Sleepless

One of the many exciting aspects of the remodel is the stress it is creating for our pets. The rest of us are doing just fine, but the animals are, well, not.

Maggie, our 14-year-old golden retriever, is a compulsive digger. We have given up trying to do anything with the back yard other than grass, and she spends her days tunneling to her heart's content. However, she is now locked in the side yard all day because, shockingly, the contractor doesn't appreciate her help rearranging HIS tunnels. Since we started construction two weeks ago, she is noticeably stiffer in her arthritic old joints. I'm hoping that once the concrete is poured, she'll get more free time in the back yard. She is also baffled by the disappearance of our back slider, which was blocked off for construction, and can't figure out that she needs to go through the garage to get out to the back yard to go potty. She is deaf and partially blind, and it's so sad to see her try to go to the slider, hit the wall, and turn in confused circles until we are able to catch her and guide her in the proper direction.

Lydia, the cat, was immediately distraught when they demolished our deck. She's an inside cat and that was her only outside time. Now she is confined to the house. She growls at the workers the entire time they're here. She was already neurotic, but I'm certain that once they start messing with Nikki's bedroom, she's going to come unglued. She expresses this by using the carpet as her litter box. NOT pleasant, and not acceptable if we're going to be spending a lot of money on NEW carpet!

Gloria, our little mutt dog, is the least upset by the changes since she spends her days asleep under our bed. But yesterday we had our new dishwasher delivered (YAY!!!) and something happened. I noticed that she didn't come tearing down to greet me when I got home like she usually does, but I figured she thought I was someone else. By seven last night, it was clear that something was wrong with her. She was favoring her left front leg and was whimpering as she leaned on me while I sat on the couch. By 9:30, I was concerned. We went to bed and put her on the bed with us. At midnight, I woke to find her completely inconsolable. She would lay down, cry, get up, move to a new spot, lay down, cry, get up, etc. After 45 minutes of this, I took her to the emergency vet clinic. Two hours later, she acted perfectly normal while the vet examined her. When we got home at 3:00 am, it was a repeat performance. So we will be going back to her usual vet today for a cortisone shot so she can have some relief from the pain. The big question is what happened to her?? Did the delivery men step on her? Kick her??

I feel pretty confident that the rest of us can come through this unscathed, but I'm really worried about the animals...