Samantha has kennel cough. Turns out the tennis ball cover was a weird coincidence. It’s still odd that the result of the hacking is not stomach acid. (oh, sorry. didn’t realize you were eating while reading.)

At any rate – (relatively) cheap visit to the vet yesterday.

Sorry for the short update, but there is some anti-islam bigotry to spread, and I can’t really do all that from here.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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No, not a good old-fashioned one where I run down the list of brilliant bloggers and share the latest sterling tidbits they have posted, but one of a more personal nature.

First, I apologize for not posting pics of the new store fixture. If you want to see it, you are welcome to swing by the store any time we are open – we’re in the Agua Caliente Center, 69th St. and Shea Blvd. M-F 10-7, Saturday 10-6, closed Sundays.*

Second, a word about Cinnamon:

Diabetes mellitus is frequently diagnosed in dogs five years of age and older. This is also known as Type II or adult-onset diabetes. There is a congenital form that occurs in puppies called Type I or juvenile diabetes, but this is rare in dogs.
Diabetes mellitus is a disease of the pancreas. This is a small but vital organ that is located near the stomach. It has two significant populations of cells. One group of cells produces the enzymes necessary for proper digestion. The other group, called beta-cells, produses the hormone insulin. Simply put, diabetes mellitus is a failure of the pancreas to regulate blood sugar.
courtesy of Drs. Burnham and McConaughey at Acoma Animal Clinic

Cinnamon has been fat and happy since we were called by TMBWitW’s niece, BoBanney. BoBanney found Cinnamon, thin as a rail and hungry, sitting on a street corner with no tags or collar near the Taco Bell where she was working about eight years ago. She called us, and being the kind-hearted animal lovers that we are, we came down and picked her up – and she hasn’t been lacking for love since then. About a week and a half ago, TMBWitW started coming home to a puddle on the floor every day – very unusual, since our furkids are very well house trained and haven’t piddled inside since they were puppies. After the experience of losing Sara, we (meaning, of course, TMBWitW) have become hyper-aware of changes in our now-geriatric dogs. We figured out it was Cinnamon since she was the one wanting to go out at night now, instead of being able to hold it until morning. A few tests at Acoma and the diagnosis was in – diabetes mellitus. After a week of insulin and a more regulated diet, Cinnamon has not had any accidents in the house for the last several days, and she is actually looking a little thinner. Dr. McConaughey told TMBWitW that the fact that we didn’t have a doggie door probably allowed us to catch this very early in the onset, which means a much better prognosis for treatment. Most cases they see the diabetes is so advanced that there is nothing they can do, because the dog had access to the yard throughout the day and the owners didn’t catch other, more subtle indicators. (Cinnamon had been drinking close to one and half or two gallons of water per day, by herself, which is one of those subtle indicators. with multiple dogs, unless you watch, you can’t really tell who’s drinking what. on the days we are at home, we were noticing that Cinnamon was hitting the water bowl pretty often.) Cinnamon is even getting a little frisky – she’s trying to dance for her treats again, and she is sassing us when we ignore her hints for treats.

Third – tomorrow, being a Friday, I’ve got a honeydew about a mile long. I don’t think that woodworking is anywhere on that list, however. I do have another work-related project, but it’s at the store, and kinda boring, so I won’t tell you about it. OK, if you insist – I’m rebuilding the “floor” above one of the stock closets so that a person could actually stand up there and move stock around instead of trying to reach four feet to the wall from the top of a step ladder. See? I told you it would be boring.

Gotta go – almost time to leave.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

* – this is not a compensated advertisement.

I’ve been having a recurring dream over the last several nights. In the middle of the night (in my dream, not necessarily by the clock) I am awakened by the scratching of a dog on the bed – their signal that they want to get up on the bed with us, but don’t want to upset anyone already on the bed. I can’t open my eyes, I can’t move, I can’t get up – but I can tell, I know, that it is Sara. And I can’t get up to get her on the bed. This alternates with a dream that Sara is scratching at the back door and I can’t get up to let her out.

And I physically wake up, and miss her, and can’t get back to sleep for a while.

She came into our lives in an abrupt manner. We were leaving PetSmart with Sadie, who had just “graduated” from her training class. There was a couple outside the door who were trying to place some puppies – their black lab had gotten mixed up with a Welsh Corgi and – well, the only way to put this is these little black puppies were too cute to pass up. I told TMBWitW to go wait in the car – we didn’t need another puppy! I joined her shortly after in the car, with Sara in my arms.

