Where's Monkey?

After my last post several people asked about Monkey.

 While Monkey will forever be Bailey's very best friend, he grew old and couldn't keep up with Bailey's busy schedule.

Remember Monkey had a very full life. He accompanied Bailey everywhere.

There was the time Fudge kidnapped him and held him hostage for a week, prompting a worldwide search.

Monkey was part of a stressful MangoMinster adventure.

He took part in our Olympics and even won a medal.

He always took part in Bandana Day.

Finally Bailey decided it was time for Monkey to retire. He earned it. Though he still shared her crate at bedtime, she started carrying Pink Bear around with her.

Pink Bear was a good buddy and their friendship lasted a long time. Then it ended.

Lately Bailey has been carrying Bird with her and taking it into her crate at bedtime. Then one night during the winter I guess Bailey was angry about something and instead of going to sleep, she chewed Bird's head off. I was surprised and I'm sure Bird was surprised, but Bailey continued to be faithful to Headless Bird.

On Saturday, while Bailey was outside playing, I put a new white bear in her crate. I was a little disappointed at bedtime when she didn't seem to notice him, but Sunday morning she came bouncing out with her new Bear. I tried to take him while she ate breakfast but she wouldn't eat until he was beside her. I did stop her at the door and made Bear wait inside for her.

They have been inseparable ever since.

Monkey has gone to live in my memory box along with Samba's frisbee, Sky's glowball, Tsar's duck, Monty's pink pig, Lucy's loofa dog, Bentley's star and Libby's rubber candy cane. All their collars are also there. I like to look at them now and then and let the memories surround me.

Too Much, Too Soon

Nichole had a great post today on the Lapdog blog about the importance of preventive care for our fur kids. I know most of you agree and have regular checkups and do all the other stuff, such as heartworm and flea and tick prevention. Unfortunately there are still pet owners who don't think it's necessary for their animals to see a vet on a regular basis if they aren't showing symptoms of illness. I can assure you that our regular health checks have caught some serious problems before they became unmanageable.We do complete blood work on each dog at least annually.

Morgan sees the vet every six months because of her age and various health conditions. On her most recent checkup and blood test, we discovered that her thyroid needed help. We had assumed that her slowing down was normal aging, but after starting treatment, we discovered an active alert dog again.

Fudge is now 8 and is starting to see the doctor every six months, too. It was at his most recent checkup that we discovered a growth on his side that was a form of skin cancer. It was removed and Fudge is 100% again.

Noah and Tess will each be getting dental cleanings and Tess has a benign growth that will be removed at the same time. Prior to each checkup, I make a list of questions and locations of any lumps and bumps so that I don't forget anything. Dr B knows to check my list now to be sure we've covered everything.

I've had several dogs who have needed thyroid supplements. There are often signs that lead me to suspect there's a problem. Morgan slowed down, Noah had trouble losing weight and Libby had hair loss, all symptoms of hypothyroidism. But this month when Bailey's test showed a very low thyroid level, I was surprised. She showed no symptoms. Her weight is fine, she has a good coat and she's active. Still, the level indicated that she needed a supplement.

We started her on soloxin once a day. All my other dogs have showed improvement very quickly so I watched Bailey closely. After a couple days I noticed that she seemed a little too quiet. After a couple more days, my independent Bailey became very clingy. She wouldn't leave my side and kept nudging me to pet her. I noticed that her eyes looked dull, but I didn't really have anything but a gut feeling that there might be a problem.

On Saturday Bailey didn't want to come out of her crate in the morning and when I coaxed her out, she didn't bring her bear with her. That is very unusual. Saturday night she barked several times during the night. The second time I got up to let her out, I put her in the big pen in the garage to finish the night. When I went to feed her in the morning she had been sick. There was runny diarrhea in the pen and as soon as she got outside she started vomiting. Of course it was a holiday weekend and I couldn't reach Dr B, but I didn't think we needed the emergency room yet. I had a feeling it was the soloxin so I didn't give it to her.

First thing Tuesday morning I spoke with Dr B and told him I suspected a reaction to the soloxin. After describing the symptoms we discussed the possibility of an allergic reaction. He said allergic reactions to soloxin are rare and he had a different idea. He thinks that Bailey's body had adjusted to the low hormone levels she was producing and that we overwhelmed her with the full dose. Our plan is to leave her off the meds for a week, then introduce it to her more slowly, 1/4 tablet for three or four days, then 1/2 tablet for three or four days, then 3/4 and finally up to the full dose. If she shows symptoms again, we'll use a different therapy, but for now we're hoping she can adjust and continue with this drug which has worked so well for the others.

After five days off, Bailey is again running and jumping and carrying her bear around with her. She also has a sparkle back in her eyes.

I'm pleased with the working relationship I have with our vet. When I have a worry, he takes the time to listen and explain. He trusts my observations and is willing to work with me to try new therapies for my dogs. Because he sees each dog on a regular basis, he has a pretty good idea of their condition and temperament. Regular checkups can give us more quality time with our pets. Mark your calendars.

When Close Does Count

You all know that little Noah has been having some tummy troubles over the last few months. We tried several remedies but nothing helped. Finally we put him on a different drug and I started cooking for him. Noah eats only his special food made with turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots and peas. He also gets some vitamin supplements to make sure we're meeting his nutritional needs. For treats he gets sweet potato chips made here at home. Our house smells like baked sweet potatoes all the time. I guess it could be worse.

Noah lost a lot of weight when he was sick and got down to about 43 pounds. We've been trying really hard to put those pounds back on him, but it hasn't been easy. We added an extra meal each day but still his weight hung around 46 pounds. Our goal is 50 pounds.

Last Friday we took Noah in for a weigh-in. The scale stopped at 49.5.  Yes, we're getting there slowly and next time maybe Noah will reach that elusive 50 pound mark. To celebrate we bought the boy a new handmade collar. Isn't it pretty? Just perfect for a big strong Water Dog.

Good As New

Fudge had his stitches out yesterday. All the incisions are well healed and the boy is feeling good. Here is the super pathology report. Notice under comments where it says "Surgical excision is curative."

YEA !!!!!

Today he got to take his tee shirt off and play in the yard with the others. Then we had to brush his teeth. Dr B and I made a plan for caring for his teeth that we hope will keep his gums under control. It was a very good day.

It's Magic!

Morgan is 14 1/2 now and she goes to the doctor every six months for a checkup. Over the past six months Rob and I have noticed that she's really failed.

 She sleeps about 20 hours a day and seems confused when she's awake. Her hearing is mostly gone and when we call her to go outside, she just lifts her head to look at us, then goes back to sleep. We have to help her to her feet and push her to the door. Then we help her down the steps. After she pees, she just stands there till we guide her back inside.

She doesn't play with toys or the other dogs anymore and when the others gather in the kitchen at breakfast time waiting for their toast, she doesn't bother to come. If I take her toast to her, she just looks away and puts her head down.

Morgan went for her most recent checkup two weeks ago and Dr B and I discussed how much she has gone downhill since November. We talked about quality of life issues and making her comfortable.

When Morgan's bloodwork came back, it showed that her thyroid was too low to measure. We started her on Soloxin immediately.

Two days later I noticed that she seemed a little more alert and awake. I mentioned it to Rob and told him to watch her. On the fourth day of treatment Rob called me to watch as Morgan and Fudge played together. They both did a play bow and barked at each other, then they tugged on a toy. Morgan won and shook the toy and tossed it for Fudge to chase.

It's been a week now and when I call Morgan to go out, she gets up and trots to the door. She can do the steps by herself and when she's done peeing, she goes looking for the bunny that lives under the bush.

This morning Morgan joined the others in the kitchen at breakfast and demanded her piece of toast. She's also talking to me again. When I don't react fast enough to whatever she thinks she wants, she gets in front of me and talks in quite a demanding tone. I've learned to listen and answer.

It sure is nice to have Morgan back. We'll have those quality of life discussions sometime in the future, Morgan isn't going anywhere yet.

Celebration!!!

The call just came. The report is back. It was not a mast cell tumor.

It was a plasmacytoma, a form of skin cancer but Dr B took a lot of the surrounding tissue and the report says the edges are clear.

We'll watch him carefully for the next six months, but the doctor thinks the surgery should be curative.

Just as an interesting fact, my first Portie, Bentley, had a plasmacytoma removed from his muzzle when he was a year old and it never recurred.

Join us in our happy dance and be sure to read below about the little yellow ducks.

Quacking For A Cause

Attention all crafters!! Whether you knit, sew or crochet, or even if you don't do any of those things, here's a wonderful way to get involved in spreading word of a great cause without much effort at all. I like projects that don't require a lot of effort.

I recently heard about "The Little Yellow Duck Project" and it really appealed to me. Let me give you a little background. It was started by a woman in the UK in honor of her best friend. Her friend died last year at the age of 26 while waiting for an organ transplant. There was no matching organ available and her friend wanted to get out the word about blood, bone marrow, organ and tissue donation. The girl had collected all things ducky, so The Little Yellow Duck Project was born.

This is how it works. We make a duck. Simple. We can knit one or sew one or sculpt one or whatever  we choose to do. It doesn't even have to be yellow. There are even patterns provided on the site and they don't require much in time or materials.

Next we attach one of the project tags, also provided on the site, to the duck and leave the creature somewhere, anywhere. It can be in a park, on a beach, on a store shelf, at a library or at the gym, anywhere that a stranger will find it. The person who finds it can take it home and go to the site as instructed on the tag to leave their location on the big map. So far ducks have been found in the USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Ireland, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Serbia and the Philippines.

The idea is to make the finder smile and become aware of the need for blood and organ donors. To learn more about this sweet but important project, go to the website, The Little Yellow Duck Project.org  There is also a group on Ravelry with info and discussion for all you knitters

I'm going to knit a duck tonight but I also have a couple of little rubber duckies that I bought on sale a few years ago. They've been sitting in the closet waiting for a purpose in life.  I'll tag them and leave them for someone to find. I think we can all use a smile these days.