Doctor Molly, Coach Willie -- My Therapy Team

This morning that I realized that really, the term "therapy dog" is redundant.  What dog-lover among us can say that our dogs aren't therapeutic by nature? The thought came to mind as I attempted to do my morning regimen of physical therapy for my bad wing -- a rotator cuff injury that resulted in adhesive capsulitis, more commonly known as "frozen shoulder."

As I lay flat on my back on my exercise mat, Molly wiggled onto my chest and covered me with kisses.  (Yes, I do let my dogs lick my face.  So sue me. )  This is her own daily regimen, as coach and cheerleader for my rehab program:  turn the discomfort into laughter, the groans into giggles.  Molly has already developed a keen sense of my own emotions and can shut off her rambunctiousness in seconds when she senses I need a few minutes of snuggling.

She has help, though.  Within a couple of minutes of Molly's participation, Shotgun Willie the tabby cat gets involved.  They team up.  As Molly stretches out on my chest, legs extended behind her and front paws on either side of my neck, Willie crawls beneath my bent knees.  There, he plays with the frayed edge of my shorts, or nips the back of my thigh, before relaxing and lying there happily, front paws curled up beneath him.

The very accessories necessary for my exercises are of great interest to my furry cheerleaders.  Some of the stretches require the use of a wooden dowel -- a dowel that now has tiny teeth marks on the end.  Prior to stretching, I warm up using an arm-bike device.  Molly is fascinated and barks at the machine as I pedal it with my hands.  Willie, ever-unflappable and at home in the world, lies so close to the pedals that they bump his whiskers when it's in motion.  Trusting cat, that one.  Watching carefully as I pedal is actually a great distraction for me as I contend with the monotony.

Eventually, despite their help, I finish my floor exercises.  As I stand to do the remaining set, Molly and Willie immediately take over the exercise mat.  The five dog beds, multiple pieces of cat furniture, and other soft places to lie down aren't nearly as appealing as the space I either want to occupy or have just relinquished.  That's just the nature of dogs -- and cats.

One Dog. One Cat.  One Exercise Mat. One Terrific Therapy Team.

My "therapy dogs" encourage me to exercise. They nurture me when necessary.  They keep me sane and lift my spirits when I've got the mean blues. They listen to my tales of woe.  They praise me with tail-wags when I've done something wonderful (like walk into a room, share a snack with them, or go into a human version of the "play-bow.")  House calls?  Heck, they're at-home specialists!  Modern medicine has yet to come up with a better all-around all-purpose aid to mental and physical health.

I think I'll go do some more exercises.  Doctor Molly?  Are you in?

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller * All rights reserved * No part of this content may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the author * Links to this page,  however, may be freely shared * Thank you for pinning, liking, linking, sharing, emailing, tweeting and otherwise helping grow my readership * Most of all, thank you for visiting!

Molly McNab Herds Cats and Saves the Day!

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller
Shotgun Willie, Escape Artist Extraordinaire

The first time I heard the expression "like trying to herd cats" was many years (okay, a couple of decades) ago when a city manager described the sitting city council.  It's a term for something that's extremely difficult or even impossible.  It wasn't until I got my own two cats, just a year ago, that I truly understood and appreciated that witty simile.   The independent (yet affectionate) nature of Shotgun Willie and Froggy Isabella, our two cats, has taught me many things -- among them, that herding cats is indeed nigh impossible.

But then … Molly McNab came along.  This morning, as my husband stepped outside, Shotgun Willie shot out the door.  I figured we'd be in for a couple of hours of cat-wrangling -- sometimes it takes two to three hours to catch the ornery, independent critters.  I went inside to grab Froggy Isabella, thinking it would be easier to catch Willie if Froggy was in their outdoors cat-run enclosure.  When I came out, minutes later, Russ was laughing and couldn't wait to tell me what had happened.

"Molly HERDED Willie!" he said.  "He was completely out of sight when he bolted.  The next thing I knew, Molly had chased him back into sight.  Willie did all his zig-zags and maneuvers but Molly turned him back three times and finally knocked him over.  She got on top of him long enough I could grab his tail!"  (It's not the first time we've had to use the tail-handle to catch William.  He doesn't object, either -- he just realizes he's been caught.)

Molly chases Willie around the house several times a day.  It's a game they play.  The other day I called her off, thinking Willie needed a break -- and darned if he didn't curl his tail again, taunt her with a look, and start the game all over.  When Molly chases him, Willie likes to race down the hallway, bank off one wall on the corner and then bounce off the next wall.  He'll usually end up flying across the dining area and onto the kitchen island to temporarily end the pursuit.