She was a cutie – and Sadie got along with her very well. The two of them romped and played together, and as the puppy family grew, Sadie and Sara split the role of alpha dog – Sadie was alpha in name, Sara was the muscle.

Time passed, and Sara grew. She was a gangly little girl, all legs and a tank of a body, the result of the Welsh Corgi mixing.

Once she got past the initial growth stage, she filled out and even though her coat was not the sleek water dog coat, it was all black and very fuzzy. She delighted in being cuddled and hugged.

Sara was Logan’s bestest bud. She took him under her wing, and taught him the ropes of living in a house full of females. He learned quickly, and when we had to let him go, Sara was really lost.

Sara had a regal way of sitting. She would be in the “down” position, and her head would be up, her Corgi ears perked, and she would cross her right paw over her left. Of course, every time we tried to get a picture of it she thought we were going to give out treats, so we never were able to get a shot of her pose.

Until last Friday.

Last night, Sara stumbled a bit as she came down the hall to her blanket. She shook it off, gave me a big slobbery kiss, and laid down. This morning she scratched to be let out as usual; it was still a bit dark outside, and I stumbled my way to the door, let her out, and since it was cool I left the door open so she could let herself back in. When the alarm clock went off at six, I got up and Sara was still lying out on the patio. She looked at me and kind of half-rolled for a belly rub, which I gave with gusto.

TMBWitW got up and handed out the customary doggy treats for first thing in the morning. Sara didn’t want hers. TMBWitW was immediately concerned, since Sara has never turned down a dog treat. She called Acoma Animal Clinic and arranged for an exam at ten; I headed for work and TMBWitW started doing some work from home.

TMBWitW called me a little after ten, Sara had a blood test and xrays. The blood test showed decreased platelet counts, the general exam revealed an elevated heart rate and shallow breathing, the xray showed strange wispy growths around her lungs and a spot near her heart. All of her organs were OK otherwise. Dr. Burnham said it could be either pneumonia (but Sara wasn’t coughing, so that kind of got ruled out right away), valley fever, or cancer. He wanted to keep her for observation, so TMBWitW and MEG headed home.

I left work early (thanks, boss. i owe you one.) and headed home, after a bit we headed up to Acoma to pick up Sara and get an update from the doc. The results from the valley fever test wouldn’t be in for a few days. He went over the diagnosis with me, since I missed the first go-around, and showed the areas of concern on her xrays. We then headed back out front to get Sara and head home.

Sara came out on her leash, ready to go. TMBWitW knelt down to give her a hug, and I came around behind TMBWitW to kneel down next to Sara also. As I came down to one knee, Sara stumbled and went down, in another seizure. Dr. Burnham and Jessica were right there – they picked her up and got her onto an exam table faster than it took me to type this. Dr. Burnham inserted a trach tube.

We stood there, flabbergasted. A few minutes later, Jess showed us into a front exam room. Dr. Burnham came in and told us what had happened – Sara had suffered a seizure leading to cardiac arrest, and that he was basically performing first stage CPR for her. He asked the toughest question I’ve ever had to answer – “How far do you want me to go?”

Naturally, thoughts of Logan’s trials flashed through my mind, and TMBWitW was just devastated – I couldn’t make Sara go through a long period of pain and suffering. Dr. Burnham said that any time an event of this magnitude occurred, the chances of a full recovery were very slim.

I told him to let her go.

And, as unexpectedly as she entered our lives, she had left.

We gathered ourselves as best we could, and went in to say our goodbyes.

You are a good girl, Sara Bear. We love you and will always miss you.

SARA

July 2001 – May 2010

Gentle Giant, rest easy now.

You are sorely missed.

Continuing in the tradition of being the busiest underemployed man in America, the blog has been falling off the plate lately. My apologies to anyone who may have missed my daily (or so) ramblings.

The position is going well – still settling into the role of prep cook – this week, with TMBWitW still awaiting the results from her procedure, and not being allowed to drive, the Chef was kind enough to let me flex my hours a bit and work earlier in the day; that way, I could drive my wife to work (the deli is in the same building she works in) and then take her home after work. TMBWitW has her follow-up visit on Friday, and she’ll be cleared to drive herself then.

MEG has developed a funny little quirk – she doesn’t like to be in a room by herself. During the day, this is not a problem. But when it’s bedtime…

I’m stealing these few moments of quiet before the house gets moving to get TMBWitW to work, then I’ve got two dogs to get to the groomer, some walnut wood samples to make, and some veneering to do on the hope chest.

Friday morning is the next installment of The “O” Word on BlogTalkRadio – I promise to have the microphone plugged in the right connection this time…

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!