Mutts in the bed

    Yep, that's our three mutts.  Bella at the top, Jack in the middle, and Lulu at the bottom of the bed.  And they all have to be touching one of us.

Our dogs

    Those are our two dogs.  Bella on the left; Blackjack on the right.

Doggy Diets

    Our dog Bella has been put on a diet, and asked that I post this. No, that's not her.  Although the body build is about right, she's colored differently.   And she prefers to give evil eyes instead of snarling.

Snuggling

    Baloney.  Bella and Blackjack snuggle up against me in a tag-team attempt to push me off the bed.

Belly Rubs

    This would be our Bella.  They even got her colors right.

The Evil Eye

    Well, this isn't actually our dog, Bella.  It's the same breed and the same markings, but we keep Bella clipped short.

    That being said, Bella doesn't like going to the groomer's, and she can give a wicked Evil Eye, almost identical to the dog in this picture.  Who apparently doesn't like being groomed either.

E-Card Monday

    This is to celebrate one of our dogs, Bella, getting to come home tonight after 2½ days at the Emergency Animal Clinic.  She cheated Death for the third time in her brief lifetime.

    We got to learn all sorts of new words and acronyms during this ordeal.  Such as HGE : Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and Pancreatitis.  But all that matters is that Bella's home!

Check-Up at the Vet's

Bella and Huxley had appointments at the vet's yesterday.  Mr. Jynx was off the hook, but as soon as he heard the car keys, he was rarin' to go too.  If he had known the destination, he wouldn't have been so keen.  But ignorance is bliss, and he wasn't to be dissuaded, so he and I went joy-riding while Liz took the other two for their check-ups.

Bella's red blood cell count is stable and in the normal range.  She's almost completely weaned off her meds, so this was very good news.  She'll finish out the remaining meds, and then that's that.  She doesn't have to go back to the vet's until her next regularly-scheduled check-up or unless we see her starting to relapse.  She's gained some weight, but the doctor says she could stand to gain a little more.  Mama Liz will see to that.

    The news was also good for Huxley.  His blood pressure is up a bit, but the vet didn't seem too concerned.  What she liked was that Huxley has lost a little weight and has gotten more toned up.  Methinks he's been hitting the gym while Liz and I are at work. 

    So all in all, the news was as good as could be hoped for.  Here's hoping that trend continues.

Bella Update (05/05)

   Bella and I visited the vet on Monday to get her blood drawn and analyzed.  The news was great - her red blood cell count is back to normal (43% - whatever that means).  She's no longer under a "restricted exercise" edict.

    She is still on a bunch of meds.  We will start to wean her off them in another week or so.  Then we'll go back to the vet on 03 June for more blood work, to see if she can stay of the meds.  Huxley will accompany us so that he can get his Blood Pressure checked.

    She's eating well and drinking well.  Her tongue and gums are pink again.  She barks at everything and at nothing.  She loves to go on our longer walk routes.  The vet says her knees already show signs of arthritis, so she's training Liz and me to come running to the bedroom in the morning to put her down on the floor.  You'd never know that 2½ weeks ago, she was a death's door.

    Hopefully everything will continue swimmingly, and we'll have no need for an update until early June.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Easter Dogz - Part 1

Some kewl pics from Easter - one of each of our mutts.  From top to bottom, Mr. Jynx, Huxley (with Rebecca), and Bella.  The photos were taken by our friend, Rosa, who is an awesome photographer.   We've got a few more to show; we'll post them here and there over the next week or so.

Adopted

    It's official.  Bella is now part of our family.  This afternoon we went down to Friends For Life and filled out the adoption papers.   Jynx and Huxley now have a younger sister.

    We took Bella with us so she could say good-bye to the FFL folks who took her in and hooked her up with us, to say nothing of footing the bill for the very expensive blood transfusion.  But Bella was snippy with them when they tried to pet her.  I guess she thought we were returning her, and she'd be put back in a kennel.

    There's nothing much new to report on her health.  Bella's tongue and gums are getting redder, which is yet another good sign that she's building up her red blood cell count.  She's eating good, barking like she rules the world, and is even wagging her tightly-curled tail.  Her next vet appointment is 05 May.  Hopefully, all the tests will come out normal.

Bella Update (04/19)

    Bella and I went to the Vet yesterday to get some more blood tests.  She was not crazy about the whole affair (rectal thermometers will have that effect), but for the most part, the news was good.

