At first there were two socks.
Then this….
Toby didn’t think I would notice that he traded his tiger for my sock.
(He stole the underwear to instigate a game of chase, though.)
Memories
Mommy’s Tick
Well, it was my turn to get a tick this week. I foolishly laid down in the grass to stretch my back, and one of those blood-thirsty little suckers got me. Toby said he was glad I finally knew what it felt like to be snacked on by a bug and that I should have much more sympathy for him and that I should give him more Milk Bones to make up for all the suffering he has gone through and the Milk Bone compensation is retroactive to Geordie’s lifetime and it extends to other animals that have ticks too. In other words, many more Milk Bones.
Many, many more Milk Bone
Not a Cat, Not a Brain…
Not a cat. Not a brain. Nothing.
I got all of my test results back and found out that I have…absolutely nothing. This is the way it’s been for the past 30+ years. Nothing shows up in blood work or X rays, so technically I am healthy.
My veins object to people trying to take what is theirs.
The reason I went to a doctor was to get a prescription for eye drops so that hopefully I could go back to doing computer work and painting. The insurance company, however, determined that the eye drops are “medically unnecessary”, so here I sit with no computer or paints, trying to figure out a future with limited eye usage.
Did you know there is such a thing as ocular rosacea? I didn’t.
A friend sent me a few articles on supplements that seem to help people like me who are having odd, random symptoms. Perhaps one or a combination of them might get me to a point where I can at least draw some Bitey Dogs again.
Toby seems to have an opinion on all that is going on, but he only knows how to express himself as a growling, tantrum-throwing fiend. He has attacked me three times in the past two weeks. They say God sends you the family you are supposed to have. I must have really ticked Him off at some point.
What are you looking at? Grrrr….
On an unrelated note, if you haven’t seen the movie The Miracle at Cokeville, it is a particularly uplifting story given recent events.
Cake
Monday brought the most incredible news. Toby’s groomer said he was a good boy! He was such a good boy that she didn’t even charge me a “Dangerous Animal” fee. Everyone decided that with Toby’s weight loss, his calming medicine worked more effectively.
To be honest, I would rather be fat and feisty.
(Yes Toby did get a treat for being a good boy, but only a small one.)
The Scan
On Friday, I finally got to go to a doctor to get a referral to see (ha ha) an ophthalmologist. I figured while I was there, I would ask the doctor about a few other things like the dizzy spells I had in February. I mentioned that I had already updated my glasses and thought that maybe I needed to see an ENT?
No, given my cluster of seemingly unrelated symptoms, I was told that it sounds like I have something wrong with my brain, not my ears. The doctor immediately wrote out an order for me to have a CT scan. I asked her if by “wrong with my brain”, she meant tumor or disease, and she said that it seemed that a tumor was unlikely. What I described sounds like MS. Well, that was certainly not what I was expecting when I set out to get some Restasis that morning.
I went home and did some reading about MS, and it does sound like what I have been going through. I had always thought that MS was a terribly awful disease, but from the article I read it seems that if you take medication for it, you can lead a pretty normal life.
Toby has his next grooming session tomorrow, but as soon as we are done, I have a list of doctor appointments and tests that I need to schedule. While it sucks to have a disease, it would be nice if treatment could help me feel better. I want to be healthy enough to spoil my Toby as much as I can.
I could have told you there was something wrong with your brain without the scan.
Talky Toby
I don’t have a premium account to allow me to post videos here . Instead, here is a link to Toby hamming it up at the vet’ s office.
I told you I was good at talking!
Hey 19
For the first time ever, one of my pups came in at the right at the right weight during his annual physical. Yippee!
Hooray! Can we celebrate with chocolate cake?
I had asked Grandma and Grandpa to take Toby to his visit for me, so they got to hear all of the praise for his new, healthy weight. (Hopefully it will inspire them to not sneak him goodies.) The vet also said that she is seeing no evidence of the knee issues that had been bothering Toby. All good news. 😊
Grumpy Toby
I was sitting on my beanbag chair (OK, pile of dirty laundry) when Toby barged into the bedroom and started harrumphing. Snort this, stomp that. “Mom, get off of the laundry.” Whatever. I moved aside so my obviously upset puppy could go to bed.
A few minutes later I walked out of the room and was greeted by this:
Evidently Toby had wanted to go outside to play. He got discouraged when I didn’t notice him trying to bring me my boot and his leash, so he threw himself in the laundry.
If you’re not going to pay attention to me, I’m going to bed.
This wasn’t the first time the boot/leash things happened.
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Join Bitey and Toby in more puppy fun in Dream Our World. Inside, the boys discover the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.
Belated Happy Barkday, Toby
Toby’s barkday was at the end of last month, but thanks to me getting sick and then the car breaking, I wasn’t able to get him any presents. This week, G & G took pity on my little boy and brought him a fresh bag of tennis balls. The down side is that now he wants to play all day every day. The up side is he he is working off some of those holiday pounds.
Get that camera out of my face and throw the ball already!
To Toby, the game is to either catch the ball or touch it with his mouth. Then it is considered out of play.
The first thing Toby does when he gets a new ball is chew a fuzz handle into it.
Like most places, it is snowy and barely in the teens here. Toby doesn’t mind going out because he has a nice pet human to warm his paws when they get cold. If the pet human tries to thaw her paws on a warm puppy tummy, though, all heck breaks loose. Toby’s pet human is grateful for the tennis ball game so they don’t have to freeze as much.
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Care to find out what Bitey and Toby have been up to? Then check out Dream Our World! Inside, the boys view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available at my shop at L Bowman Studios.
What Happened to Toby?
No, I didn’t trade Toby in on a green-sweater-clad feline, but I did think about it.
Toby had a grooming session at the beginning of the month. Afterward, he could no longer hide the fact that Gma had been slipping him goodies over the holidays. Now he is on a diet, and he just howls and howls for food.
Toby, pre-furcut.
Toby, post-furcut.
Toby howling for food.
Evidently Toby didn’t do much better on his second visit to the groomer than he did on his first. The woman working with him said that he hates the blow dryer so much that he fought and fought her about it. By the time she was done drying him he was thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep. She had to put him in a sling in order to reach to trim his paws and tummy. Who would guess that such a sweet-faced little guy could cause so much trouble?
While Toby’s year started off with grooming and a diet, mommy’s started with two broken teeth, a broken car and a pair of broken glasses. Yay 2022.
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If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can still pick up copies of Dream Our World. Inside, Bitey and Toby have a fantastic adventure as they visit the museum of their dreams and view the world of art from a canine perspective.
Dream Our World is available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 