Dolce's First Day with New Star Cast

Dolce got home from Cascade Hospital for Animals, tired and sore. But Sacha, AKA Crack Baby, wanted to play! Hey, scratch my neck!


Come on, you can do it! Don't be such a spoilsport! Let's play!


Well if you're going to be THAT way, guess I'll chew on your rawhide.


Come on, Mom! Let me out of here!!

Dolce is a Star.....

Felicia was going to wait until Friday to bring Dolce to get her cast changed, two days after it was due, but she just couldn't wait that long.


Dolce seemed so miserable all the time. So Felicia brought her to Cascade Hospital for Animals, where Dr. Greg Paplawski removed her old pink cast and put on a new one. His veterinary assistant, Darcy, helped him.


He was kind enough to let Felicia take pictures of the big event!


So with the help of his assistant, he cut....


...and cut....


...and cut...


...and cut....


...and cut...


...and voila! The metal splint came off. "This is an improvement," said Dr. Paplawski. "The metal end of it was rubbing on her skin and she has a little sore there." He showed Felicia the sore, which made her sad. "So we're going to put some ointment on it to help it heal."


Whew! thought Felicia. What else would they find? Now they unraveled the gauze UNDER the metal splint. And unraveled...


..and unraveled. Now came the last bit of gauze, right on her skin.


Dr. Paplawski reached for the last bit of gauze on her skin and started to pull. Dolce was not happy. In fact, Dolce went crazy.


Her yelps and screams could be heard in New York City. Felicia put down her camera and looked at the doctor in alarm! "She's such a drama queen!" said Felicia. What was wrong with Dolce?

Dr. Paplawsky brought her to another room to put ointment on the gauze to remove it more easily. When he came back, he looked concerned. "We found out why she was making such a fuss!" he said. "There is a piece of wire sticking out of her suture." Felicia was shocked. Apparently, her little bones were too small for enough screws, so to keep the plate in place, the original vets at the Oakland Veterinary Referral Service put wire around the plate to hold it and somehow the wire went through her skin. The doctor thought that her skin would probably grow over it. I feel so sorry for poor Dolce. I think it took a lot out of her to get the new cast on, and she's tired. As I write this, she's laying in her cage. She looks defeated.

Tomorrow I'll show you photos of her new Teal Star cast, as well as Sacha greeting her newly repaired little sister. But for now, you can appreciate that poor Dolce finally got her cast removed and replaced after these two long weeks!

Mink Spy Bags!

I just caught a glimpse of Dolce's Christmas list. She sits in her cage with Felicia's laptop and types away! Takashi just sent her a photo of the new Mink Spy Bag! Does Dolce really want a bag made out of the skin of another animal? It looks like Dolce fur! How could she? That said, if the mink were not a real live animal, but a fake fur, it's a great looking purse. At least if I were inside the mink, I'd keep warm. With all that extra fur, Dolce would get too hot! And you wouldn't see her anyway! It would be like a polar bear in the snow....

Dolce Bear

India is afraid that Dolce is having identity problems. Sometimes we call her "Bear," other times, her original (Christian!) name, "Dolce." Sometimes we even say "Dolce Bear." Sometimes we say, "Baby Girl," as in, "How is Baby Girl feeling? Aw, Dolce Bear!" Confusing, no? Right, Bear? Felicia is very happy that Dolce, AKA Bear, AKA Baby Girl, AKA Dolce Bear, is such a good communicator. Whenever she starts flailing those arms straight out, or squirming in Felicia's arms, or whining, or doing that shrill little shriek of hers that makes us all laugh, it's a sure thing that she either has to go potty, or has hunger pangs, or both. And whereas Felicia tells me I am a dainty eater who eats delicate little bites, Dolce is a hearty eater. But she sometimes pauses between bites. Felicia used to think that Dolce was done eating when she stopped. But now, Felicia realizes that Dolce just needs time to check out the scenery between bites, or, more likely, to perk her ears up in alarm as she realizes that the whole pack--Max, Sacha and Peaches (you can't count me, really, as I wouldn't stand a chance)--is waiting to pounce! But as long as Felicia is protecting Dolce, she can eat in peace. Probably not good for her digestion, though, knowing her sibs are staring daggers at her! LOL. PS Felicia took this picture of Dolce and Takashi improved it!

