Inconvenient Annoyances

My dog is officially getting old.  He has arthritis in his right knee and needs help to get on the couch or my bed now. (Yes I know, I shouldn't allow him on the bed or the couch but it brings him/me so much joy I do not care) He hasn't even been able to do a full walk without limping lately.  He's only 8 and I really don't want him to pass while I'm in the UK. 

P.S. He's a very big dog, 100 lbs and only a bit overweight.  So, I know that big dogs have a shorter lifespan. 

Aw, that makes me sad. My boy's 7 (also big, though 60lbs rather than 100), and I'm still stubbornly sticking with the "mature adult"/"middle aged" labels for him. I really don't want to think about him as old.

Anyway, I hope your boy stays comfortable/happy for many more years.

The best you can do is enjoy all those couch and bed cuddles.  Hugs.

And maybe a step would help if it's arthritis making big jumps a problem?  We have a cat step at the foot of the bed.  Really, it's just a pine box, but it turns the big leap into 2 steps. 

Oddly enough, there is an upside to the fact that our fat cat can't jump like he used to -- it means he can't leap onto the counter and eat our little cat's food.  It's the little things.

My Dog Wika, whom I brought with me to the UK died a couple yeasr ago.  She was 12 and since my family back home bred German Shepherds, I had her since she was a day old (long story).  I had to hand feed her with a dropper and then with a doll bottle.  I imprinted on her like you wouldn't believe but as you can imagine and let absolutely no one near me, which was a problem when I took her to Manhattan on our walks since in an urban setting, personal space can get a lot smaller. 

Anyway, she died here, we had to put her down and I have to say the vet was an absolute b*tch about it.  Wika developed all sorts of issues because she was the runt of the litter and if things didn't happen the way they did, i.e. normally, nature would have taken her course and she would have died in the litter.  She had that congenital condition GSDs get - hip displaysia, and at the end she got another common neurological things which basically stopped her from getting up, let alone walking.  It was obvious that it was her time, but with this vet, omg, she was trying to bully me to let her go, practically yelling at me (in the way English people yell, that is) and I just needed a little more time to process.  Wika was still very alert, wagging her tail. 

I didn't know it was like this, but when you have to put your dog down at a vet's, it's not as easy as ok, fine, do it.  You have to sign paperwork!  I was bawling, (and so was Nige, bless him) and this b*tch is shoving my dog's execution papers in my face - no compassion, more like annoyance at me.  You have to sign papers that say, yes, I want to kill my dog.  It is awful.  I cried for weeks.  Anyway.....

Sara --> There are a few things you can try for canine arthritis which really help.  From supplements of the obvious - glucosamine and chondroiten, to finding a dog food for old dogs that have these in it, to prescription meds like Rimadyl.  Fish oil supplements also work and something called green lipped mussel.  And btw, I have two pups now, and I let them on the beds and sofa all the time

I didn't know it was like this, but when you have to put your dog down at a vet's, it's not as easy as ok, fine, do it.  You have to sign paperwork!  I was bawling, (and so was Nige, bless him) and this b*tch is shoving my dog's execution papers in my face - no compassion, more like annoyance at me.  You have to sign papers that say, yes, I want to kill my dog.  It is awful.  I cried for weeks.  Anyway.....

When my cat got sick before I moved here I had to put her down too...In the states they cant do it without you signing papers too.  Now compassion is a different story but its a law

Sara --> There are a few things you can try for canine arthritis which really help.  From supplements of the obvious - glucosamine and chondroiten, to finding a dog food for old dogs that have these in it, to prescription meds like Rimadyl.  Fish oil supplements also work and something called green lipped mussel.  And btw, I have two pups now, and I let them on the beds and sofa all the time

My parents' dog is on a couple of joint supplements (she's a German Shepherd mix and had surgery to fix an ACL). She gets around pretty well - she'll be all wimpy about something (especially sitting) but then she miraculously becomes able to stand on her hind legs long enough to steal food off the counters. Go figure. I can ask my parents what they have her on, if you'd like.

Aw, I'm sorry.  It's hard to see pets get old.

We had to put our 12 year old bulldog to sleep on my last trip home.  (Like, I didn't fly home for that, he just happened to start failing rather quickly pretty much when the plane landed).  He had all the bulldog problems, though.  Arthritis, skin issues, breathing problems.  So it was the right thing to do, obviously, but still very hard.

We have a great vet though - they came to the house to assess if he was in pain (he was, but we couldn't tell, they could by his heart rate) and then a few days after, we got a card in the mail from them telling them how sorry they were and how they thought he was such a sweet dog and that he was well loved.  It helped!  (although I almost teared up just now thinking about the card, goodness)

Mine is blooming stinking disgusting mice of evil. We moved house because of our last in-ability to get rid of mice and I just saw a freaking mouse run out from our fireplace.

