We're doing good!

Here I am looking at my mom as she is typing. Mousse is right behind me. He's always by my mom's side, too.

We think I look much better. The oncologist vet changed my medicine to 3x a week and added a stomach medicine called Cerenia. My appetite is good. My mom is still working on my diet. Stanislaw my beautiful shiny cocker friend suggested B-naturals site with some great recipes for home-cooked meals.

Uh, except my mom is no cook. Her mom is a terrific cook but my mom didn't inherit that gene. However, the diet is simple like hamburger, broccoli, squash and supplements;sometimes chicken and vegetables, sometimes salmon. My mom thinks she'll go on my diet except for her she means to lose weight. For me, it's to be grain free--for a while. This is a test to see if it will help defeat the cancer.

Look at this!! My mom is fostering a weimerainer (sp?) she is named Luna. That dog has RED eyes--not!

Nobody and we mean NOBODY suspected this dog was going to have puppies. She was skinny and we were plumping her up to have her spayed. But wow! PLOP!! PLOP!! Yesterday morning suddenly we had 2 beautiful grey brown babies, a boy and a girl.

We are so surprised we can't think of names yet. Luna is a crazy happy girl, very smart but we can't adopt her out now until the puppies are old enough. So we get to have her 2 more months. This is a happy thing.

My mom will soon have a book or two up on Amazon. I guess that makes THREE jobs but writing is what she loves after me.

Okay, Mom, I'm taking away the keyboard now. Time for some serious cuddling!!

First re-check

I look drugged don't I?

I'm okay. My first checkup was very good. And no new lumps. This kind of cancer can come up very fast so we look everyday.

My only problem is a lot less energy. I am lethargic according to my mom. So my oncologist vet said to give the kinavet just on Mon., Wed., & Fri. That helped a lot. I was dancing round when my mom came home tonight.

My nose is shiny.

My eyes are bright--uh, well, they look glassy but the vet said 'bright'.

I am comfortable right now. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. Right now is good and we are happy with that.

Who knows about tomorrow? We will think about that another day.

The start of the treatment

Here I am at RIVER--the clinic named RIVER.

Oh no they are coming to get me.

 Hide me.

They can't see me, right?

From River's mom:

River was taken to another room while I sat in the patient's room. They took blood, x-rays, ultrasound. The oncologist came into the room to speak to me without River so he does not know all this.

He had a grade 2 Mast Cell Tumor. The pathologist said the edges were fairly clean which is good but he couldn't guarantee perfectly clean. The oncologist gave me 3 options for treatment--prednisone/chemo, Palladia, or Kinavet. With River's cancer I could have elected to hope for the 50% non-return but I chose to treat it with a hard punch. Kinavet is the toughest since it is specifically designed for MCT.

It's not cheap and I am working 2 jobs to treat him as long as I can. I am researching holistic lifestyle/diet, supplements, etc.

His first Kinavet pill was yesterday. His energy took a hit and he was sort of unmoving all night. But by this morning he was back to normal. I have already started him on colostrum.

He is happy now and well. I can only pray it will stay that way.

 

A nice weekend

I feel good although the benedryl makes me sleepy. My appetite is good. The weather was fine--almost 60 degrees so my mom was washing quilts and blankets and hanging them outside while we played in the yard.

 This picture looks kind of weird because my mom put a blue towel over my boy bit but it is the picture of my scar--about 3 inches long just above it. My vet is a jolly girl. She said it looks like I was SPAYED!! Wow, that's kind of funny...not! She said I had plenty of skin to close the opening so I didn't become a SIDESHOOTER. Oh, haha. She's a nice lady, very smart.  She sent all my information to a specialist.

I will be going to RIVER next Tuesday for a consultation. Vets come from UTK (Univ. of Knoxville) vet. school to take care of us. RIVER stands for Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals.

Here is an interesting thing--I am named after this clinic! I was hit by a car and broke my leg 3 years ago. A nice lady took me to RIVER. SOS Beagles took me in and my mom was my foster mom. I am a failed foster. Everyone at the clinic is excited to see me again--not happy because of the big C but because they really liked me.

Out in the yard--all snow is gone. Then back in the house to sit on my mom's lap while she works on the computer. She is working 2 jobs to pay for my treatment. She says she will do all a human can do for me.

Please visit my friend Daisy the pink pitbull. She was also just diagnosed with the big C. She is a sweet and beautiful girl.We are going to fight this together!

Bad news--the Big C

My vet took as much of the lump and the skin and fat around it as she could. She said it's not the worst it could be but it is a mast cell tumor grade 2 -- 3 is the worst. The pathologist said he couldn't say we got all of it but it looked pretty clean around the edges. Any more and she would have had to take the stomach muscle which would cause a hernia, probably.

The treatment is a mild chemo and prednisone. I thought I would let everyone know the steps of the treatment and about mast cells. I will go see a specialist who my vet trusts completely and we will get all the info about the future.

Meanwhile, because mast cells send out histamines I am to take benedryl twice a day. Mast cells also cause ulcers so I am to take 10mg. of pepcid twice a day. My vet said if you squeeze a mast cell tumor it can actually kill a dog by flooding the body with histamines and they go into shock and can't breathe. Grade 1 mast cells can appear to be 'skin tags' and fool you. Where my lump appeared is rare--usually it's on the side and vets will take the muscle part then.

I am young and strong and my mom will treat me like she always has--like I'm precious.

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

 

 

My mom found a lump--UPDATE

Hi everydog, my mom found a lump on my belly last night and took me to the vet's this morning. We will know a little more this afternoon after my operation. Don't know if it is cancer, might not know right away. Thanks for all the prayers. My mom says I am her heartdog so this is really hard for her.

