This morning Roxy awoke about 4:30am and headed outside to go to the bathroom. She was very wobbly and swayed into our patio set. Then, when she was peeing, she nearly fell over. I held her while she finished and she looked up with me with those big brown eyes and I knew what I had to do.
I helped her back into the house and went and got Brad and told him what had happened and that we needed to put Roxy to sleep today. He called in to work and let them know he wasn't going in. We decided we would call the vet's office at 8am when they opened. I called my sister at 6:30am and let her know what was going on and turned on my webcam so she and my nieces could see Roxy one last time. Wendy and I stayed on the phone for a long while and a few minutes prior to 8am, Roxy slowly arose and started walking towards the back of the house. She made it through the doggie door and as soon as she got through, she pretty much lost control of her bowels and a bunch of black diarrhea ran down her butt and legs. Boy, was it stinky! I ran over to her and she still kept walking to the gravel area where she potties! I wouldn't have cared if she pooped in the house!
I hung up with Wendy, got her cleaned up and Brad carried her into the house and laid her on her couch. I immediately called the vet's office and asked if they could send a vet to our house to euthanize Roxy. I was told a vet would be here at 10am. Brad went next door and let Roger and Karen know what was going on. They both came over and gave Roxy love and reassured us we were doing what was right for Rox. Roxy's breathing got progressively worse and I kept looking at the clock hoping the vet would arrive early.
A few minutes to 10am, I realized we hadn't said any prayers for Roxy and ran across the street to Pam's house. Pam always says the most wonderful prayers and I was hoping she would be willing to come over. Of course, she was more than willing and rushed over. She gave Roxy some love and she said the most wonderful prayer for Roxy. We were both crying and it was very emotional. About 5 minutes later, Roxy lifted her head and looked upwards and her eyes were twitching a little and we knew God was there to take her. I, in hysterics, held Roxy and started screaming and yelling and horrible sounds were coming from deep within me. I felt Roxy twitch a couple times and I looked up and yelled, "Just take her God, take her!" and Roxy went limp. Just like that, my beautiful loving best friend was gone. I just held her and sobbed like a child. She passed away at 9:58am.
I already feel so empty and there is a huge hole in my heart. My life will not be the same.
~ Rainbow Bridge ~
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
December 3, 2008
The Prednisone has stimulated Roxy's appetite so she has started to eat, although still a little picky. She ate a turkey dog this morning, half my pasta today for lunch and scarfed on a few pieces of Daddy's lunchmeat. She also ate a few animal crackers here and there. She still continues to walk super slow, and her belly looks bigger. She doesn't have any more tremors. When Daddy got home from work today, she got off the couch and happily greeted him, tail wagging. She also has got in her favorite spot, the arm of the couch to look out the front window quite a few times today. Even barked a few times at passerbys. Instead of me telling her to be quiet, I find myself saying, "You tell 'em Roxy!"
The vet's office called today and said one of her liver enzymes was extremely elevated and she's a bit anemic. Jack's bloodwork came back with an elevated liver enzyme which she said was normal for a dog on Prednisone. His creatinine was within normal limits, but his BUN was elevated. The vet told me to give him a 20mg Pepcid 1x a day.
Emotionally, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. I'm fine one minute, bawling my eyes out the next. It just doesn't seem fair that we weren't given the chance to fight this beast.
For those of you who called and I have not got back to you, I will. Just give me some time....
MOMMY SHARING HER PASTA WITH ROXY TODAY
ROXY IN HER FAVORITE SPOT ON THE COUCH
The vet's office called today and said one of her liver enzymes was extremely elevated and she's a bit anemic. Jack's bloodwork came back with an elevated liver enzyme which she said was normal for a dog on Prednisone. His creatinine was within normal limits, but his BUN was elevated. The vet told me to give him a 20mg Pepcid 1x a day.
Emotionally, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. I'm fine one minute, bawling my eyes out the next. It just doesn't seem fair that we weren't given the chance to fight this beast.