This morning, though, Russ said Molly had clearly herded Willie, cutting him like a maverick calf until she could bump him.  We were thrilled.  Here, we have a hostile environment for cats.  Coyotes, an on-site bobcat, aggressive dogs, rattlesnakes and neighbors who like to set leg-hold traps are just some of the local threats.  Daily, the coyotes come through the ranch -- usually several times a day.  It is unusual to see a loose cat anywhere in the zip code -- and those that do survive are generally feral, fearful and cautious.  We live with the constant fear that our sweet kitties, unafraid and naive as they are, will perish promptly if they get loose.

Thanks to Molly, the occasions they've escaped have been reduced.  The cats hang out next to the front door, hiding to the side, and when we enter, they try to make a dash for it -- especially if our hands are full.  If Molly is with us, though, she has the habit of bowling the cats right over as she bolts indoors.  That has helped.  Going out, though, is still a hazard.

It doesn't surprise me that Molly's herding instinct saved the day (and nabbed Shotgun Willie).  It's going to come in very, very handy in the future, I think.  And leave it to a McNab to actually prove that you CAN herd cats.

Could she herd city council members?  That might just be the ultimate challenge -- and not to mention, rewarding to watch!

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller
Molly McNab, Dog of the Hour, and the Ever-Patient Earl the McNab

An Unusual Growth on Earl the Mcnab's Ear.

It appeared quite suddenly:  a growth the size of a pencil eraser on the edge of Earl's ear.  The small protuberance had a rough, domed surface and a pinkish-flesh color.  We'd brought Molly McNab home just a week or two before the growth appeared, and within a couple of days of its emergence Molly's needle-like puppy teeth burst it as she and Earl played.  It was flattened like a punctured tire after being ruptured, but within a couple of days it had returned to its previous shape and size.

It was clearly not a wart; I suspected either a malignancy or possibly a manifestation of Valley Fever (coccidiomycosis) in the skin.  It caused Earl no pain, itching or discomfort.

I took this photo to show the veterinarian when taking Molly in for her puppy shots:

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller

I knew it would be difficult to keep a hyper-exuberant, rambunctious terrorist of a puppy (yes, Molly is now a full-fledged wild child) away from her best friend's wound once the growth -- whatever it may be -- was excised.  As I'm awaiting surgery of my own for a torn rotator cuff, I've been trying to plan (I say that almost jokingly at this point) around my upcoming recuperation.  Can the growth wait before we remove it, I asked?  I want to be able to separate the dogs and manage them properly during Earl's recovery -- and for at least a month after my own surgery I won't be able to use my right arm.  No, Dr. Wyman said; the more it grows, the more challenging the surgery.  Even if the growth increases ever-so-slightly in size, it will be a bigger surgery on a challenging area of the ear.

I scheduled Earl for the following week with Dr. Ashmore.  In preparation, I ordered a "Comfy Cone" for Earl -- a foam-filled E-collar to prevent him (and the puppy) from making contact with the site post-surgery.  Comfy Cones are a vast improvement over the traditional white-plastic cones.  They have folds that allow the dog to rest comfortably, Velcro closures to make it easy to put on and take off, and flexibility and padding enough that when the dog inevitably smacks you on the legs, it doesn't scrape or bruise you.

Two days before the surgery date, the growth suddenly flaked off and flattened out.  It remained a hairless, flesh-colored irregular circle on the edge of the ear, but the bulk of it was gone.  I opted to keep the appointment, still concerned about a cancerous growth.  If Dr. Ashmore didn't believe the growth should come off, he wouldn't have to remove it.

In the morning pre-surgery appointment he looked at me, somewhat puzzled, after inspecting Earl's ear.  Thankfully, I had the photo on my iPad and could show him what it had looked like so I didn't appear to be an absolute helicopter pet-mom.  He said two things came to mind -- a histiocytoma, a benign growth that would be consistent with the fluctuations in size and appearance as the immune system conquered the lesion -- or a mast-cell tumor.

Argos, my dear companion that I lost in April, had suffered mast cell tumor growth as well.  Like Earl's ear growth, the tumor came up overnight and then stabilized in size.  Argos' first mast-cell tumor was huge, set against his ribs on one side, and did not have any hair loss.  Despite having far too much experience with different growths, benign and malignant, on Argos, I didn't recognize Earl's growth as familiar.  Because you've dealt with something before, you can't always assume you're seeing the same thing again -- and vice versa.

