Hi there. I know what you mean. I don't honestly remember going through this last fall, though our two buffies were much younger. THIS fall however, one of our gals started to look just ratty. She first lost all of her feathers around her neck. They share the pen with 4 indian runners so I began looking very suspiciously at one of our drakes. Then she lost her tail feathers, and her rump looked just plain round. THEN she lost all of her feathers around her vent area. I was starting to get concerned, except I could see the bristles around her neck where her feathers were coming in. Buffy didn't act herself either, she seemed reluctant to start the day and wouldn't come when I called. I started to worry a little, but she didn't quit eating, so I just kept on eye on her. Poor girl. Her sister didn't seem to suffer this year at all. It looks like it feels awful itchy, like coming home from a fresh haircut every hour, every day. Best I could do was make sure she had plenty of dirt to roll in - but it's hard for us to keep anything dry much for very long in these parts, so she just had to hang in there. Ours is better now, but I had to get after the rest of the flock for making fun of her. To make her feel better, I explained that one of my co-workers commissioned me to make a set of wings for their halloween costume this year, so her feathers won't be wasted in vain. The set of wings I'm making, I told her - would be "golden tipped" thanks to her troubles. She was rather non-plussed, but oh well. LF

I'm sorry about your daughters's dog too Mary. Our son sent us a utube video he made for Goldie today and it was so sweet it made me cry looking at all the pics he had of Goldie and Mercedes over the years. They are together again now. I am wondering if something of her is still here at meal time though. Something weird is going on with BB. They never fought over food but each waited for their bite of leftovers when we finished eating. Now BB looks at the place where Goldie passed away and growls and all the hair stands up on her neck and she won't go in her crate to sleep anymore and usually goes to bed before we do. Its right next to the door where she was last. I hope she settles down. Its creeping me out. She does this for hours after supper the last couple of nights until after we go to bed.

I have a history of agreeing with rhome, so I will tell you that I loved the marble -- even with the edge treatment. That made it kind of a funky fit that didn't need refinishing in my book. The polished aspect is easy -- take some lemon juice to wash it down first, rinse and dry, then fine sand paper (maybe a couple of grades in succession) and buff it down. And I don't worry about staining. I've had mine next to my cooktop and sink for years -- with chili, chocolate, tomatoes -- just about anything I'm likely to encounter spilled on them and a number left overnight. It's as seal it and forget it as my granite as far as stains go, really. I like the soapstone, but I don't love it -- especially as a second variety in the same room. I would wait until you get the other SS in to commit to table top. Either way, I'd hang onto the marble for now. Either stone can be changed or used in another spot. I'd be wanting to find a use for both of them regardless of which one stayed on the table top. Whatever you do, they are great finds. Enjoy your great fortune and the stones.

Hypoglycemic seizures are also a possibility. They are caused by plummeting blood sugar levels. My old (16+) girl is going through this. The probably diagnosis is pancreatic cancer, but we are not pursuing any additional tests for her, since she's got some other health issues, and has lived a long and happy life. We've been able to manage her condition extremely well by feeding her small meals (canned dog food mixed with cooked brown rice) every 4 hours. We've modified the overnight feeding so that she now eats at midnight and 6AM, so we are all sleeping a bit better :o) She thinks that eating 6 times a day is just BRILLIANT! The complex carb (brown rice) is designed to give her some steady fuel to burn, to avoid blood sugar peaks and valleys. Seems to be working well so far. I thought of the possibility that the seizures might be blood-sugar rather than brain-based when you said that the first seizure occurred in the early morning. I had noticed that my girl was starting to seize often as I was preparing breakfast, and realized that she probably needed something to carry her from her normal 6PM feed through the night. Since we've added the late-night meal and the early-morning feed, she has not displayed any morning symptoms. If the seizures are related to blood sugar levels (and not "brain" epilepsy), you will probably be able to bring her out of it if you feed her a little Karo syrup before the seizure progresses too far, before she is not able to swallow anything. This has worked really well for us, but you do have to catch it early. I work from home, which lets me keep a close eye on her for brow twitching and head shaking - her signals that a seizure is starting. My friend who has a diabetic brother recommended using a tube of white cake icing instead of the Karo syrup. The icing is much easier to squirt into her mouth, and MUCH less sticky and messy than the Karo syrup. Hope this helps. Susan