Apparently I'm Sick

Yesterday morning, Mommy went to let me out of my kennel to go outside to potty. I'd spent the night with Kody, and I must have slept on my paw funny cause when I got up, it hurt. So I hobbled out of the kennel, and Mommy freaked out.

She made some phone calls and talked to Daddy, and next thing I know, I get to go for a ride in the car! Mommy put on my car harness and carried me out to the car, where in the backseat she had the big cushy bed waiting for me. I was a perfect angel of course, and when we got to the vet I was really excited to say hello to everyone! Mommy kept telling me to stop wiggling around cause I would hurt myself.

The vet gave me some medicine that made me really sleepy. I'm told that they took some pictures of my insides to make sure my leg wasn't broken, and it wasn't. Then they took a blood sample and ran some tests.

It turns out that my platelets are really really low. The vet told Mommy that they're at 75 which is much lower than they should be and that at 50 I could start bleeding spontaneously. My heartworm test came back negative, and so did some tests they ran for Lymes Disease and Ehrlichiosis.

My vet thinks I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He doesn't have a test for that, but since the other tests came back negative, he thinks that's what it must be and has started me on treatment. I haven't had ANY symptoms besides the limp (and the low platelet count). After I woke up and the drowsiness wore off, even the limp is gone! I have to take antibiotics and steriods for a while so that I can get better. Hopefully we caught this early enough that I will be ok.

Daddy picked me up from the vet because Mommy had to work all day, but then he took me to the store to say hello. Mommy gave me lots of hugs, and I just laid in her lap, cause I was still pretty doped up. Mommy's boss and co-workers all gave me lots of lovins too, which usually makes me really excited. Then Daddy took me home, where I went back to bed and napped until Mommy came home. I was awake and full of energy by then - back to my normal self.

Mommy is beating herself up over this. She's been doing a lot of reading on tick-borne diseases. She cries a lot and says she's worried sick about me. I feel fine though! Even the vet told Mommy not to blame herself, because Mommy goes above and beyond when it comes to taking care of us pets. We get Interceptor every month year round, Advantix during the spring/summer/fall months and Frontline Plus during the winter (to avoid resistance), and Daddy treats the yard against ticks once a year as well. Mommy is worried about my siblings too, because if I could have been bitten by an infected tick, so could they. Apparently I'm gonna have to go see another vet and get more blood drawn, because Mommy wants to know for sure that I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, so she's gonna shop around for a vet that can do the test on me and all my siblings.

Please keep us in your thoughts. We could use some Power Of The Paw.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Wow, it's been awhile since I've had Mommy update my diary. So much has gone on since my last entries.

Well, first off, that stray Rottie mix I mentioned, Kody - he's officially part of our family now! He's come a long way and we're all really proud of him.

Daddy and Mommy got rid of their medical billing business. It's a long story, and money has been pretty tight lately, but we're all doing ok. Daddy is focusing on the karaoke/dj business and Mommy is still helping him with that, but she's also gone back to working at Pet Country. It sucks that she's gone during the day a lot now (she works on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10am-6 or 7pm), but it's good that she's making us more money and is happy with her job. Plus she brings us home goodies sometimes!

Mommy has also finally won Daddy over and convinced him that all of us dogs can be mostly inside dogs all year round and that we'll be good and not destroy the house. Now we just go outside to play during the day if we want to when the weather is nice (and to potty of course). We spend all night in the house playing, and only have to go in our kennels for bedtime (but they're left open all the time so we can go in and out as we please). It's great!

This has been the best Thanksgiving for us ever too! We actually had two Thanksgiving dinners! We had a Pre-Thanksgiving last week, and all of us dogs got LOTS and LOTS of leftovers. Then tonight, Mommy and Daddy went to Daddy's mom's house and got to bring home even more leftovers! All of us dogs had a huge dinner with lots of turkey and other yummies. It was PAWSOME. Usually Mommy would go to her parents' house for Thanksgiving, so she wouldn't get as many leftovers to bring home to us. I hope we always have lots of leftovers from now on.

