Aftermath Pupdate 3

T=6am

All pups are still amongst the living, and pup 4 feels pretty strong when he's awake and trying to move - so that's good. Gotta see if he'll take formula this morning - he's still not nursing properly.

Aftermath Pupdate 2

T=3:30am

Pup 4 is still suckling a little, if he gets lots of help and encouragement. Which he is getting - both from Roxie and me. Which is the good news. They told us at the vets that he had some blood in his poo, but I hadn't seen any until this feeding. He pooped (yay!), but the bad news is that it was pretty bloody (ack!).

He only eats tiny amounts, and I'm having no luck at all getting him to really latch on and nurse. He won't drink the formula, no matter what I try - but it seems like trying to feed him the formula is a trigger that gets him interested enough in food to get him to try to drink from mommy. Sprta. He's got a lot of problems.

He seems to not understand the whole principle behind suckling. He actively fails to find nipples - like, he passes them up and heads for some weird non-nipple spot on his mom or his brothers. Then once he gets a nipple, he doesn't really know what to do with it. On the plus side, the last couple of times I've checked on them, he's snuggling his mommy and not lying by himself off to the side, as he was at first. Mommy snuggling has got to be medicinal - right?

Maybe this is an artifact of that it's 3:30am, but I'm pessimistic about pup 4's chances. I'm not giving up on him, and I'm making sure to tell him that he's loved, and to hug him as much as I can. But it just seems like he's not functioning correctly on so many levels. And at this point, neither am I.

Next feeding - 6:00am. Next phone call to the veterinarian? I think the regular vet opens at 8...I'll be pestering them immediately. Emergency vets are never as good as real vets.

Aftermath Pupdate 1

T = 1:41am

Pup 4 still suckles a little, with lots of encouragement. Pups 2,3 seem to be doing great. Roxie seems to be doing great also. Next check: 3:00am.

Puppy Saga - the aftermath

I was able to get the puppy formula at the Wal-Mart, but I spent a *really, really* long time in the dumb check-out line, and so the trip took too long. Poor John had done all the driving and shopping to this point, so it was my turn - but I was pretty tired and cranky.

The puppy formula has to be warmed to body temperature, and so I did that, and then we went upstairs to see how Roxie and the pups were doing. We'd left them in their room with food, water, and a clean blanket to lay on - and wanted to give them some time to settle in.

The healthy pups were curled up with Roxy, but pup 4 was lying by himself off to the side. So I scooped him up, and tried to get him to drink the formula. He really didn't seem to have any suckling response at all - he could take the nipple, but he wouldn't suck. So, I just messed with him for a while - petting him and trying to stimulate him into being more active. It didn't work to get him suckling the bottle, but I was able to get a few drops of formula on his little tongue, and then I put him by Roxie's bits.

Surprisingly, he suckled! Just a little - I don't know that he got enough milk down the hatch to make a difference, but he did suckle. I spent about 20 mins with them alternately messing with him with the bottle, petting and rubbing him all over, and then directing him to the good old mamma milk-supply. He suckled a little bit on a few separate occasions, and he even had a little poo (yay!).

So, where we are now is that I decided to let them be for another hour, and then try this whole thing again. It's almost time for me to go up there and see how they're doing! I'll let you know what happened on this visit after we're done...

Puppy Saga - the care plan

So, we were done at the emergency vet at 9. But then we had to drive home and try to pick up either (a) puppy milk replacement formula or (b) pedialyte - as we think we'll have to bottle-feed little pup 4. The milk replacement was the better option, as the pedialyte would only (maybe) get him through the night tonight if he continues to refuse to nurse.

Of course PetsMart was closed by the time we got there, though. But we decided to check and see if Target might have what we needed, since it was still before 10pm, and they were still open. He picked up baby bottles and nipples (turns out you can use human baby ones for little pups) - but they didn't have the puppy milk replacement. We thought about trying to use Infamil (human milk replacement), but that turns out to be a bad idea.

So we get home empty handed, except with a mom-dog and three puppies who can't be left outside anymore. I called up the e-vet to confirm that we couldn't use the Infamil, but they suggested we try a Wal-Mart pet section for the puppy milk. That meant that after we got Roxie and the pups settled in the dog room upstairs (and our actual doggies excluded from the top part of the yard, as well as the top part of the house), we still had a Wal-Mart excursion to do. By this time it was probably 10:30.

We also learned that puppies this young have to eat at least every 2-3 hours. So, we'll have at least one all-nighter ahead.

