Thurdsay 21st

Its me again Penny.
I told you yesterday about Murph on the roof, well he is not talking to me now, he thinks I told on him. Well come on, him shouting from the top of the roof may have been a bigger give away. Anyway he went out today and mum thought as she watched him, I am going to get him in just to be on the safe side. At that point she got distracted just for a moment and when she came out she heard this noise, like snow sliding down the roof. It was accompanied by Murphs cry. Yes she was to late he was half way up the roof, this time though it was different as it was frosty, the sun had not warmed it up enough (still hasn't its 27) so he would get so far and slip down, Mum tried to talk him down but as he turned he would slide even more, Dad heard the noise in the office and came down with that tone people get........."yes I know I can hear him through the walls" I think at this point Murph was worried as he could not get a grip to come down and he could not get enough purchase to get up. A lot of coaxing and talking later he was down to the edge, dad climbed up the deck rail and grabbed him. Murph knew he would, Dads great like that. I really don't think he should do it again though as he can only go up it seems unless he knits a parachute he had best stop. Also he has lost a nail this time (not like he was going to paint them) and he has cut his pads, he has blood over his feet ......... he should stop.
They think they have worked out how he is doing it now, (due to all the white fur left behind) he climbs the post for the deck, then pulls himself up to balance on a 4 inch platform. Now Murph is a Coon cat he is BIG very long and over 16lb so that's a lot of cat on a tiny platform. Once balanced he hurls himself over the gap and clings to the roof and pulls himself up till he can stand. It's really cool to watch, I don't think mum and dad think so they are going to put something on top of the platform now. Mum said if he does it again he will have to wait for Autumn (Fall) and then he can pretend he is a leaf and come down with them.
She would not really, but I saw Murph thinking about it so I hope they get the thing on top to stop him, because we are talking about Murph after all.
Must go I have not got all the stuffing out of my new toy.......yet!
Catch you all later.

Feb 20th

Hi everyone,
Mum said I should do this myself today as I am now feeling so much better.
Well that's okay with me I can say thank you to you all for helping me along. I hope the notes mum made about how I was feeling help some one else, although it would be better if no one ever got Lyme again.
I know in an earlier entry mum asked why I keep looking on the roof. Today she found out. My brother and partner in crime Murph the cat with cattitude, keeps going up there. It was funny Ash came in and I came in, and dad decided then that Murph must come in also, (they don't like just one of us out alone) anyway he called Murph (who was on the roof) and Murph answered (Murph never answers so he must have been having fun) well dad could not see him and looked under the wood pile cover, called again Murph answered, dad looked around then looked in the Garage, this went on and on dad looking under the car, behind the bins etc etc. till at last he looked up and there was Murph getting a bit fed up by now with that look he has when he wants to slap you with his paw. Dad could not work out how he got up there and came and got mum, who asked "how on earth did he do that". You should have seen the fun they had trying to get him down, normally he does this and no one is the wiser, apart from me of course. But today it went wrong, there is a lot of ice on the roof and the wind changed direction and got stronger. Now Murph does not like to get his fur messed up at all so would not go down to the shallow side of the roof, as the wind kept blowing in his face, and he was having trouble gripping going down the ice. Dad got the biggest ladder we have and mum kept talking to Murph to distract him while the ladder went up. It was okay he is to nosey to miss something interesting happening anyway, he went over to the ladder in the end and dad got him and fireman carried him down, while mum held the ladder firm as the deck is slippery, both she and Ash had slipped out there today.
All is well now and Murph is laying in dads office just to say thank you with his head on the mouse mat. Dad is relieved enough to let Murph back in the office (he was banned yesterday after deleting all dads work by showing off and dancing on the keyboard) Ash is laying on the couch with a smile that all is well and saying "should have waited till spring, he could have got himself down then" haha
Mum is picking up the stuffing from my latest conquest, but that is for another day.
Take care all and thank you again.

Tuesday 19th Feb

Hello again,
Firstly Lucy I hope you are feeling better and it is just winter blues and not a relapse.
Our girls is doing well, she is eating "EVERYTHING" playing, chasing leaves in the wind, and for some reason very interested in the roof. She keeps looking up into the air and studying the roof. I am sure all will be revealed at some point. When the snow is gone she probably won't be able to see the roof any more, so maybe this is just new to her.
Today I thought I would share with you all an experiment. You see My husband, myself and Penny were watching a program called "the secret life of dogs" it was very interesting. Although Penny kept looking at us as if to say "if it is secret, why are the flat people on the moving picture telling everyone" Anyway they said that dogs are color blind Orange and Green are the same to them. I often find myself wondering how can they tell this. So to find out our Penny has two rubber pigs, that oink. One is Orange with Purple spots, the other Purple with green spots. I wondered what would happen if I kept putting them in her bed and see which she always went to. I hid them both from her behind a blanket and shuffled them around put them either side the bed and pulled away the blanket (yes it was that scientific) She went to the Orange one, then I squeaked the purple so she took that, then I squeaked the orange and she changed to that, this went on for a good while, each time she swopped them over. This proved most clearly what has always been said, that the females of any breed can not make up their minds! I wonder if they tested male or female dogs, were the results the same in both.
They also said on the program that when dogs dream they are re running the days events and digesting all that knowledge, I am just passing this on as I thought it interesting, although I have had many days when I would not want to relive them in any way.
Well as Penny is out side looking at the roof and eating snow I am off to play ball with her. Then I will have a cup of Coffee or may be Tea.
Take care speak soon.

