MeghanIsMe

Aw, poor pupper. I had all the windows wide open today so the condo would feel fresh and outdoorsy. I just realized that Rufus was sitting on the couch shivering; he gets cold so easily. I snuggled with him to help warm him up, gave him a towel to burrow under, and closed the windows down to a sliver.

I'm listening to Stat Songs as I work. This is the greatest song on the album.

"A leg
Now I get it
I'll tell the person next to me
And then haul off and die"

I'm going to miss my weird little Chihuahua housemate, but it's swiftly becoming time to find a new person or people to take care of him. It'll be extra rough for him and I both after Danae moves. I wrote up a description of him and his care and feeding instructions. With some editing from Danae, here they are! It's a lot, but I care about him and want to tell people as much as I can. Wanna know about caring for an epileptic Chihuahua?

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Hi there! I'm Rufus the Chihuahua's foster daddy!

My partner and I have been taking care of Rufus (also known as goofus, floofus, roof-roof, etc.) for quite a while now. I've always been a big-dog person, but I've come to care for and love Rufus so much! However, my partner and I are moving out of the country, so Evanston Animal Shelter needs to find new foster parents for him until he's ready for a forever home. So let me tell you about him!

Rufus is extremely loving and cuddly with people he knows. He is quite content to spend most of his time snuggling with me on my chair in front of the computer, or squirming up against me to nestle against me while I'm on the couch. He's often sitting with my partner when I get home from work and he gets so excited to hear me that he'll start squeaking and screaming (I don't have a better word for it!) and pulling against his leash to get to me as fast as he possibly can!

That said, we do have to keep him on a leash all the time (or in diapers). He's not neutered and will take nearly any opportunity to find something to lift a leg against and mark. He hasn't been neutered yet because he has epilepsy that is not sufficiently controlled for him to have surgery. His seizures are pretty scary the first time you see one, and they last a long time; as much as 45 minutes to an hour typically, and sometimes as long as two hours. They do not seem to cause him any harm, but we worry that he is scared and confused while seizing. I tend to put him somewhere safe like a corner of the couch with one of us and tell him he's a good boy and make sure he knows I'm around. He can't control his movement and can fall off of things while seizing, so if he's not on the floor it's important to be near him. Since his seizures are what are called partial seizures, he sometimes is able to move around while seizing, but he does so in a kind of drunken stumble. When he is seizing but mobile, he can be given food and medication, if done with care.

He's a very strong-willed dog. I'm told that's true of most Chihuahuas, but I've never had one before so it's new to me. He wants what he wants and is not afraid to let you know. The way he does that is to growl. I'm not used to dogs that growl so much. If you want to move him from his spot on the couch he growls. When you pick him up and set him down he growls. It's not a growl of aggression; just kind of a "Hey! That's not what I want!" I've gotten used to it, but I wasn't at first and was worried he was actually angry. His actual angry barks and snarls are distinct!

He takes medicine for the seizures, but so far it has not eliminated them. It seems to have reduced their intensity at least. He has seizures approximately once a week, and they are sometimes brought on by excitement. I've seen them start when his dinner alarm goes off, or when he's really excited by someone coming in to the apartment. On the other hand, they sometimes seem to start for no reason at all.

Rufus likes to play! His idea of play is to try to grab your hand with his forepaws while making excited growls and play-biting at your hand. I've tried to get him interested in biting at toys more than hands, but I haven't been very succesful I'm afraid. He has one toy, a lamb with a squeaker in it, that he loves, and will spend a lot of time biting and squeaking. I've tried introducing other toys, but he's not very interested in those either. He's stubborn. Good thing he's so cute. Rufus also likes to sing. Certain squeaky toys, when squeaked, will prompt him to make a high pitched noise that is somehow simultaneously adorable and annoying. We’ve found that if you make a sound that is a similar pitch with your own voice, this will also get him singing.

Rufus knows how to sit. Sometimes, though, he just doesn’t want to. He also knows the command “crate”, though he expects to get a treat after going in his crate at least *some* of the time. We’ve also been training him with the command, “Wait” before going through a door. The idea is to delay his inevitable lunge at another person who turns out to be on the other side of the door. Even when he really needs to pee, he is a very good boy and will wait a minute or so until you say, “All done”, which is how he knows he is allowed to go through the door. Admittedly, he does not wait properly when there is someone on the other side of the door. But he hesitates long enough to give you a chance to rein him in.

He is not very social with strangers or other animals outside of the people he already knows. Our cat is over twice his weight, but Rufus still tries to chase and bully the cat. I would recommend a home that doesn't have cats, for your own sanity. It kind of drives me crazy how often he tries to chase and pester our kitty. He also does not get along well with other dogs. He gets very snarly and aggressive and I just keep him away from them for everyone's safety and sanity. He can be pretty defensive when people he doesn't know come into his living space, but if you give the new person a few treats to give to Rufus, he warms up to them pretty quickly. It usually takes about five treats before he decides that someone is safe. He has a pretty good memory for people he has met. Once he realizes that a person entering ‘his’ territory is someone he knows, he gets very excited, and is often quite eager to cuddle with his long-lost friend.

