Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

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

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

We’re not going back!

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Respite Open Thread: Happy Bixby News

Respite Open Thread: Happy Bixby News

by | 114 Comments

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Bixby managed to get outside today, because he has goals and he works hard at them.  More info on his day here. You guys really helped me get through the past two weeks of hell and uncertainty. Thank you.

And here’s some cuteness to close out the day:

h/t Jeffreyw for bat and music.

How are all our other critters doing? I know we have a few who are struggling. We are here to send lots of good energy your way.

You know the drill – anything but politics open thread.

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  8. 8.

    spudgun

    Amazing news on an otherwise CRAP day…so happy for you and Bixby! YAY!!

    GO GO BIXBY! :-D

  9. 9.

    jeffreyw

    That bat is not cuddling. He’s practicing venous extraction techniques. We have seen this movie. The music video was featured over at LGF, so..
    h/t Mr Johnson

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    YAY YAY YAY for Bixby!! Such good news. I love that he is so goal-oriented.

    And thank you for the bat with Easter Bunny. I do love bats.

  14. 14.

    satby

    I love Bixby getting better every day, and I love bats!

    As to other critters, my big guy Hershey is doing well on painkillers in our home hospice; even well enough for a very short game of fetch each day. He loves his daily scoop of vanilla ice cream and all the extra scritches and snuggles he’s been getting. His appetite for his regular food is back too. Still only a matter of time, but it’s been quality time. So it’s good.

  19. 19.

    Mary G

    Bixby walking is just what I needed today. What a massive difference from a few days ago.

    Kodiak the husky and the cats are staying in their territories beautifully. He went to a birthday party yesterday where another cat was present with no problem. He is scarily smart and I just pray that Shiloh doesn’t show him how to open doors.

  23. 23.

    CliosFanBoy

    An update on my dog/cat issues…

    Thank you for all the offers to help. My cousin decided to keep Murphy/Otis/Watson. Her elderly cranky dog decided that the new dog was a friend and they’re getting along. Which is REALLY surprising. The original dog is jealous and grumpy. The cat also likes the new guy.

    We have our two ferals from our old house, Mom Cat and Gray Mom, adjusting to life at the new place. With guidance from Alley Cat Allies I bought a large (6 x 6 x 6) pen that is now in our garage. It’s made of wood and small chicken wire. I used wood pallets and carpet to make a floor. Added some shelves and a litter box. Plus I put in some large tree limbs for climbing and scratching. It’s by our garage window and I put a small space heater nearby set at 65 degrees for really cold nights.

    The cats stay in there for at LEAST 4-5 weeks, so they learn that this is home. Then I can start letting them out. I will move the pen slightly to be next to the back garage door and add a cat door for them.

    Mom Cat is very affectionate and I go out twice a day to sit in with them, check their food and water (I bought a bubbler) , clean the litter box (Cat Attract Litter), and pet Mom Cat. Gray Mom sits on her favorite shelf and hisses at me.

    We lost our Sonia a month ago. (She’s on the BJ Pet calendar, and looked a LOT like Lilly). This past week we’ve been talking with a dachshund rescue group and at the end of April we’re going up to the Baltimore area to meet a bonded pair of older female wiener-dogs. If they hit it off with our Spud (an older male) then we’ll adopt them. Spud seems lonely since Sonia passed away although he’s getting loads of attention…

  24. 24.

    J R in WV

    So glad to see Bixby outdoors and walking around!! Best news today, other than so much was saved at Notre Dame in Paris.

    @Mary G:

    I think you can count on smart dog learning to open doors. I had a sign on our back door slider:

    Keep this Door locked – Happy Dog can open it!

    I took it down a couple of weeks after she went down, new dog hasn’t got it yet. We’re still planning to bring home a mom and one of her 9 puppies in another week or so. We got pick of the litter, going for the biggest pupper. Dad is part Great Pyranees goat flock guard dog, so could be REAL big.