UPDATE 3pm EST
From River's mom:
River is out of surgery and doing well. The vet cut a good margin around and below the lump and will send it off to be looked at. His bloodwork was very good, all mid-normal except for globulen (?) which was a half a point over normal. That could mean infection only. I will pick him up this evening. River is only 5 and beagles are generally extremely healthy. Cancer is rare which is what I'm banking on. Thank you so much for the prayers!!

Humphrey update

Humphrey had his teeth cleaned, 5 pulled, and also 3 benign (but big) lumps off his back. You can see the stitches on his back in the pictures. He was throwing up at the vet's but has not done so at home. He has a good appetite and is resting comfortably in a cage with a fluffy blankie. The vet thinks he is actually 11 years or older.

Some pictures and video of Humphrey

Still on the planet

We read as we can but my mom hasn't had enough energy to post except on FB once in a while. She says she is sorry but she has had pneumonia and bronchitis and flu and ear problems, plus we have no heat right now. Can't fix it till next week. Oh, we have a fireplace and little heaters plus it's always a ten dog night around here.

Please welcome our new boy, Humphrey. He is not a failed foster like me. My mom offered to take him knowing he was unadoptable (too old) and planned to keep him. He is the first since me--that's a good 3 years with no new dogs. Now fosters--we still have a few of those including Mondo, Mickey and now Lassie the beagle.

Here is Humphrey:

He is gentle and nice, sleeps on the bed. He even stands in the middle of the bed and barks for my mom to get in there and start sleeping. Except he starts like early afternoon. I like him and I don't like anybody much so he really is special. He has really bad teeth and is going for a cleaning on Friday. We have a sponsor who is going to help! Hurray!

We got a new car so my mom can start transporting again. It's a midnight blue pearl Honda civic. Sadly, we couldn't afford an Odyssey this time. Maybe next time.

Okay, my mom says she's exhausted and Humphrey is ready to go to bed lol So here's a picture of me to remember me by:



Bye for now. We really miss everyone.

Labor Day weekend

Hooray! My mom is home for 3 days and the weather is finally so nice we're all hanging around outside in the yard. Meanwhile my mom is cleaning with all the windows and doors open. I guess you could call it Fall Cleaning.

We are doing better since losing Perry but there is a hole in our hearts from his loss. He was a unique part of our pack.

Also meanwhile we have FIVE fosters--three of them beagles:

This is Brie. She is small, like 15 lbs and came with a terrible case of mange. She is getting all sorts of medicine. Very sweet and cuddly with a high pitched shriek when she wants to be picked up.

This is Mickey. Oh, Mickey you're so fine... He is extremely shy. It's taken weeks for my mom to get him to come to her hand. He wants to so badly. He wiggles and wags but still is afraid. Don't worry, my mom will have him eating out of her hand! bol

This is Armondo or Mondo as he likes to be called. He is a super duper lover boy and a pretty beagle, my mom says.

We can't believe someone would throw this beautiful hound away! Boy, will some family be lucky to have him!

Then we have the non-beagles:

 This is Kip, maybe a cattledog mix. He and his sister, Cricket, were found running loose. The rescuers think the other puppies were hit by cars but we got these two.

This is Cricket. They are both hiding on the floor of the Honda. Both are very, very shy but getting better living with our pack.

Bella and Barry beagles gave us this award! It's beautiful! Thank you so much.
Here are the rules for this reward:

1. Thank the blogger that gave you the reward.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award onto 15 bloggers that you have recently discovered and think are fantastic!

4. Contact the bloggers you sent the award to, and let them know about the award.

We have thanked our friends. Thank you! 7 things about me, hm.

1. I still have a bump on my bone from the break I suffered several years ago before my mom got me

2. I am a very quiet beagle now. I used to run constantly but the couch is my friend now.

3. I'm not fond of all these puppies that keep coming through our house. I make sure they don't hurt my mom.

4. I am a rough coat beagle with longer wavy hair.

5. My birthday is Nov. 11. That is my gotcha day so my mom decided it was my birthday too.

6. I am in love with Georgia but she is one crazy b*t*h

7. I sleep under the covers all night at my mom's feet.

My mom would like to give this award to all our friends. Everyone deserves this beautiful award.

Here I am in the sun. The grass is back. I like to sit and bake and contemplate nothing. It's a good life.

RIP Perry 1993-2010

River has kindly allowed me to post about Perry.

We lost Perry yesterday. He was 17.

Fifteen years ago I got a call from SOS Beagles about a dog that a man was threatening to shoot. His dog would not hunt--sounds like a joke but in the South that is a serious canine crime. Poor Perry. He was always a bit of a shrinking violet. I picked him up, intending to foster. I adopted him out once but it didn't work out. I didn't want him to suffer another big change like that so I kept him.

Last Wednesday he started throwing up and refused to eat--always a horror with hounds who dearly love food. He spent the next day at the vet's getting fluids and when I picked him up he was feeling so much better. But he went downhill again immediately.

Almost all of my beagles have died of kidney failure--beagles are so healthy in general but they are prone to cataracts, neck problems and kidney problems in old age. Sometimes it's been chronic, sometimes I have only days to say goodbye.

I kept him with me in the bed all Friday night then we sat out on the back deck in the sun Saturday morning. This is the way I like to say goodbye--to share our last moments together in the sun. And I am so grateful when I have a chance to do exactly that.

He will be remembered for his soft and staccato aroo!aroo!aroo! when he wanted attention or his dinner. A gentle and shy boy who will be greatly missed by his family.

Run free, sweet Perry Berry. One day we will meet again, thank goodness.