A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[Scottiemom]

Still recovering from my overseas trip. Covid is gone, but I have a hearing loss and so far nothing seems to have worked. It wasn't caused by the covid as I had it before I left on my trip, figuring I would get it treated when I got home. But the pressures in the planes seemed to have made it worse and the doctor said I may have to have tubes put in to get rid of the fluid. Geesh. Feel like I'm 2 years old. I'm staying inside mostly except to take Brendon out. Figure the heat and humidity prolly doesn't do it any good. On a high extended dose of steroids to try and get rid of it. Hope it works. Last week I made appointments to have my vehicles serviced, including the motorhome as they were all screaming at me that they needed oil changes. 

Yesterday I decided to sanitize the fresh water tank as it has been awhile and it has set since June. The solution had to sit for 12 hours, so I will finish that today. It wasn't too hot when I started yesterday, but by the time I rounded up everything I needed, it was pretty warm. I also couldn't find my toilet seal treatment and I like to use that so I ordered another bottle from Amazon and it will be here today. I'm getting ready for another campout the end of September to St. Augustine with the RV Women and from there I am going to Charlottesville to see my daughter and family. We are going to take a trip out to Kiptopeke, Virginia, once my time in Charlottesville is up. Kiptopeke will require a trip on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, a first for the Silver Fox, but the third for me. 

It's still pretty hot here in central Florida. We get rains almost every day and it seems to cool off a bit afterwards. I hope all is well with the FOOF's. Take care.

Dale

[Toolguy5]

Dale hope you get your hearing back.

Patty had an episode a few months back where she was dizzy and lost hearing in her one ear a few months ago.

i took her to the emergency room and they totally missed diagnosed her.

We also called and ENT and of course it was almost 2 months before she could see someone. After about 10 days I called the ENT to see if she could get in earlier. The had a cancellation so we got in the next day. The ent said she had a virus that affected the ear and she needed to be treated with in 2 weeks. This was now 4 or 5 weeks after the initial emergency room visit.

i asked the Ent if that was the case why did it take 2 months at the original phone call for an appointment.

he sent her to a specialist to get a steroid injection into the ear drum to see if hearing would return. But he explained because it had been over 4 weeks there was little chance her hearing would come back. So she opted not to get the shot and go with oral steroids. To this day she has lost her hearing completely in that ear.

[Toolguy5]

Dale glad you are getting hearing back.

Patty did have vertigo as well. When she was in the hospital one DR was treating her for that and the neurologist was treating her for migraines. Even though we told them she had sudden hearing loss.

[Scottiemom]

So very sorry about Patty's hearing loss, Dan. Since I had just had Covid, hearing loss associated with it works much like what Patty's did. But I knew I had a problem before I ever went on my trip and had decided to have it checked out when I returned. Looking back, it started with tinnitus a few months ago. After all the flying with my trip, the hearing just got worse. I thought after the Covid treatment things would get better, but they didn't, they got worse. I went to see my primary and I credit her with helping immensely. Here in Lakeland we have a clinic that covers everything and it is associated with the hospital. I saw my primary at 10:30 and she called in 4 prescriptions, then had her gal call the ENT department and they scheduled me a hearing test at NOON! Then scheduled a doctor visit at 1:10. She gave me a thorough ear exam and even scoped my sinuses and called in another prescription for double the normal steroids for twice as long. I had read that this was pretty much the go to for Covid/virus related hearing loss, even though she didn't believe it was related to a virus. But still the best treatment. I have fluid in both ears and one retracted eardrum. She said if the meds don't work, she will schedule a CT scan and then tubes in my ears. Next time I notice a little abnormality in my ear, I will be seeing the ENT immediately. This morning I am finally hearing a little bit in that ear. 

I looked up some info on YouTube about helping drain lymphatic fluid from the sinuses and Eustachian tubes to clear up fluid in the ears. Figure a little massaging can't hurt and it seems like I do get some movement of that fluid by doing so. I have been trying to stay inside mostly just because I don't know if heat/humidity is good for it, but I still have managed to get some things done on the motorhome in anticipation of my upcoming trip.

Best wishes to you and Patty.

Dale

[Scottiemom]

What is rather interesting in my case is that I occasionally suffer from vertigo. But I haven't had any of that with this hearing loss which I find remarkable.

[MetalGator]

Hello FOOFs

Monty and Pinto recently got their yearly vet visit.  They are both in pretty good shape.  Monty has been doing very well with his meds.  Very little coughing now.  He gets along just fine and is still as hansome as ever.  ZuZu just had her 2nd birthday on Saturday.  She is such a sweet dog but she can be crazy at times.  We took a weekend trip in the motorhome but had to come back early Sunday morning due to tropical storm Debbie.  We got lucky and only got 9 inches of rain but other areas around us got over 20 inches.  Lots of flooding.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

Glad the dogs got a good report from the vet, Burch. My Brendon is still doing well. I have finally found a dog food he likes and seems to be helping him shed a pound or two. I got home from my British Isles cruise a week ago. The gift I got from the airport was Covid. Been on Paxlovid. Don't feel badly anymore except I still wake up coughing. Also had an ear infection and sinus infections, so it's been slow going trying to shake it all. I was so very disappointed with the trip. I don't think cruising is the way to go see landmarks and sites. So little time. Spent a lot of the time on motorcoaches flying by. . . "If you look out the left you will see Loch Ness as we fly by at 50 kph." The one monument we did get time at was Stonehenge and I was happy for that. I guess I'm not a cruise person. Had to get up each morning early to eat, dress, get ready to hop on the tender or motorcoach, then join other groups trying to do the same thing. It didn't help that August is vacation time for the entire U.K., so in addition to tourists, there were locals trying to see things. I bet they hate tourists in August. Then after sitting at Heathrow for 11 hours for our flight back, it was cancelled after multiple delays. Spent two days in a hotel, then finally flew back. Had to reschedule my flight from Norfolk to Orlando, plus my rental car. What a mess. I didn't think I would ever get home. But I did and Brendon was glad to see me. He is sleeping every night on the bed now. LOL Wants to keep an eye on me. 