    We used to have lots of bats in the neighborhood – there were little sheds all over the woods for the old style oil well pump motors, which were giant hit-or-miss engines that needed a shed. The bats lived on the roofs of the sheds, or in the walls. But those old cast iron engines fell out of use and were mostly recycled, and the sheds torn down to get them out easier.

    I love bats, so acrobatic in the air!!!

    ETA: Plus they eat so many bugs!!!

  28. 28.

    Sab

    Brave Bixby and braver Mom who let him suffer through to overcome. I would have put him out of his misery, which would have been murder.

    Good job.

  30. 30.

    SenyorDave

    Headline:
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Trump Was ‘Making A Joke’ When He Said He Loved Wikileaks

    She should have been around in the 1940’s. SHS:
    Hitler was joking when he wrote Mein Kampf.
    Stalin was kidding when he systematically killed 20 million people.
    The kkk was just playing around when they lynched and murdered blacks.

    Sheesh, some people have no sense of humor whatsoever

  31. 31.

    NeenerNeener

    Woo hoo! Yay Bixby!

    I have two smallish Australian Shepherds who are getting up there in age; although they don’t look a day over 3 yo they will be 15 in November. I took the male in to be groomed Friday night because he has a mild heart murmur now and Petsmart will only do “Express grooming” on dogs with medical conditions. I got a frantic call from the groomer about 45 minutes after I dropped him off; she thought he was about to die because he refused to stand up while she groomed him. He’s always been that way, but I couldn’t convince her of that so I went back to pick him up. She had another employee holding him up while she finished trimming him. Once he was done he hopped off the table, walked out to the car without issues then ran around in the yard at home for an hour with no problems. He just doesn’t like being groomed there, I guess.

  32. 32.

    BRyan

    The things I learn on this blog. Bats are cute?? Um…yeah, no. But yayy, Bixby. So delighted to see him on his feet and enjoying the outdoors!

  33. 33.

    p.a.

    Yay Bixby.

    The bat however… I just find the juxtaposition of bat/bunny very disturbing, like a well done Twilight Zone episode. And I’m not at all scared of bats. Or bunnies.

  34. 34.

    MomSense

    Here’s a video of Joan Benoit Samuelson running near a trail I used to walk with my friend who died a few months ago.

    miles

  37. 37.

    CaseyL

    Oh, it does my heart SO MUCH good to see Bixby walking around. Hip hip huzzah!

    I am impressed no end by that fellow, with his carefully thought out plans and his path to achieving them.

    Thank you for the update, TaMara.

    JR in WV: If the bats’ housing is vanishing, it can be replaced. Does anyone out your way sell (or give away) bat houses? They’re basically open-bottom wooden boxes you attach to the eaves of your house.

  38. 38.

    MomSense

    @satby:

    I’m so glad you are having this time with Hershey. When our old lab was in his last days, my middle son used to say that it was all down to the love now.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SenyorDave:

    Headline:
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Trump Was ‘Making A Joke’ When He Said He Loved Wikileaks

    Jesus Fucking Christ in a Poke Bonnet. Fuckabee Slanders can fuck right the fuck off with that. Sorry, Sarah: We have Fucking RECEIPTS. So just fuck the fuck off.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @satby:

    You are making sure he knows he’s loved. However you wish to convey it to him (extra scritches? a little extra ice cream?), do let him know that he is much-loved by a top-10,000 Jackaltariat. May he be happy and comfortable to the very end, and may his transition be beautiful and elegant.

  49. 49.

    Dan B

    @Dan B: Kidding of course but it’s good to see a big happy, if a little awkward still, doggo. Progress is sweet. Hope you’re sleeping well and dreaming beautifully!

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    Yeeeeeeeeeeeah!!!!

    ❤️

    Great to see Bixby is progressing so well.

    Thanks for sharing with us, Tamara.

  55. 55.