For those of you who called and I have not got back to you, I will. Just give me some time....
MOMMY SHARING HER PASTA WITH ROXY TODAY
ROXY IN HER FAVORITE SPOT ON THE COUCH
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
December 2, 2008
I took Jack & Roxy to the vet today. Roxy seemed to have hit a brick wall on Saturday and we couldn't seem to get her to eat. She also seemed to get depressed, has been having tremors, a bit of diarrhea, and a harder time getting up on the couches. I also wanted more blood work ran on Jack to re-check is kidneys and liver.
Jack's examination went great. We should have the blood work results tomorrow.
Roxy's examination didn't go so well. The vet said Roxy had a very prominent heart murmur and found her abdomen hard to palpate so she wanted to get an x-ray of her chest and ultrasound of her abdomen. The x-ray of her chest didn't show anything out of the ordinary, however, Roxy's ultrasound showed inoperable cancer. Dr. Smith said it most likely started in her liver and it metastasized throughout her stomach. She said her best guess is that Roxy only has a few weeks left to live and we will most likely need to put her down when she starts having more bad days than good. She's given us Prednisone to try and stimulate her appetite, Reglan for nausea and Tramadol for any pain she may have and we will try and keep her as comfortable as possible until it's her time. Roxy gets to eat anything and everything she wants. No restrictions. I bet she'll enjoy that.
I can't even begin to try and explain how I feel right now. My dogs are my babies, my best friends, my world. The pain I'm feeling is something I have never felt before and I'm not sure how I'm going to cope. I will, just not sure how.
Jack's examination went great. We should have the blood work results tomorrow.
Roxy's examination didn't go so well. The vet said Roxy had a very prominent heart murmur and found her abdomen hard to palpate so she wanted to get an x-ray of her chest and ultrasound of her abdomen. The x-ray of her chest didn't show anything out of the ordinary, however, Roxy's ultrasound showed inoperable cancer. Dr. Smith said it most likely started in her liver and it metastasized throughout her stomach. She said her best guess is that Roxy only has a few weeks left to live and we will most likely need to put her down when she starts having more bad days than good. She's given us Prednisone to try and stimulate her appetite, Reglan for nausea and Tramadol for any pain she may have and we will try and keep her as comfortable as possible until it's her time. Roxy gets to eat anything and everything she wants. No restrictions. I bet she'll enjoy that.
I can't even begin to try and explain how I feel right now. My dogs are my babies, my best friends, my world. The pain I'm feeling is something I have never felt before and I'm not sure how I'm going to cope. I will, just not sure how.
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 3, 2008
On Friday, October 31st during my morning rounds, I found Guido on the bottom of his cage, gone. :o( After the initial shock had hit me, I kind of chuckled to myself that he passed away on Halloween. It's quite fitting for him because he was always a devil of a rat. His passing leaves Guiseppe all by himself now and I'm contemplating attempting to introduce him to Molly and/or Daisy. I just don't think Guiseppe will be with us too much longer and not sure if that's a good idea or not.
Jack continues to progress despite reducing the Prednisone so that's good news. He still has one helluva appetite, although no more rat poo eating naughtyness! Phew! He does move quite slow, especially on our evening walks. So slow that he walks behind me and Roxy out in front of me. I'm sure I look quite ridiculous with one arm behind me and one out in front of me.
Roxy is doing well and continues to eat her dinners without us having to spoon feed her. She, even at 12 years old, can still go from 0-100 mph in 2 seconds flat. She is such an amazing dog still having that much spunk to her despite her two bouts with cancer. If only we all could have her positive outlook on life. We can learn so much from our pets, can't we?