    Bella's red blood cell count is now up to 26%, surpassing the expectation of the Vet.  Saturday morning it was 10%, Saturday afternoon - after the blood transfusion - it was 21%.  Normal is 30%-50%.  The Vet was expecting 20% or so.

    It isn't Tick Fever and it isn't Valley Fever.  That's a mixed blessing.  The Vet says most of the time, it is never determined what triggered it.

    In a nutshell, Bella's immune system went haywire and started attacking the red blood cells.  The antibodies (white blood cells?) basically coat the red ones, and that is still happening.  So things aren't back to normal yet.

    The meds seem to be working, and she is eating and drinking again.  Last night, she had the pukes, but that is probably due to one of the meds.  It looks like today she made it through the day without upchucking.

    She is however, in "reduced activity" mode, per the Vet's instrux.  Which is an issue, because Bella really likes to go for walks.  So we leash her up, let her walk a short distance, then I carry her the rest of the way.  Amazingly, the little princess is very comfortable with that arrangement. 

    Assuming no tragic trend reversals, the next critical time will be in a couple months when Bella is weaned off the meds.  That's when we'll see if this was a one-time thing or if she has to be on meds for the rest of her days.  Our next appointment is in two weeks, so it appears the Vet isn't too alarmed about Bella's present condition.

    There's an acronym for this, which of course I've already forgotten.  IHMT or something like that.  In talking with pet-owning co-workers today, it's not that uncommon.  It can hit cats as well as dogs, and for some reason it's prevalent in Shih Tzus.

    So all in all, things are about as good as they can be.  Next up, on Friday, is Huxley, who gets tested for something called Cushing's Disease, which I am told is a syndrome where the body makes too many steroids.  And which is also prevalent in Shih Tzus.  Fortunately, it's treatable.

    More updates as we get 'em.  Until then, this blog returns to its regular schedule of rants, silliness, cute photos, and cultural enlightenment.

A Life in the Balance

   We were planning to go to the 2011 Phoenix Gay Pride Parade yesterday, but unfortunately our foster-dog, Bella, was at Death's Door, and that took precedence.

    Bella's been with us for a week now.  She was all-puppy until Wednesday, when she became lethargic and stopped eating and drinking.  We thought it might be some sort of 24-hour crud, but by yesterday morning, she still wasn't eating/drinking and was literally on her last legs.

    So it was a trip to the vet as soon as they opened Saturday.  Blood tests there revealed that basically, Bella had no more red blood cells.  Hence the trip to Emergency Care, where she was given a doggy blood transfusion (who knew there was such a thing?), a shot of steriods, and more blood tests.  By the time we picked her up late yesterday afternoon, her red blood cell count has risen from "10" (can't remember the units) to "21".  Normal is "30-50". 

    The cause of her anemia is not known.  Apparently, there is some sort of auto-immune disorder that can strike animals suddenly, for no reason, and quickly kill them.  Treatment is a bunch of drugs, including steroids (prednazone), but there is no guanratee that this will work.  Sometimes the dog recovers to live a full, normal life, sometimes the dog needs to stay on the drugs to stay alive, sometimes the dog simply succumbs anyway.

    It is also possible that this is due to Tick Fever, but we won't get those results for a few days.  Bella was out in the sticks for a while before Friends For Life took her in, so maybe this is the Root Cause.  You actually end up hoping it is Tick Fever, because that is curable.

    For now, she's back with us.  She's still very weak, but at least today she's eating and drinking a bit, which is very encouraging.  She even tried to go for a walk with us this morning, but quickly got winded so she and I came back home while Liz and the boys continued on.

    Technically, Bella still belongs to Friends For Life, which means much of the decision-making rests in their hands.  They approved taking her to the Emergency Center, which is very costly.  We in turn picked up the visit to the Vet (a couple hundred $$), and will do so again tomorrow, when she has to be taken there for more blood tests.  Gotta see if her red blood cell count is continuing to rise.

    I suppose we could just give her back to Friends For Life as "damaged goods", but that'll only happen if FFL demands it.  Bella is part of our family now, even if it is still unofficial.  And you don't give up on family just because they become a fiscal liability.  We have our fingers crossed re her recovery, but it's really in the hands of Fate and all we can do is give her loving, drugs, and sustenance; and hope for the best.