Galette

Today's Breakfast is Galette.

When do you return?

'I haven't seen Tony for a while...'

'Wonder where he's gone....'

Kennel visit

A trip to UK is coming in August and the dogs will have to be sent to kennel while we are away.  

To make them feel less nervous about it, I took both out to the kennel for a sneak preview.

The location is very close to the Saikun Country Park where we went hiking the other day. 


Look! we found a bison on the way!  

'Whoatdat?!'

The bison is too busy eating.

'heloooo?'

'Konnichiwa?'

'Can u hearmee?!'

'how du u..'

Your bottom is backed away, Margy!

Mr. Bison seems too busy eating, so let's leave him alone.  I hope he won't get run over...

So, we left the bison and drove to kennel.  

Here is the kennel where the dogs will stay.  An open view room with air-con.  Nice!

←VIP rooms.  They're fully booked!

→These are rooms with garden view.  

'You think you two be ok here?'

'chink so!'

Behaving at home

Dogs are genki now but need to limit their outing for a while.  

Margaux:  'I'm so boared..'  crunch, crunch

Tora:  'Can you do it elsewhere?

Margaux:  'EXCUSE ME?'

Margaux:  'I'll bitcyu!'

GRRRR!!

Margaux:  'Ur feet stinks'

Tora:  'shatup!'

Margaux:  'am getting sleepy..zzz'

Tora:  ' u wakuuup!'

Margaux:  'katioff!!'

'AHHHH!!!'

Back to the Vet

Tora has made a remarkable recovery.  She woke me up with a little surprise this morning by sticking her snout against my face to show me Tony's stinky socks in her mouth.  I get out the bed and tell her;

'Regardless of what you just did, I'm glad you are well again, Tora.'

When I went in to the living room. Margaux was still sleeping.  I felt her tammy and was still burning hot.

At 11am, we were back at the Vet for the second blood test.

To make the story short, Tora's blood cell count jumped up to 26% from 13%.  Doctor was happy about the result and explained that the big increase is a sign of recovery.

On the other hand, Margaux's count went down by 1%.  A huge decrease means critical, so the doctor asked us to come back again a day after tomorrow.  Margaux despises hospitals.  Her tail was down the whole time.

'Do we need to come back again!??!'

'Quick, let's go home!!'

Meanwhile, Tora kept making pleasant to everybody by wagging her tail and managed to get some biscuit treats.

'i luuuuv hoshpital!

---

On the last note, the fever had past its peak for Margaux and the blood test result on 22nd was 32%.

She's OK now.

And she played with Tora today for the first time in two weeks. 

A nightmare day (continue from yesterday)

The typhoon is gone past through the night and here's how the dogs are.

Margaux is still feverish and keeping herself curled in the bed from the morning.  She couldn't eat half the bowl of her food and not interested going out.  She hasn't vomited so we'll watch her today until the vet visit tomorrow.

Contrarily, Tora is getting better slowly.  Her appetite hasn't changed even since she was sick.  I'm glad you are genki again.  I've missed you, Tora!

For your information, the cause of traffic accident yesterday was due to the driver dozed off while driving.  It's a narrow, single-lane street with no passing space.  The accident has made a reminder for me to drive safe there.

A nightmare day

A lot of things happened today.

We got up at 6 am, left the apartment at 7 and went hiking to Dragon's Back.  After two-hour hiking, we were on the way home, but a police motorcycle followed our car with the blue and red lights flashing.  
'We didn't do anything illegal, did we?'

Having no idea why, we kept driving and found another police officer was standing on the road, which was a couple of kilometers away from our apartment.


The police officer waved us to stop.  Then, the motorcycle behind us passed our car and went on in a hurry.  That's when we finally realized.

It's an accident!  Surely, the police officer approached our car and explained that there was a fatal accident around 8 am this morning.  (see Map 1)  The road ahead was closed so we have to U turn.  That means we swing around half the Hong Kong island.  (see Map 2)  Even so, we would stuck in a jam that goes the opposite way.

Map 2 

     Map 1


'well, what shall we do?!'

According to the police officer, the road will not open for another couple of hours.

So we decided to kill some time in Stanley.  We had a breakfast, but the time was still before 10 am.

Usual Stanley would be full of tourists and visitors but it was sparse.  Many stores were also closed, because they could not get the supplies or their staff were stuck in the jam.

While walking on the street, we found our neighbor with her dogs.  She was taking her dogs to a vet in Stanley this morning but was stuck here after the visit.  She explained that the accident was a head-on collision with a taxi and a minibus and the cab driver was killed.  

Well, we couldn't hung around standing and talking in a summer heat, so decided to pass time at a coffee shop.

'So the vet is near here?'