    Mel

    @satby: Hugs headed your way. You are doing everything he needs to make your remaining time together full of happiness, security, love and comfort for him. Just know that when he looks at you, he sees everything good and happy in his world.

  56. 56.

    Raven

    Glad the big dude is better. All the hand wringing about Lil Bit seems to have been for naught. After an xray and ultrasound she doesn’t have pneumonia and her heart is just as good as it has been for the last two tests. The pred has helped her cough and we’re going to reduce the dosage and see how that works. Every day someone mentions how good Bohdi is doing for a 15 1/2 year old dog so I guess we just drive ahead and feel lucky we have them

  58. 58.

    Jager

    Good for Bixby!

    Anze the Dog is very happy, he went to the hardware store (this fucking old house) then to the meat market and came home to his dinner. 2 cups of dry with chicken broth. He’s on the porch waiting for mom while I piss around with the laundry room door latch.

  59. 59.

    MaryLou

    ? So happy to read the good news about Bixby. Brings some joy to a day with so much sadness #notredame

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @HeleninEire:
    As your give a fuck sensor gets up there past a certain age, your give a fuck device gives the fuck up. There’s not a solid cut off, mine is pretty much been shot all to hell for a few years.
    Sometimes if you don’t need it for a few days it can start working again. Mines been in almost continuous use for the last 2+ yrs

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    We learned today that our pup’s tumor is bigger than we thought. Six months ago it could have been an old calcification, but now we know it’s doubled in size. The vet today said he could operate (it’s in the top lobe of one lung). I wasn’t there, but seems to me there are lots of things he didn’t mention. This dog brought a whole world with him that was just his spirit and presence. He came home with me in 2014 after a life in an outdoor pen. So many people love him. We don’t know how much time there is.

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    Very glad to see Bixby getting better. Continued progress!
    Had a fun day. Trip all the way across LA for an appointment at the VA hospital. Three trains and 2 buses each way. Good news, in my ongoing battle to stave off melanoma, so far I’m winning. Another episode in the fun that has been the last few years. So there’s republicans making me sick and me making me sick. Fun times.

  70. 70.

    raven

    @Aleta: It was nuts. When the Russians pulled out thousands of tickets went up for sale a couple of days before the games started. It was my last summer in Illinois and I called my mom and told her to go to the “ticket fair” at the forum and buy whatever she could get. My brother was in law school in Sacramento and he came down and we went nuts. We were in the 4th row in the Coliseum for the afternoon session. The women’s marathon had been run in the morning but they gave the medals at the regular track and field in the pm so we were there for that and Mose’s gold medal in the hurdles and Carl Lewis in the 200.

  76. 76.

    Ruckus

    @Aleta:
    She reminds me of a friend who took up triathlon in her late 50s. She was a marathon runner for years so she had the run part down, but the swim and the bike she didn’t. She worked, she learned, she persevered and she ended up at Kona in the world championships about 5 yrs later.
    Sorry, that was supposed to be a reply to MomSense above you.

  77. 77.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    GO BIXBY! Best news of the day.
    @satby: Please give Hershey today’s hug from me.
    @Aleta: I’m sorry to hear that and hope there is better information that you don’t know yet.

  78. 78.

    Barbara

    @Aleta: I am so sorry. My little corgi died of a condition that related to a tumor in his pituitary gland, and the veterinarian was so kind about the limits of what could or should be done. This is so hard, sending lots of good thoughts and support.

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Yeah that will be sweet. Probably be retired and moved up north by then but it will still be nice.
    @raven:
    Ouch. I’ve found out what liquid nitrogen feels like a few times, twice in somewhat sensitive areas. Seems this is a somewhat common symptom of Parkinson’s, so the docs may actually decide to try and treat in 2 months. Last visit they told me that there is nothing else left to do but they wanted to see more progress. Success at last. Of course it’s in something you don’t want to have success at, but hey, that’s my life. Oh well somebodies got to do it.

