Tornado

Yesterday we went to an agility trial hosted by our dog training club. Our friend Dr Nicki was running two of her dogs. I have some pictures, but I'll post them later.

 As most of you probably know Joplin, Missouri was hit by a tornado last evening. Joplin is about an hour southwest of us here in Springfield.

Reports say the tornado was about 3/4 of a mile wide and destroyed about 30% of the city.

So far there are 89 confirmed dead, though that figure will undoubtedly go higher.

The hospital was hit and this helicopter was destroyed.

Although emergency workers from here are in Joplin helping, everyone else is being told to stay away.

Highways are closed because of debris.

There is debris falling all over the area. Homes near us have reported medical files and xrays landing in their yards. So far, we've had none.

Last evening we had high winds, rain and thunder and lightening.It calmed down and was quiet overnight. Today, it's very dark, as if it were late night, and we've had a number of thunderstorms go thru. The wind picks up and a storm comes with thunder and rain, then it calms for a while, then the next wave starts.

As you can imagine, I'm trying to get dogs out and back in during the lulls. Morgan has been hiding all day and Noah sits by the door barking at the thunder.  The others just follow me around and have trouble settling down. It's going to be a rough few days as this is forecast to go on until Thursday.

A Game Changer

 The last three of my pack visited Dr B on Wednesday. Tess and Lola had no problems to report and both had good exams and the lab reports were perfect on each of them. Noah was a different story.

Over the last few months I've noticed a change in Noah. He went from being a happy boy who joined in games with his siblings to being the chubby little kid on the edge of the playground. The one who nobody wants on their team and the bigger boys tease. He hangs back, doesn't join in games with the others and looks sad most of the time.

I put Noah and Sky on the same diet at the same time. Sky lost 10 pounds and Noah gained weight. He has developed a funny stiff legged walk that resembles a waddle. His coat has also become dull and dry. I discussed all this with Dr B and asked if we could do a thyroid panel on Noah along with his other blood work. Dr B agreed that the symptoms could all be thyroid related.

Yesterday I got the call from our Vet Tech and friend Linda. She sounded excited and told me that Noah has a low thyroid. I cheered. Now, it may seem strange to be so happy when the vet tells you there's a problem with your dog, but I'm  very happy for Noah.

This can make an enormous difference in his life. His condition is easy to treat and we'll actually see changes soon. He should be able to lose the extra weight and start having more energy. His coat should regain it's gloss and he should just feel better overall.

He took his first pill this morning. Soon Noah should be happy again and that makes me happy, too.

Words That Make My Heart Sing

Yesterday Fudge, Sky and Bailey visited Dr B.  All three were on their best behavior and the visit went very well.

Fudge had a great checkup. He was cooperative as usual and offered his leg for a blood sample. He's in excellent shape with only a couple of minor things to do. He needs a dental cleaning toward fall and he has a sebaceous cyst on the top of his head. We told him it was just that he has such a big smart brain that it needed extra room. He bought it. When he has his teeth cleaned, we'll probably have the cyst removed.

Sky had a wonderful checkup. Last year Sky was fat. He looked fat and he didn't want to run and play and just sat around like a lump. Dr B suggested that he lose a few pounds so we got to work on that and yesterday we were thrilled to learn that Sky has lost 10 pounds. He's slim and trim and chases the girls around the yard. He plays ball for hours and is showing much more interest in life. What a great success. I'm so proud of him.

 Bailey had the biggest surprise for me. Bailey has gained almost 10 pounds in the past year. I was sure the scales were wrong so we weighed her on two different scales. Dr B says she has muscled up a lot over the past year and only needs to lose 2 or 3 pounds. That should be easy. At one time she was our little girl that got pushed around by her bigger sisters. No more! She had no medical problems and unlike last year, she offered a blood sample without a struggle.

After today's dogs were finished Dr B and I went over the lab reports from the ones the day before.

Tsar has one elevated liver enzyme that we'll be keeping an eye on. We'll repeat his blood work in about 60 days. Today we started him on some pain medication for his sore back and hips. In a few days he should be moving around more easily. The rest of his labs were perfect.

We were extremely pleased with Samba's lab reports. We're starting to reduce her Prednisone today. We'll be watching closely for any signs of a relapse, but with her new Omega 3 diet, we're hoping her body can fight off the disease. She has a small papilloma on her front foot that will probably be removed later this year though it's not bothering her. We also have a few things to try to see if we can help her sleep thru the night. I'll let you know if any of them work.

Finally Miss Morgan. Dr B looked at her lab report, turned to me and said, "Morgan might live forever." If you don't think my heart sang out when he said those words, then you haven't had an older dog that you loved like crazy.

