Poster Child for Pet Insurance

I think Mr. Magoo should be the poster child for pet insurance.

$1,200 knee surgery... $250 candy bar... and now this...

I've always known that Magoo has "selective" hearing. Over the past month or so it has seemed to get worse. He stopped waking up when we walked in the house, he started barking at nothing, he wouldn't come inside when you called him unless he saw you standing there, etc.

So... I took him to the vet on Wed. just to have them look at him. I figured it was just old age and there wasn't anything you could do about it. The vet confirmed that thought but when she tried to look in his ears he freaked out and wouldn't let her. He's never done that before with an ear check. They took him in back and tried again, saw some gunk, and tried to swab it. Then he REALLY flipped. She said that it looked like there was something in his ear but it could just be dirt and gave me the option of having them sedate him to take a closer look. I gave my o.k. and now I'm glad I did.

After they got in there she saw a chunk which she thought was just debris or a piece of glass. When she removed it, it turned out to be necrotic tissue with pus below it to his ear drums. BOTH ears were like that! She was able to fully flush the left ear, but the right ear had tissue that wouldn't come out. I've had to tackle him for the past two days to put drops in his ears and then took him back this morning for a follow up appointment. They ended up having to sedate him again and to try to flush the right ear again and see how his ears are healing.

The vet said that his eardrums are damaged, but hopefully they will heal. We are seeing a minor improvement in his hearing already. He met me at the back door yesterday when I came home - he can hear the garage door again. :)

As for what caused it, the vet suspects that he had ear infections when he was younger that never quite cleared up, causing a blockage that built up in his ear canal and eventually led to the necrosis. In her opinion, this has probably been years in the making.

If Magoo's hearing does considerable improve, I may take a few other people to the vet and see if it helps. ;)

Gone Country

Stephen, Tyler and I spent this past weekend with Stephen's parents at their ranch. What a wonderful weekend! We didn't leave until after dark on Sunday and Stephen had to drag Tyler and I out of there - we didn't want to go home! Tyler had fun just being a country boy, and I felt like a kid again. :)

Tyler has shown an interest in bow hunting, so Grandpa Woody got him a bow and gave him lessons. We found yet another use for the "Texas Grape Pickin' Machine" when Tyler wanted to try out the new bow and it was already dark.

The rest of the night was spent laying in the backyard looking at the stars. There are so many more stars in the country! Tyler, Mimi, Magoo and I had to cuddle together to keep warm, but the chilly air was worth it. We even saw a few shooting stars! We were all surprised at the interest Tyler showed and how long the stars kept his interest. He even made us go outside again on Saturday night. We'll be back laying in the grass in a couple weeks to watch the meteor shower. It should be amazing!

Sunday morning after breakfast Tyler was back out practicing with his bow and arrow. Both Stephen and I tried it as well and ended up with matching bruises on our arm where we snapped ourself with the string when releasing the arrow. During all of the fun, Goo was in his favorite element - bathing in the sun.

In the afternoon we all put on our hiking clothes and headed deep into the woods. Tyler and I climbed mud covered cliffs, crawled across downed trees, caught a baby frog in the creek, and hunted for the perfect walking sticks. (Yes, that is me in a John Deer hat.)

And, if I had any doubt left in my mind after all of the weekend adventures, I knew Tyler was a true country boy when his first experience driving a vehicle was driving Grandpa Woody's tractor out into the woods!