Halloween was fun. I dressed up as a mechanic...I know, I know, boring! But it beat dressing up in business clothes for work and I was comfortable all day in my coveralls! Jack seemed to enjoy his costume this year - Shrek! He made the most awesome Shrek and he knew it. Roxy pretty much shunned us when we put her in her Piggie costume. Apparently she wasn't as appreciative. Here's some pictures of us that night:
JACK AS SHREK
ROXY OUR LITTLE SAD PIGGIE
ME & JACK
ME SHOWING THE PIGGIE SOME LOVE
MR. ATTITUDE
During Saturday's volunteering time, I sat with Mia in her kennel. Mia is a beautiful brindle pit bull who was adopted out a couple months ago, but was returned a couple of weeks ago because the owner "lost her job". She's a tad skittish, but once she gets to know you, she's a TOTAL love. I sat on her bed and hung out with her and she ended up laying against me, ultimately on my lap and enjoyed the belly rubs. When I was getting ready to leave, a couple with their kid walked by and just as I saw them, I caught a glimpse of the husband and child walking by. The wife stopped, took one look at Mia and said outloud, "Keep walking. I don't like the way she looks. Those dogs are mean." If any of my family members and close friends are reading this, you KNOW how hard it was for me to bite my tongue. Do people think saying things like this outloud is acceptable? All I responded with was, "Actually, Mia is a really sweet dog." What I wanted to say was, "Well I don't like the way YOU look wench and you and your ugly family aren't good enough for ANY of these dogs, so get the hell out of here!" **big sigh** People suck. I'd rather just deal with animals all day! They are so non-judgmental, loving, appreciative of the time you give them. Here's a good example below!
I heard my favorite dog, Max Ward aka Mr Muffin Head, was returned. I'm sad, but my selfish side is happy because that means I can (hopefully) see him again. He is apparently having some sort of digestive problem and keeps vomiting liquid and drooling a lot. I was told he was seen by a vet who didn't know why he was vomiting and blood work was going to be done today. On the way out to my car yesterday, I saw him in the outside kennels and couldn't help but pop over there to say hi. Needless to say, it was a very happy reunion and I left bawling and cried almost the whole way home. I love that damn dog and I'm praying the vets can figure out what is ailing him and can treat whatever it is. I will end this blog with a video of my Mr. Muffin Head, sure to bring a smile to your face:
Jack continues to progress despite reducing the Prednisone so that's good news. He still has one helluva appetite, although no more rat poo eating naughtyness! Phew! He does move quite slow, especially on our evening walks. So slow that he walks behind me and Roxy out in front of me. I'm sure I look quite ridiculous with one arm behind me and one out in front of me.
Roxy is doing well and continues to eat her dinners without us having to spoon feed her. She, even at 12 years old, can still go from 0-100 mph in 2 seconds flat. She is such an amazing dog still having that much spunk to her despite her two bouts with cancer. If only we all could have her positive outlook on life. We can learn so much from our pets, can't we?
Halloween was fun. I dressed up as a mechanic...I know, I know, boring! But it beat dressing up in business clothes for work and I was comfortable all day in my coveralls! Jack seemed to enjoy his costume this year - Shrek! He made the most awesome Shrek and he knew it. Roxy pretty much shunned us when we put her in her Piggie costume. Apparently she wasn't as appreciative. Here's some pictures of us that night:
JACK AS SHREK
ROXY OUR LITTLE SAD PIGGIE
ME & JACK
ME SHOWING THE PIGGIE SOME LOVE
MR. ATTITUDE
During Saturday's volunteering time, I sat with Mia in her kennel. Mia is a beautiful brindle pit bull who was adopted out a couple months ago, but was returned a couple of weeks ago because the owner "lost her job". She's a tad skittish, but once she gets to know you, she's a TOTAL love. I sat on her bed and hung out with her and she ended up laying against me, ultimately on my lap and enjoyed the belly rubs. When I was getting ready to leave, a couple with their kid walked by and just as I saw them, I caught a glimpse of the husband and child walking by. The wife stopped, took one look at Mia and said outloud, "Keep walking. I don't like the way she looks. Those dogs are mean." If any of my family members and close friends are reading this, you KNOW how hard it was for me to bite my tongue. Do people think saying things like this outloud is acceptable? All I responded with was, "Actually, Mia is a really sweet dog." What I wanted to say was, "Well I don't like the way YOU look wench and you and your ugly family aren't good enough for ANY of these dogs, so get the hell out of here!" **big sigh** People suck. I'd rather just deal with animals all day! They are so non-judgmental, loving, appreciative of the time you give them. Here's a good example below!