Seriously, I will burn the house down if I have to, I am not living with mice.
I'm currently creating a humane mouse trap from a bucket, peanut butter, a coathanger and a can. It better catch the bugger.

The mice are trying to take over the world. Even with a fairly active cat we still have the little varmints.  They wrecked our new stove by stashing the b****y cat's food in it. DH has blocked up the hole under the sink, so hope they will at least find it more difficult to get in the kitchen.

The mice are trying to take over the world. Even with a fairly active cat we still have the little varmints.  They wrecked our new stove by stashing the b****y cat's food in it. DH has blocked up the hole under the sink, so hope they will at least find it more difficult to get in the kitchen.

I went a bit mousetrap crazy, there's like 17 in there now.
*sigh*

I'm having an ebay nightmare, bought something from ebay, released seller had listed the size in the auction, not the header, so messaged them about 5 seconds later to get correct size, this was couple of days ago, have been messaging them every since. Finally got a response today, already shipped wrong item. Great. Will need to return it, but to add insult to injury have sent it to billing address not Payal or Shipping address. WTF?!
Billing address is from 3 years ago. Never going to get item then. Great.

2 things for me today!

I am trying to find a fancy dress costume for my mums 60t birthday, I have seen loads that I like but the 'standard' size is 10 (standard for who?). You can also get plus size costumes for 16+ And me as a size 14 what am I supposed to do? Argh its so annoying! I am also very tall so all these cute little costumes look obscene on me!

Secondly, for the 3rd day this week somebody has come around our desks at work trying to get us to part with our money for charity. Cakes on Monday, cakes yesterday and raffle tickets today. I felt bad for not buying any raffle tickets today but i gave the man some cake money yesterday and the pressure tactics are not helping. I am not made of money!!!!

Errr umm.... I am looking for movers because I have a large bookcase that needs shifting with my stuff and I figured that if I could get movers in, they mine as well shift everything else along with it
Now, besides the bookcase, I am moving from furnished flat to furnished flat- 5 miles within each other, its just dishes, pots/pans, clothes, and musical instruments and I'm getting quotes of £600-£700! WHAT? 
       

Errr umm.... I am looking for movers because I have a large bookcase that needs shifting with my stuff and I figured that if I could get movers in, they mine as well shift everything else along with it
Now, besides the bookcase, I am moving from furnished flat to furnished flat- 5 miles within each other, its just dishes, pots/pans, clothes, and musical instruments and I'm getting quotes of £600-£700! WHAT? 
       

I went through that a couple of years ago, moving a 1-bedroom flat worth of stuff < 10 miles. Moving companies were quoting me anywhere from £500 - £1000 for what would have been at most half a day's work!

In the end I got a recommendation off a friend for a man with a van service, and he did it (with my help) in 3 hours, for £120. If you lived in London I'd pass on his number, but your best bet is still to seek out something similar - at least in my experience!

Today I was reminded of how annoying finding a place to live is.  Went to see a house today.  There was a mop bucket in the entrance hall of this somewhat shabby, but spacious abode.  I thought "Well, they cleaned it up a bit, at least that's a good thing."  Upon further inspection, the mop bucket was covering a GIANT HOLE IN THE FLOOR. 

No wonder they had no problem with pets...they knew they would disappear into the pit of despair eventually!

Errr umm.... I am looking for movers because I have a large bookcase that needs shifting with my stuff and I figured that if I could get movers in, they mine as well shift everything else along with it
Now, besides the bookcase, I am moving from furnished flat to furnished flat- 5 miles within each other, its just dishes, pots/pans, clothes, and musical instruments and I'm getting quotes of £600-£700! WHAT? 
       

Crazy.  I have moved my 1-bed flat twice, once 10 miles and once 20.  I paid just under £300 and just over £400.  And that was London.

Thanks all.  He's on Glucosamine, but I'll look into a food for old boys.  The step is a good idea, I've been thinking about it- but hate to admit he's at that point.

He did manage to steal my lunch off the counter.  Apparently, his arthritis doesn't prevent him from mooching. 

In the end I got a recommendation off a friend for a man with a van service, and he did it (with my help) in 3 hours, for £120. If you lived in London I'd pass on his number, but your best bet is still to seek out something similar - at least in my experience!

When I moved out of my flat in Bristol and back to my parents house (15 miles away) last year, I decided to hire a small van to move my bed and other furniture (basically all the stuff that wouldn't fit in the car) - it only cost about £50 for 4 hours of hire (driven ourselves rather than by the van service guy though).