The care plan is this: watch pup 4 to see if he nurses, and if he doesn't, give him a bottle with puppy formula every 2 hrs or so until he does. Or maybe he just never will, and that'll mean that he did suffer brain damage or internal injury - and he won't make it. In thinking about pup 4 even during the first-day photo-shoot, it does seem he was acting kinda odd (as in the photo above). I wonder if he might have been pre-problematic. Anyway, we also need to nonitor Roxie and the other two pups to make sure they stay OK.

Puppy Saga - the diagnosis

It's late, and we're just back from the emergency vet with Roxie and her three surviving puppies. It's all a long story, so I figured I'd blog it while I'm staying up to check on their well-being hourly-ish.

It was really hot today, and the spot Roxie had picked for her pups turns out to have not been sufficient to keep them cool. They were clearly not well when we got home from work, and so a trip to the vet was needed. Roxie was great about letting us put a leash on her and collect her puppies for the ride to SW Vet Specialists.

The vet said that all the puppies were hyperthermic and dehydrated, but one of them was in worse shape than the other two. The two good shape puppies are pups 2 (the white one John is holding in the photos) & 3 (the surviving brown and white one). They needed subcutaneous fluids and some glucose, and to have the dirt and crud cleared out of their little airways - but they were/are feisty and plump.

Pup 4, the little white one who shows up in the
photos in the Kodak Easyshare Album I posted as a small white lump hanging out in the back, with his head in Roxie's belly, was in pretty serious distress. His temp was 105.4 or something, and he had to go in the oxygen tent. He's not nursing, and it's not clear if he may have had brain damage from the hyperthermia. We can only wait and see. He's also a lot smaller than the other two.

By the way, all three are boys. We don't have names for them yet - but names will have to come soon.

Roxie seems to be fit, and all pups were released into our care at about 9pm tonight.

The Answers

Diane has posted the correct answers to the sparrow naming quiz:

A = Chirpy McMutington
B = Sitty McStandington
C = Sleepy McWakington

Excellent sparrow naming, DKO!

A naming convention for sparrows, etc: X-ie Mc-Y-ington

So, the other day at lunch John and I figured out the solution to the age-old problem of how to develop naming conventions for sparrows, doves, grackles and other creatures who don't have obvious color-morph differences to go on. One has to develop names based purely on behaviors, and stock names such as 'Hoppy' and 'Tweety' just don't seem to do the trick.

The solution is the X-ie Mc-Y-ington name schema! Take X to be any uninflected verb representing the creature's behavior (i.e. 'walk', 'stare', 'fly', 'land') and Y to be a different (preferably opposing) verb, and you've got a great name for whatever creature it is that you're visiting with at the time. For example:

Standy McFlyington
Pecky McGulpington
Swoopy McLandington

Now, let's have an exercise. You should use this naming convention to name sparrows A, B & C from the photo. Answers will be given in a subsequent post.

Of course, this naming convention is to some extent derivative of one of our favorite nicknames ever - one given to the main character in one of the latest Mel Gibson flicks by that genius movie reviewer who writes for the Tucson Weekly. That nickname? Drippy McBloodspurt. Our convention has innovated from that, but we know where our roots are, and wish to acknowledge them.

Ruffian and Rags to Riches

I felt so sad when I learned that ABC/ESPN was going to do a TV movie on Ruffian, to be broadcast the day after the Belmont Stakes. Ruffian was such a brilliant champion, but her story is so horribly sad. And it was just too soon after Barbaro - whose breakdown and (way subsequent) death is still very fresh and painful. Which was why they planned the Ruffian movie for this year, I'm sure. They were intending to allude to the Barbaro story, and make hay (as it were) from the comparison. Well, the universe stomped that idea like a bug when on Saturday the winner of the Belmont Stakes was...a filly! For the first time in a century, a girl won this longest of the triple crown races.

Her name is Rags to Riches. If you saw the race, you know that she demonstrated not only tremendous talent and speed, but also incredible courage and heart. She was nose to nose with Curlin (also an awesome horsie) almost the whole way down the stretch, they were trading the lead with each stride, and she never gave up. She never even looked at him (although he seemed to be giving her the eye - and who can blame him? She's a BEAUTY!).

R2R does not match Ruffian in terms of career wins, and there have been other great fillies in the interim. And R2R's Belmont Stakes time of 2:28 and change leaves Secretariat's record safely intact, though her closing furlong was screamingly fast. As, of course, was Curlin's - who had three weeks previous tied for the official record time in winning the Preakness (Secretariat of course holds the *actual* record for that race, but due to a timer error, his *official* time was several seconds off his actual time).

