It's all about ME!

Yesterday was a fun day! Mom and I went out for a LOOoooong walk yesterday, just me and her. I don't think she planned it that way, but we were out for two and a half hours! We left the house and I got scared because we were like two steps away from the gate and mom stopped and tried to make me go BACK IN! I was like, "MOM! It's the first nice day we've had in a while! You're TAKING ME OUT!" She left me by the gate, went back inside, and came out with poop bags. *whew*

We walked up to the hill where it was VERY windy. Luckily I was wearing my cool skull hoodie so I was fine. Mom had her camera and kept making me stop sniffing stuff so she could take my picture. I know I'm a good lookin' dog, but COME ON! We decided to go down the stairs to the river and walked along the path. I took the opportunity to pee on EVERYTHING! When we got to the bridge I thought we'd probably head home, but mom said, "Let's keep going!". We crossed the bridge, which is kinda weird because it's made out of bendy coated metal with small gaps, but I'm not a scardey-cat baby so it doesn't bother me. I like to look down at the river as I walk along, and it makes for an interesting smell experience!

We turned up the path on the opposite side of the river from where we were before and I got to stalk Canada geese, then we walked to the Stampede grounds and walked thru the Saddledome parking lot to the Roundup center where there were a bunch of trucks and commotion. I guess mom was looking for my dad who was there helping pick up his company's display from the home and garden show, but it turns out he was on the other side of the building, so we missed him. It would have been cool to see my dad, but we had fun walking around there anyway. Mom took my picture on the wagon-wheel benches.

We went to one of the empty parking lots across the street by where they're building the casino and mom took more pictures of me. By then the sun was coming out from behind the clouds and it even felt like it warmed up a bit! Mom stopped and asked this lady something and she said, "It's ten after two". I don't know what that means, but it meant that instead of turning and heading home we got to go even further! Mom said something about walking on pavement to wear my nails down. She cut them before we left, so I don't know why they needed to be worn down, but mom says they're supposed to be short and all this sitting around the house in the cold weather and her hating to clip them has let them grow too long. I say, "Eh, whatever".

We crossed the lot and headed towards downtown, the opposite direction of home! There were LOTS of trucks and loud noises and turned up dirt and other crazy chaotic things going on, but I was happy to be out, so I just kept walking. At a cross walk a group of teenagers petted me and commented on my cool skull hoodie. I bet they were jealous! We walked up another block, then finally started heading back in the direction of home. At that intersection I saw across the street that there were all these guys going in and out of a construction site. They all looked and smelled like my friend Ryan when he comes over and drinks a beer with my dad in the afternoon. I forgot my manners for a second and tried to pull over to them, but mom reminded me that just because they look and smell like my friends they aren't necessarily my friends! She did say that I get extra points for wanting to say hi to those particular construction workers because that was Ryan's job site! He wasn't there, though.

We walked up 11th Ave. and mom peeked in the windows of the building where I remember I used to walking with dad and Meridian and Natty to meet up with her in the evenings sometimes. There was no stuff in that building anymore. At the corner by a really tall building I saw a black cat sitting on a fence post of one of the first houses. I swear there was no building there before! I stopped and looked, then decided to get it! It arched it's back and mom hauled back on my leash and made me go around it. She said something about that cat standing it's ground and probably being capable of kicking my a**.

We kept going and before you know it we were at home again! That was a nice walk and I was very tired afterwards. I laid in the sun on the porch by the gate and waited for dad to come home. Meridian and Natty didn't get to go on our long walk so they still had lots of energy and they were kind of annoying me, but I try not to dwell on that sort of thing. I hope we can go on another walk like that soon!

Mom took LOTS of photos of me and there are a couple in my photo album now, but she said she'll put more in soon.

I guess I'm fine!

The U of C says my spleen problem was a hematoma. That means no cancer! We don't know WHAT the exact cause of the hematoma was, and we likely never will. Could have been anything from physical trauma to just some "thing" gone wrong in her insides. Got the stitches out -- she's gonna have one brutal scar! The tech couldn't believe the stitch job, but when I explained that a 4.5 pound spleen came out of the hole she said "Oooohhh".

Storm's on two Chinese herbs and is going to be eating a LOT of food to try and get her weight and strength back up. We expect a full recovery!

I'm in Calgary and my spleen's in Colorado!