I heard my favorite dog, Max Ward aka Mr Muffin Head, was returned. I'm sad, but my selfish side is happy because that means I can (hopefully) see him again. He is apparently having some sort of digestive problem and keeps vomiting liquid and drooling a lot. I was told he was seen by a vet who didn't know why he was vomiting and blood work was going to be done today. On the way out to my car yesterday, I saw him in the outside kennels and couldn't help but pop over there to say hi. Needless to say, it was a very happy reunion and I left bawling and cried almost the whole way home. I love that damn dog and I'm praying the vets can figure out what is ailing him and can treat whatever it is. I will end this blog with a video of my Mr. Muffin Head, sure to bring a smile to your face:
Friday, October 24, 2008
October 24, 2008
I swear I have angels surrounding me! A very dear friend of mine who is a nurse read my last blog and showed it to another nurse friend (and fellow animal lover). They both agreed I should contact Jack's vet and tell her how Jack has been acting as he could have some steroid psychosis. Thank you Carolyn and Karen!!!!!! As soon as I got the email, one quick Google search of "Prednisone steroid psychosis" and a list of sites came up. That's all I needed to see and I was immediately on the phone his vet's office and explained the situation with the vet tech. She said she the vet would call me back between 5:00-5:30pm. Pretty much at 5:00pm on the dot, my phone rang and it was her. I explained what was going on with Jack including the rat cage incident. She agreed that Jack has some steroid psychosis and wants to try weaning the Prednisone further.
The plan: 1 tablet per day for Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. On Friday (today), start him on 1/2 tablet per day for 1 week. On the Friday the 31st, start Jack on 1/4 tablet of Prednisone for 1 week and then call with an update. Jack is doing well so far and we have found him cuddling with Roxy on several occasions which I think is a good sign.
Roxy is eating again without having to be spoon fed. As long as we keep Jack away from her, she's fine. However, if Jack comes anywhere near her, game over - she won't eat and walks away. If only I could hear what Jack is threatening her with....
After months of stomach problems, I about had it and went to the doctor on Wednesday. They took blood and so far, all of the results are coming back within normal limits. Phew! They also sent me home with all these containers which I have to return to them with.....yep you guessed it. You've got to be kidding me. THEY are doctors, shouldn't I just be doing that at the office and letting THEM take care of it? That's what I pay THEM for. I'm so not looking forward to this. The doc also prescribed some meds to help. So far, I haven't seen a huge improvement...but I do seem more calm, so maybe that's a start.
Yesterday morning when I woke Daisy up to give her her meds, her eyes didn't seem to have that *alert* look to them as usual. At first I thought I was overreacting out of fear of losing her or maybe she was just tired, however last night when I got home, I checked on Daisy. Oh dear.
- a bit wobbly/unstable
- a little disoriented
- the look in her eyes is different - not so alert and she has a "lost" look about her now
- startles quickly when we touch her (this is so unlike her)
- when we stroke her head, she quickly pushes/jerks her head up
- she had specks of porphyrin around her face and feet
- she'll sit with her head to the corner, or up against a wall or the side of her cage
- she's not using her front paws to pick up food, but rather just stuffs her face in her food bowl to eat
- if we aren't holding her, she sorta looks like a porcupine (which I know is a sign that she's not feeling well)
The first thing that comes to mind is a pituitary tumor. Shit.
The plan: 1 tablet per day for Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. On Friday (today), start him on 1/2 tablet per day for 1 week. On the Friday the 31st, start Jack on 1/4 tablet of Prednisone for 1 week and then call with an update. Jack is doing well so far and we have found him cuddling with Roxy on several occasions which I think is a good sign.
