I Am Shiba.: January 2008

I Am Not Patient at Being Patient

Well, it appears that recovery is not what I thought it would be. Bones delivered to my feet daily, tasty morsels of extra food tossed into my bowl "to keep my strength up," and frequent massages to maintain my level of comfort.

Instead, I am given pills, get scolded if I give attention to my stitches, and am not allowed to chase squirrels. I am not being taken in the car as frequently as before, and I am not having my normally scheduled playtimes with my toys.

I am not having fun.

I have five more days before my stitches are removed. There better be a party waiting when all this is done and over.

I Am Shiba. I Am Not Good at Being Good.

Recovery Time Has Started

My surgery went well. I am now home and resting comfortably.

I have an incision on my leg that is about one inch long, and am seriously considering removing the stitches when The Woman is not looking. I really don't want to go back to the vet's office again.

To aid in my recover (and distract me from my stitches), The Woman bought me one of those really cool smoked tendons that I love to chew on. This time, I finished it in one day. It was that good.

It is difficult to pee. I can not raise the one leg, nor can I balance on it. So, I have to embarrass myself by stretching. I hope that no one was watching during my evening constitution.

In ten days, I have my stitches out, and I should be ready to hit the streets once more. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes; soon, the world will be once more blessed with my presence.

I Am Shiba. I Opted Out of Botox this Time.

Yesterday I Killed a Cantaloupe

There are moments where life is far more exciting than I expected.

The Woman took me in the car yesterday as she needed to purchase the evening meal (which included French Fries!) However, the store did not have all the ingredients she required, so she was forced to drive to another store to obtain the rest of what she needed. Not a problem for me; a nice car ride is always fun and I enjoy going places and seeing the sights.

But this was a new store, a new environment, one that had never encountered a Shiba marking so it was mandatory that I be removed from the car and allowed to mark my presence on the obviously expensive shrubberies.

As we returned to the automobile, there was another individual close to us, loading bags of groceries into her car. One bag tipped over, and the contents spilled on to the ground.

And out rolled The Cantaloupe.

And The Chase was on.

Trained by That Guy to seek and out destroy anything that is thrown or tossed, I immediately set out to obtain my quarry. With The Woman in tow, I lunged and attacked this rolling fruit with the vigor of my 6000 year old ancestors attacking a wild boar. I grabbed it with my paws, and sank my teeth into its rough flesh.

It tasted horrible.

But I was not dissuaded. After two more bites, I secured a grip, and ripped open the skin revealing some wonderfully delightful fleshy goodness that needed to be shredded and thrashed around the parking lot immediately, The Woman, of course, wanted to end my hunt before I could fully destroy my prey but I was faster, smarter, and more agile. It took mere seconds for me to tear The Cantaloupe into smaller pieces, and toss them to and fro.

It took me longer to spit out the seeds than it did to destroy this delightful new toy.

The Woman, although amused, attempted to discipline me for my actions. I, of course, believed none of her babblings about "leave it," "heel," or her calling my name and pulling on the leash. I am a trained killer. And to kill what moves is what I do best.

I Am Shiba. Shiba:1; Cantaloupe: 0.

An Announcement

It is with great trepidation that I announce that I will soon be undergoing surgery. While I am nervous about the entire procedure, the medical staff has assured me that the process is safe and I shall suffer no ill will. My comfort shall be entirely attended to, and the recovery process quick. I should be back home resting comfortable on the same day.

I am afraid to admit that I am "blemished." Last summer, The Woman noticed that I had a wart on my left hind leg. She thought nothing of it, and just took care when brushing me as to not disturb it. She never told me that I had this unsightly marking on my well-defined thigh. Well, my winter coat arrived, and as I was grooming myself one day, and I found it. Imagine my shock that something as common as a wart would place itself upon my body.

Well, needless to say, after consulting a few medical books, I decided to remove it myself.

My operating skills have been unsuccessful.

In fact, now I have a circle of missing fur on my left thing with that ugly blemish right in the center.

So on January 21st, I shall venture to the vet's office and undergo plastic surgery to have my leg looking normal once more. I suggested that we do a hair transplant, The Woman has opted to merely have the wart removed and let nature take its course. While this displeases me, I suppose that I can suffer through waiting for my fur to return. I just hope that the paparazzi does not overindulge themselves on pictures of my imperfections, but rather, focus on the fact that I have the will to overcome the obstacles that life places in my way.

I am not Brittany Spears after all.

So I emphasize, there is no reason to panic or send cards. I shall alert the media when I am ready and able to resume more normal life again, and then, once more, all the world will be enlightened once more by that which is Shiba.

I Am Shiba. Shiba = Perfection of the Mind, the Body, and the Soul.