We had some unexpected and unwanted excitement this weekend. We've been moving into the house next door for the last two weeks-ish, and seemingly coinciding with this Storm was kinda lethargic and just plain seeming "down" and depressed. With so many things going on and the fact that it's winter (Storm hates winter) we didn't really think it was anything serious and that she'd probably snap out of it once things got back to normal.

Well, Saturday morning she was REALLY not looking so hot, so we decided it was time to see a vet. Turns out our regular vet (well, we've been to her once!) here was in an accident the night before, so there was no vet at the office. They recommended we take her to one of the few emergency vets here in Calgary, so we jumped in the truck and it was off to the vet.

When the vet saw her, he felt her abdomen and said her spleen was REALLY enlarged. He said he would run some tests, but most likely her spleen was going to have to come out and QUICK. Sure enough, he recommended that it come out after looking at the X-rays and blood tests. It appeared that besides being really big, it had ruptured and was bleeding out into her abdomen. She was given a blood transfusion and went into surgery.

The vet prepared us for the fact that it might very well be a certain type of cancer that is malignant and really aggressive. He told us that it was likely that it had spread to her liver, and that there really wasn't going to be any helping her if it had. This came as a total shock. I'm not ready to lose any of my girls, but when it comes at you that unexpectedly and that fast it's pretty scary.

Well, we waited at home while the vet did the operation, and that evening he called to say that it had gone well, but had taken a lot longer than expected because her spleen had swollen to the size of a volley-ball and weighed 2KG (4.4 pounds)!!!! Not only that, but it had twisted. The good news was that he couldn't find any cancerous masses in it, or any of her other organs. He said besides her spleen she looked great inside! He sounded shocked and amazed. That's my girl!!!

Initially they said that Storm was going to have to stay at the hospital for 3 or 4 days. The morning after the surgery the vet called to say that she was recovering really fast and that we could come get her that afternoon! (He actually said "you will NEED to come get her this afternoon").

She's at home now and hopefully it will be a speedy recovery and we'll have our normal Storm back in no time. She's still kinda groggy and has a prescription for some pain pills which make her googley-eyed and maybe dizzy, but she's eating and drinking and pooping like normal. This morning she really wanted to go chase squirrels in the yard with Meridian and Natty, but settled for trotting around the yard at a slower pace instead.

Her spleen was sliced and diced and a portion sent to the University of Colorado for pathology. We should hear what they think about this whole thing later this week. I can hardly stand it. There is still a chance that it's cancer that caused this to happen, but it could be something else entirely.

Just wanted to let y'all know what was going on.

For any of you who in Calgary, I also wanted to mention that Animal Care Emergency of Calgary on 10th Ave. SW is an EXCELLENT place. I was talking to my friend who said that this place sounds a hell of a lot better than the other emergency vet in the area.

Also, for any of you with dogs, I urge you to look into canine blood donating in your area. Dogs have to be within a certain age and weight, but the units of blood that Storm received helped save her life. Without it I don't know that she would have made it. This sounds like a cheesy public service announcement, but thru this experience I learned how important having blood available is. I totally plan on turning Natty into a doggie pin-cushion after this.

A couple weeks in the on-going yeast saga...

I decided to copy this post I made on one of the forum threads started by a dog with ear problems. Like it says at the end, mom wasn't going to announce publicly that she thinks it was the Virbac Epi-Otic that sent us flying back to square one with my ears, but she feels totally comfortable with that deduction now. It's a great example of how careful you have to be NOT to introduce unnecessary chemicals into your life -- and the lives of those affected by your decisions!!!

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Here's the story:

I'm another paw licker. My situation sounds EXACTLY like Chevy's, except I'm a lot better now. My folks kinda realized by accident that I can't process grains very well at all and that's mostly what leads to yeast overgrowth in my ears. I haven't eaten a single grain of, well, grain, in at least 6 months.

We just encountered an interesting phonomena here with those ear drops. Like I said, since switching to raw (oh, I guess I didn't mention that part) and cutting out grains I hardly have a yeast problem. My ears have been nice and pink and healthy -- possibly the healthiest they've been since my dad came and got me from that place with all the other homeless dogs! We battled the yeast thing for years and years, and vets prescribed otic cleansers and medicated creams. Those would provide VERY temporary relief, then it was back to itching and scratching and chewing, and that was my ears, my feet, and my belly.