Straw Bags & Winter Blues

It's one of those crazy Midwest days, with moments of gray skies and snow and cold, followed by a tease of blue and sun peeking through a cloud, then back to gray skies and snow once more! I needed a dose of summer in weather like this, so I asked Takashi if he would put me inside the new 2009 Summer Fendi Straw bag I told you about yesterday! I think the color suits me well, don't you? Gee, I feel better already! Most people are shopping cruise or winter sales right now...I'm already previewing Summer 2009, and the trunk show isn't even until January! And after two weeks of nonstop news of Dolce, finally, my blog is back to my news! (The blog is called Maia Chronicles, not Dolce Chronicles, after all....)

After I had my Fendi Fantasy, I went outside and took some photos of the snow. Twin Oaks, where I live, has a mule deer sculpture in the back yard. I think Felicia was hoping to attract more deer to our yard, as we live in front of a nature preserve. Snow looked very pretty on Mr. Mule's back, and Felicia thinks it's also very pretty when snow falls on my fur. As you know, she took a photo of Dolce in her first snowfall (see "Thank You Notes" on November 10 posting). And if Dolce hadn't worn a cast on her front paw that weighed more than she does, doubtless she would have frolicked around the yard emitting tiny yelps of joy.


But as she is not allowed to frolic or race around like she did before she broke her tiny bones until her broken bone heals, she is stuck in the cage. She's not even allowed to feel the snow now, as she is also not supposed to get her cast wet! That said, I am rather eager to go to Arizona next week on vacation, if Felicia goes to a hotel that allows tiny dogs who fit in purses like Moi!

Spy Bags and Snow Globes

Dolce is in danger of becoming a fashion victim. She is on the internet, ordering designer purses, designer strollers, designer snow globes even (snow globe photo by Takashi Matsuzuki)! And she is suddenly obsessed with Fendi Spy Bags. She's been listening to Felicia talk to Takashi in New York City and they are already discussing next summer's "it" bags, and it's only mid-November. They're saying words and phrases like "Cruise," "Pre-collection," and "Runway collection," and I think Takashi has already reserved a hand-woven straw bag for Felicia that I will show you tomorrow, and it's two months before the trunk show!


I did catch a glimpse of the straw bag, when I (I, mind you, not Dolce), was sitting last night in Felicia's lap while she was on the computer. Dolce thinks that Felicia is ordering her a Christmas present from Fendi. But only I know that she is not! Because only I can fit inside Felicia's designer bags when she shops or eats out. Dolce is eating like a horse and is already getting almost too large to fit in a designer bag. Besides...Dolce apparently doesn't realize it, but her cast is totally too vivid for this season's new color palette of berry and purple (according to Vogue, W, and Harpers Bazaar and Elle!). She's clashing horribly with Felicia's limited edition 3-tone Spy!

Dolce & Gabbana

Here's a picture of Dolce in the hotel room the first day Felicia and India brought her home. She was happy to be there and spent a lot of time attacking Felicia's shoe. India and Felicia were thrilled to have her, too. Felicia had been concerned about adding another dog to the mix, and worried that the other dogs, mainly me, would be too jealous. But I am still the one they travel with. Dolce is still hoping that Felicia will buy her something from Fendi. First, Dolce was daydreaming about Dolce and Gabbana.But if anything, it should be Dolce and Maia, preferably Maia and Dolce, if you really want to know. But if we are going to do the whole Dolce and Gabbana thing, I suppose I'll let Dolce's name be first.



But Dolce is just a baby. I'm two years older than her, and I'm the one who's been around, not her. I have been to NYC to the Fendi store to visit Takashi, I have been to Louis Vuitton, I have been to the Bal Harbour Mall in Miami, not Dolce. But for some reason, Dolce is too proud to ask me about it, so she wanted to ask India herself. But India is away at school, so Dolce friended India on Facebook so she can see India's pictures of our trip to New York. I'll just have to post my own pictures here, tomorrow, on my Maia Chronicles, to show Dolce what a good time she'll be missing the next time I go somewhere with Felicia and India...that is, if she ever gets out of her cage! LOL.