SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY

Hello Harriet,

This is our entry for this week’s SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

 

 

What ?

Our entry is invalid because there is no shadow?

But that IS Shadow - Our brand new kid brother. And this picture was shot today morning and today IS Sunday.

What do you mean he is very cute and handsome but you don’t mean THIS Shadow?

 

Oh! Alrighty!

We get it. Let us see if we can find what you are looking for.

After all, this is your meme and you get to decide the rules ** wink***

OK, What about THIS shot?

Mummy’s afternoon cup of coffee in the hospital-canteen.

 

These eloquent disposable paper cups were a pleasant deviation from the usual dull-white porcelain ones.

Look what they had to say!

 

 

Guess they are actually meant for tea. But hardly matters, does it? The main thing is to get a laugh out of things.

 

Coffee-breaks in the canteen, amongst students and young interns, brings back a lot of memories of Mummy’s college days.

They are all there, the different phases of medical school- the Freshers, euphoric to be in, still unaware of the extent of hardships ahead, The final year students bowed down by the never-ending tests, yearning for just some more sleep! The interns haggard and tired from hours of duty but glad anyway to have cleared one hurdle and getting ahead of the exam going students!

And then, there are those moments of loud laughter, fun, jokes and the unmistakable camaraderie of friends.

Some for just those years together in college. And some, for a life-time…

 

Wags,

ginger & buddy

 

 

For more Shadow Shots, Please click on the picture below

 

Jed and ABBY in Merryland

We have had Jed and Abby visiting us and leaving encouraging comments on our blog for quite sometime now. We wanted to go over and say ‘Hello’ to our new friends but we can’t seem to find their site.
We reach their blogger profile from the link on our comment form and then, it is a dead end. We can’t find any url leading to their site there.
Even the e-mail link doesn’t let us send any mail.
Can anyone please tell us the link to their site?
And Hey! Jed and Abby, if you are reading this, please let us know how we can come visit u.
We love making new friends and certainly wouldn’t like to lose you.

Thanks everyone, for your advice and concern about our problem. It means a lot to us.
We definitely will let you know as soon as we find a safe solution.
I,Ginger, never mean to have any puppies. It is sad because I could have been a good mother. I love kids, both fur and otherwise. Why else do you think I let my little puppy brother to steal my treats from inside my mouth?

Yes, he has learnt to do just that!! And very conveniently for him, his mouth is so small it fits right inside mine very easily.
Sigh!!
Well, I was talking about not having puppies. Not only because I cannot be expected to withstand the stress of pregnancy with a weak heart, but also because it is our responsibility not to pass on birth defects to future generations of puppies.
So, spaying is the best option for me. And if it turns out that my heart will never allow surgery even with the safest anaesthesia, we will have to get the boys neutered. That much is clear. The only problem is finding a nice, trustworthy, compassionate vet in Hyderabad.
Well, the worst case scenario is that we might just never find one here and have to wait till we reach Delhi. Once this season is over, we will have some time till my next season is due.
So, life should be back to normal.

Quite a few of our friends are celebrating ‘THANKSGIVING’ soon.
Wishing you all a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY. Hope you get heaps of treats, scrumptious food and pawsome gifts.

Wags,

Ginger & Buddy

THE MATTER OF MY HEART

Thank you so much, dear friends. Now that we know you haven’t forgotten us, we can relax a bit!
 
Last few days have been very hard for us.
Mummy has been making multiple vet visits and we accompanied her on a few.
No, none of us are sick. But there are other life changing decisions to be taken which are very hard for us all here.
You see, I am in my estrus cycle right now and the boys have started to behave funnily.
Yes. I, Ginger, haven’t yet been spayed.
 
Long back, when I was a puppy , I was diagnosed with Cardiac Arrhythmia which means an irregularly beating heart. There is a thing called regularly irregular (which is slightly better) and irregularly irregular (which is when the heart beats without any pattern). My heart beats with an irregularly irregular rhythm.
Surgery wasn’t a safe option and being an only fur-child, I didn’t have to worry about the consequences of my estrus cycles.
Things are different now.
 