  89. 89.

    MoxieM

    Re: Bixby video. What a lovely thing to see — Especially today. What a great soul he has.

  92. 92.

    Dog Mom

    So good to see Bixby making his way around! May the progress continue and may Bixby get stronger and more stable.

    As for my pack of broke-down dogs, my ancient weimaraner is making me crazy (or crazier) – one day last weak she was not doing well at all. Muscle loss from Cushing’s and severe arthritis make getting around difficult. I kept trying to decide if she was ready to go or if I was ready to make that decision. I woke up very early the next morning thinking it was going to be the day. She woke up with other ideas – came into the kitchen, demanded her breakfast and has been making her way around pretty well since then.

    My Atypical Cushing’s beagle who had the horrible zombie-brained warty thing removed from her cheek three weeks ago, she had her stitches out and is doing really well – having a bit of an issue with the internal sutures getting inflamed as they are dissolving – so she’s on another dose of antibiotics, but going on like a trooper. Her face looks good and hopefully her fur will come in an cover the scars.

    Her sister, my Addison’s girl is still limping around on three legs – don’t know why yet – need X-ray’s. She took herself for a swim across the stream to the deer bones on the other side. Beagles – Ugh!

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    @MomSense: I saw that movie when it first came out, at the Ziegfeld Theater in NYC, an old-time “movie palace.” It was grand.

  96. 96.

    Martin

    Buttigieg’s interview on Maddow is really worth watching. Yeah, it covers a lot of ground we’ve already heard, but there’s a discussion in the middle about doing this while gay, which Maddow is uniquely well equipped to ask (one Rhodes Scholar to another no less). Nothing in there newsworthy, but we don’t get many ‘I know what that feels like’ kind of moments around being in the closet and coming out. It’s a nice way to disarm assholes like Pence. Stay for the lead-in to O’Donnell who asks Maddow to expound on that.

    We need more moments like that. It was really nice.

  97. 97.

    Aleta

    Thanks gang for words that help. I feel bad talking again about more grieving, and there’s so much else for everyone that’s hard. I’m a little afraid on this one of going through this so thank you so much.

  99. 99.

    tokyokie

    He looks a bit unsteady when he walks, especially the front legs, but that’s still a major improvement from not being able to even stand. Hope he continues to get better.

  100. 100.

    hedgehog mobile

    Yay Bixby! Thank you for the good news.
    Midnight, our big black kitty, is snoring next to me on the couch. He turned 17 in September; every day we have with him is a gift. Tinkerbell, Calico Queen of Everything, is on the arm of the couch gazing at her realm.

  102. 102.

    kindness

    So glad Bixby is coming along so nicely. We were worried for a bit there. Our furry kids are still our kids. Just kids with short lives compared to ours.

    Love ’em.

  103. 103.

    Miss Bianca

    Yay, Bixby! You put the ‘great’ in ‘Great Dane’!

    ETA: I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I seem to have a wolf snoozing on the couch next to me…

  105. 105.

    Geeno

    It looks like he just needs to get his sea legs – more walking will result in easier walking. I sincerely hope that’s the case, and he’ll be back (at least close) to normal in no time. Fight the power Bixby!

  107. 107.

    Aleta

    @Geeno: It’s amazing to watch. Not that I know, but he looks integrated, like neurons are firing, timing is working, legs are coordinated in their pattern, he’s going in the direction he intends, and he’s getting there.

  108. 108.

    Aleta

    @satby: Thanks so much. I’m so sorry about your pup. I really don’t know what to do right now. My partner is unable to talk about it at all.

  110. 110.

    sharl

    Very welcome news on Bixby, TaMara! Best wishes to that good boy in his journey to better health.

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    Bixby! What a relief to see him walking, and a joy to know he is on the road to recovery. I started crying when I watched the video and tears of joy and relief ran down my cheeks through all 112 comments. So happy for you both.

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