Ruffian didn't win the Belmont stakes because she didn't run in it. She wasn't entered in any of the triple crown races, but was undefeated in 10 starts as a 2 and 3 year old. It was her 11th race, a match race against Foolish Pleasure, that resulted in her injury and death. Before the Belmont, R2R had run only 5 times, with four wins and one 4th place (the latter in her very first start). That's a pretty good record, but time will tell whether or not she'll be able to build a winning streak to match Ruffian's.

Not many fillies have run in the Triple Crown races. During my lifetime only 2 others (Genuine Risk and Winning Colors) have won (both won the Kentucky Derby). So R2R finds herself in rare company. Had Ruffian been allowed to run in the TC, perhaps she'd have been in that group as well.

It was a thrill to see a Belmont stakes in which nobody got hurt, everyone ran an excellent race, and history got made by a red filly with a beautiful white blaze. The commentators said that she's a terror in the stable - she likes to bite and kick, and is generally ill-mannered. I say - you go, R2R! You're incredible! And I hope that if there's a place horsies go when they die, Ruffian is looking down from that place and giving someone a nip or a kick in solidarity.

Glarey McBoldacre

Today at lunch, we were joined by Glarey McBoldacre, who wanted to help us devour our food. Glarey turns out to have been a female Great Tailed Grackle. I found this lovely portrait of a fGTG on the web, the photographer is Dave Furseth, and he has many other lovely bird photos at www.davesbirds.com. Anyway, Glarey got a few treats, and moved on. She was followed only a few moments later by Hoppy McTweetipie, a European sparrow, who also wanted some lovely fries.
We love Glarey and Hoppy!

(One of) DKO's picks

Since DKO has shown an interest in C.P. West as a possible pick, I thought I would provide a photo showing more of his cutitude. He looks very sweet - and potentially quite swift, also!

Belmont Stakes

Congratulations, Rags to Riches! First filly to win the Belmont in a century!

The Belmont Stakes will be held Saturday, June 9. Coverage will be on ABC, live, 5-7pm Eastern Time (but what does that mean for us? I *think* 1-3pm, but I'm never sure about this). No final word yet, of course, on the field. It will include some subset of the Derby and Preakness contenders, plus perhaps some additional horsies. I'll keep my eyes open for a final listing so that we can review any new entries before the race.

Preakness Stakes

(Update: Congratulations, Curlin! Winner of the Preakness stakes, in a time that ties the official record for the race. Also, congratulations to Street Sense, who ran a brave race and never gave up!)

Some subset of the horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby also ran in the Preakness. I'm not going to tell you which, however. This is because that would give you a clue as to the Derby winner (the winner of course ran in the Preakness, but not everyone else did). Also, I can't link you to each of these horsie's full page in the official Preakness site, because it has a banner header now telling who won. So, I'll try to give the relevant info here, and link you to a picture rather than an informative page.

In addition to that subset, here are the horsies who ran in the Preakness but NOT the Derby:

• Post Position 1: Mint Slewlep; odds = 30-1; Jockey = Allan Garcia; Trainer = W.R. Bailes; Outstanding characteristic = Best Name to Have Run in the Derby, Too Bad He Didn't. Also, Grandson of Seattle Slew, The Only Undefeated Triple Crown Winner In History.


• Post Position 2: Xchanger; odds = 15-1; Jockey = Ramon Dominguez; Trainer = Mark Shuman; Outstanding characteristic = Very Pretty Grey Horsie With Lovely Lighter Grey Tail, Has Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector and Spectacular Bid As Grandpas or Great Grandpas.


• Post Position 5: King of the Roxy; odds = 12-1; Jockey = Garrett Gomez; Trainer = Todd Pletcher; Outstanding characteristic = Grandson of Bold Forbes. Say His Owners, "He stands 16 hands 1 inch, has a ton of scope, correct front limbs and a hip wide enough to act as your picnic table for the Fourth of July."


• Post Position 6: Flying First Class; odds = 20-1; Jockey = Mark Guidry; Trainer = D. Wayne Lukas; Outstanding characteristic = Very Pretty Bay Horsie Who Likes to Run Real Fast The Whole Race No Matter What His Jockey Says (note: the Preakness is the shortest of the Triple Crown races). He's Related to Secretariat and Nasrullah, If Distantly.


• Post Position 9: C.P. West; odds = 20-1; Jockey = Edgar Prado; Trainer = Nick Zito; Outstanding characteristic = Grandson of Dynaformer, Who Was Barbaro's Pappa, Ridden by Barbaro's Jockey.

Kentucky Derby 2007 - The contenders

(UPDATE: Now that we've seen all the races, I can reveal the winner of the Kentucky Derby. Congratulations, Street Sense!)