'Well, my dogs are not well these days.'

'Are they eating?'

'Yeah, but they sleep a lot and don't play much anymore.  Looks like Margaux got a fever, too.'

'Well, we can't go home any time soon so why don't we check them at the vet?'

'That's a good idea, let's go.'

So we took the dogs to the vet in Stanley.

Luckily, the doctor was available and both Margaux and Tora were checked right away.  The doctor says:

'Both have verrry pale gams.  Looks like Margaux has a high fever, too.  Have they gotten any tick bite recently?'

'I saw one on Margaux's ear about two weeks ago, but I removed it right away..'

'Wha's their urine color like?'

'Margaux looks normal but Tora's dark yellow..'

'They may have tick fever, let's run blood test.'

Wait a minute.. TICK FEVER?!  What the hell is that?!

The doctor explained that it could be a disease, called Babesia Infection, which is transmitted through tick bites.  When a babesia infected tick bites a dog, it releases virus in the dog's bloodstream, causing red blood cell destruction, which makes it difficult for the dog to intake the oxygen supply, and in sever case, the dog can die from the shock.

All of sudden, I was mortified and felt so sorry to drag the dogs to a long hike this morning.

15 minutes later, the test result came up.

'Tora is worse than Margaux.  A normal red blood cell count is over 30% but hers is only 13%.  I can't believe she did the hiking today!!  Margaux's 26% but her body is fighting, and that's why she has a fever.  Tora's peak is past and she has a lots of baby blood cells, so she should be stable sooner than Margaux.  We'll give an antibiotic shot and check the reaction for a couple of hours so can you come back here around 3?'

I was completely shocked,  so shocked that I started to feel sick.  Come to think of it, Tora was down since while ago.  I couldn't spot it at all.  I was so sorry for her.

We went outside the hospital and the time was half 12.  We stopped by a grocery store and finally got home at half 1.  

Soon after we got home, hungry Tony fixed us a penne arrabiata but I had a lump in my throat. 

On top of the fatal accident near our apartment, I was feeling awful neglecting dog's health.  And there was one other thing.  A big typhoon is landing this afternoon.

What a nightmare day.

At three o'clock, we were back at the vet.  The dogs were so happy to see us. I was so happy to see them ok.

Doctor said, 'For now, we'll give you one-month antibiotic tablets and a medicine to increase their blood cells.  Please watch Margaux and if she vomited or gets high fever, please bring her to the hospital.  If no problem, we'll do blood test again on Monday.'

On the way home, the sky is turning into dark gray and the wind is getting stronger.  

'Phew, what a day!'

Well, the rain will starts tonight so let's relaxed at home the rest of weekend..

(to be continued...)

Not Well..(2)

Following Tora's breakdown, 

Margaux is not feeling well.   What's wrong dogs?

Dogs in the City

In front of SPCA where we adapted Margaux and Tora, is Wan Chai Waterfront Promenade.  It's a boardwalk alongside of hong kong harbor and you can view the Kowloon skyscraper on the opposite shore.

This place is an oasis for dogs to run free and get away from the noisy city surroundings.  There are green lawns and boardwalk, equipped with water taps and biodegradable plastic bags for animal waste.  

According to SPCA website, there are 200,000 dog population in Hong Kong and are only six public parks where dogs can access.  It says Hong Kong aims to achieve the world class city where dogs and human can live in harmony by utilizing space like this as an educational ground to teach owners how to sustain their animals' well-beings.   Fantastic idea!

A walk in the Victoria Peak Garden

It was a nice sunny sunday morning.  We went to Victoria Peak Garden.
This is a garden located on top of the highest mountain in Hong Kong island.




The mountain top is called the Peak and is a famous tourist spot for its gorgeous panoramic night view of the city.  ↓

Green Green!

Margaux has done enough roaming in the garden while Tora enjoyed the mountain breeze under the tree.

Not Well..

Tora has been feeling down since Margaux bit her leg.

She eats fine but only sleeps otherwise.

Don't want to play with Margaux, neither.

Is she getting depressed?

It's quite difficult to handle two dogs!

Tora, I’m sorry

After turning to 1, Margaux is no longer interested in rawhide chewy bones..(it’s true!)

And she can’t let Tora have one, because Tora LOVES it and Margaux gets jealoused.

So, Margaux got mad and bit Tora’s leg!

Poor Tora cried her eyes out.

'Sorry, Tora'

'I'm really sorry...'

Storm is coming

A pair of birds on the tree is called Black-crested Bulbul.

  

The birds flew away.  It looks like a storming is coming. 

Look, Margaux.  The rain clouds are approaching.

It’s raining above the sea.

Let’s go inside before we it catches us.