It would be easy to get the boys neutered but we have been told that this ups the chances of bone cancers and thyroid problems in boy-doggies. The chances are pretty high, so it is not really advisable unless absolutely necessary. Especially before complete maturity is attained as this will hamper bone growth. That absolutely rules out getting Shadow neutered right now.
Buddy is very prone to allergies- skin, nasal, you name it. He develops itchy fur and a dripping nose at the slightest provocation. Nothing very serious, but it puts him at a risk to develop allergic reaction to anaesthetic medication, a common enough condition to make us worry.
I, on the other paw, would benefit from the surgery. Unlike in boys, girls have the very high risk of mammary cancers if unsprayed.
Getting my surgery done would have solved a lot of problems.
That is the reason Mummy has been researching the options we have. We have been burning the 3 AM oil poring over scientific studies, publications and anything we can get our paws on.
Mummy has been visiting vets to talk about the availability of safe anaesthetic options for me. Sadly, the conventional injectable medication Ketamine, which is used rampantly here is absolutely contraindicated for my heart as it causes ventricular tachycardia.
And we haven’t been able to find a reliable anaesthesiologist who can provide gas anaesthesia which is the safest option for me.
Mummy is rather frustrated at the state of affairs here in Hyderabad. Many senior, well-established and renowned vets with fancy clinics have scoffed at her for worrying about the anaesthesia.
‘We have been doing it this way, it is far less time consuming and easier’ is what they told her.
 
Well, thank you very much.
But we are NOT looking for an easier route here. Besides, ‘we have always been doing it’ is a totally unacceptable statement when it comes to our health and safety.
How can people be so casual about something that endangers life? Do they think we are dispensable and replaceable?
Till Buddy came to live with us we didn’t need to be bothered about my surgery if it meant taking a huge risk.
I am, by now, well adjusted to my estrus cycles and consider it a part of my life.
I usually go about my daily activities without a care, am absolutely comfortable with wearing sanitary nappies, enjoy all the extra attention I get and generally concentrate on being the doll that I am.
 

 

So, we had planned to research all my options once we are in Delhi (Yes, we are planning to move back to Daddy’s home-city Delhi early next year. Paws crossed).
Mummy knows of plenty of vets there who would never say she worries too much. And there are better and well equipped hospitals too.
Besides, with age my heart will have grown strong enough, we thought, to withstand the surgery.
Things have suddenly changed now.
One vet here has given us the option of Delvosteron- an injectable progesterone analogue which can suppress the cycles. It is supposedly safer than most other non-surgical options available.
But the scariest and most worrisome problem associated with its use is the increased chance of mammary cancers.
The other side-effects are lethargy, weight gain, pain, depression, nausea and vomiting and loss of appetite, akin to a true pregnancy state.
Well, Mummy is in no mood to subject me to something I don’t need and which will definitely cause so many side-effects. I am happy and healthy and she sees no reason to upset my life, even if it is for a few days.
The problem of Buddy and Shadow going insane for about 5 days in the middle of my cycle remains.
I feel very, very sad because they will go through a lot of stress. Right now they are only sniffing me hard and trying to lick me.
But being the absolute SUPER DUPER GOOD dog that Buddy is, he stops immediately when Mummy says NO.
Shadow-boy is learning too and isn’t being too much of a trouble. We are still playing, eating and sleeping together and going on regular walkies without any problem.

 

 

But it won’t be like this when the middle of my cycle approaches.
 
The influence of the pheromones is too great and my dear, dear big brother Buddy who is such a gentle-doggy will no longer be himself.
Shadow, of course will be new to this experience and we don’t know how he will take it, poor little boy!
We are planning to somehow manage this time, segregation and some anti-anxiety medication should help. And then, we plan to go for some detailed tests to find out how bad my heart problem is.
And Mummy says I will need to go for surgery ONLY IF she is more than sure.
So you know now how taxing all these has been for us.
 
