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… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

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“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

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Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

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They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Lily Chemo Update

Lily Chemo Update

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Here’s a nice picture of a freshly bathed Lily on the way to the doctor for her checkup (man, three weeks went by fast):

As you can see, she is shedding like crazy after her bath because I didn’t have time to brush her out after her bath. “Why were you in such a rush, you ask?”

That’s because despite having a bath yesterday in preparation for her appointment today, Lily took it upon herself to roll in goose/rabbit/whoknows shit and smear it from head to toe. I had just gotten out of the shower and was drying off, and smelled something, looked down, and it was your royal highness covered in shit. I stopped drying, gave her a bath, dried her off, put her in my bedroom and shut the door, and got back IN the shower.

At any rate, she was a perfect angel on the ride up, although she did shed all over the car which had just been vacuumed and had all leather treated on Saturday, so it’s now a mess and smells of moist dog. When I took her in to the vet, the nurses and receptionist doted on her and used a lint brush on her and then brushed her out. She is their favorite.

As to the medical news, the doctor said she is a “rock star” (I have it in writing) and she is now no longer on prednisone, still taking plavix until the next visit, all her numbers are amazing, and we go back in three weeks.

Speaking of Lily, we are headed to the beach in the middle of September. I had such a good time last year with ABC and it has been such a shit year that at some point in July I said fuck it I am going again this year. I’m going to the Outer Banks for a week because I won’t die from the heat, that is a good time for me, and IT IS CHEAP AS HELL compared to the regular season (like 1/3 of what it costs during the peak). I still can’t afford it, but I don’t give a shit. My friend Melanie from undergrad who has had a horrible year with personal bullshit is coming for a few days, and Tammy is coming for a few days with Sam and then her husband is going to meet us for a long weekend. It should be fun. I’m excited. Here I am working on my beach body:

Back to Lily- Do I need to worry about sand fleas? I asked the doctor today and he said they are more like crustaceans than typical fleas. Is this an issue? Do any of you from the area know more about this?

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  2. 2.

    the wesson

    Sand fleas are little crustaceans that swim around like shrimp, but with hard shells.

    They will bite exposed flesh, some of them.

    They will not live on your dog.

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    Here’s a nice picture of a freshly bathed Lily on the way to the doctor for his checkup

    HIS checkup? Take a deep breath and relax, John Cole. Understandable that your love and concern makes you a little sloppy.

    Thanks for keeping us posted.

  9. 9.

    japa21

    @Brachiator: I am going to cut Cole some slack and believe he meant the vet’s checkup of Lily. Though IIRC, the vet is also of the feminine persuasion.

  11. 11.

    MobiusKlein

    My happy pet story:
    One of my cats pried open the downstairs sliding door last Thursday. He came back in, but our other cat did not. She likes to wander, so we never let her out late.
    So she managed scare us all, stay out for four nights. Chipped, but did not show up anywhere. And even in San Francisco, there are hungry coyotes.

    After giving up all hope, and having our good cat mope around the house looking for her, he goes out, finds her, and meows at the back door to be let in.
    YAYAYA

  12. 12.

    Spanky

    Outer Banks in Sept/Oct are awesome. Mucho laid back, which sounds like what everybody needs. Hell, I need it, and the Mrs is just about fried from work. Absolutely burned out.

    Maybe I should look at a house in Avon again. Haven’t gone since Poopyman was a 4 month old kitten, and that was back in … 2002?!?!?

  17. 17.

    Barbar

    I love OBX in the fall. It’s the best time, most things still open but many fewer people. Just cross your fingers over hurricanes. My sister had to evacuate 3 years in a row, but Lily will be your good luck charm, as she has been all along.

  18. 18.

    BruceFromOhio

    Is that Dan Blocker with the beach body builder?

    Awesome news about Lily.

    The beach off-season is highly recommended, I hope you all enjoy the hell out of it.

  20. 20.

    Mary G

    No bow from the cute nurse today?

    Remembering that awful night you spent anticipating letting her go the next day should make you tolerant of the goose shit episode. She probably thinks of it as perfume, anyway, and was just trying to fix your mistake of washing off the good smells.

    You do take amazing care of your animals. I had no idea that Lily could be fuzzy before today.

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    Lily is the bestest even if she rolls in shit. So glad she’s doing so well. You go, Lily! Can we see a picture of her newest bow?

  24. 24.

    Pogonip

    Glad she’s doing so well.

    We redecorated our betta’s tank, new gravel, new plants, good cleaning. The minute he got home, he pooped on top of his Easter Island head.. We’re not sure if he was saying “I gotta go” or “I don’t like the new crib” or if he has merely been comparing notes with Cole’s menagerie and is trying to catch up with them.

