I had a great time guiding a nature walk today at Morningside. Everyone in the group came from highly urbanized areas: Brooklyn, Queens, and Huntington, Long Island. They ranged in age from 3 years old to folks in their mid-60s. It's fascinating: The older people thoroughly enjoyed all the activities I planned for the youngest ones. We explored the balsam fir trees, mosses, and mushrooms with 4 of our 5 senses (no tasting!), and everyone got so into it that we went way overtime. A really genial group.
Then I hung out at Randi and Dave's for awhile while Ken worked on Randi's laptop. Earlier in the morning I noticed that Gracie wasn't acting right, but after the walk, I was more concerned. I touched her belly and it felt red hot. It looked to us like Gracie had come down with mastitis. Randi had had one emergency after another with their guests this morning, and she hadn't had a second to sit with Gracie.
Randi immediately went to find Dave while I took Gracie's temp. It was 104.8 degrees. Even considering the fact that a dog's normal temp is over 101 degrees, I know from experience that that's an alarmingly high temp for a dog. Dave came back, Randi called the vet, and Dave zoomed Gracie down to Glens Falls to their vet, an hour's drive away.
Meanwhile, Gracie's puppies were ravenous! She wasn't able to give them much milk this morning, so Randi and I puzzled over what to do. Randi called the vet back. No pet store within an hour's drive, so no, we couldn't get any puppy formula. The vet gave Randi a recipe: evaporated milk, egg yolks, sugar and water.
The puppies were so frustrated with the small hole in the baby bottle. They were crying, crying, give me more, more! So Ken made the hole bigger, and finally, they were happy. It's strange, though. The vet had said give them 2 teaspoonsful at a time. Randi, Ken, and I looked at each other. Did the vet know that these were LABRADOR puppies, not Pekinese pups? They each drank one to two ounces and then they were, at last, quiet and yes, asleep.
For some bizarre reason, I can't get my puppy portrait to upload. I'll try later.
Then I hung out at Randi and Dave's for awhile while Ken worked on Randi's laptop. Earlier in the morning I noticed that Gracie wasn't acting right, but after the walk, I was more concerned. I touched her belly and it felt red hot. It looked to us like Gracie had come down with mastitis. Randi had had one emergency after another with their guests this morning, and she hadn't had a second to sit with Gracie.
Randi immediately went to find Dave while I took Gracie's temp. It was 104.8 degrees. Even considering the fact that a dog's normal temp is over 101 degrees, I know from experience that that's an alarmingly high temp for a dog. Dave came back, Randi called the vet, and Dave zoomed Gracie down to Glens Falls to their vet, an hour's drive away.
Meanwhile, Gracie's puppies were ravenous! She wasn't able to give them much milk this morning, so Randi and I puzzled over what to do. Randi called the vet back. No pet store within an hour's drive, so no, we couldn't get any puppy formula. The vet gave Randi a recipe: evaporated milk, egg yolks, sugar and water.
The puppies were so frustrated with the small hole in the baby bottle. They were crying, crying, give me more, more! So Ken made the hole bigger, and finally, they were happy. It's strange, though. The vet had said give them 2 teaspoonsful at a time. Randi, Ken, and I looked at each other. Did the vet know that these were LABRADOR puppies, not Pekinese pups? They each drank one to two ounces and then they were, at last, quiet and yes, asleep.
For some bizarre reason, I can't get my puppy portrait to upload. I'll try later.
posted by Judith at 6:11 PM
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