Wednesday, September 27, 2006

A visit to the vet And 100 Mile Birds

Lorelei and I took the injured barred owl back this morning. Lorelei demanded to see Lucy, and I was more than happy to oblige.
Lorelei also wanted to see Earl, so I shot this from the doorway. I didn't have my gloves, and was not up to wrestling a old geezer vulture.
I had to do this to Lorelei: We went up to the RAPTOR house, (which needs renters, if anyone is interested) and told her to look up. Her face was priceless. She was startled, but curious at the same time. I'll bet my FIL will have comments from local taxidermists?

The aisle between mews for the program birds.
Top floor of the RAPTOR house.
This house has so much "cool" potential. Three floors, with the top floor like a studio...three bedrooms. All the renters have to do is feed the birds during the week and pay a very reasonable monthly rent.
100 Mile Birds:
The last two injured birds I have picked up, I have racked up 100 miles or more, each, round trip.
Some people would choose not to do that. And that's okay. It's what you care about that matters to you, and birds just happen to be my thing. Some people would drive 100 miles for a sea turtle (my mom, for example), or a croc, or a groundhog...you get the message.
A "100 mile bird" has become a sort of justification system in my head. I care, so I take the time.
So, everyone, what is YOUR "100 mile bird"?

This came in the mail today. Boomer's first mail!

Wendi, who frequents this blog and occasionally leaves very awesome comments, was cooking up a batch of doggie cookies for Chet Baker and asked me if Boomer would like some, too.

What a sweet gal. Thanks, Wendi! The dogs LOVE them. If you give me the recipe, I would like to post it here.


It was time to visit the vet with Boomer. He didn't seem to be gaining much weight after a week of decadence.

I so love this dog. He was as calm at the vet as he is at home.

Stats: No tapeworm, as far as we know.

He now weighs 22 pounds, up from 19 pounds last week. Not bad, but not good enough.

He was dewormed again with a broad spectrum dewormer, given his first heartworm preventative and is to return in 2 weeks for another weight check and vaccines. He is close to the dividing line of dosages in reference to poundage, so we have to wait for his weight.

I swear, I try to get smiley face pictures of this dog. But...this is how he looks a lot of the time. He gets happy and bouncy when we come home, come out of the bathroom, lay on the floor. But get food out and it's Mr. Pitiful Face. I just know he has been beaten and/or neglected. He is "head shy", so we treat his head and face gently as we kiss and chew. I was carrying a stick out of Isabelle's room (from a wall map that fell) and Boomer saw the stick and hit the floor, cowering.

Ever want to clobber someone with a skillet? I wish I knew who threw this boy away.

12 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

Are we supposed to make up our own story???

;-)

(filling in for the SWAMI)

Susan Gets Native said...

sorry...I hit the "enter" key after the title and it published before I could type anything.

NatureWoman said...

Mistreatment of animals makes me so *red* so bad, and it takes a lot to get me burned up. My Mom had a cat who would squint and cower any time she would use a spray bottle, because somebody would spray his eyes when he was a "bad" kitty. Boomer's gaining three pounds in a week is good, isn't it? Boomer mail! Boomer treats! Very cool Wendy!
Cool bird pics!
My "100 mile bird" - I don't know because I love all animals, but probably cats would top the list.

Michelle said...

I just love your pictures of the birds. So up close and personal :)

I personally love Boomer's eyes. They look so full of emotion. Esp the last pic on this entry.

LauraHinNJ said...

I'll bet he is as resiliant as my throw away bunnies. Just give him time to learn love. Before long that will be all he knows.

Anonymous said...

I can see a little bit of twinkle in Boomer's eyes in the pic with his tongue out! It sure does sound like he's had a tough life up to now. I believe that often we just can't make sense of "when bad things happen" but we have to try and make sure good things come out of it. Just look at what you're teaching your girls with Boomer- what he's teaching you all!

What's my 100 mile bird? Hasty Brook. It's 150 miles each way and I've been known to make day trips up there. I just love that place.

Susan Gets Native said...

Laura:
He is being steeped, marinaded, dipped, and basted with love. Someday he will be the dog we know he can be.

Hasty Brook: I just had a feeling you would say that.

Anonymous said...

My "100 mile bird": My orphaned kittens that I bottle fed every few hours for weeks and took along to South Carolina on vacation because they weren't weaned yet. You'll have to see them soon, Susan, before they get too big. "Roswell" and "Hazel" are growing quickly!

Anonymous said...

Boomer has the most insightful eyes...he's beautiful and it breaks my heart and makes my blood boil that someone would mistreat such a sweet little man. I think a 3 pound weight gain in a week is terrific. Just keep feeding him a lot of tender lovin'!

Mary
Boston Terrier lover in NC.

Unknown said...

This may sound silly but having had lots and lots of dogs in my life, I think that the guy on the Dog Whisperer show on National Geographic Channel is really fantastic with dogs. Give lots and lots of love to Boomer -- for sure! -- but make sure that when he does cower and act afraid, you ignore it. Praising him (and falling all over him with love and cuddles is praise! :) when he's afraid will encourage him to act that way. So, praise and love on the good stuff and ignore the fear behavior and he's going to get better and soon! What a cutie-face. And, the sad face look -- well, many of my labs who were never neglected or beaten would put on the full act when food came out -- we call it the shaking paw syndrome. My sister-in-law had a beagle who would sit outside shivering, lifting one paw and begging to come in out of the cold -- it was in Houston, Texas in the summer. Sometimes they just do what they learn will work! :)

Kiss those jowls for me! :)

Anonymous said...

Yay! Glad the dogs liked the cookies and bad cess to anyone who could hurt any animal. -llm is totally right, I was just at my special training session yesterday with our assistance-dog-in-training, and our expert dog trainer said "Fear should never be rewarded." I was asking what to do when the puppy cowered from loud noises (trains, specifically). Don't tell him "oh, it's okay!" when he's being fearful or the behavior will get reinforced, was the answer. One of these days he'll realize that the Bad Things just don't happen at your house and you'll get the full-on Boston grins. Here's the cookie recipe:
1 1/4 cups finely grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup chicken or beef broth
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup regular flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup dry milk powder
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix together all ingredients in large bowl ( I use my hands); squish and knead until well-blended. Kids like to help with this. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and roll out slightly. Cut with cookie cutters ( I've got teeny ones in bone, heart, cat, and bunny shapes). Place on greased cookie sheet and bake 24-26 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Cool on wire racks and store in airtight container in a cool place.
:) Wendi

The Swami said...

Wendi's recipe sounds very good. I might fix myself some for dinner (hey,...you try living on a diet of goat meat and yak milk!)