    Pet mavens, I have a question. A while back Animal Planet claimed Oriental Shorthair cats do well with autistic people. It turns out Oriental Shorthairs are scarce, are expensive, and are nothing more than a Siamese with regular cat coloring—a Siamese with a suppressed Siamese-ing gene, if you will. This being the case, might a regular Siamese be just as good for an autistic person? Also, do “traditional” Siamese have the same problems as show Siamese, wool eating and general nuttiness? I haven’t had a Siamese in years so don’t know.

  25. 25.

    RoonieRoo

    I can’t tell you anythikng about sand fleas but I’m just beyond happy about the good medical news.

  28. 28.

    The Pale Scot

    Hate to be a downer, but the middle of September is still gonna be hot, and keep the thought of hurricanes in the back of your mind. If it’s the third week you should good. last yr in FL we got hit 09/09

  29. 29.

    CarolPW

    @Pogonip: We had a papered seal-point Siamese but not a “show” Siamese. And, yes, she ate knitted woolens when she was young. She was an extraordinary cat, lived to 20, came to us declawed (not our idea), lost one of her eyes (somebody apparently heaved a rock at her) but she could still manage to catch mice. Could leap from the floor to the top of an open door, looking like Snoopy doing his vulture thing on the dog house roof and would scare the shit out of me. Would occasionally leap on my significant other’s shoulder while he was peeing, which didn’t help his aim. Have no idea if any of that would be helpful for someone who was autistic but she was a real character.

  32. 32.

    Gelfling 545

    @MobiusKlein: Glad she’s home safe. My 18 year old fella decided last evening to dart out the door. He used to live partially outdoors but gave that up a few years ago due to advanced age, I guess. Anyway he stayed out all night. This morning about 6 I looked out the window & there he was by the pond, staring at the fish. I went down to let him in & he came in yowling at me as if it were my fault he was out all night.

  38. 38.

    Jay

    @Pogonip:

    There’s a ton of resources on the web covering “pets for autistic children”. Individual personality of the pet, along with training of both the pet and child, are more important than breed.

    Were it me, I’d read up a bunch, go down to a shelter, talk to staff about the behaviors I was looking for, then spend time individually with the recommended cats, make a short list, then come back with child.

  39. 39.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    How many more chemo treatments does Lily have to do, John? It seems to me she’s been doing this for a while now. They’re spread out, I suppose, and maybe that’s easier on her. She’s a sweetie.

  40. 40.

    jl

    Tanks for pet pic and Cole beach body pix. Very nice.

    For some reason I at first read ‘bathed’ as ‘battered’ and wondered if the goose crap incident had sent things so far downhill that Cole was going to eat the dog for dinner. Thankfully, my eyes playing tricks on me.

    I have had experience with dogs. There is always a reasonable chance they will roll in nasty stuff. Not sure why Cole was so shocked.

  41. 41.

    Shana

    @Gelfling 545: My cat does that too. Like “why weren’t you up at 2am when I decided to come in for the night?”

    This is the same cat that disappeared for about 5 days several years ago. Called for her, walked the neighborhood, checked the animal shelter, checked the vet, no sign of her. On top of that, we were leaving for a 2 week vacation on day 5. I put up signs in the neighborhood telling people if they found her after date X to take her to the local vet for boarding, which I’d notified the vet about. So day 5 rolls around, huge thunderstorms in the morning caused air travel backups so we couldn’t get out for our vacation. Returned home to wait for rescheduled flights the next day and the cat shows up at the back door with some of the fur from her nose rubbed off. Near as I can tell she got locked in someone’s garage for several days.

  42. 42.

    Tim C.

    So I had to google it as I was deeply confused. “Sand Flea” turns out to mean different things in different places. When there was concern about sand fleas biting I was befuddled, because in Oregon, this is a sand flea. (On hand for scale)

    https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3262/3227223187_09b5e1ec45.jpg

    I say this because while they can be a huge surprise for people (small children) digging in the sand, they are fragile and harmless here. Looks like the ones in NC are much much smaller and much more scary in practice

    ETA: And I’m glad Lilly is doing so much better.

  44. 44.

    seaboogie

    I had an early version CRV with leather interior (aka the Seamus-mobile) purely for “moist dog” reasons, and am happy to report that it served us well through an uncountable number of swims for the sweet Golden.

    Glad you have vacation plans John. My vacay was going to be my recent pet sit with two corgis and and awesome cat and equally awesome pool, but one of the puppers became seriously ill and I spent 2 days/nights with her in pet emergency hospital, so it didn’t go quite as planned. Looked really good on paper, and I did have a few nice swims. Her caregivers ended up picking her up from the pet hospital, and we shall see wrt prognosis.

