and the emotional damage not covered by your homeowner's poicy..

On Tuesday they finally took the last of the fans. Later that morning I met with the project manager that would be managing the rebuild. They have taken samples of flooring and carpet and are waiting for results on the value so that I can select materials. I went to Lowe's to look at tile and there really isn't anything I like more than what I already have - but I'm going to try it in a beige instead of a white and use a light gray grout instead of the marble.

Unfortunately this hasn't progressed quickly enough and the pets have all been in varying difficult moods.

On Monday, Sadie attacked Tsu. Tsu was in shock, hyperventilating and all of her lower teeth had been knocked out. There was blood. I rushed her to the emergency hospital where they started to work on managing her pain and making sure she had no internal injuries. She has 3 teeth left. She probably needs to go back for a little dentist surgery about a week from now. You can get the idea from the picture.

When it first happened no one was there to witness what led to the attack. Sadie is 5 1/2 years old and was raised with cats, including Tsu. Tsu is 14+. They have always gotten along well to the point where they could share a sofa cushion. So I assumed that something else had happened, perhaps another injury like the staple she got in her foot over the weekend? On Tuesday I moved Tsu to her regular vet.

On Wednesday night I got home from work and immediately went upstairs to let the dogs out of their crates. As usually they came running out of their crates and down the stairs. I was behind them. At the bottom of the stairs Sadie made a beeline for Cosmo.

Cosmo is 13 years old and was also here when Sadie was just a puppy. I couldn't get her off him, she wouldn't listen to me when I told her to stop, sit, crate...she broke away when I grabbed her collar...she chased him all over downstairs and had him in her mouth several times even with me twisting her collar.

Sadie is an English Bulldog / Boxer mix. She's a strong dog. Cosmo was crying out and there was blood in the dining room. I finally managed to get the dogs outside. Sadie looked as sweet and happy as always. But, suddenly I knew that Tsu had been attacked and it wasn't just an accident.

There has been a lot of stress here. Cosmo and Tsu had been 'living' on the dining room table until the furniture re finishers came and picked up the furniture on Tuesday morning. There had been fans and dehumidifiers on for over a week. There is no flooring. Dust is everywhere. The ceiling has been cut away.

Add to this the dogs next door that keep getting out and breaking into my fence. They have also chased me from my car, trapped me in my house and cornered my dogs under the deck furniture.

I know that these things all contributed to Sadie's snap.

But, I could never trust again that if she was left alone and under stress that she wouldn't go after another animal. Or even a person. I was afraid I was going to have to put her down. I had my sister contact my ex and ask if he would take her (she was originally his dog even though we haven't spoken in a year and a half). He agreed and my sister arranged to drive her to his house after she got home.

I packed up all her things. I did my best to say goodbye. She was just excited that she was going for a ride in the car and had no idea that I would never see her again. She was my sweet lovey dog with the doe eyes. She would lie with me on the couch, put her head in my lap. I cried all last night, I kept breaking down at work today and I am crying now. But it was the right thing to do. But I blame the leak. And insurance can't cover the fact that I had to give up my dog because this situation became too much for her.

Tsu came home on Thursday. She's having some trouble walking but her x-rays were good so right now I have to assume it's just bruising. I know she's in a great deal of pain. She only has 3 teeth left so I was feeding her canned food but in the last few hours she has taken to gumming dry kibble. I can see it's hard for her to lie down, I hope she heals quickly.

Cosmo isn't bleeding and he finally came out of the closet he had moved into on his own. My sister said that he was fine, but had decided that he had a new kitty condo and liked room service. I hate to break it to him but they will need him out of there to put the new flooring in.

Before the last humidifier went away Dexter had taken to sitting on it. He seems to be the only member of the household not affected by all this disorder. Personally it's wearing hard on me. I had to give up a dog I love because it caused her to snap. I almost lost two cats I love because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I've been staying with Dan for a week and I am sure that is wearing on him.

Tonight I am at home. I haven't been able to sleep. First, my bedroom is rather in disorder, at least it is without carpet or a bathroom. Second I've been obsessed with cleaning up what I can control. There is a thick layer of nasty dust on everything and this included the kitchen (which also had a fair amount of gross food stuff that should have been wiped up when it was spilled). I gave the kitchen as thorough a cleaning as I could and removed a lot of trash. It does look better down there and I am feeling a tad more relaxed.

I am told that drywall can begin on Monday, so I guess that means ceilings and walls will be repaired. Hopefully they will finally look at that light switch in the living room that was smoking. I have been planning to paint my kitchen for years and I am trying to make sure I do that on Saturday. It would be preferable to paint it while the floor is up in case there are spills. I need to remember to speak to the contractor about repairing the hole I made in the wall while he is here. I will have to cover that myself, but I've been meaning to have someone do it and this sure seems like the time.