Well, a couple weeks ago my dad noticed my ears could probably use just a little maintenence clean. There was a little dirt in there from the yard and me just hanging out being a dog. He grabbed the bottle of Virbac Epi-Otic cleanser that the vet had given us when I was still having yeast problems. He figured it would probably be good to use that. It is called otic cleanser, and he was cleaning my ears -- makes sense right? It's not like he was going to put the meds in, just clean out my ears, which is what it says the stuff is for on the bottle! Well, within the next week I started shaking my head and scratching my ears and all that, and there was a noticable yeast build-up. My feet got REALLY bad again. Mom and dad started freaking out trying to figure out why we were back at square one with the yeast thing. Was it environmental? Was I eating anything in larger amounts than normal? Did I have access to grains over the last week in an unexpected place? Well, what mom didn't know (she's the one typing for me right now) is that when dad had been coming home from work (earlier than her) since that first time he used the otic cleanser, he'd noticed me scratching, and cleaned my ears with the otic cleanser again! When dad said something about how he didn't know why my ears were getting bad again, 'cause he'd been using the cleanser lately, I swear I saw a lightbulb turn on over mom's head. She jumped up and grabbed the bottle. Sure enough, although it is indicated as a simple cleanser, it's more complicated than that. She told dad not to use it anymore. She cleaned my ears out with a vinegar solution, and we are already seeing an improvement. She's not ready to say for sure that she thinks it was the Virbac Epi-Otic cleanser, but if my ears keep improving and get back to normal soon, well, what conclusion would you draw?

Sorry, mom just went a little overboard telling this story. She was gonna wait a little longer, then bring it up on the forums or write about it in my diary.

Toe cracks + BSL

CRIPES! AGAIN!?!?!?! When's this gonna end? Mom got me again today. Tied me to the birdhouse, got out the hose, and washed my feet. She kept talking in that crazy coo-ey high voice telling me that my feet are doing so much better and marveling over how nice the cracks in between my toes look. What is wrong with her? I have to admit that my feet aren't nearly as itchy since she started using that pink goop on them, but I still don't have to like it. She even called dad on his cell phone while he was at work to tell him how nice the cracks in between my toes look. Crazy woman. Who would think someone could get so excited by nice healthy toe cracks? She promised that this would be one of the last times we'd have to do this. She said something about 'probably' and 'I hope', but I'm gonna hold her to her word, even if the yeast does come back. My ears cleared up without much aid when we started eating raw food, and I hope my toes stay itch-free once we get it all cleared up. I act like I don't care that my feet look gross, but I am looking forward to them being pretty and white again. People love to fuss over how nice looking a dog I am, but it hasn't been happening quite as much since the yeast infection made my toes brownish and crusty looking. Then again, maybe it's all this B.S.L - B.S. How terrible is that? Ontario just banned pits and others like me. Mom says if we have to drive thru there ever I'll have to have a muzzle on. What kinda crap is that? I don't even know what a muzzle is, but it doesn't sound too nice. Mom and Dad get really worked up when they talk about it, so I'm assuming it's pretty bad. Oooohhh gotta go. Food time, my favorite part of the day. Mom found fryer chickens at the store yesterday. They've been sitting on the counter defrosting all day, and I'm HUNGRY! Kevin and Mandy and Xena moved in next door last weekend. That crazy Sarah's gone, and now Xena's in her back yard! I got to meet her at the park yesterday, but I didn't get to spend enough time with Kevin, so I bark at the fence. I'm just trying to say 'hi', but I get so excited. I kinda knocked down that flimsy chicken-wire fence that guards the muddy area by the chain link fence that seperates Kevin and Mandy and Xena's yard from ours. Mom got mad, and put it up better finally. She was tearing the house apart earlier mumbling stuff like, "stupid staple gun ..... two staple guns .... none fit ... where the hell are....." I guess she found what she was looking for because she took it outside and put the fence up again. Well speaking of chicken wire, I gotta go. I'm HUNGRY!!!

Foot trouble = Bath time

Ugh. I got another bath today. At least this time Meridian and Natty got one, too. I got tied to the birdhouse and my feet shampooed a day or two after coming home from the vet, but I was the only one. What a rip! My feet were doing a lot better and not itching nearly so much after the first time, but the itchies came back after a bit. Mom's hoping that another time or two of the special shampoo will take care of it. She keeps telling me I gotta stop licking them. It's so much easier to do when they are clean and not itchy, but I hate getting them washed so much. I guess I'll put up with it. At least I got bathed in the bathtub with warm water today. I've heard mom talking about a bath for the last several days, but it's always pretty crappy out, so she never does.

