On a beautiful windswept day with white, billowy clouds, I took this shot of a lonely pine on Mount Soledad in La Jolla. The view is facing southwest with downtown San Diego on the far right. I’ll show you more of the 360-degree views on Tuesday.
You’ll notice that I’ve added a watermark. I’m not a fan of them, but my photos have been showing up on tumblr blogs and I figured I’d better at least provide the source, since many of those blogs don’t. I’ve also resized, so this should load faster. I apologize if the quality is less–another down side of posting photos on the web.
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We had quite a scare with Rocky on New Year’s Day. With no warning, he was panting heavily, and cried out in pain when I tried to pick him up. Couldn’t get him to do anything, and then noticed his stomach was hard and distended. I had just read about bloat in dogs, so did some research on the Internet. Big mistake. Fifty percent survival rate? Twisted stomach requiring surgery? We rushed over to the nearest veterinary hospital where they took x-rays and confirmed that Rocky was severely bloated. Thank heaven he didn’t require surgery, but they kept him overnight with an IV in his leg. He’s fine now, but very tired and missing some hair on one leg. Reminded me a lot of when he was bitten by a rattlesnake.
Here’s a shot of Rocky doing one of his favorite activities, lounging on the patio:
Great weekend, everyone!
{carole}
Pearls & Prose 
Glad Rocky’s ok. 2012 was definitely not a good year for the pets in our house. Hoping this year will be better!
So sorry to hear that, Bonnie. I know that Rocky is pretty old, but I’m not ready to lose him yet. I guess we’re never ready, are we?
I got so shocked when I read the title. What happened. My cat cried out in pain the other day (his claw got stuck on his scratiching post and it took a minute to free him). I swear I felt sick in my stomach and felt as if it was my pain.
I’m glad Rockie is fine again.
I know I will lose my cat one day, (or my cats but I’m far more attached to him) but I also know it will be one of the worst things I will ever have to face. It’s incredible that so many people still say “but it’s just an animal” or worse “you will get another one”.
Sorry if I scared you, Caroline. I swear, this dog is part cat and has nine lives. First he survived being on the streets before being rescued, then the rattlesnake bite and now this. He is one tough fourteeen-year-old!
I have lost two dogs and it is unbelievably wrenching. Especially if you have no other pets around. Coming home to a silent house is really, really hard. Only pet owners can understand.
I hope Rocky makes a swift recovery!
He’s ornery as ever now. 🙂
Love that little pine tree – great view!
It was such a clear day with beautiful clouds. So glad we took the chance and went up there. Right after we left, the skies got dark.
Wow! I didn’t know that small dogs can get bloat. I’ve read about cases in larger dogs like Great Danes and German Shepherds that have more barrel-type chests.
Good for you for taking swift action. I’m so glad that Rocky is okay and didn’t need surgery. He’s one tough cookie! 🙂
Jackie, the vet said it’s really rare for a small dog to have bloat. For some reason, his dog food wasn’t leaving his stomach (we saw it on the x-ray). He doesn’t wolf down his food, so that wasn’t the cause. They still don’t know what causes bloat, after all these years.
He is a tough little guy. 🙂
Can you do a search to see if your pictures are appearing on a Tumblr blog? Love the shot by the way:)
Thanks so much.
There is a program called TinyEye that can do a search for your images, but I haven’t used it yet. Mostly friends have told me about the tumblr blogs, and I found others by accident on Pinterest. At least people pinning images on Pinterest link back to the original photo, but tumblr blogs don’t. You have to click through endlessly to get to the original and it takes a lot of time. Even then, you may not get to the original. How tumblr gets around copyright laws, I’ll never know. Maybe because there’s no selling of the actual images?
So happy that all is well with Rocky. That is a horrible feeling. Miles had surgery on Friday to have some teeth removed and I was anxious all day to hear that all went well. He’s getting older and it makes me nervous when he has any type of procedure. Give Rocky a hug for me.
Thanks, TBM. Consider it done. 🙂 I hope Miles is doing well too. Surgery is really scary, especially when they’re older.
How did he get bloated? Oh dear! Another thing to worry about!
Bloating can come from eating or drinking too much too fast or too much exercise, but the vet said they don’t really know what causes it. Rocky had done none of those things before this happened.
Try not to worry!
Rocky is such a fighter! We lost our Girly Girl in early December to congestive heart failure. She was my constant companion since retirement. The house is too quiet but I’m OK.
Oh Cheryl, no! I’m so sorry. She was the sweetest-looking dog. I didn’t know dogs could even get congestive heart failure.