Monday 18th Feb

Well our girl is 7 months old today, and its good news day.
Yes she is doing really well. I had an e mail at the weekend whilst at work, from my husband and part of it read.
"Our girl is a complete balm pot, she ate all her breakfast before I could look around, (she also ate all her tea last night) and now she is trying to catch the snow as I clean the patio. She has attacked the snow shovel and is leaping into the air to catch all the snow before it lands on the ground, it is so good to see her so lively"
It was so good to get that, we are still on the anti-biotic so have about 2 weeks before we know where we really stand, but this is all looking very hopeful.
The weather today and the fact I have a cold means we won't get a walk, so we have been playing "hide and seek" Penny runs off with a toy, we/I go in the other direction and hide, she then comes back to find us. Sometimes this can take her a while as she goes to all the places we have hidden in the past. One day I hid in the basement (yes I know it is cheating) Penny ran around the house a few times, upstairs in and out the rooms, checked out the windows, and in the end gave a loud bark. I came out the basement and she saw me........ she was not impressed!
She will not go into the basement, the people who lived here before kept a dog or two down there and it was most clearly distressed, going by the damage. I do wonder if she can sense this as she will not even cross the threshold. I wondered if we were playing if she would come down but certainly not, she is not going to go in there. Fair enough no reason for her to really its not like she needs to get the paint brushes, or look into the boxes that are still unpacked from the move.
Well thank you all again for your good wishes.

Feb15th

Before we go any further today we want to say our hearts go out to all those of you who have just lost a friend or are about to. No matter how many times we do it it is incredible painful and no amount of words we have all heard will ease it, I have found time and memories help but the pain never goes away completely. We send a hug and Penny sends a "lick" but that's optional.
Today Penny is quiet, no running around and throwing toys. I guess she is just having an off day, she sometimes gives a small whimper but I don't know why, her ears are not hot, her eyes are bright and she is walking okay. Maybe she is just having a teenage "Not bothered" moment.
She did eat, well partly this is thanks to Murphy who it has to be said has no manners. You see Penny did eat some of her food this morning, but left about half, that's okay I thought. When Murphy came in seeing the food he went over, and sniffed. Giving some thought to this smell he put his foot in the bowl and started picking out the bits he fancied, eating them from his foot. Our girl is watching this with a look of "Urg I know where your feet have been, I can smell them from here" Once Murphy had finished with the morsels he wanted he walked past her with an air of defiance, and I think at this point Pen decided it was better to eat it than see what else he may do to it.
She has been out with dad to the shop and was happy to go, in fact she would have been upset if she had not gone. We will watch her and hope its just a day for being quiet. I can get that, how many of us have thought "if I did not have to do this I would just lay down and rest"
Hopefully on Monday I will be able to report with news of her and the snake being together in joyful play.....this noise could never be called harmony.
Thank you all for your messages and good wishes, and penny gifts on her page, have a peaceful weekend and enjoy your friends.

Valentines Day!

Firstly thank you all for your good wishes and prayers, it is wonderful to know you are there for us. Also thank you again for making Penny's Diary today's pick, it is a lovely surprise.
Today I have a big bunch of flowers for you all, today our girl is running around in the snow with her toy, it is being thrown in the air and she is racing to try and get it so she can repeat the process.....often! She has eaten her breakfast and picked up on a new non verbal command immediately. It is so good to have her back again.
She is as we write burying her toy down 3 foot in the snow bank, so I guess that won't be seen till the spring thaw. (Maybe I should send the 3 foot squeaking snake out there next LOL)
She had decided that today the cats need a good clean.....er no they are not impressed. I think that at some point she will pay for this decision, they will probably wait behind a door for her to come in so they can jump out at her, or Murph will go and lay in her bed and give her that cat stare as she lays on the floor looking forlorn.
I love the way Puppies and Kittens Pounce, she throws the toy then waits for it to land, watches and then like a "Tigger" she springs into the air and belly flops onto the item, of course at this point she cant see it and has to roll around the floor, but watching her do this I realized just how much I had missed it in her. Also she has found out again that at times she is being followed. Yes last night it happened "AGAIN" that when saw out of the corner of her eye that something was following her, she spun around eventually she caught up with it and pulled hard, of course this caused her to fall to the ground as her legs came from under her...........yes like puppies the world over she has to learn her tail is always there. I think because she is part Anatolian her tail spends much time up on her back so she forgets it, then when it is straight she sees it and dizziness comes before a fall. She is a funny young thing and is hours of entertainment, fun and endless love, like dogs and puppies the world over.
Thank you all again, and our best wishes to you all.

