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Puff the wonderful

06/18/13 Health update

A health update

My left hind leg remains useless. It’s making walking and doing my business very hard. Coco has been fussing at me every time I accidently knock into her. Today, momma wanted to go outside and check to see if the deer and rabbits ate the new veggies she planted yesterday (yup, everything was gone), so since I usually follow momma everyplace, she put Coco and me in the pupmobile and pushed us out to the garden. Everything was fine until I slipped in the stroller and landed on Coco. Boy did she have a hissy fit and started attaching me. Momma grabbed Coco out of the Pupmobile and put her on the ground to walk. Do I need to tell you that Coco was not happy and started to pout and sat down in the dirt and refused to move?

Momma didn’t want to put Coco in the stroller with me so she put the hood down on the stroller then picked Coco up and let her ride on top of the hood – BOL, BOL. Coco had the air blowing through her hair and I think she actually liked riding up there because when we got back to the house Coco forgot that she was even mad at me.

I was put on the ground so I could do my business if I need to but I wobbled over to the French door of momma’s bedroom and sat down. Momma opened the door and let me in and I took a couple of steps and then piddled all over the throw rugs momma put on the laminates to help give me better traction on floors. The thing is I didn’t just piddle in one spot; I wobbled all over the place and piddled as I wobbled. So, all the rugs were gathered up and put in the washing machine, I did another piddle in the same area. Momma didn’t get mad she is just worried that maybe the cancer has moved into my bladder. Daddy thinks the pain medication might be causing the problem so it’s back to the vet I’m going to go.

06/11/13 I'm home

I’m home

I went to the vet today and got more bad news. The vet said the reason I can’t walk is because my left hind leg knee is blown out. Normally this can be corrected with surgery but because of my liver problems that is out of the question. He said the only thing they can do is give me another pain medication to take along with the pills I already take. This new medication is a Class II human grade narcotic and strangely it actually cost LESS than the doggy equivalent to Aleeve medication that I take.

Marilynn here – I was all set on having Puffy put down to end his pain and suffering so before we left the house for the trip to the vet, I was walking around our property and I asked God why he couldn’t give me more time with Puffy. All of a sudden, something dawned on me, and that was God HAS given me more time with Puffy as all prior health problems he had pulled through. When Puffy initially had the spinal injury, I just knew he was going to have to be put down, but the cortisone shot did wonders to help the swelling around his spinal cord shrink, and by the next day, his up-turned hind leg was back in its normal position. The spinal injury did reduce the use of his left hind leg, but he didn’t let that stop him from running and playing.

Anyhow, today as I was finishing my walk around our property feeling sad but also at peace as I knew what was to come; my husband carried Puffy out of the house and put him on the ground. Puffy struggled to stand and then dragged himself off towards the back of the property to look for me. My husband went and got him and carried him over to our truck and when Puffy saw me he got excited so Howard (my husband) gently put him on the ground and I’ll be darn if that sweet little dog didn’t come RUNNING to me dragging his now useless left hind leg. It was right then that I decided I could not put him down unless the vet had no other options to offer.

Puffy did not receive cortisone shot because the vet could not administer it today with the medications he is currently taking. He wants to try the human grade pain medication to see if that help, if not, we are to bring him back in one week and he will then get the cortisone shot.

Tomorrow Howard is going to try wrapping Puffy’s knee to give it some stability thus making it easier for him to walk. The vet said a doggy leg brace or wheelchair wouldn’t be feasible.

Thank you all for you prayers, POTP and pressies. Puffy is still mostly crated so he can rest and not slide around on the floors. It’s also so Coco won’t be able to jump on him as that is her manner of playing.

06/10/13 I'm injured

It has been a very hard and difficult weekend. The humans took Coco and I in the truck to go pick up our mail Friday afternoon. When we got back from the four mile (two miles each way) trip, I was lifted out of momma’s car and went running off to go do my business. When I came back, both hind legs were dragging on the ground and I could not stand up on them.

Of course momma was in a major panic and it turns out my vet is not open on the weekends nor is there an emergency vet anyplace around us. As many of my pals know, I have a spinal injury that occurred when I lived in Winchester and was quite lucky because although my left hind leg was damaged I could still run, play and do my business without any problems. I walked with a swagger but I think it looked pretty cool – BOL.

Now, I have a lump on the side of my back and my left hind leg is dragging (I regained control of my right hind leg after two day of being in the crate). I've been taking extra pain medication but I don't like to be picked up right at the moment.

Anyhow, tomorrow I am going to the vet to be checked out. Daddy wants to have her give me cortisone shot like my last vet did which helped the swelling around my spinal cord go down and allowed me to walk again. Momma isn’t so sure it’s going to be that easy this time around.

It could be that the lump noted on my back might be from the cancer tumor that is on my leg. Anyhow, we will know more tomorrow. I hope I get to come back home and have my mancave open house so Whitley and Finley will be happy and then have my official mancave party for the guys.

in the meantime, momma and I are going to check out some doggy wheelchairs – maybe I can find one with some deer antlers on it, wouldn’t that be nifty? Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts.

Puffy