We will really appreciate if any of you can offer any suggestions, help or information about our problem.
How risky is it to neuter boy-doggies? Of course the incidence of cancer varies from region to region, but we would still like to know.
Have any of you had any experience with Delvosteron or any such oral or injectable drug that suppresses cycles?
Could you please ask your vets if possible and get an opinion?
 
Mummy, in the meanwhile plans to go on few more vet visits and find someone who can assure us of safe anaesthesia and stuff.
Even if Buddy and Shadow are put under the knife, she would like to investigate them thoroughly to be sure they do not have any problem like mine.
This should have been so routine, the concern for safe anaesthesia and a thorough pre-surgical check-up, that is.
But most pawple are satisfied to take the easier and faster injectable anaesthetic route rather than go in for the longer but safer gas anaesthesia.
It is JUST RIDICULOUS.
Pawple around here need to get more aware, we think, so they will demand this and vets and hospitals will be bound to take up the safer route.
Money is not really the concern here. Most pawple are paying fancy bucks in fancy clinics without qualms but do not bother to take the trouble to learn a little more about our safety.
More than half the pawple are just too busy to go with their canine friends and have a care-taker to take them to the clinic.
We Dogs certainly do not deserve this.
Where are the questions pawple never fail to ask when a human family member undergoes surgery?
Trust us, Mummy takes hours and days to convince most pawple about safe surgery, being a surgeon herself. A human patient needs to be cleared by the anaesthesiologist even if it means a minor procedure.
Forget surgery, most pawple would take hours to question about the safety of oral medicines while getting their children treated.
She just wishes she could see the same concern, fear, inquisitiveness when it comes to subjecting us canines and felines to any sort of treatment, medical or surgical.
She thinks we deserve it more than humans do, because no human on earth can claim to trust and love and be loyal like we are - ever.
 
Well, here are a few pictures from one of my vet visits.
This vet is one lady we really liked. She truly is a caring and well-read lady and she took the time to answer all of Mummy’s questions.
But unfortunately, she has only just started her clinic and hasn’t yet readied her surgery. It is on the way, but will take some time. We know she will do really well. We don’t have her picture because Mummy was so busy asking questions, she forgot to take one!
But yes, we got a few other pictures.

See that blur Mummy is TRYING TO HOLD holding? She is Rimjhim, which means a drizzle. She is the vet’s fur-girl- a six month old Cocker spaniel-Dachshund mix.
It took about 100 million shots to get a proper picture of the fidgety little girl!

 

 
This tiny little girl is my namesake Ginger. She is just 72 days old and was very, very sick with Leptospirosis.

 

The blue in her eyes is clouding due to liver problems.
Didn’t we tell you how irresponsible pawple here are? Well, believe it or not, Ginger has never been vaccinated, poor girl.
We hope she recovers. She was even smaller than Buddy’s head and looked just like a stuffy!
I guess it has been raining puppies recently! Glad we got one of them!
 

 

Just a REMINDER

If you have not forgotten us, we are sure you will soon. We certainly don’t want that to happen and so we came up with this idea to post our recent pictures, till Mumsy dahlin can find some time to help us post proper stuff again and go visit you.
There is so much happening right now. And we don’t just mean managing our little puppy brother. In fact, Shadow is settling down pretty well and is being a very bright, smart and happy boy.
But we have to tell you that he doesn’t understand what ‘sleeping like a puppy’ means. Not only does he want to play and hop around like a rabbit all his waking hours, but he also seems to believe we are wasting our time sleeping!
SIGH! It won’t be long before we lose all our fur.
We shall get Mummy to tell you all that has been happening at our front here.
Till then, here is our picture from yesterday. Please excuse our puppy brother. He hasn’t still learnt to smile at the camera and hasn’t a clue about what blogging means.
We are working on him, though.