Next week I have scheduled an oil change/service for The Silver Fox. The garage I used to use change owners and haven't been as reliable, so I am taking her to the Ford dealer in Bartow. The service manager there was very nice to me when I called. Not every dealership will work on the little motorhomes, so I hope this works out. They have a mobile service, but he though I would be better bringing it in. Has to do with the size. Could be after seeing it, they would use the mobile after that. I don't mind taking it down. . . I just hope it's not an all day thing.

[Scottiemom]

Well, I took the little moho to Bartow and got service. Almost $900 later it is home. Whew! I got it all ready to go that morning, but when I went to start it. . . click, click, click. OH NO! I hadn't bargained on that. I kept trying.. . didn't even think to give the "battery boost" a try, which would have prolly worked. But I kept trying and it started up, so I didn't shut it off. I made it to Bartow and the guy there told me to shut it off. Hee hee. Yep, wouldn't start again. When it was all said and done, my little Transit cutaway has TWO starting batteries and both tested with dead cells. So I got two new starting batteries ($267 each). It is a 2021, but the chassis is a 2020, so the batteries were 4 years old. I don't want to have problems, so I told them to change them both. They tried to put a disconnect on them, but they were not able to fashion something that would work, so I will be starting it every month. I actually do that on a regular basis as well as exercise the generator, but I was gone on that European trip and didn't do that while I was gone. So it's all good now. She starts right up and I will be leaving the end of September to go to St. Augustine, then Virginia to see the kids. After the kids, my daughter and I along with my granddaughter are going out to Kiptopeke State Park in Virginia. We have to take the bridge tunnel to get there! Whoo hoo! So glad to be back traveling in the medium I find most pleasurable. No more cruises for me!

[MetalGator]

Good Morning FOOFs

Our 4th of July trip went well.  We had a good time.  However, I was worried about Monty.  He had been coughing a lot and he seemed to be getting worse.  Took him to the vet and they did chest x-rays.  He has congestive heart failure.  He has been on meds for two weeks and he is doing much better.  He doesn't cough near as much as he had been and seems to feel good.  I am hoping he will be around for a few more years.  I'll do anything to take care of him.  He is 14 and still looks beautiful and gets around very well.  He even chased a squirrel the other day.

Burch

[Wanderlost]

Sorry to hear Monty's heart is slowing down.  That's the problem with most pets: they love us intensely for too short a time.

[MetalGator]

Good Morning FOOFs

Have the motorhome ready to go for our trip tomorrow.  Taking the fur kids to Jetty park for a week.  ZuZu can show off her new haircut.  We got her trimmed at a new dog groomer place that opened by us.  We love going to Jetty Park and this year we are staying a full week.  Forth of July is ready fun there and we have a pavilion rented for a few days out by the shipping channel.  Always fun watching the cruise ships go by.

Monty had his 14th birthday last week on June 20th.  He is still going strong.  I love him so much.  He has been such a good dog.

Hopefully some of you are still reading the Ol Fella thread.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

Safe travels. I hope your dogs aren't bothered by fireworks. My Brendon could care less. Thunder doesn't bother him either. I'm thankful for that. In three weeks I leave for my British Isles cruise. I'm first flying to Virginia to meet up with my travel friend (my daughter's MIL), then our little group of 4 is driving a rental to Dulles for the flight overseas. I'm starting to get excited. I have already packed everything, decided my suitcase was too small, so went out and bought a bigger one. Repacked and then hung everything back up. Just wanted to make sure it all fit.
Brendon will be staying with a friend. She is also a widow lady who helped me a lot after Terry died. She had 2 dogs at that time. They have both since died, so instead of getting another, she takes care of other people's dogs. She's keeping him at her house in our community. I know he will be well cared for, but it is going to be hard to leave him.

Have a great week, Burch!

Dale

[MetalGator]

Looks like this new forum software has finally killed the Old Fella thread.  I try to keep it active but seems like it's futile.  I guess all good things come to an end.....

Burch

[Scottiemom]

I just find it so cumbersome and difficult trying to navigate this forum. When I try to find something, it takes me forever and then I often have no luck. I hate it. I used to spend a lot of time on the forum because it was easy to see what threads were active, etc., but now you can't see anything at a glance. 

I am on my way home from Virginia, visiting with my daughter and her family. I also visited friends in Chesapeake. In July I am doing a 12-day cruise around the British Isles. Looking forward to it.

Dale

[DOTLDaddy]

Burch,

I applaud you for your efforts to keep this thread alive, but I agree with your conclusion that the software update doomed the effort.  Of course, other factors are involved as well, such as the death of several original, core members, and the general tendency of clubs and groups to lose members due to new interests and lifestyle changes.  A lot of people I know seem to enjoy Facebook groups, and I am a member of several groups catering to my interests at present.  If you're feeling ambitious, maybe you can start a Facebook group and post a link to it here.  Maybe the few foof members who have figured this new forum will see it and join, you never know.  In any case, best of luck and maybe we'll see you down the road.