I hope all of our friends out there had a great Thanksgiving too!

And of course, as a little tradition, here's what I'm thankful for, today and every day:
1. To have a wonderful loving family! My parents are the best - we get lots and lots of love. I'm very thankful to have been adopted by my Mommy. It's great having so many siblings to play with too!
2. I'm thankful for a roof over my head and a full bowl. I wish every animal out there could be as lucky as my siblings and I.
3. I'm thankful for yummy food! Mommy only feeds us the best, and Daddy always makes sure we get lots of delicious home-cooked food too!
4. I'm thankful for a big yard to play in, and that I get to go on fun outings too.
5. I'm thankful for all my toys.
6. And of course I'm thankful for all of my friends!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Vet Trip

Today Bubbi came to visit, and she and Mommy took me, Riley, and Lola to the vet for our check-up and shots. It really wasn't all that bad. The vet said we're a picture of perfect health, and I was pretty well behaved for my blood work and the vaccines. I got a microchip too and then they scanned me to make sure it worked. When the scanner went BEEPBEEPBEEP I perked my ears and tilted my head, and the vet assistant just thought I was the cutest thing. Everyone who works there gave me lots of lovins, and I gave them lots of kisses. I got a new shiny red tag to go on my collar and I got all excited (it's just a rabies tag, but I still think it's pretty).

Then, for a perfect end to the day, Mommy gave us leftover steak with our dinner. YUM! That was definitely worth going to the vet.

My Night With Mommy

Mommy stayed home tonight while Daddy went to work. She gave me a bath which I admit I probably needed. She had to shampoo me twice just to get all the dirt out. I get pretty dusty while playing outside.

I was a very good girl though, and I got to stay inside with her all night while she did her work on the computer. I played with Lola and the cats a little bit, but for the most part I just napped at Mommy's feet.

I like having relaxing evenings at home with Mommy. :)

Lost & Found

Well for anyone who hasn't been keeping up with my brother, Jack's page - the great news is, Mommy found him! Go read his blog for more details. We're all so happy that he is safe and sound. He's back with Robert now, and will hopefully be taken better care of now too.

We also have a new friend. He's a young male Rottie mix who came over one day with our friend Maggie. He doesn't have a collar, and is very shy about people. He's been staying in our yard all the time now, even sleeps on the back porch. He's kinda skinny, and really hungry, so Mommy's been giving him some dog food even though she insists that he's not our dog and won't become one of our dogs.

Mommy's first thought was that he is a stray, but after this incident with Jack, she changed her outlook. She read a website about how you should always assume a wandering dog is lost and not just stray, and to look for their family just in case they have one. He may be fearful of strangers, but would be affectionate with people he recognized. So she went back to all the sites that she posted Lost ads for Jack, and posted Found ads for our new friend. For now we're calling him Kody, just cause it's easier to have a name to call him by than saying "The Rottie Mix" all the time. It would be great if we could find his family if he has one, and if not, if someone would adopt him. You can tell he's really sweet, but he is very shy and untrusting of strangers. He loves to play with me, my sisters, and Maggie. He's starting to warm up to Mommy and has let her touch him a little bit, and she got to pet him on his back for the first time this morning when she gave him some breakfast.

He isn't neutered, and has ticks (Mommy could see some of them even from a distance they're swelled up so big). Mommy's going to go to the vet today and see if they'll sell her a Capstar pill for him. Hopefully he'll eat it with some dog food. If no one does claim him, Mommy hopes to be able to earn his trust enough to one day get a collar and leash on him so she could take him to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. If he is a stray, at least that way he won't contribute to making more stray dogs.

Wish us luck, with whatever happens. :)

My Brother Is Missing

Mommy came home today in tears. Apparently my big brother, Jack, ran away during the Fourth of July weekend because he got scared from the fireworks and the thunderstorm. Mommy just found out today because Robert didn't bother to tell her until now. She is so upset, and I am too. I love Jack and I've missed him so much since he went to go live with Robert after the divorce. I wish he could have stayed with us and Mommy, and then none of this would have happened.

