new from europe (arthritis and vetoryl?) - Ian, Flynn and Enya have passed

yes the worrying about our own dogs and the ones on this forum can certainly wear you out.
i sure hope your specialist will be honest with you, but i still think they are preying on your fear to loose tipper.
those clinics are big business!
if tipper's tumor has really grown 0.3 cm in a whole year it is really a very small increase.
3 mm is less than the space between the words in this message.
so i hope you can relax a bit.
you and tipper can do with some possitive thoughts i think.
is the weather in your area always so "'explosive"?
or are there times in summer when the weather is more stable?
i hope so for yours and tipper's sake.
sleep well!

Iris:
You are right about this big business. That is why I would have much preferred to have an operation like that done in a teaching school. These private places need money and will do anything to get it. I hate to say this but it makes me not trust the IMS because of it, and that is bad. We live near a lake so our weather can be rather volatile at times, then Lake Erie is a huge lake very close to us too. That is why we get lake effect snow all winter. The last two years have been bad with storms. Where I used to live there was very little of this. Tipper had walked already, as it is humid and getting hot. we are to have storms off and on all week. I surely hope it is not bad Tuesday as I must travel back home to the Dr. and hate to leave Tipper with a sitter in a storm. I opened the door to my office for the first time since Grace has been gone. Tipper wanted in immediately. She has the best nose on her and she did not seem to smell anywhere the cat had been so I must have done a good job of disinfecting!! Hope you are not having this heat and humidity. Some of my plants are starting to come out. Have a good weekend with the babies. Blessings
Patti

hi patti, i think you send your weather this way. it is 0;17 am overhere and there is thunder, lightning, wind, rain, and hail!
the shower is flooding and so is the sink.
and i just cleaned the house today grrr!
we could use some water, because it was very dry, but this..............
glad that you can detect some spring signs around you in your garden.
and that you can use your office again.
i looked up lake erie and i found out that this is one big lake, almost a sea by the looks of it.
i would love to hike there with my dogs.
i love the lake sides and the sea and so do the dogs. i was born in a small vilage near the sea.
so now i have to clean the bathroom before going to bed. all the water went down the drain, so i can start to dry off the floor.

Iris:
Glad you looked up Lake Erie and see the size of it. How has Ian been doing with the pills? Hope no problems. It is black here so we got the lousy weather back from you! It is a thunderstorm coming, so I will have to watch Tipper she is already on high alert. I am resting today as I have to get up at 4am for the Dr. appointment in Pittsburgh. I will finish the other 2 rooms later in the week and I will be done. my goodness you must have really had the rain, if it came up on the bathroom floor. What a mess after you cleaned and work all day you don't feel like doing that kind of hard work sopping up water. Hope everything is ok. The river where you walk the dogs does it ever flood the area? Are you far enough away if it does? The weather in so many places in the world is becoming unpredictable anymore. We never had bad weather like this all the time like it is now. Maybe I should have restricted the cats from my office, I just found some cat hair on my keyboard! Oh well cat hair never killed anyone that I know of!! Blessings
Patti

hi patti, the storms are over for now.
certainly the weather has become unpredictable due to all the damage to the nature by mankind.
and it is still going on. it seems lots of governments did not learn from all the damage we did to our planet.
the river is 5 km [3miles] from home.
but, it is the netherlands, so everything is under control.
if not, half the country would be floaded! [= under sea level]
but our river beaches have gone for now due to a higher water level.
do your cats sleep on the keyboard or did they just lost some hair overthere?
have a safe trip to your doctor tomorrow.
p.s. ian ate his pills, but he does not want his big fish oil pill anymore.