Roxy is eating again without having to be spoon fed. As long as we keep Jack away from her, she's fine. However, if Jack comes anywhere near her, game over - she won't eat and walks away. If only I could hear what Jack is threatening her with....
After months of stomach problems, I about had it and went to the doctor on Wednesday. They took blood and so far, all of the results are coming back within normal limits. Phew! They also sent me home with all these containers which I have to return to them with.....yep you guessed it. You've got to be kidding me. THEY are doctors, shouldn't I just be doing that at the office and letting THEM take care of it? That's what I pay THEM for. I'm so not looking forward to this. The doc also prescribed some meds to help. So far, I haven't seen a huge improvement...but I do seem more calm, so maybe that's a start.
Yesterday morning when I woke Daisy up to give her her meds, her eyes didn't seem to have that *alert* look to them as usual. At first I thought I was overreacting out of fear of losing her or maybe she was just tired, however last night when I got home, I checked on Daisy. Oh dear.
- a bit wobbly/unstable
- a little disoriented
- the look in her eyes is different - not so alert and she has a "lost" look about her now
- startles quickly when we touch her (this is so unlike her)
- when we stroke her head, she quickly pushes/jerks her head up
- she had specks of porphyrin around her face and feet
- she'll sit with her head to the corner, or up against a wall or the side of her cage
- she's not using her front paws to pick up food, but rather just stuffs her face in her food bowl to eat
- if we aren't holding her, she sorta looks like a porcupine (which I know is a sign that she's not feeling well)
The first thing that comes to mind is a pituitary tumor. Shit.
Friday, October 17, 2008
October 17, 2008
I have been seriously lacking updating my blog. I guess that's a good thing...there really hasn't been any eventful news. Well, not until now....but I'll get to the good news first.
Jack's feet are doing well. We have cut back his Prednisone 2x now and currently he is being given 2 tabs every other day. (He started with 2 tabs 2x a day.) The Doxycycline has stayed the same at 1-1/2 tabs 2x a day. I've taken some pictures of his feet and will need to post them when I get a chance. You will be amazed by how much better they look.
His appetite is one that reminds me of a wild starving wolf. Jack turns into an ugly beast when food is involved. He becomes deaf, his eyes are fixated on whatever it is he wants - so much so that his eyes almost appear to be popping from his skull - and he drools incessantly. He will slowly move in as if he's stalking his prey, and then will make a mad dash for it. As some of you know, we don't have carpet in our house, so he leaves drool blobs everywhere on our floor. Needless to say, we do ALOT of swiffering! The Prednisone has really caused a lot of muscle wasting in his head and back legs. When he's in a laying down position and he gets up, sometimes he struggles and his back legs will shake. His head is no longer "meaty" and the bones in his face appear to be protruding. They're not of course. It's just he has no muscle. Jack has always been a clingy dog, always having to lay near us or on us. That's all changed. He's not cuddly anymore....he'd rather lay on his dog bed and wait for one of us to go into the kitchen so he can stalk his food.
Roxy continues to be Miss Finicky with her food. I may try homecooked for her again to see how she does. At first I thought she didn't feel well, but she's eager to eat whatever we are eating which leads me to believe I've created a spoiled princess. Either that, or she's jealous of all the fussing we do over Jack. Either one makes sense I suppose.
Daisy is back on meds again as I found the blood in her urine has returned. Brad and I are terrified to get her spayed so Doc McRoberts agreed to try ONE more round of antibiotics. If the blood returns, however, we will have to grow some cojones and have her spayed. Brad is not happy and is hoping this final round of antibiotics will kill whatever it is that is making her pee blood. He loves his girl Daisy so much, he'll be crushed if something happens to her.