Wags,

Buddy & Ginger

Pee ess: Please don’t forget us

PICTURESQUE THOUGHTS!

 

Mummy got this lovely little book as a gift from a friend yesterday and she is rather pleased with herself!

 

 

At first we could not understand why she was so excited about stuff someone else had to say about things. (She herself, usually, has a lot to say about almost everything on earth!!…Hee hee hee..)

But once we browsed through this nice smelling book, we realised why she was so glad to get it.

Not only does this book look very artistic, it is well organised too.

 

And the stuff inside can help you make intelligent and humorous conversations, if you can remember them at the right time. Mummy says that is the most difficult part though!

Take a look yourself…

 

 

 

 

 

 

View Full Album

 

 

 

 

 

Now, if you get to read regular ‘words of wisdom’ from us, you will know where they are coming from!

 

Wags,

Ginger & Buddy

CHRISTENING

It is all Mummy’s fault. she has us all confused!
Ever since I was a puppy, I have been told every stray dog on the street is ‘Woof’.
Mummy would point them out to me and say, ‘Look, Ginger. Woof!.
So I grew up believing they all are called by the one and the same name for some weird reason.

 

(A few Woofs we had met on our walks)

When Buddy came home to us, I taught him this, in addition to other things. So that, by now, he too believes they are all called ‘Woof’!

It was alright till ‘Our Woof’ was on the street. We just thought he was one of our friendlier, handsomer and smarter Woofs.
But things are no longer the same now.
He is now our little brother and isn’t just one of the many Woofs we know.
So Lola and Aunt Janice, you know now what we mean when we say we need to give him a new name.

We never imagined a little family debate about our puppy brother’s name would turn out to be like one of those parliamentary ones - a week long affair without a consensus!
So finally, on Sunday morning, as soon as Mummy sat down for breakfast, we put our paws down.
We MUST decide today.

(What do u want your name to be, little boy?)

Mummy was all for ‘CADBURY’.
Is it because he wears a white vest and a black tail-coat?
 

 

But we were scared. What if he decided to go away to be with somedoggy else?
 

 

Archie was the next choice. But what if he went on to break some lovely girl’s heart like him here?

So you see, Bookerman and Asa, we had to let these names go.
 
Khyra had suggested ‘Wali’ because he came on Diwali day. Daddy liked this name a lot too. He thought we could modify it to ‘Wall E’ like this very cute fellow here.

But we had to let that go too because we of a silly little fact.
‘Wali’, when added as a suffix after a common noun in Hindi (the commonest language spoken in India) means a lady daily-help, a maid.
It wouldn’t do if some mean doggy called him names later on, would it?
So, there it was. ‘Wali’ was struck off the list too.
(Sorry, Khyra about that. We know you think of him as Wali. You can go on calling him that if you want to. We wouldn’t mind because you will always remind us then of the special Diwali day.)
 
Mayzie had suggested Boone after Daniel Boone, the great American Explorer.
 
Oh! This is so embarrassing!
Now I have to tell you why we can’t call our brother Boone.
Well, Mummy has totally, totally distorted my smart and cute name ‘Buddy’ to Boomba, Booo, Boodiee Boy and every B-boy word you can think of!
And Boone will definitely make everyone around confused because it can just mean Buddy if you go by Mummy’s track-record of changing names!
So we had to drop this name too.
 
We chewed our nails over Leo, Lux, Lucky,Oliver and Luke, some other suggestions from our friends.
Wolverine was another name we contemplated upon.
Mummy was very enthusiastic about this name because she thinks our little brother resembles our illustrious ancestor more than either of us does.

But we have a sneaking suspicion she was more interested because she rather likes this Wolverine.

 
Anyway, this name was dropped too.
Because we were reliving all we know about our little brother, about how he came to live with us.
 