Here are detailed instructions on his medicine, food, and potty habbits:

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MEDICINE

He is on two medications. Leviticeteram, and potassium bromide. They are both liquids and we give them to him with a dosing syringe. The numbers on the syringes seem to keep wearing off over time, but CVS or Walgreens will provide them free. He takes medicine three times a day. I give him his medicine, then a treat. He's not a big fan of the medicine, but he will put up with it. However, he gets upset with my partner when she tries to medicate him. One of the syringes we use got stuck while she was giving him a dose, then suddenly shot a lot of liquid into his mouth. Because of that, Rufus gets defensive and snarly when she tries to give him medicine. I'm not sure if he'll be that way with other people or not, but he is pretty responsive to treats when he's grumpy. I'll be happy to show you how I dose him.

Morning:
1.25 ml of levetiracetam
0.19 ml of potassium bromide

Mid-day:
1.25 ml of levetiracetam

Evening
1.25 ml of levetiracetam
0.19 ml of potassium bromide

I get up early to get to work, so his morning dose has been around 5:00 AM. My partner was giving him his mid-day dose around 2:00, but because of his more recent issue with her, I've been doing it when I get home around 4:00 PM. Then we give him his evening dose before bed around 8:30 or 9:00 PM.

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FOOD

Rufus eats 1/3 of a cup per day.

Morning
I feed him 1/6 of a cup when I leave for work at 5:00 AM.

Evening
I feed him 1/6 of a cup when his dinner alarm goes off at 6:00 PM. He gets so excited when his alarm goes off! It's adorable! You can also sing his dinner alarm to him. He recognizes it, even off-key.

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Potty breaks:

I take him outside in the morning at 5:00 AM, and before I go to bed around 8:30 PM. He typically goes out once during the day too. He can wait quite a while between going outside, but as I noted, he's really quick to pee on things if you give him a chance to. I think that's in no small part because he is intact; I hope he'll be much better about house-training once he's snipped.

Erik taught me to cross-stitch! I think the resemblance is spot-on, don't you? *grins*

I miss my tiny-dog. I was reading my posts from today and thinking of being at the vet with him and how happy he is when he sees me and how much I'd like to snuggle him and watch him squirm against me. He's so cute! Happy thoughts for distressed times.

I won't be seeing Rufus today, but I'll get some time with Erik's dog Fluffy this evening!

Rufus, our foster Chihuahua, started a second seizure medicine a week ago. He had another seizure yesterday morning, but it was much more mild than the ones he's had before. Previously, his limbs would lock and spasm and he couldn't do anything but shake. This time, he was able to slowly move around, wobbling as though he was drunk, and was even able to eat a little if I fed him individual pieces by hand. It was a huge relief to see!

I don't know how long it lasted because I had to get to work, but he was doing well enough that I wasn't worried about putting him in the crate like I always do before work.

I didn't mention that Rufus tore another claw. Maybe it's more common with small dogs? It was most of the way off Sunday night, and on Monday it came off entirely. I only noticed because his foot was bleeding on the floor on Sunday evening. It stopped pretty quickly, and when we called the vet on Monday she made an appointment for him this afternoon. That's the second time he's hurt a claw like that, the poor little guy.

The shelter let me know yesterday that they got an appointment for Rufus with a neurologist today. Danae and I drove out last night to drop him off at the shelter so they can take him in tomorrow. I really wish I could be with him. If I could have, I would scheduled a day off since I have to work Saturday anyway. It just makes me sad to think about him feeling very scared with no one familiar around. He was shaking in the kennel when I left him; it's hard to leave a dog in that state when he trusts you and cares for you.

I still don't really want to own a Chihuahua long-term, but I'm feeling more of a connection with him as time goes. He's been getting a bit more snuggly, and I've been giving him more attention too.

He continues to bark at and chase our cat. And bark at noises in the hall. And bark at and chase people in the elevator and lobby, people outside the building, and cars going by on the street. It really makes me crazy sometimes. He still pees in the condo when he can, too. I've had to keep him on leash and under supervision the whole time I'm around, and yesterday he got away from my sight for a few minutes and promptly peed on a bag of recycling in the kitchen. "Why do you do that!?" I yelled in a moment of frustration from above the puddle as he looked at me. I think he knows we don't want him to, but he does it anyway. He's a stubborn, headstrong little thing.

When he's not fiercely asserting his sovereignty though, he can be truly sweet. I really missed his presence in bed last night, burrowed under the blankets and curled up against my leg. I miss him today, too, even though I'd be away from at work right now anyway. I hope good information is gained by the doggie brain doctor.

It was *cold* this morning. My bike computer says about -5C / 23F. It was the first day I've arrived at work with a little moisture from my breath frozen into my mustache as ice. I was ok without the balaclava after I acclimated, but I maybe should have worn my mittens. After ten or fifteen minutes, though, I got to what I think of as my operating temperature and felt mostly comfortable.

