Pawrents Prater

I couldn't agree more. Wish we had a magic wand to make them all better right away!

Good morning everyone Happy Wednesday
Kathy how did Pa surgery go yesterday is he home today?
Carol we know how you feel Tori is on the Renal dog food for kidney disease and it has been a couple months since he told me that her kidneys were 75 percent not working she is still going strong and eating her food up and getting more of those tumors on her. We are for Pooks and sending you lots of hugs
Laura sorry to hear Pippi not eating we know that is not like her so we are the vet doesn't call back with bad news. We hope you get everything you need for the HVAC system
Anick you did a good job describing it. How is Willy and Teddy doing
Leslie we are sorry you are having such problems with your eyes but you are definitely a Giant Nothing you are incredible strong person who gets a lot of things accomplished despite all her health problems. You are an inspiration.
Lisa we hope you are Chuck are doing much better and he realizes how wonderful you are.
Jerry called me last night to inform me that Devan has changed her mind about going on the hot air balloon ride so I contacted the company to let them know only 3 instead of 4 will be there next Friday. He did not know why she changed her mind so I am presuming her mom had a lot to do with her changing her mind. I asked how his mom was doing he said she is still hanging in there.
Today Dallas and Tori are going to the vets to get groomed dropping them off at 8 am
Hugs to all Dee, Tori & Dallas

Dee, sending gentle for Tori. I must have misread when you had talked about her kidneys before. I was thinking they were working at 75% rather than not working 75%. Had it backwards. Either way, sorry to hear that. I'm glad she has been doing well on the kidney food and hope she continues to do so for a long time to come. I know that change in diet can make a big difference. I'm hoping Pooks will see similar improvements and good results, Carol. We just want all our friends to be comfortable and with us as long as they can be!

Leslie, I have to agree that you are an inspiration. I look at all the work you put into a garden in the summer, as well as the beautiful paintings and other things you make. I have seen your quilts and some of the clothes and your work is just beautiful. Such talent.  You may not be able to do as much right now, but this is a temporary thing. You are still getting out and walking with Toby and getting things done. It's hard to have to slow down and slack off from things, but sometimes that is what is needed.

Dee, that is a shame that Devan won't be going on the hot air balloon ride. I'll be she will regret that. I think it will be so much fun and just a beautiful view from up there. I can't wait to hear about it afterward. That is something I think I would like to try some day.

Anick, last year when Pippi had the spinal injury I had to make more use of her full body harness. She is small enough and her harness is long enough I didn't have to add another bit for her butt, but I did attach something to the tether further down her back on the harness to help support the back end more. I have friends that had done some sort of back end harness for one of their dogs. She was female and don't know if what they had would have been comfortable for a male dog. Hope you can find a good solution that will help both you and Teddy.

Update on Pippi ...
She's home! She's home! We all missed Pippi last night. Even the cats seemed to be wondering where she was. And I wish everyone could have seen Cheeky's tail when Pippi got home. Going a mile a minute.

Vet said they gave Pippi an antibiotic injection, anti-inflammatory injection, and sub-cutaneous fluids last night. This morning temp was down to 101, so had dropped 3 degrees and is now normal. Her breathing is now normal and not shallow. She ate a whole can of canned dog food this morning and they said she probably would have eaten more if they had given it to her. Said she ate everything in sight, which is more like Pippi and didn't surprise me.

I had remembered late last night that there have been a few times lately where Pippi seemed more reluctant to eat a harder or larger treat until I broke it up into smaller pieces. I let the vet know that this morning. He said even before hearing that they had wondered about the possibility of an abscessed tooth. She had a dental in the spring and her teeth don't look bad or in need of a dental, but an abscessed tooth is still a possibility. If not that, then some sort of bacterial infection is probably what is going on.

The vet said her labs looked good and things were normal.  They had tested for Lyme and Ehrlichia (tick borne diseases) and those came back negative. So all of that was good.

She has 4 weeks of antibiotics to take. She also has 4 week of Rimadyl, but he said we will likely keep her on that for life. He said the Rimadyl is going to do multiple things. 1. Help with any inflammation associated with infection right now. 2. Help with any aching and possibly arthritis associated with aging. It will help keep her more mobile and active. 3. He said they noticed some cognitive decline in her. Nothing bad enough to call dementia, but a decline. He said one added benefit of Rimadyl is it tends to help with that. I mentioned she hasn't wanted to walk more than a mile lately and asked if I should keep walks short or do fewer walks (we've been terrible about doing any this year in general). He said he thinks the Rimadyl will help a lot with that and she will feel like doing longer walks. He also said exercise will help keep joints lubricated and keep her more mobile, plus will help a lot with cognitive abilities. He said she is a dog that will benefit from a lot of mental stimulation, and getting out and walking will keep her more active and engaged.

So at this point we will do a re-check in a week, and see how the meds do.

I suspect one contributing factor to the mental decline and what the vet may have been seeing is changes in her vision. I think it is getting pretty bad actually. He mentioned she didn't seem to notice things and engage at times. I suspect she may not see whatever there was to see and to know to engage. I do think she has been bored not getting out of the house more, too.
 
- Laura (Pippi, Cheeky, Inky and Nimbus)

Lisa, some exercise might help Tango. The vet talked like it could help Pippi. Don't know if that can be reversed or if it's more that it helps slow the progression. Pippi has always enjoyed getting out and going or working on puzzles or tricks or something. She has enjoyed keeping an active mind, and I've been terrible this year about doing things to keep her mind and body active. May have to start playing more games or something.

Pip scared me, too, yesterday. I was surprised when they wanted to keep her, and keep thinking I nearly didn't take her in and was going to give it a day or two. Glad I did. Looking back over this year I wonder if I should have had her in sooner. I was seeing little things and chalking them up to age. Now I have to wonder how much was age and how much was a clue something might have been going on. Often easier to look back and re-evaluate.

Kathy, I know exactly what you mean. Take a break, by all means. Focus on your home and hubby for awhile, and take care of yourself.