OK now to the good stuff! My usual routine when I get home from work is to get out of my work clothes and the start preparing Jack & Roxy's dinner. Yesterday as soon as I got home from work, I changed my shoes and Brad and I left to go grocery shopping. Big mistake not feeding Jack before we left. The saga begins! We returned home about 7:15pm and I was the first person to enter the house. I took mental note that Brad did not set the alarm when we left (he was the last one out of the house), but I brushed it off. I hung up my purse on the back of the bar stool and went to walk back to the garage. I happened to look over towards the front room (where we keep the rats) and to my amazement, our 5 foot tall rat cage had been pulled out from the wall and was laying on it's back! I gasped and ran into the front room thinking we were burglarized and ransacked, as I remembered our alarm had not been set. I looked around the room and everything else was in it's place. I looked down at the cage and the cage was not attached to the bottom tray which left the whole bottom of the cage OPEN. Huummm... no evidence of any poop either. I knew exactly what had happened. I didn't feed Jack and he took it upon himself to find something to eat. Rat poo! Lovely. Lucky for Jack, he is very loved and Mommy is VERY patient with him. (Daddy not so much!) We have 8 rats in that cage - WHERE ARE THEY? Brad came in and saw what happened. He immediately started yelling at Jack and I made him stop. Jack's instincts kicked in and he was only doing what he thought he needed to do - eat. Jack is one determined stubborn dog and the poor dude thinks he's starving all the time so he thought he'd help himself to rat shit, which he did. Ultimately, it's my fault. if I had fed him before I left, this most likely would not have happened. **big sigh** While standing there in shock, Doughnut happened to poke his head out from inside one of the hammocks. Brad pointed and yelled "There's Dodohead!" Brad quickly set up the rats' play pen and I reached in the cage and got Doughnut. One by one, the boys all started poking their cute little heads out from various hammocks, cubbies, and fleece. I found all of them, but Angus was nowhere to be found. Brad got very angry and said Jack is going to be in big trouble if he's hurt Angus in any way. For those of you who don't know Angus, he's our 2-lb tank of a rat. There is nothing lean about Angus and I don't think the rat could scurry if he wanted to. He's a big fat white adorable blob, who only has 1 eye. I started moving around everything in the cage, and when I moved the blue cubby, it felt heavy. Sure enough, Angus was hiding in the back. Phew, Jack gets to continue living in the house. I got the blue cubby out and put it in the play pen with the rest of the rats. They ALL piled in this blue cubby. How? I have no idea! Here's a picture of the blue cubby - can you imagine 8 rats in that thing? Somehow they managed! Poor guys were SO freaked out and scared!
Once all of the rats were removed from the cage, we put clean towels on the bottom and set the cage back upright in the tray and moved it back against the wall. I took the latch springs from Junior's cage and put them on the big cage. (That will keep the tray attached to the cage in case something like this happens again.) We cleaned up the mess both inside and outside of the cage. Unfortunately, one of the ceramic dishes we use to put their salad in broke...good thing none of them got hurt.
Once we got their cage ready, we went to put the rats back in. They were all crammed in the cubby and I had to take the top off to get them out. Poor Angus was on the bottom of the rat pile and he had peed so now we have a 2-lb rat whose whole tail and undercarriage is sopping wet with piss. Uggg. I got all of the rats back in the cage and took Angus to the kitchen sink and gave him a nice bath with baby shampoo. No more wet stinky pee rat! Afterwards, I had him on my lap while I was drying him off. He seemed to be enjoying it and licked my hands in appreciation, he's such a love.
Afterwards, I looked around and noticed all of the other rats in the other cages were all hiding too. I'm assuming the loud crash of the big rat cage falling back got all the other rats completely freaked out. :o(
If you're wondering, yes I made Jack his dinner afterwards. I will admit, a little part of me thought, "No, he needs to be punished" but we are talking about a dog who is taking Prednisone, not an unruly child who just needs a good ass whoopin'.
Today I'm a little uneasy. Is this going to happen again while we're at work? If so, I'll be forced to move the cages into one of the spare bedrooms. Where? I have no clue - it's not like there's room in either spare bedroom. :o/
Did I mention I think I found a grey hair?