When Morgan was three years old she had a severe reaction to an antibiotic and her liver failed. She was in the hospital on IV fluids for two weeks and her chances were poor.  After that she had very elevated liver enzymes for years and we suspected Cushings Disease. Dr B said then he didn't think she'd survive long.

Now we've turned it around and her liver enzymes have come back into the normal range. Except for her arthritis and her anxiety and OCD problems, all of which are being treated, she's in great health and had a wonderful lab report and examination. Dr B told me yesterday that Morgan can probably live to be in the 13 to 15 year range and he's leaning toward 15. There is nothing better he could have said.

Today Lola, Tess and Noah will take their turns, then we'll celebrate.

4 Down, 6 To Go

Today Samba, Tsar and Morgan went to visit Dr B. It's their annual check up and we had lots of things to discuss.

Tsar went first. He has some arthritis is his lower back.  Dr B drew some blood and when the results come back, we'll decide on something to relieve the pain he's feeling.

Morgan  went next. She also has arthritis in her back and hips. We drew blood and discussed changing her diet. We'll also consider making some changes in her pain medication. Over all she seems to be doing well, just showing signs of age.

Samba was last. She has the most serious medical problems but the news was pretty good. Her facial paralysis had left her unable to blink, but the blink reflexes are coming back nicely and she should have full recovery.

She's not exhibiting any pain in the jaw when Dr B pushes on the damaged muscles and she now lets me brush her teeth. For a while she didn't want me opening her mouth.

We discussed her insomnia and he gave me a few options to try to help her fall asleep at night. We're also going to try decreasing her Prednisone again which should also help her relax. She's lost five pounds since February so she can have a little more food each day, but he wants her to keep her weight down to help her condition. I'm nervous about decreasing her steroids and don't want her to have another relapse of the MMM, but with the high Omega 3 diet she's on, the doctor feels we can take a chance.

Norma Jean had her check up before starting school, so tomorrow Fudge, Sky and Bailey will visit Dr B and on Wednesday Tess, Lola and Noah will have their turn. Then I can relax again.

Dogs Going Green

Hi everyone, Fudge here with a special announcement.

It's less than a month till GREEN BANDANA DAY. The big day is scheduled for June 10.

That's the day when dogs and cats and any other animals who want to join us can all get together to celebrate  friendship. This will be the third year for Bandana Day and we're looking forward to seeing all of you.

This year we're changing the rules a little. You can send pictures of yourselves dressed in green, a bandana, a jacket, hat or anything you choose, but this year you can also show us how you go green in other ways.

Do you play with green toys?

Is your food bowl green?

Do you only chew on green shoes?

Do you try to help the environment?  Is your collar or harness made from recycled materials?

How about your bed?


Do you help with the gardening?

Show us how you 'go green' to help the environment.

Mom has opened a new file to collect all your photos and store them till the big day so you can start sending them now. The first photo received will be the first one posted on June 10th, so get those greens out and start snapping pictures. Email them to us at wilcoxhall@ymail.com  . That's all you have to do, then check in on June 10 to meet new friends from all over the world. 


We can't wait to see all of you in GREEN.

Bad Hair Days

Do you ever have a day where your hair decides to do it's own thing? It might decide to lay flat or pouf up or stick out and no matter what you tell it to do, it refuses to listen.

See, even royalty gets bad hair days. All people occasionally have a bad hair day, but did you know that dogs do too?

 Sometimes it's caused by a bad grooming decision.

 Can you imagine Morgan wearing her hair like this while rolling in the mud, hunting lizards and swimming? It didn't seem very practical.

 Sometimes the elements cause hair to behave badly, such as lake water or snow.

 Mom says even Bentley had bad hair days.

 Sometime hair just does it's own thing for no reason.

Sometimes food and hair don't mix well.

 The good thing about hair is that sometimes it can all be fixed with a good shake.

 Sometimes not.

The Hunt Is On

The warm weather has returned and with it comes Morgan's favorite pastime.

While the others busy themselves with running and playing ball and splashing in the pool, Morgan is on the hunt.

 Although she may seem confused much of the time, she is totally focused when on the hunt for her favorite prey.

This time she detected movement in the grass near the sculpture.  A little note here, the sculpture is lying on it's side while it's receiving some repairs and repainting.

 It's too bad she has to work around these obstacles.

 Noah and Tess offered to help, but this is a one dog job.

 Man, it's a tight squeeze following that guy.

 She never gives up once she's on the trail.

 He got away this time, but she knows where to look for him.

This is what she was hunting for, the dreaded lizard.

My money is on Morgan.