  46. 46.

    Nicole

    @Pogonip: @Jay: I second the deciding on an individual, rather than settling ahead of time on a breed.

    Not to generalize, but the Siamese cats I’ve known have all been incredibly chatty. Burmese, too. Meowmeowmeowmeowmeow. All the livelong day. I didn’t mind, but one of them, who was an office cat, nearly drove one of my bosses crazy (he belonged to the other boss). Lewis. He was a sweetie. A garrulous sweetie, but a sweetie.

  49. 49.

    HinTN

    @raven: Love the surf of the Atlantic. We’re going to Holden mid September. Cole’s gonna have a blast vegging and cooking.

  50. 50.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Yay Lily!

    The thing we used to call sand fleas when we went to the Delaware beaches was in fact a little crustacean. You bury your hand in the sand as the waves wash over it, bring up a handful, let the sand run out and you often end up with this little guy in your hand who is about the size and shape of a cicada.

    Not a flea at all. And definitely not interested in interacting with you or your skin. As soon as you let them go, they’ll burrow as fast as they can down to a safe depth.

    Here’s a picture of one of those little guys. Is that what you’re talking about?

  55. 55.

    Shell

    Good call.Forget peak season. September is THe best time to be at the beach. The worst of the blistering summer heat is over and the ocean temp is at its warmest.

  58. 58.

    Ohio Mom

    @Pogonip: Were Bear who sometimes comments here has a blog, The Way of Cats. Maybe she has some helpful hints for a fellower Juicer.

    I’ve suggested getting a dog to my son on the spectrum but he is dead set against it. I don’t want to try a cat because I am the only person in my family of origin who doesn’t have a cat allergy and I don’t want to risk it. I have enough other allergies.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    Fuzzy Lily is just as sweet as regular Lily.

    By the way, Bess the Elon Musk apologist a few threads back is still going strong, even after taking the thread to a TBogg unit.

  65. 65.

    satby

    @Pogonip: @Jay: Jay said everything I would have! Great advice, I would go by behavior rather than breed too.
    Too many purebred pet breeds have been overbred and the traits and behavior aren’t as true to the myths as people think.

  67. 67.

    Ohio Mom

    @Gin & Tonic: No cure but many effective treatments.

    Is she talking to herself? Who else is left on that thread? If anyone is still interacting with her, 24 hours later, they are as obsessed as she is.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @Ohio Mom:
    I just went and looked, it was a couple of the irregular regulars just pushing buttons. Seeing how easy it was to do. Say hello and get a 300 word rebuke. Say sorry no and it’s 500 words about your mother.
    Or something like that. Even I lost interest last night.

  72. 72.

    sacrablue

    My brat cat completed his chemo last Wednesday. The vet techs dressed him in a graduation bandana. He is still required to take budesonide and he is now diabetic thanks to the prednisolone that he is no longer taking. Monthly ultrasound checkups remain, but we won’t restart chemo if the cancer returns.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @sacrablue: I read this last night just before I headed to bed. I didn’t reply because I didn’t know what to say, and I hoped that someone else would say just the right thing.

    But I checked just now when I got up, and though I stilll don’t quite know what to say, I can’t leave your news un-commented on. I’m happy your kitty made it through and is still with you, but it’s bittersweet since the chemo left him diabetic. I know you’ll cherish every moment with your kitty, and there’s peace in knowing that if the worst happens, you kind of have a plan.

    Hugs to you and your kitty.

  75. 75.

    Aleta

    @sacrablue: @WaterGirl:
    WaterGirl said it well.

    I was glad we did chemo with my cat the first time because the extra time with him was wonderful. We were lucky and he had 5 years before it returned. (Then we began a 2nd (other kind) of chemo, but it was not the right decision as the side effects took him.)

    I’ve come to think the extra attention my cats get (after diagnosed with a dire condition) may possibly have a bit of healing effect in itself.* For sure they are happy about getting it.

    Always hard. My sympathy to you.

    *No way to measure if that is true, but if it were so, a logical explanation might be, perhaps bc it boosts the immune system? A nonmeasurable explanation might be that old saying about “healing power of love.” On my side, the chance to give extra love and attention seems somewhat healing as remedy for the grief.

  76. 76.

    DonL140

    @the wesson: Sand fleas are little crustaceans that swim around like shrimp, but with hard shells.

    This has probably been answered. Sand fleas are mole crabs. They are candy to pompano, which every Buffet fan knows, pompano are a rich man’s thing. Used often in surf fishing, they have to be dug out. They don’t bite. lol I can’t guarantee there are flies out there that do bite.

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