The Ritter Troop

Okay, so maybe my spring gloom was partially because of the fire ants (which are already out about in the million trillion gazillions!)not to mention lots of yard work to do (overwhelming amounts) and partly because Chomp and the Escort.

Chomp has been having kidney problems. Ironically at the same time as the dog food recall; however, he hasn't had anything closely resembling any of those foods. So, he is at the vet this week costing me an arm and a leg (or two) getting fluids and trying to get his kidneys under control. They improved after this last round, so they are going to do it again before bothering with more expensive tests like an ultrasound. And then there is the financial aspect to consider before bothering with more expensive tests. Chomp is not going on dialysis. To you pet lovers, I am sure that sounds heartless. Anyway, his liver was doing better so hopefully his kidneys will follow suit. And I had just gotten him to catch his treats from a foot or so. We are building up to catching a frisbee or something similar, but now his energy is way low so we may have to stick to catching treats. It was his first real "trick" other than ordinary commands like sit or lay down. He also was finally not jumping out of the car when I opened the back. He is such a good smart doggy. And cute to boot.

The Escort bit the dust... some mess about blown head gaskets, rods, etc. The works. Probably because when Jim had his "pothole incident" the engine was too stressed. We were hoping to have to buy a new car later rather than sooner, but it looks like our luck has gone the other way. We will be buying sooner rather than later. We have started looking a little bit, which is kind of fun. Kind of.