Jack's feet are doing well. We have cut back his Prednisone 2x now and currently he is being given 2 tabs every other day. (He started with 2 tabs 2x a day.) The Doxycycline has stayed the same at 1-1/2 tabs 2x a day. I've taken some pictures of his feet and will need to post them when I get a chance. You will be amazed by how much better they look.
His appetite is one that reminds me of a wild starving wolf. Jack turns into an ugly beast when food is involved. He becomes deaf, his eyes are fixated on whatever it is he wants - so much so that his eyes almost appear to be popping from his skull - and he drools incessantly. He will slowly move in as if he's stalking his prey, and then will make a mad dash for it. As some of you know, we don't have carpet in our house, so he leaves drool blobs everywhere on our floor. Needless to say, we do ALOT of swiffering! The Prednisone has really caused a lot of muscle wasting in his head and back legs. When he's in a laying down position and he gets up, sometimes he struggles and his back legs will shake. His head is no longer "meaty" and the bones in his face appear to be protruding. They're not of course. It's just he has no muscle. Jack has always been a clingy dog, always having to lay near us or on us. That's all changed. He's not cuddly anymore....he'd rather lay on his dog bed and wait for one of us to go into the kitchen so he can stalk his food.
Roxy continues to be Miss Finicky with her food. I may try homecooked for her again to see how she does. At first I thought she didn't feel well, but she's eager to eat whatever we are eating which leads me to believe I've created a spoiled princess. Either that, or she's jealous of all the fussing we do over Jack. Either one makes sense I suppose.
Daisy is back on meds again as I found the blood in her urine has returned. Brad and I are terrified to get her spayed so Doc McRoberts agreed to try ONE more round of antibiotics. If the blood returns, however, we will have to grow some cojones and have her spayed. Brad is not happy and is hoping this final round of antibiotics will kill whatever it is that is making her pee blood. He loves his girl Daisy so much, he'll be crushed if something happens to her.
OK now to the good stuff! My usual routine when I get home from work is to get out of my work clothes and the start preparing Jack & Roxy's dinner. Yesterday as soon as I got home from work, I changed my shoes and Brad and I left to go grocery shopping. Big mistake not feeding Jack before we left. The saga begins! We returned home about 7:15pm and I was the first person to enter the house. I took mental note that Brad did not set the alarm when we left (he was the last one out of the house), but I brushed it off. I hung up my purse on the back of the bar stool and went to walk back to the garage. I happened to look over towards the front room (where we keep the rats) and to my amazement, our 5 foot tall rat cage had been pulled out from the wall and was laying on it's back! I gasped and ran into the front room thinking we were burglarized and ransacked, as I remembered our alarm had not been set. I looked around the room and everything else was in it's place. I looked down at the cage and the cage was not attached to the bottom tray which left the whole bottom of the cage OPEN. Huummm... no evidence of any poop either. I knew exactly what had happened. I didn't feed Jack and he took it upon himself to find something to eat. Rat poo! Lovely. Lucky for Jack, he is very loved and Mommy is VERY patient with him. (Daddy not so much!) We have 8 rats in that cage - WHERE ARE THEY? Brad came in and saw what happened. He immediately started yelling at Jack and I made him stop. Jack's instincts kicked in and he was only doing what he thought he needed to do - eat. Jack is one determined stubborn dog and the poor dude thinks he's starving all the time so he thought he'd help himself to rat shit, which he did. Ultimately, it's my fault. if I had fed him before I left, this most likely would not have happened. **big sigh** While standing there in shock, Doughnut happened to poke his head out from inside one of the hammocks. Brad pointed and yelled "There's Dodohead!" Brad quickly set up the rats' play pen and I reached in the cage and got Doughnut. One by one, the boys all started poking their cute little heads out from various hammocks, cubbies, and fleece. I found all of them, but Angus was nowhere to be found. Brad got very angry and said Jack is going to be in big trouble if he's hurt Angus in any way. For those of you who don't know Angus, he's our 2-lb tank of a rat. There is nothing lean about Angus and I don't think the rat could scurry if he wanted to. He's a big fat white adorable blob, who only has 1 eye. I started moving around everything in the cage, and when I moved the blue cubby, it felt heavy. Sure enough, Angus was hiding in the back. Phew, Jack gets to continue living in the house. I got the blue cubby out and put it in the play pen with the rest of the rats. They ALL piled in this blue cubby. How? I have no idea! Here's a picture of the blue cubby - can you imagine 8 rats in that thing? Somehow they managed! Poor guys were SO freaked out and scared!