The first time we came to know about him was one evening when Mummy came home rather excited that a cute little puppy had followed her home.
She had gone to feed some left-overs to some Woofs nearby.
That was just day one.
Our would-be puppy brother, as you all know, just learnt to follow Mummy’s car and come home for his breakfast, evening snacks and dinner.
There were days when Mummy would take a detour to avoid him.
This was because she wanted to take us for our evening walk first, so that we wouldn’t bring back ticks & fleas from him. She would then hurry us inside and go feed him,feeling rather guilty.
But it didn’t take him long to see through Mummy’s little trick!
 
Like a smart secret service agent he would sniff her out and shadow her!
He has been her shadow ever since. He had taken to following her just about everywhere during the first few days at home too.
For some days now, he has shifted his loyalties to me, Ginger. He follows me everywhere around the house, even closure than my own shadow, I feel!
It is very annoying  at times.
 
And then, on our walks outside, he immediately shifts to following Buddy.
It is rather funny to watch him.
He is inseparable from Buddy.
Buddy walks in a ‘S’, he tracks the ‘S’, Buddy turns right, he turns right; left- left, Buddy stops and sniffs, he stops and sniffs; Buddy runs ahead, he trots along; Stop and scratch, he stops and scratches!
Well, alright! The last one was an exaggeration, but you get the idea.
 
And of course, the fact remains that he has the pawfect camouflage fur and fades away beautifully into the shadows.

 

So there it was. The pawfect name for our little brother, staring right at us!
Maggie & Mitch, Ciara, Phantom & Thunder, you had already said it.
 
Yes, Our little puppy-brother is henceforth to be known as ‘SHADOW’.

 

Shadow-Boy, we think that is a very smart name for you. Hope you like it.
And even though you are monopolising our lives right now and are making us lose a lot of sleep, We LOVE you heaps.
 

Buddy & Ginger

 

Weekend…AT LAST!

It is such a relief that it is weekend!

Ever since our little brother came home to live with us, life has taken a complete 360 degrees turn!

Without a doubt, he is cute, adorable and an absolute sweetheart but then, he is also quite a handful, which means he keeps us all on our toes & paws all our waking hours!

 

Last week was one of the busiest we have known. It is almost year-end and Mummy has used up ALL her leaves. Which means she has to work full-time without a break.

It is amazing how our little boy has adjusted to his new schedule.

We are taking the time to learn about him and getting to know him better.

We are making sure we get at least two major play-times, all of us as a pack, mornings and evenings. Mummy says these early lessons will help us form a stronger bond of love and trust which will stay with us our entire lives.

Just a little hard work for a few months now and we will all be richer for it.

 

It is all very tiring and leaves us with very little time for anything else. Even our blogging, something we just love doing at the end of the day, is suffering. We have hardly read any blogs this week and we are terribly behind. But we are hoping we can catch up soon.

Even though it is weekend, it is going to be a very busy one. For one, we need to replenish our stock of treats, food (both human & doggy), shampoos & de-worming medication. Our vaccination is due too.

And then, there is this business of getting new stuff for our little brother. And of course, his formal christening.

The debate on that subject, at our home has been never-ending. We pawsonally think it is a question of too many web-sites, suggestions and fertile imagination muddling Mummy’s mind.

But it is only so long that a little boy can go without a name. It gets really difficult for us too, especially when we need to introduce him to someone.

Well, this matter has to be settled over the weekend and we can then formally start initiating him to our bloggie too.

We must go sleep now. Days of sleeping-in on Sundays are gone! If we don’t want an ‘accident’ in our bedroom, we MUST get up early and take our brother for his walk.

But we are working on his routine and we hope to soon RUIN HIS GOOD HABIT teach him the pleasures of lazing about on the bed, enjoying the warmth of the early morning sun.

 

He is a fast learner, our little boy! We think he wants to be just like us!

 

 

Doesn’t he remind you of someone?

 

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Wags,

GINGER

AT LAST…Our Terribly belated Proper Diwali Post!

