder if she had problems I misunderstood.

    • Westies are nice little dogs - prone to allergies but with big personalities. We all have favorite pets that we remember with a special fondness...

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment