The Looooong Weekend

We had an interesting weekend. We had two solid days of rain, the good steady kind. Boy, did we every need it. Our yard went from this.....

to this.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but our brown lawn has turned green again, if you don't look too closely. And the trees are looking much happier, though I fear the damage has been done. We'll find out in the spring, if summer ever leaves. Today we're back in the steamy 90s.

In the USA we just had a three day weekend to celebrate Labor Day. Most people look forward to long weekends, but this one wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Having a lot of dogs can be fun and rewarding. Watching them interact is great ...

and we love playing  and working with them.

But there can be a down side. Last week on one of Samba's visits to Dr B, Fudge went along. Fudge was having spells of vomiting and diarrhea too. But Fudge was eating and jumping and spinning and being goofy. In other words, Fudge was being his normal self except for the fluids problem. Dr B told me what to give him and in a couple days he was mostly back to normal.

Samba was very sick and Dr B felt there was no connection between her condition and Fudge's. He said she wasn't contagious. Wrong!!!

Sunday afternoon Sky started vomiting and had watery diarrhea. Hmmm!  Sunday evening it was Morgan's turn. Sunday night was one of those sleep in your clothes nights. I was in and out with the two of them almost every hour. Then at 4:33 AM, just as I was dozing off, Bailey started barking. You guessed it, she was sick, too.

By this morning Sky and Bailey are feeling good, eating normally and are pretty much back to normal. It's taking a little longer for Morgan, but she's showing improvement. I reported all this to Dr B this morning and after a few questions, we agreed that we have an intestinal virus that is getting passed around in the pack. Samba got hit hardest because of her prior health conditions and her long term steroid use. Morgan being older and having some health issues is a little slower to recover. The others are bouncing back quickly.

 

 me

This is all good news, except I am waiting for the other five to get it. For some reason I think it'll be during the night.

It's Working !

The Power Of The Paw is working!

I had to let you all in on the news because you've all been so concerned  about Samba. She had a good day, the first in a long time.

 There has been no vomiting since Wednesday. Last night she slept thru the night.  This morning she ate breakfast without having to be spoon fed.

Mid morning, in the rain she had a better stool, not good, but much improved. Tonight she was eager for her dinner.

She's looking and acting better, showing interest in what's going on around her. And she's begging for her potato treats.

We're not past this illness and we could still have bad days ahead, but it looks like the antibiotic is working.

And the most important medicine of all is the outpouring of love and caring from the Power Of The Paw.

Rain At Last

After months of drought and temperatures in the 90s and 100s, we have rain. This situation is due to Hurricane Isaac who did so much damage to the Gulf Coast. But by the time he arrived here he was a much tamer storm and we welcomed him.

The rain began Thursday night and continued all day yesterday. It was the perfect kind of rain, steady and soaking, not the kind that runs down the hill and does no good to the plants. This was sinking in and bringing exactly what the trees, grass and shrubbery needed.

The rain continued all night and is still coming down, much to Sebastian's dismay. We learned that Sebastian does not like to get wet, unlike his water dog siblings. Last night I had to put a leash on him and drag him outside for last call. He and I plodded thru the mud until he finally gave in and peed on a tree. He was no more cooperative this morning. The others are more than happy to run thru the puddles and get completely soaked.

Yesterday Dr B and I had our Friday morning call and the news wasn't good. Samba is not getting  better and is refusing to eat again. She's painfully thin and getting weak. We discussed tweaking her diet to make it more appealing to her and he suggested an antibiotic to clear up the mess in her intestinal tract. He knew this would make me anxious because the antibiotic he wanted to use is the one that Morgan had a near fatal reaction to. We discussed the fact that Samba and Morgan are not related and the statistical possibilities of the same reaction happening are very slim. Finally I agreed to try it.

One big positive thing we discussed is treats. Samba hasn't been able to have biscuits because of her illness. I can see that she feels deprived when the others get a cookie and she doesn't. Dr B said she could have potatoes. So, Rob peeled several potatoes and I cut them into bite size pieces. Then I spread them on a non stick cookie sheet and baked them till they were golden and crunchy. She loved them and so did all the others. She looks happier already.

Thank you to all who are sending messages and asking about Samba's condition. I hope I can have some good news for you soon.

A Popular Girl

Several of my dogs have a favorite toy. Fudge has a leopard, Sky has a turtle, Lola has a bunny and Sebastian has a duck, but Bailey has a whole group of friends and she has one with her most of the time.

You all know Old Monkey. He was Bailey's first love and though he's in retirement now, he still sleeps in her crate with her every night. He was a naughty monkey when he was younger and that may be why he was destuffed, as punishment.

Now New Monkey is in Bailey's life and gets to go outside to play on a regular basis. Although he's one of Bailey's favorites, he'll ever really replace Old Monkey in her heart.

The new special friend that goes with Bailey most often is Bear. It's a shame that he's light pink because it means that he gets frequent baths, but while he's drying, bailey has lots of other friends to keep her company.

There is Duck, who often goes outside when Bailey wants to run with her sisters. He's quite compact without long legs hanging to trip over.

When Duck isn't available, Bird usually is. Bird is becoming more popular lately for some reason that only Bailey understands.

You have all heard of Flat Stanley. Well, this is Flat Puppy. He used to be a more normal looking puppy until one night last winter instead of sleeping, Bailey destuffed Puppy. It's OK though because she still loves him and often carries him around.

Another friend that is just starting to make trips outside to play is Big Ted. Big Ted is a little heavier that the other friends and only goes out when Bailey feels like lying under a tree. He's much too big to run around the yard with him in her mouth.

Bailey also has a fish that always stays in her crate. I don't know why he doesn't go out to play , that's Bailey's decision. I would have called this creature Fish or Charlie, but she came with a name embroidered on her tail. Her name is Ethel.

Bailey likes to have her friends in her crate with her when she sleeps. If we forget to toss at least one or two in, she'll bark till we bring them. When Tsar was with us, he sometimes would babysit Bailey's toys. She'd put them close to him as he sat on the hill and he'd watch them till she came back for them. Once or twice he beat Monkey up, but never when Bailey was watching.

Yesterday Sebastian encountered the wrath of Bailey. She had settled Bear under a tree and walked away to see what Norma Jean was doing. Sebastian, seeing Bear on his own, decided to pick him up and play with him. Unfortunately, Bailey saw this and came flying at him snarling and snapping to defend her friend. Norma Jean was right behind her and both girls pitched into poor unsuspecting Sebastian. He quickly dropped Bear and came running to me. Bailey grabbed Bear and carried him inside, still very annoyed with Sebastian. I feel sure he won't make that mistake again.

Dreams Can Come True

Aren't dreams strange things? Sometimes during a dream I'm aware that I want to remember it, but when I awaken I can feel it drifting away as I try to recapture it. Some dreams hang around. I have  some recurring dreams that have been coming back for years. A couple are unpleasant and I try to wake myself from them, but one is quite pleasant. I dream of walking thru a lovely house and admiring the many rooms. Sometimes the house is deep in the woods.

Other times the house is on the beach, but it's always the same house. I find myself watching houses as we drive by, looking for that particular one. I'd recognize it immediately. Maybe that's why I enjoy the television program House Hunters. I keep hoping they'll go thru my dream house.

A dear bloggy friend of mine, Midge, lives in England. She's a  talented lady who makes lovely bears among other creations. A while ago Midge made these adorable little dolls from recycled denim and when she posted them on her blog, it reminded me of a dream I had about 30 years ago.

I dreamt that I was visiting a friend and her dog had a litter of puppies. The pups were about four weeks old and just starting to run around. I walked into her kitchen where the pups were playing in a pen. It was a littler of about ten and they were a mix of black puppies and blonde puppies except for one little pup that was denim blue in color. Of course I fell in love with that blue puppy and wanted to take him home. I woke up and remembered my dream and for all these years I've thought about that denim blue puppy.

When I saw Midge's dolls, I told her the dream and said that I really should take an old pair of jeans and make myself a denim blue puppy.

Guess what arrived on my doorstep yesterday! You guessed it, a denim blue puppy. Isn't he beautiful? And what great timing, he came on a day when I really needed some cheering. Dealing with a sick dog and lack of sleep can leave a person dragging, but this little guy has done a good job of cheering me. Don't you love his ears and paw pads?

So, don't give up, dreams can come true even after 30 years.

What's Wrong With Samba?

What a day! Samba and I were up every hour all night. She would go stand in the yard, but nothing happened. Finally at 4AM she had a fecal explosion. I won't go into detail since it was pretty gross. I'll only say that her stool is completely liquid and quite violent. OK, enough about that for now.

bad bacteria

At 7:30 we dropped her at the clinic. Then I tried to concentrate till our appointment at 2:15. My thoughts kept going back to Samba and what could possibly be wrong. I did manage to knit a few rows but that was about all that got done.

When Dr B came in carrying xrays and boxes and bottles, he announced that it was mostly good news. I felt the weight slip of my shoulders and neck and my headache went away instantly. Here's what we learned.

The bile acid test was normal. The xrays show a normal looking liver and no masses were apparent.  Everything looked pretty good except that her small intestine was full, and I do mean full, of gas. He said they'd tried taking her out hoping she'd release some of the gas, but she wasn't feeling cooperative. Dr B did notice that her eyes looked less worried and she was more active than last week.

normal liver

So, if all the tests were normal, why is she not eating, having loads of gas and watery, explosive stool? And why did she lose five pounds in one week? The answer is we don't know. The most likely reason is prolonged steroid use and a possible tolerance problem with her special diet designed for her MMM. This is not to be confused with food allergy, she does not have that.

So, what are we going to do for her? For the time being she's eating a prescription diet designed for intestinal problems. It's very easily digested. We're feeding four small meals a day, instead of the two larger ones she normally gets.

good bacteria

She's getting a daily dose of beneficial bacteria added to her food, plus medicine to sooth her intestinal tract. We've also increased her prednisone temporarily because we don't want a flare up of her jaw disease while we're straightening out this new issue.

Dr B and I will be having phone conferences every Monday and Friday until we get this all fixed. We'll be working on tweaking the diet and adjusting the dosage on her meds till she's a happy girl again.

We think it was the Power Of The Paw that helped the most. All those good healing vibes flying thru Blogville had to make the big difference. We are so grateful to all of you who expressed concern for my little girl. We have a long way to go to get back to normal, but knowing that everyone's supporting us, I'm sure we'll make it. Thank you everyone.

A Dog's Life

Each time I've welcomed a new puppy into my life I've made a promise to him or her. I promise to give them a safe home, to love them, to allow them to be a dog and when the time comes I will be there with them as they die.

I feel safe in assuming that anyone reading this loves their pets and wants to give them good lives. At some time each of us will face the illness or simply the aging out of our pet and we all have to deal with it in our own way. I've faced that situation more times than I care to think about and will face it again sooner or hopefully later.

When our pet gets sick we all have to consider our options. There are many considerations, the illness involved, the age and condition of the pet, but there are others that we don't like to think about. We have to be honest and consider our finances and our time restrictions.

If the pet needs constant attention, help in eating and help in standing and walking, someone with a full time job and a family may simply not be able to give the animal the attention it needs. Veterinary medicine has made enormous strides in recent years, but can you afford to keep your animal alive indefinitely  on life support. If you can afford it, do you really want to do it?

Everyone has their own criteria for making the decision to end their pet's life. Mine has always been a quality of life issue. When my dog can no longer enjoy his life, it's time for me to pull myself together and say goodbye.

Using Morgan as an example, she can no longer chase squirrels, one of her favorite things in life, because of her arthritis, knee problems and poor eyesight. Is it time to say goodbye to Morgan? No, because Morgan is still enjoying being a dog. She can't run after squirrels and bunnies, but she can meander around the yard sniffing out their trails. She can bark at them when she sees them and she has adapted to her physical condition.

Tsar was a different story. Very quickly it became impossible for him to move on his own and do the things he most enjoyed. There were options we chose not to take, such as extensive testing that might have kept him alive longer, but would not have improved the quality of his life. Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should do it. Keeping Tsar alive in his condition would have been a selfish act on my part. Did I want to lose him? Of course not, but it's my responsibility to make the hard decisions whether I like them or not.

My vet and I have had this conversation a number of times. I tell him that he's my backup conscience. I depend on him to be honest with me and tell me when it's time if I'm too clouded by emotion to recognize it. He's always been supportive and I know I can count on him not to prolong my dog's life beyond the time we should.

I don't know if Samba's latest setback will have a happy outcome or not, but I  am fully aware that I have to accept responsibility whatever comes. I consider it an act of love.