As we discussed options, and with Dr. Ashmore's input, I encouraged him to cut the growth off and just be done with it rather than waiting for any biopsy results before determining whether it needed removal.  One of my considerations was the possibility of needing to anesthetize Earl twice; the other factor, my own pending surgery.  If we were to just do a biopsy and then I'd need to schedule Earl the following week for surgery -- and if I were to be scheduled for my own just days later -- I would be unable to manage his recovery during my own.  Better just git'er done.

Because of location, it was obviously going to require cutting into the cartilage of the ear, and there wouldn't be much skin available to pull together afterwards -- meaning there was going to be a half-circle notch in Earl's lovely ear.  Dr. Ashmore told me he'd take a look at the cells before surgery and make the best determination possible as to how aggressive he should be in cutting out the growth.

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller
Earl Rocking his Comfy Cone

Having a dog named Earl is always great fun in public.  Yesterday afternoon as I waited at the vet's for Earl to come out post-surgery, the others in the room laughed and chanted Earl's name.  One tall, genial cowboy commented that Earl was a "good, manly name."  I laughed. "Earl's not exactly a manly dog," I admitted; "he's a bit … sensitive."

Earl did well during the surgery and, as we anticipated, came out with quite a notch in his ear -- like a huge, flesh-eating cutter bee had chewed a scallop out of the edge.

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller
Earl's Notched Ear

Above is Earl's sad "new" ear.  It's shaved, of course.  No sooner did I let him out of the car and he made his way drunkenly to Russ -- still woozy from the anesthesia -- did Russ look at him and say, "Welcome home, Chip."  It's Earl's most-reliably-erect ear, too -- so it will be more prominent in appearance than it would have been on the floppy ear.  Earl is getting character-marks.

As for Molly's greeting, she couldn't wait to jump up at Earl with happy snarls and invitations to play -- but all in all, she was much calmer than I was anticipating.  She hasn't shown any interest in licking or gnawing at his stitches, but she risks bumping the incision and breaking it open.  At this point, I'm optimistic that I'll be able to manage them more easily than I expected -- but they'll still require great caution and supervision.  Between the two of them, they have figured out how to remove Earl's stylish, comfortable cone, but it doesn't appear he's going to need it at this point.

A couple of notes on the Comfy Cone:  all in all it appears to be a well-made, useful product.  It has a nifty piping around the edge that is reflective -- handy to have if your dog happens to escape while recovering from surgery.  Keep in mind that their peripheral vision is impaired by the cone and as such they can easily wander into harm's way.

 I didn't anchor it to Earl's collar nor did I put the usual ring of Vet-rap around his neck through the collar's handy loops.  If he appears to need the collar because either he or the little terrorist are worrying the ear, I will affix it to the collar.  It was difficult choosing the correct size collar as varying brands of flexible E-collars have vastly different sizing system.  Despite Earl's neck measurements seeming to indicate a larger size, I opted for the one that would fit more snugly due to the collar's maker noting that it was the right size for "border collies, Australian shepherds" etc.  It barely fits him and is on the last ring of Velcro.  In making my selection, I was concerned about having a collar that wasn't snug enough.  Should you order a Comfy Cone, I suggest ordering based solely on neck measurement in inches and disregarding completely the manufacturer's suggestions based on breed.  Earl is not large for a stock dog yet could use a large sized cone.

Comfy Cone Flexible E-Collar

The Comfy Cone did arrive on time although I chose standard shipping through Amazon.   I ordered on  a Sunday and it was here by Wednesday afternoon -- well in time for Earl's Friday-morning surgery.

We are still waiting, of course, for the results of the histopathology (lab results) on Earl's growth.  In the meantime, keep an eye on those unusual growths on your dogs!  Those of us who've had breeds prone to harmless lipomas -- fatty tumors common in Labs, for example -- may easily recognize some of the less sinister growths.  It's a good idea to know what sort of breeds are prone to specific growths.  Ask your vet what you might expect from your own dog's skin.  If in doubt, always have any new growths checked promptly.  It's much easier to remove a small growth than a large one!

Copyright © 2014 MJ Miller.  All rights reserved.  No part of this content, in whole or in part, may be reproduced without permission of the author.  Links to this page, however, may be freely shared.  Thank you for pinning, liking, linking, sharing, emailing, +1'ing and otherwise helping grow my readership.  Most of all, thank you for reading!