Iris:
Yes Deloras cat will be gone today at 3pm. I tried again to get my neighbor to keep her but he refuses. I will just let Delora think the cat has a wonderful home here and that will give her peace of mind until she leaves this earth. I have cried over this cat for two days now and it just makes me feel bad when animals are in situations like this. Tipper was panting for two days now I feel because her cortisol soared two nites ago during that awful thunder, it was the worst I ever heard anywhere. She seems to be ok this morning. Glad Ian is still taking his pills. Is it hot and humid there? Do you let your cat outside or just inside? How old is it? Hope you are all cleaned up and get no more water coming in, that would be awful to deal with. I had that one time where I used to live and what a mess it makes, and I had to use bleach as it smelled even when dry. Hope you have a good walk with the doggies, and don't work too hard. Blessings
Patti

hi patti, my cat is 6 years old.
black without one white hair.
he has his own cat flap. it is safe out here, so he loves to roam the farmland and orchards for mice etc.
he walks with us at night, when it is quiet outside.
no more flooding so far.
are you ever going to walk the dogs by the lake, so they can swim?
sounds as a nice place to go to in the summer.
it was a bit cooler the last few days, but it will be hot again.
hope tipper will have some quiet days without the storms.
you've had enough of them already.
i will send you some weeks of sunny and dry days.
that will be good for your joints as well!

Hi Iris:
Well as you might have guessed Toby did not keep his mouth shut. Tipper was on the bed sleeping and he started and she got up and ran to the closet. I brewed some more herbs today, only much stronger like the vet suggested. We are to get more thunder here soon, so I have it ready to give her. This has been very stressful, but I just keep talking to her in a regular tone and try to act like there is nothing wrong. There is no way to prevent Toby from barking at thunder so it is what it is. If these stronger herbs don't work then the vet is going to have to do something. I believe she may have inherited this as that is where some of it comes from. She has never had a scary incident that started this so it may have come from one of her parents. I am real sick of this weather, I would rather see snow and know Tipper is safe. She did get to walk once this morning. I talked to the lady that took Deloras cat. She seems real pleased with her, and lives in a beautiful home, so the cat will not want for anything. In my heart I am sad though at never seeing her again. I will never tell Delora, she has enough problems now. It sure sounds like Ian is doing exceptional. You take the time to exercise your babies and that means a lot for their health.Tipper is so tired from being up all nite she is napping while I type. Yes please send the sunny weather with the low heat!! Blessings
Patti

hi patti, you did the best you can do for the cat and it looks like you found her a really good home!
ian is certainly doing fine at the moment, so i am happy!
i've read on a dutch forum that people give those "relax herbs" non stop during storms and fireworks.
they had a lot of succes with it because they were building a sort of steady level of the stuff in the bloodstream of their dog.
maybe this can help tipper too.
i've had an -epileptic!- dog like this too, so i was very worried about her health during storms/fireworks etc..
a "dogwhisperer"' has given me very useful tips by then and i will tell you what those tips are;
stay in bed during the storms. show normal behavior during the night. if you set an example she will follow it.
when you -as the packleader- go out of bed and pacing too and paying attention to her, you are confirming her fear.
storm-packleader on high alert-dog on high alert- and you are reinforcing each others fears.
open the closet, so she can seek comfort there, but try to totally ignore her fear.
we do not realize it at first, but by paying extra attention to them [even talking] during this state of anxiety-and even observing them is also paying attention-we show them that we are worried about them and the dogs know there is something wrong.
what they need is a very stable pack leader to show them there is nothing to be afraid of.
i know this is very difficult to do, but it really worked in the end with my dog.
at least no more panicking.

Hi Iris:
Well Tipper started up again last nite because we had a hard rain and she is associating it with the thunder. I do ignore her when she does this, and when in the closet I do not even talk to her. I ordered some new herb Bach's remedy and I will see which works the best. It is full of flowers ingredients so I will have to test it on her skin first since she is so allergic to everything. It is dark out now and I do not know what to expect next! Hope you send that sunny weather soon! It just started to drizzle. We just cannot get rid of this stuff! Hope you have a nice sunny and not too warm day so the babies can enjoy the day. Around here where I live now you cannot leave your cat out as there are a lot of people that hate cats and will cause them harm. Nice you cat can enjoy it's life going in and out. Blessings
Patti