I fixed my bike lock yesterday with the application of some Tri-flow oil. I've washed my hands any number of times since then and I can still smell the oil on my hands. At least I can unlock my bike!

I'm planning to start working much more consistently with Rufus. I'm going to start feeding him on a set schedule in the morning when I get up (around 5) and in the evening before bed, maybe around 7:30. I read that Chihuahuas often do best with three small meals, so I also ordered a treat/food-dispensing toy to give him a third meal during the day and hopefully keep him occupied.

I used half his dinner to do some 'come' training. I think it will be slow. I'm also training proper leash demeanor by stopping every time he pulls rather than let him feel like he's pulling me along. He seems to pick that up quite quickly!

My average mental state is a little better lately and I'm itching to get back to electronics work. First I want to feel like I'm more caught up on stuff around the house. (Why do I feel like I need to be more caught up on stuff for electronics, but not for something like Factorio? I don't know. Something to explore there.) I paid bills and made progress on kitchen cleaning yesterday, and I've been doing a little bit around the house most days.

In Factorio, I realized that I can put multiple train stops on one spur line and use logic and chain signals to keep trains from stacking up on the mainline waiting for a delivery/pickup train to clear the spur. It works really nicely for low-volume stops! I'm many, many hours in to my current Bob's + Angel's game and have not come near launching a rocket, but I don't care. I'm still enjoying just building and tweaking systems. That's why this toy/game is so wonderful to me; I've been playing with it for a year or two and I still keep inventing new approaches to things.

I was home from work Wednesday; I was too tired and too crazy to make it in. I couldn't help but stay up with the election returns on Tuesday. There was a point when 538's live forecast, before they switched to a less volatile model, was predicting better than even odds of Republicans taking the house and it made me feel physically ill. It was like reliving the increasing horror of the odds of a Clinton victory sliding ever downward on election night two years ago. I didn't get to sleep until after midnight and was dead on my feet at quarter to five when I usually start getting ready for the day.

Danae was home with me. At first, I thought I'd sleep in a bit and do some work. Instead, I spent the day on the couch with her until my therapy appointment, startled awake over and over from bad dreams.

In the end, the results are basically what I expected, and that's pretty good. I'm scared of Sessions leaving, and sad about Texas and Florida, but I don't even know what I'd do if the Democrats didn't have the lower chamber. There's a lot of balancing to do for the left, between aggressively fighting the right's agenda and avoiding some kind of public perception of spiteful obstructionism. (Why doesn't that seem to be a problem for the right?) I worry about whether things will get much better and that they'll end up staying the same or even getting worse. Continued one-party control of all of Congress, though, feels like a bullet-train to hell so at least that left the station without us.

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Between Rufus having another seizure last night and working at the dog shelter afterward until nine, I overslept enough this morning that I drove the car in. I'm disappointed; I would have loved to bike in the first snow of the year.

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I suspect have a different relationship to a lot of music than most people. Music is tied closely enough to social groups and culture that someone's tastes in it can serve as a shorthand for any number of characteristics. I, though, typically am exposed to music through buying a CD at a thrift store that I've heard of or that sounds interesting and seeing whether I like it in a vacuum, disconnected from the context that a typical listener might associate with it. I also typically listen to entire albums at once to start with, because I want to place the individual songs in the context of the the others.

I bought Lady Gaga's "The Fame" a few days ago and have listened to it. It's certainly tightly put together, technically. Paparazzi and Poker Face particularly are catchy and stick in my head. Paparazzi, of course, is a super-creepy song about a stalker, while Poker Face seems to be about intentionally withholding your thoughts and feelings from someone you're attracted to.

Oddly enough, it made me think a little about Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell." I already owned the LP, but I found it on CD a while back and had to buy it that way too to make listening in the car easier. I like most of that album because, even though it sets up clearly adversarial relationships with the women in the song, the coherent nature of the songs as a whole paints an interesting character portrait of the singer and I can kind of get inside his head a little bit. Like acting, I can live a little bit of another life for a bit and have experiences that aren't in my real life. I don't get that from "The Fame." It's either too far outside my own experience, or expresses actions and a mindset that I don't feel any desire to be inside of.

On a tangent, it occurred to me that, while most of "Bat Out of Hell" would be simply awful philosophy to base relationships on, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is actually an example of pretty good communication!

...And now I have Poker Face in my head. It's amazing how catchy pop music can be.

Another nightmare last night left me slightly disoriented and confused this morning. Miriam kindly gave me a few snuggles before getting back to sleep and I talked myself through my morning routine to make sure I didn't forget things. I ate a bunch of chocolate as I went, so I'll have a smaller breakfast once I get to work.

Rufus took his medicine very well and without even needing peanut butter! He got several treats after that.

With the mental confusion plus my still-sore leg (which kept me home from the dog shelter last night) I decided to drive to work rather than try to get there by bike. If there wasn't a 'company engagement' event I'm supposed to be at today as well as a couple other folks being out, I might have called in sick. I still felt a little mental fog on the way in, but am doing ok now. I'll use the opportunity to take one more book truck home with me.