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what does Neville want?
Tuesday, August 11 2026
location: rural Town of Hurley, Ulster County, NY
I'd gotten up early yesterday and so had needed a proper night of sleep, so I had slept in the bedroom. Meanwhile Gretchen had slept on the couch in the living room adjacent to the pen we'd set up to contain Neville during his three months of heartworm treatment. But Neville had whined and complained all night, ruining Gretchen's sleep. Perhaps it was the torture of that which had reignited the pain in her right leg, a pain that had been on the wane. All the whining had awaken me a couple times, but there wasn't much I could do so I'd put a pillow over my head and go back to sleep.
When I took Charlotte for her morning walk, we went down the Gulleys Trail all the way into the Valley of the Beasts. Aside from dense undergrowth and some a couple treefalls (one of them massive) along its mountain goat section, it's clear all the way to the bottom of the valley. I walked up as far as the trail that cuts over to Canary Hill and took that back to the Stick Trail. The main thing of note back there is the abundance of mushrooms and forest turf-builders (like Japanese stiltgrass and sedges).
I hadn't mowed the grass in maybe three months, but before doing that, I sprayed myself heavily with insect repellant. I hate how that stuff smells, but the mosquitoes have made being outdoors without it torture.
Gretchen was in meetings for much of the day, so it was on me to attend to Neville's needs. He was whining less now about pain and mostly just when he needed things, though it was never clear from the sound of the whine what he was requesting. Usually what he wanted was either water to drink or to go outside to piss. The medications have him drinking much more water than usual, and that results in much more urination than usual. But because all his movements are now mediated by Gretchen or me, it means we have to constantly take him outside. He hadn't pooped since getting back from his heartworm injection, and it was something of a milestone when he finally pooped today.
With this dog-care regime, one of us always has to be near Neville should he need something. In the evening when we want to watch Jeopardy! or other teevee, I carry him up the stairs so he can be with us on the couch. But sometimes he gets restless there and starts whining, and then I usually have to carry him down the stairs and outside so he can piss. It ends up being a lot of work to carry him up and down the stairs a half dozen times every evening. It's also dangerous; I would not want a cat to dart under my foot as I am trying to carry Neville down the stairs, but it's in cases like that when cats are most likely to do their darting.
This evening as we wound down for the night, we decided I would sleep in the living room with Neville so Gretchen could sleep upstairs and not be disturbed by his frequent needs, thereby getting the rest she couldn't get last night. Interestingly, Charlotte has been opting to sleep with whomever is sleeping upstairs, that is, not with Neville. She normally wouldn't sleep with me if I am the only one in the bed, but she did last night. Something about Neville's situation has her unsettled.
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