Once all of the rats were removed from the cage, we put clean towels on the bottom and set the cage back upright in the tray and moved it back against the wall. I took the latch springs from Junior's cage and put them on the big cage. (That will keep the tray attached to the cage in case something like this happens again.) We cleaned up the mess both inside and outside of the cage. Unfortunately, one of the ceramic dishes we use to put their salad in broke...good thing none of them got hurt.
Once we got their cage ready, we went to put the rats back in. They were all crammed in the cubby and I had to take the top off to get them out. Poor Angus was on the bottom of the rat pile and he had peed so now we have a 2-lb rat whose whole tail and undercarriage is sopping wet with piss. Uggg. I got all of the rats back in the cage and took Angus to the kitchen sink and gave him a nice bath with baby shampoo. No more wet stinky pee rat! Afterwards, I had him on my lap while I was drying him off. He seemed to be enjoying it and licked my hands in appreciation, he's such a love.
Afterwards, I looked around and noticed all of the other rats in the other cages were all hiding too. I'm assuming the loud crash of the big rat cage falling back got all the other rats completely freaked out. :o(
If you're wondering, yes I made Jack his dinner afterwards. I will admit, a little part of me thought, "No, he needs to be punished" but we are talking about a dog who is taking Prednisone, not an unruly child who just needs a good ass whoopin'.
Today I'm a little uneasy. Is this going to happen again while we're at work? If so, I'll be forced to move the cages into one of the spare bedrooms. Where? I have no clue - it's not like there's room in either spare bedroom. :o/
Did I mention I think I found a grey hair?
Monday, September 22, 2008
September 22, 2008
Jack continues to be a monster and is eating everything he can. I came home from work one day last week to find he had gotten a box of Kleenex and devoured some, only to leave them half eaten spread out on the couch. C'mon now, what kind of nutritional value is in Kleenex for crying out loud? We've had to reinforce the bottom door of the Ruud (5' tall rat cage for those of you who scratching your head) because Jack knows how to open the door with his big ol' nose. It's not the rats he's after - it's their POO he likes to eat! He is also training us to close the trash compactor door as a few times this weekend, he had a field day in the garbage and made a mess all over the kitchen floor. When either of us get up and walk anywhere in the house, Jack is right on our heels, hoping we go to the kitchen. It's funny, but it's not.....it's actually sad he feels like we are starving him. I look into his big brown eyes every day and I assure him we aren't, but he just doesn't get it. Poor guy.
Roxy has become a picky eater and I'm not sure which is more frustrating - Jack wanting to eat EVERYTHING or Roxy being so finicky. She seems to enjoy her Evo kibble mixed with a little Evo wet food, however, this morning, she only ate about 1/3 of it. Her health seems ok otherwise so at this point, I really think I've enabled her to become a fussy eater. **shaking head & rolling eyes** So shoot me.
OH! Can't forget about Sugar - our next door neighbor's puppy. Finally downloaded the pictures I took of her. She's just darling!
Roxy has become a picky eater and I'm not sure which is more frustrating - Jack wanting to eat EVERYTHING or Roxy being so finicky. She seems to enjoy her Evo kibble mixed with a little Evo wet food, however, this morning, she only ate about 1/3 of it. Her health seems ok otherwise so at this point, I really think I've enabled her to become a fussy eater. **shaking head & rolling eyes** So shoot me.
OH! Can't forget about Sugar - our next door neighbor's puppy. Finally downloaded the pictures I took of her. She's just darling!
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