2025-01-05
It’s Mindy’s birthday—65! Liam still misses Daddy and is lethargic, but my concern is increasing since he is usually happy with a herd of three! Feels like something is wrong. I made some eggplant planks for Bridget and froze them—fried though, flash froze them and packaged them up. I hope they taste good after freezing; we will see.
Bridget had to work and so did Maura. I wanted to go shopping to get some shoes, but Liam still seems off and I don’t want to leave him for long. Early this morning, Liam asked out to Bridget, not me. Bridget let him out back while she smoked in the lanai. When he came back in, apparently, he was shaking. Bridget comforted him and wrapped him in a blanket, then went to work. Bridget texted me and told me about the shaking (she thought that he was just scared)—I assumed it was his hind legs that were shaking, which sadly is not abnormal, but I observed him because it felt like something was off. I was worried that he was in pain, and Bridget gave me some pills of Teddy’s. I gave him one and did not dare leave the house in case he had an adverse reaction. I wanted to watch football, but Bridget only has Roku and a special app. I didn’t monkey with that, so I just monitored the games on my phone since I forgot to bring my iPad! So, I worked on my log and monitored football. Bridget came home but had to run out to the store right away because she forgot her list. Bridget returned and started cooking (baking) our Mama’s mac and cheese that Maura had prepared the night before. Bridget gave Liam a triple flavor kabob (which he has had before) and Liam wanted to go out, so we let him into the backyard.
He was in the pooping pose but then looked scared—he was shaking all over, and his back remained curled in the pooping pose. Bridget reported that was what she had observed earlier this morning. Suffice it to say I was terrified—was he having a seizure? His tongue seemed thick and it was clear to me that he was not okay. Maura showed up as these events unfurled. I was frantic and Bridget thought we should take him to urgent care since this had never happened before, so Bridget took charge to find an emergency vet place to take him—all her experience with Billy and Teddy paid off. So, Maura, Bridget, Liam, and I headed off to the Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Fort Myers. We got there, did the intake, and waited for a very long time to be seen. I felt bad because Maura was starving—I encouraged her to walk over to the Mexican place, which was two minutes away, but she declined. Eventually, they saw us. The doctor was Colin Hurd, and he was a very thorough vet and walked us through everything and patiently answered all of my questions. He assured me that the shaking thing was not a seizure but a reaction to pain—horrible! He diagnosed
Liam with early stages of intervertebral disk disease (IVDD)—hind limb neuro weakness and mild pain were/are secondary to IVDD. They prescribed pain meds and muscle relaxants, and we are to monitor him and be sure not to allow him to walk around too much, etc. He may ultimately require surgery. So, we finally got out of the clinic after four plus hours and headed back to Bridget’s. Maura took off because it was late and she potentially had to work in the a.m. So, we got back to Bridget’s, and I dosed Liam with all three of the prescribed meds: Valium, Gabapentin, and Carprofen. After a short time, it was clear to me that Liam was drugged out. He really has had great health until now, so I believe that he was totally high! He kept searching over and over for his Liver treats, even though I checked with Liam and on my own to verify that he had, in fact, gotten them all. That did not assuage him at all and the hunt continued, which was sad because he could barely walk with all the drugs in him. I was stressed because the doctor emphasized to minimize Liam’s mobility so that hopefully the swelling in his spine would lessen or dissipate, but he was a dog on a mission! I could not control or comfort him—he was loaded, had the munchies. And sadly, with all the meds, his rear legs were loosey-goosey! I tried not to panic but I did anyway. We (Bridget, Liam, and I) watched some Unsolved Mysteries once we got the Roku going. Liam and I went to bed and then I closed the door to the bedroom—he was sequestered! I was awake until 2:00 AM because I could not be certain that he had completely settled down. Long night.
Meantime on the high seas: The weather forecast called for the wind to pick up through the course of the day. With seas 1 ft building to 3-4 feet, so Jim an I decided to make tracks for Marathon early, while the seas were relatively calm. One reason we chose Loop Dawg as our loop boat is the she can cruise all day at 7 kts, but she is a semi-displacement hull and if needed, she can make 21 kts. It is 50 miles to Marathon. We hit the throttles and cruised at 17 kts to shorten the duration of the passage to beat the building seas. We arrived at Marathon at 11:30 and anchored in Sisters Creek at N24°41.93′ W081°05.44′. First order of business was to check in a Boot Key Marina and get on the waiting list for a mooring. Following that is was time for lunch. We dinghied to Burdines and had a great lunch and some celebratory beverages.
117 nights to go
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