Please keep Jack and our family in your thoughts and prayers. Mommy is going to try to do her best to find Jack, but wishes she would have known when he first went missing so she could have started looking sooner.

For more information, please read Jack's profile and diary.

Two Years Old!

Yesterday was my second birthday! Wow, I've grown so much since I Mommy adopted me as a tiny ball of fluff. I had a great woofday, and thank you to all my Dogster pals who sent me presents and pawmail to help celebrate my special day!

Besides my birthday, things around home have been wonderful. Mommy is still working from home, and she and Daddy are working on building up a second business - a karaoke/dj company! Daddy had his birthday at the end of May, and we had a big party at the house for him including barbecue, friends, and karaoke of course!

The weather here was so nice during the spring. Now it's just way too hot to do much, but I still like spending the day outside. Mommy gave me a haircut so that I can stay cool in the summer heat. I love it - I feel so unburdened and I love not feeling so overheated by all my fur. Mommy says I look really cute too, and is really proud of herself for doing such a good job on my haircut by herself. She says she'll post some pictures of my new haircut soon, but for now everyone should enjoy the pictures from February, March, and April that she posted for me and my sisters tonight.

I hope everyone is well, and my sisters and I will try to keep up with our blogs here on Dogster better so our pals can know what's going on with our lives. :)

WOW!

Holy wow! I haven't been on Dogster in forever, and Mommy gets online today and finds out I'm Dog of the Day! WOOHOO what an honor! - thank you Dogster, and thank you to everyone who has sent me presents, PPRs, pawmail, and bones.

Now, I've also got to apologize for not being around lately. As Mommy says, life has been "crazy busy" for her so she hasn't had a lot of time to help me update my Dogster page or check up on the forums or my groups.

Like I mentioned in my last diary entry, Daddy is home now - and he and Mommy are getting a divorce. Actually, Mommy says that it should be final in a couple of weeks. But the good news is, they're staying friends - so I still get to visit Daddy and Jack! I got to see them a couple weekends ago while Daddy was home on break from the Firefighters Academy. It was great to play with Jack again and to get snuggles from Daddy. Mommy and Daddy even took me out for lunch at the Coffee House again just like the old days. :)

Other than that stuff, another big update is that Mommy has a new job. She is working for my Step-Daddy Bryan. It's a work from home job which is awesome cause she gets to play with us furkids all day as well. But it does mean that she doesn't get to spend a lot of time on the computer besides when she's at the computer working (and she says that after sitting at the computer working all day, she doesn't feel like sitting at the computer any more than she has to BOL).

Hopefully I can convince Mommy to update all of our pages soon with some more recent pictures of us. In the meantime though, thank you again everyone for checking in on us and for all the congrats and gifts!

Wags and licks,
Wrangler

Jack is gone

Mommy took Jack back to the old house yesterday. She says that Daddy is home now and Jack is living with him. I miss Jack a lot, but at least I still have my sisters here to play with. I bet Jack is lonely without all of us there to play with him. I feel bad for Jack, and I feel bad for Mommy too. I know she misses him, and misses Daddy too...

Mommy has tried to explain to me why she can't stay with Daddy. She tells me that she still loves him, but can't love him in the same way because he isn't the same person anymore since he left. She says that he's been awful to her for the last six months or so, and she won't put up with being in an emotionally abusive relationship anymore. I know that Bryan has been a very good friend to Mommy, and I think if it wasn't for him, Mommy wouldn't have had the courage to tell Daddy she wanted to separate. Bryan makes Mommy very happy, and he is very nice to us pets too.

I hope I will still get to see Daddy though because I have missed him. I hope he wants to see me too.

Poor Mommy

Mommy has been so sad lately. I do everything I can to cheer her up. Mommy says that she and Daddy are separating. Mommy also says that Daddy is coming home from Fort Sill on Tuesday, but all of us except Jack will be staying with Mommy at Bryan's house. Jack is going to go live with Daddy. I don't understand why we can't all just live together and be one big happy family again... :(