First, Fidget is responding very well to the alternative treatment.
He's already off the methylprednisolone altogether; still on the
hydrocortisone, but we're supposed to start tapering him off that, too,
in another week. His appetite is fantastic, and you can almost see the
fur on his tail growing back. His spirits have always been good, but
he's so very happy now that he's almost manic.

Second, we're currently dogsitting for three weeks. One of our
neighbors went to India for three weeks for a friend's wedding, and we
volunteered to take car of Humphrey while she was gone. She was going
to take him to another friend, but David pointed out that he'd probably
be happier in the same building, and that there is almost always someone
home here (besides Fidget, that is). He's 30 lb. Cocker Spaniel who's
used to being the center of attention, and doesn't receive any
discipline at all when he's home. But he's adjusted here pretty well.
He has to follow the same "house rules" that Fidget does, and has picked
them up pretty quickly.

For the first few days he pretty much paced *constantly*, but now he
does the same thing Fidget does and just settles down with either me or
David. He's very affectionate, and he and Fidget gets along well.

The downside is that he is a counter-surfer, and we've had to ensure
that absolutely *everything* is put in a cupboard or someplace else he
can't get at it. David found him on the counter a few days ago, trying
to get a loaf of bread! I really hope Fidget doesn't pick that up.

Third, we've volunteered to foster a puppy. Our dogsitter has a friend
who has to go (back) on dialysis and has been ordered to make here
environment absolutely sterile, so she has to give up her 6-month-old
puppy, a Maltese/toy poodle cross. I'm not sure we're ready for another
dog, or we'd just adopt outright, but the idea of fostering is very
attractive. (David said recently that if we had the room, he'd be
taking in several dogs who needed homes. I told him if we had the room,
I'd be encouraging him.) We haven't heard back from our friend yet,
though, so it's possible someone else has already volunteered to take
the puppy.

Fourth, this is the four-month anniversary of Toby's death. :-( While
moving files from one computer to another the other day (I bought a new
20" iMac with my end-of-year-profit-sharing bonus), I found a file with
a cryptic name ending in .mov. I opened it with QuickTime Player and it
turns out to be the results of the only time we tried out the digital
camera's QuickTime mode, and it's 14 seconds of Toby in very dim light,
the *only* video-type thing we have of him.

*sigh*

I still really miss the little guy.
--
Found Poetry (_Science News_, 14-Jun-2003): oldest _homo sapiens_ find
+-----------------------------------------+ ocean eddies' far-flung effects;
| Kevin Michael Vail | superior threads spun
+-----------------------------------------+ the pox from prairie dogs.