Daddy took us out for an early walk and a drive on Diwali day before people started the fire-works and crackers.
I am not really scared of the crackers but the racket they create, especially the sudden loud booms irritate me. I prefer to lay quietly somewhere less noisy, like under the bed or the dinning table emerging readily when I SMELL FOOD someone needs me.
With Ginger however, it is different. She gets terribly upset and scared. She shakes visibly and her heart palpitates so hard & hard, you can count the beats just by looking at her!
Mummy says Ginger has a heart problem which makes her get palpitations at the slightest provocation, which further scares and tires her.
But this year she was much better. Earlier she never ever moved out from under Daddy’s chair & remained tired and sad till the next morning. This time, she decided it would be safe to sit by me, huddled together. And then, miracle of miracles, she felt brave enough to go out for walks late at night, in spite of the crackers bursting around us. And instead of under Daddy’s chair, she napped on the sofa.
Her heart wasn’t beating that fast too, and her eats were pretty regular when Mummy checked.
We are so thankful. Mummy says it maybe because her heart is growing stronger with age. And probably me being my normal forever hungry brave, playful self has also helped.
She however refused her dinner & all the Special Diwali sweets too. So we saved some for the next morning.
 

 

 

 

 

We altogether had a nice time.
Exchanging gifts is an integral part of this festival. We received some pretty pawsome gifts too. But we are not telling you about those now because we want to write a special post about it.
 
There are many legends associated with this festival.
In Northern India, Diwali is the legendary festival of the Epic Ramayana. It is celebrated as a mark of the day Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya returned to his kingdom after rescuing his wife Sita from the clutches of Demon King Ravana of Lanka.
Rows of lamps, colourful ‘rangolis, festivities, new dresses, food, sweets all depicts the joy at the victory of Good over Evil.
In Jainism, this is believed to be the day Mahavira attained ‘Moksha’ or ‘Nirvana’ in 527 BC.
The Sikhs celebrate it to mark the day Guru Har Gobind Ji returned to Amritsar after freeing 52 Hindu kings imprisoned by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in Fort Gwalior.
Diwali is celebrated over a period of 5 days, each day being associated with different legends, beliefs and rituals. Whatever be the legends behind this beautiful festival, they all essentially depict the victory of good over evil.
We love this festival because of the abundant festivities, colours and a generalised feeling of joy associated with it.
The blinky lights went up together with Mummy’s flower garlands & the ‘Toran’.
 

 

 

 

The ‘Toran’ is a garland, sometimes decorated with Mango leaves & Marigold flowers, that is put up on the main door & is believed to bring in good luck.
Our Toran was a handmade one, made out of colourful cotton threads and little tinkling bells.
 

 

The tradition of making ‘Rangoli’ is entwined with this beautiful festival since ages.
‘Rangoli’ is a Sanskrit word meaning creative expression of art using colours. Traditionally, Rangoli is made using coloured powders, right at the entrance to a home.
It signifies welcoming Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth & prosperity, into one’s home. It also means to welcome guests, near and dear ones.
Earlier, before me & Ginger came to live with Daddy and Mummy, Mummy used coloured powders to make Rangoli.
 

 

 

But now, she is worried about the powder getting into our eyes and sniffer labra-noses, so that our Rangoli is one of flowers and earthen lamps.
 

 

 

 

 

  

We think she is paranoid though. We have always been on our BEST behaviour & have never messed up any of her stuff.
We do, however, like to smell the flowers & admire them. Of course, not a petal is disturbed.
 

 

 

This years Diwali was really special and will forever be a part of our lives. Because this Diwali brought us ‘WOOF’.
We had left the gate open and he literally walked into our lives. Now, Mummy & Daddy are terrible when it comes to religious rituals and beliefs.
But, like Jake & Just Harry says, we would like to believe he is a gift from Goddess Laxmi and will bring us Good Luck.
Though, honestly, we wouldn’t mind  BANKS FULL OF some wealth and prosperity too!!
 

** Wink** !!

BUDDY