Wednesday 13th Feb

Penny did eat yesterday she finished her breakfast around 2pm, this normally is gone in about 4 minutes. She has not eaten much since, just a little bit of breakfast this am and did not touch her tea last night.She did have her home made doggie ice cream made with yoghurt and peanut butter, we have read that yoghurt is good for dogs on this medication, so everyone is a winner, especially as it gives us about 15 mins with out a squeaky toy being thrown in our lap.
Yesterday she was a little off color, but nothing to substantial, she whined a little and was restless for a while but picked up again later. I think sometimes when we know there is an illness we see maybe more than we would normally, but I am not sure this is a bad thing unless it gets out of hand. I hope we are not at this point. We are trying to give an honest account of each day. We will be taking her back to the vet again later and asking for another blood test to see what the status of the Lyme is and asking a lot of questions.
In a previous entry I mentioned about the "deal" that Penny and Murphy our young coon cat have. Just before Penny took ill this became very obvious when one of the people left the lid off Penny's treat jar. Now of course she can not get up to it, but she can smell it, and sat looking up. Murphy noticing the glassy look and smelling teats jumped up and deftly put in his front leg and pulled out a treat. This was not to his satisfaction so he tipped it off the top to the waiting Penny, who of course devoured it quickly. This soon became a great source of entertainment for Murphy, seeing if he could in fact hit her on the head with the treats and watching how quickly she could find and eat them. Dad came in and seeing what was happening put the lid on the jar, I was to busy enjoying the action to do anything like that. Anyway this is how the "deal" seemed to start.
I have a concern though and this is just after Penny arrived our other cat Ash brought her a Vole to play with that he had caught. I am dreading the thought of what this will bring come the spring! :-)
Take care everyone, hopefully tomorrow Penny will be back to eating properly and all will be well. We hope you all have a good day.

Tuesday 12th

Hello everyone,
Firstly thank you all very much for your good wishes and your congratulations on being the Diary pick yesterday. It was a very nice surprise.
Penny has gone off her food again, she did not eat last night and left her food this morning. Yesterday she had great fun playing in the snow and seemed intent on digging 3foot down into the 5 foot snow bank out side, once she had got that done (I dread to think which item is under all that snow) she spent much time running up and down it doing figure eights. She is lively this morning and is as I write working through her toy basket for the right toy for this moment in time, chances are it will be loud. I will take her for a little play in the snow soon and see if it helps her appetite.
When I left yesterday I was off to see what she was playing with in the snow, trust me you don't want to know.......no seriously you don't.
For any one who is wondering from yesterdays entry."how did she/they get the reading glasses out the door with out being seen" if you work it out please let me know, we are still trying to fathom this.
Also while I am on this subject, if anyone sees her bright blue scarf can you let me know. Because of her color when we take her walking we put on a bright scarf as she will blend nicely into the undergrowth. Before she was taken poorly she walked off the track just 2 minutes came back it was gone. it was very well tied on, I suspect there is a Bear or Fox strutting around here now looking real smart with his blue scarf with skating Penguins on it :-)
Well our Coon cat is shredding/eating/knocking to the floor all the receipts and statement I spent yesterday sorting, and I want to get Penny to eat as she has taken her Anti-biotic so its on with the 15 layers and off into the snow for us.
Thank you again and I hope you and yours are all well.

Monday - 1 Week on

This time last week we were so worried, it is not that we think we are all going to be fine because we don't know yet. However things are looking up.
Penny is playful, loving and alert. She is loving this snow and it was such fun to see here bouncing in and out of the deep drifts from the 30 inches we got here.
Its snowing again today and I think she wants to go and clear more of it.
The reason for this diary was that Lyme is a very strange condition that has (it seems) no rules. Every case it seems is different. It will be a few more weeks before we know what effect the Medication has had for the long term.
But I hoped this would give some guide and hope if you have a puppy that is this unlucky enough to get Lyme. They say it takes between 2-5 Months for symptoms to show, as Penny is 6 month this means that for a large part of her life she has been fighting this disease.
This being said I will carry this on, (in case anyone ever reads it) so many entries will be more about the life a wonderful Puppy and of course the results from the vet.
There will be no entries at weekends unless it is urgent as I work 14 hour shifts, and Penny gets to play with dad!
Oh what has she found out there in the snow now that she is throwing around. The last time she was finding things in the snow it turned out to be my reading glasses. She seems to have a pact with our Coon cat, he knocks things on the floor and she hides them. I am sure they both sit and laugh as we people spend many hours looking for items and wondering if we have early dementia.

Friday

Okay so now our girl seems to be better. Of course we know that we have a way to go yet, and we are only 1 week into her medication but she is much improved. I noticed last night that she is walking much better than she used to, it was subtle and as she is a pup there is nothing you can go by in way of comparison. But her back legs seem to be squarer than they were, before she seemed to have her feet to close together. She gets up quicker than before also. As I said because she is a Puppy we thought this was just the way Penny is.
As she has just bee trying to join in with the 2 cats cat nip fest I think we can say today she is feeling good!