This year's kentucky derby had a field of 20 adorable horsies. Each horse's name is linked to his little web page in the official Kentucky Derby site where there is lots of info about him (this year they were all colts), including photos. But beware! If you navigate off of the linked pages, you may accidentally learn too much about the outcome of the race!

• Post Position 1: Sedgefield: Odds = 50:1.


• Post Position 2: Curlin: Odds = 7:2.


• Post Position 3: Zanjero: Odds = 30:1.


• Post Position 4: Storm in May: Odds = 30:1.


• Post Position 5: Imawildandcrazyguy: Odds = 50:1.


• Post Position 6: Cowtown Cat: Odds = 20:1.


• Post Position 7: Street Sense: Odds = 4:1.


• Post Position 8: Hard Spun: Odds = 15:1.


• Post Position 9: Liquidity: Odds = 30:1.


• Post Position 10: Teuflesberg: Odds = 30:1.


• Post Position 11: Bwana Bull: Odds = 50:1.


• Post Position 12: No Biz Like Show Biz: Odds = 8:1.


• Post Position 13: Sam P.: Odds = 20:1.


• Post Position 14: Scat Daddy: Odds = 20:1.


• Post Position 15: Tiago: Odds = 15:1.


• Post Position 16: Circular Quay: Odds = 8:1.


• Post Position 17: Stormello: Odds = 30:1.


• Post Position 18: Any Given Saturday: Odds = 12:1.


• Post Position 19: Dominican: Odds = 20:1.


• Post Position 20: Great Hunter: Odds = 15:1.

Barbaro, Rest In Peace

I haven't posted for a while, but today I got my first ever comment on a post - (thanks, Yo) - and it was about Barbaro, and how dangerous horse racing is. It's not long until this year's Kentucky Derby, and I wonder how many of us are dreading it a little bit. I've read a bit about the new track surface that's being developed - I hope it's safer, but Yo's right that it'll never be completely safe. Horsie legs are just fragile, and they're also completely obligatory for horse survival.

I know I'll have Barbaro (and Ruffian, and the others) in my thoughts this Spring, and all the ones that follow it. I hope all of this year's Triple Crown (and Breeder's Cup, and all the other races) contenders run safely.

He was such a beautiful boy! But nobody should think that we loved him more than any of the other amazing equine atheletes we see each Spring.

Pigeons may not know art, but they know what they like.

A study by Watanabe, Sakamoto and Wakita (1995) found that pigeons could be reliably trained to differentiate paintings by Monet from those by Picasso (even paintings they had never seen before). Some interesting facts about this:

1. If the paintings were turned upside-down, pigeons were not as good at identifying Monets - but inversion did not cause problems in the identification of Picassos (duh).


2. College students were trained at a similar task (but with Van Gogh and Chagall paintings), using the same training methods, were about as good as the pigeons.

Pigeon Heroes

I've just learned, via this BBC radio show, that more pigeons (32) than any other animal have been awarded the Dickin Medal for heroism. This medal is meant to be equivalent to the Victoria Cross. It has also been won by a slightly smaller number of dogs, a few horses, and one cat.

Gustav the pigeon is seen receiving his award here.

Lions of Florence

One of the most excellent parts of visiting Italy was seeing all the great lion statues that are distributed around the sites at Rome, Florence and Venice. Of course, the art is generally amazing, and may even be enough to renew one's faith in the capacity of humans to be great. But that's for another post - what I've been thinking about this morning is the lions, specifically. For example, this is a picture of a lion at the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. He was created by an artist who's not really paid that much attention to - Flaminio Vaca, and he's a copy of a Roman lion (perhaps the one who sits on the other site of the little loggia). But he's stunning!

And he's sitting across the square from a copy of Donatello's Marzocco, the heraldic lion of Florence. Also beautiful, but in a sadder, sweeter, way. The original Marzocco is in the Barghello museum nearby. Wikipedia has a description of these in which the Vaca lion is mistakenly labeled as Donatello's. Clearly, it is not.

Italian pigeons (Venice)

The Venetian pigeons in the Piazza San Marco are especially lovely. Here I am with Il Scacchiera ('checkers'), who was a very congenial companion.

Italian pigeons (names thereof)

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post - and in the meanwhile I've had a lovely trip to Italy in which I saw many, many beautiful items. Including, Italian pigeons. About whom I've learned that they seem to conform nicely to the naming conventions I've outlined here (perhaps with simple translations, such as "Il Pantalone" and "Il Blu"). For example, this bird - Il Pantalone - was sitting on a ledge on the Santa Maria della Fiore in Florence. Isn't he lovely?