Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Gigi girl. Hope Buttons, Bows, and Beamer threw a big party for you!

wings

Yesterday Gigi got her wings! Thanks to Willow over at catster for doing it for us.

BTW, I wanted to mention how Gigi got her nick name. After her arthritis got bad, she didn't get up very much. So when we'd come home and the rest of the dogs ran up to us, she laid in her bed and barked until we walked over to her. Then she'd just wiggle around in excitement. So I began calling her wiggle worm at those times. Others would ask why I called her that and after I explained, the name caught on and I'd hear others call her that too.

goodbye sweet girl

Gigi didn't appear to be feeling good for a couple days. We thought she just had an upset stomach at first. On Sunday we knew it was something much more serious. We got her to the Vet on Monday morning and later were told she had a massive heart attack. X-rays showed a possibly cancerous mass in her chest which might have been the cause of the heart attack. They said her organs were shutting down and our rescue didn't want her to suffer any longer. She will be coming home to us tomorrow. We know she is now in a better place free from all the pain she's endured and once again able to run free. I look forward to meeting you again baby when my time to cross over comes.

update

Gigi is doing fine. She's now on thyroid meds and Deramaxx which helps her with her bad leg. With her extra weight, the paw really bends now, it's so painful to see. I discovered a stretchable bandage that I wrap around her leg before putting on the brace, now it doesn't slip out of place. I sent a picture of her leg to the owner of the company who made her current brace. After discussing the situation with the Vet, they decided not to try to make a better brace. I think they are giving her some time to make sure she's healthy enough to have surgery to fix the problem.

Gigi is going to be the cover girl for the 2011 NCSR calendar. We'll be buying extra calendars this year.

Gettin' there

Had a Vet check last week and things are looking good. The bloodwork showed white cell count is now normal. Red cells were still low, but the Vet said he sees that a lot with healthy Shelties. She now weighs 25 lbs! up from 17.2 lbs. We'll try to maintain that weight. She's having a harder time with her bad paw with the extra weight. We are now easing her off the Prednisone. The Vet said if she still looks good after 30 days, he'll recommend she go to the specialist to have the paw operated on. On one of her first visits, the Vet didn't think she'd ever be healthy enough for the surgery. He thought it would be at least a year before they would consider it. She has progressed much better than he expected.

We got her groomed last Weds and the groomer found something we and the Vet missed. On her bad leg there is an open cyst on her elbow. The wife took her back to the Vet where he gave us some drops to put on it. I take her back on Sat. they'll determine then if it needs to be removed. It's nasty looking so I hope they do remove it.

Vet Check

Dad took me to the Vet yesterday and I did not like it one bit. When Dad opened the door and walked in, I went around to the other side of the door to keep from going into that bad place. Once Dad finally got me inside, I just kept trying to get to the door. Dad tried to comfort me, so I stopped straining at the leash.

I was only suppose to get blood work done but after Dad talked with the rescue director, she wanted me to get a complete Vet check and x-rays of my bad leg. She's so nice, she spares no expense to make sure all us Shelties get the proper care.

Blood work showed improvement, but the Vet said the improvement is slowing down. I guess as things become better progress probably should slow down. He said I still have a bad heart murmur and it looks like that's not going away. He thinks the other Vet cut down too much on my prednisone so now I'll be taking 1/2 a pill twice a day instead of once a day. He says the mass around my spleen has gone down a lot and he still believes I don't have cancer. I have also gained five pounds since my first Vet visit. Mom & Dad are very good at fattening up Shelties, too good in fact. Shadow & Kasey are now on diets and they keep eyeing my plate since I eat as much as both of them combined. They aren't too happy with the diet, but Dad already sees the boys have become more active lately. The x-ray showed that my leg wasn't broke, I had a dislocated wrist that wasn't set and has now healed at a weird angle. The Vet said I'm not in any condition to have surgery to fix it and he said a brace won't help. So I'll probably take pills for the Arthritis that is setting in soon. The Vet said he thinks my anemia could be an autoimmune problem and that I may be on prednisone forever. He said I also won't be getting regular vaccines (yeah) and will only get Rabies shots.

When we were almost done Linda (rescue director) mentioned my stooped back. She said I looked like a horse that was rode hard. Dad says he noticed it too and thought the same thing. They laughed, can you imagine that! Dad had some good new for Mom. Linda said with my health problems I will probably be a permanent foster. Mom told Dad she wasn't sure if she could give me up so she was happy to hear I'll be sticking around for a long time. Dad is glad too.

vet report

On Nov 26 Gigi weighed 17.2 lbs, she was turned into rescue soon after. Two weeks ago when we took her to the rescue's Vet, she was 18.4 and today she weighed over 19 lbs. We're good at making Shelties fat & happy and she's getting there. Two weeks ago the vet found a mass around her spleen that he thinks is caused by her hemolytic anemia. The mass is still there but today's blood work showed marked improvement. It will probably take a couple months to get her through the hemolytic anemia and get her weight where it should be. Then if the mass is gone they will start looking into options to fix her leg.