Apparently we are going on what mom and dad are calling a "vacation". I've heard mention of Lethbridge, where we lived for a bit, and Kelowna, where no one's been but dad. I guess we are going to see Aunt Robin, which should be fun. I like her. I've heard them say the words "lake" and "beach", which I associate with fun, even though it's been a long time since they talked about "lake" and "beach". Well, I gotta help mom pack. I want to make sure they bring enough blankets for us to be comfy in the car, and I gotta ask what she intends to do about food for us! Usually they take our bowls and a bag of kibble, but we haven't eaten kibble in months! I wonder if they'll put the new freezer in the truck. They came home with it last Saturday and I noticed that's where our food goes now. It's bigger than the waxy paper bag, but functions the same! I guess I'll trust her.

Adventures in food!

So today mom seems to have lost her mind completely. We've been eating raw food since April, which usually means lots of meat around bones and the occasional organ, but today we got some stuff in our bowl, then she took us out and gave us these white little balls, and laughed and commented to my dad the whole time we had them. I took mine in my mouth, then put it down on the deck. It wobbled a bit as I licked it, then I relized I knew what it was! An egg! I've seen mom crack eggs a hundred times, so I knew just what to do. I gave it a whack, and then slurped up what was inside. I didn't make nearly as big of a mess as mom thought I would, and I heard her say that we will get more in the future to eat that way. I can't wait. Natty and Meridian didn't crack theirs open as fast as me. And they make fun of me for being dumb.....

Winter sucks

Well, it's been about a month since I last wrote, and the air outside is nicer, but it's still winter, and I'm still not into it. At least the snow has melted a bit, and it's not so hard on my feet. My mom attempted to make me booties, but I think it must have been a little more difficult than she thought. She whipped out the sewing machine one day, and kept putting these things on my feet and then taking them off and talking to herself. If she was talking to me, I wasn't listening! Right after the try-on day, a lot of the snow melted, and aparently she hasn't been trying as hard lately, although she showed what she made to our friend, and said the words: "now I have velcro, which I think needs to go here, and then they will work". I don't like them so far, but given my nature, I will wear them to make her happy.

My friend Shasta has been coming over quite a bit lately. Boy do I love to bug her! I just can't resist submitting to my friends! It's so much easier than what I see my sisters do, which is to try and prove that they are better than her constantly. Why bother? Aren't we all dogs anyway? I don't see why we all just can't be friends and sit around and lick each other's mouths and jump around and play. I like to do that with my friend Max, too, but she usually growls at me and gets uncomfortable when I start playing with her like that. I don't get it! I've known her longer than I've known my sisters! At least none of them try to hurt me. Every once in a while I run into a dog I've never met before that trys to hurt me! I hate fighting so much, but when I get picked on real bad and I can tell another dog is really trying to hurt me, I stand up for myself. I never hurt the other dog, I just say "ENOUGH" in a way they understand. Then I get real sick feeling, run to my dad, and usually end up throwing up my dinner. That sucks, because I love my dinner! I love my dad and mom, too. Luckily, I haven't had to fight in Calgary. The dogs seem a lot nicer here than they did in New Orleans.

Bath Time and Other Woes

Today I was minding my own business licking my paws because they are kinda sore from this stupid cold weather and snow, and my Mom grabbed me up and forced me into the bathtub out of nowhere! Too bad for me. I hate the bath, but it makes me feel better, I have to admit. My floppy ears get yucky sometimes, too, and Mom and Dad put stuff in there, which feels good afterwards, but I hate it so much! Not only did my Mom give me a bath, she put stuff in my ears, too! Boy, is my life tough! I can't wait until my Dad gets home from work. My Mom's not really my mom, she's my step mom, and although I listen to her and I know she loves me, I like it when my dad comes home. When he walks in the door, I'll tell him about all the horrible stuff she did to me, and he'll probably give me a treat. Yum, food.... I love treats! Maybe I'll make it seem worse than it actually was, so I'll get even more attention! Yeah.... Later, I have a plan to hatch!