What a Day!

Wow…it’s been awhile since I updated my page, but Mom promises to do better from now on. Yeah right.

We had quite a day yesterday! I’m kind of glad nothing’s going on today, because I’m all worn out. Gabriel left yesterday morning – something about a doctor’s appointment. I wasn’t too happy when he left without me, but mom and dad both stayed home to keep me company, so that was pretty fun. The excitement started when Mom decided to take me for a walk and try out my new halter in the afternoon.

I did really good for awhile – I only barked at a few dogs who were walking a block away, but I didn’t pull too bad and tried to behave myself. But then this yellow lab puppy who must have been about 6 months old came bounding up out of nowhere, and wanted to play! He was lucky not to have a leash, or any owners around, so I just *had* to go play with him. I don’t think mom was too impressed when I slipped out of my new halter either. Some guy stopped his car to say hi to me – unfortunately, he gave me back to my mom, so I had to be back on my leash again. But no one captured the puppy, so he followed us home!

There was a number on his collar, so Mom called his owners to come get him – I don’t think she was too happy that our walk had been disrupted by another loose dog. That always seems to happen – it’s why we don’t get to walk much…lucky Gabriel wasn’t with us, he probably would have eaten that puppy. But I played with the puppy in the back yard until his owners came and got him.

But after he left, mom gave me a bath. A *BATH* - can you believe it? I hate baths…but she said the lab puppy was super-slobbery, and my coat was all gooey. What’s a dog to do? I didn’t mind the slobber. I did mind the bath, but it was quick, and Mom said it was really good that she couldn’t see my ribs, even when I was soaking wet. I’ve been getting more B12 shots lately, and I guess it must be helping since I’m not losing any weight. I got Mom all wet too – and turned the bathroom into a swimming pool, which was pretty fun. Dad wants to take me swimming this summer – I wonder if Mom will let him?

Then I napped until Gabriel got home – man, was he stoned! I don’t know what they did to him, but I don’t think he was feeling any pain. Wow. He wasn’t in the mood to play or anything, but that’s okay, ‘cause I was tuckered out from all our excitement anyways.

Mom still wants to walk me this spring, but she says I have to have my prong collar from now on, so I can’t get away. She’s not sure what she’s going to do about trying to avoid loose dogs, but she’s pretty smart – I bet she’ll figure it out.

I’m still tired though – think I’ll go nap some more, save up my energy for the weekend…

Humans Are Weird

I keep telling Mom she needs to write down my diary entry, but she claims she’s been too busy lately. I guess she has, but you’d think she’d be happy, what with all the time she’s spent in the kitchen playing with *our food* all the time. I mean, I’m happy just to smell it (and pick up whatever falls on the floor). Of course eating is my favorite thing.

Dad weighed me again on Sunday, and you should have heard Mom carrying on. Apparently gaining 9 pounds is something to celebrate? But if that’s true, why does she complain that her foot falls asleep when I lay on her legs while we’re all watching TV at night? Sheesh, humans are never happy. She weighs way more than me, you’d think she could handle 69lbs on her lap, no problem! I guess she’ll really complain when I get up to 80lbs, eh?

I found my favorite rock under the snow the other day…but it’s frozen to the ground. I guess it doesn’t matter, since it’s too cold to be outside anyways. Hurry up spring! I feel good! I want to play outside!

Good News for the New Year

I gained weight! Hooray! Okay, it wasn’t an official weight or anything, but Dad weighed himself, then picked me up and got back on the scale, and subtracted the different. Complex stuff, I tell you. But by those calculations, I weigh 65lbs now! That’s 5lbs more than I weighed last week! See…I told Mom all I needed was more food, now that my ‘zymes are taking care of the hard digesting work. Now if I could just get some of that weigh to cover my backbone up again – it’s really embarrassing looking like a skeleton doggie when it’s not even Halloween…

Mom gave me my B12 shot at home on Saturday. It didn't seem to hurt as much as it did at the doctor's office, but then again, Dad was feeding me Lamb Lung treats. Those are good!

Now Mom says she’s going to make me a special home made raw diet, because it’s too ‘spensive to keep buying the premade raw diet we’ve been eating. It sounds like home made is going to be pretty good though – ground up meat, organs and some veggie mush, and ground up eggshells or bone meal for calcium (she doesn’t have any way to grind up real bones yet, but is pretty sure it will still be okay if she does it right). Dad wrinkled his nose when he saw my raw goop the other day, but I think it’s delish! I hate waiting for it to sit out on the counter so the ‘zymes can work though – and I don’t even get those yummy smelling meals until the next day!

We didn’t get Christmas gifts this year – Mom said I was expensive enough as is this month. But I heard her talking about a pink fuzzy collar she saw at the boutique – maybe she’ll buy that for me? A dog can only hope…

There’s still snow everywhere, but it’s warm enough to stay out and do yard patrol for longer than a few seconds now, which is way better. I was going stir crazy stuck in the house!

Finally, I was happy to read that my new pup pal Rajah Q. is doing better after his surgery for eating curtains. It must be an older dog thing, ‘cause Gabriel has eaten lots of stuff – last spring he ate part of a towel and had to go to the doctor at 10:30 at night to get x-rays. I don’t eat stuff like that though – not my thing. I just watch.

Anyways, it’s almost time for lunch! Happy New Year to all my pup pals out there!

It Can’t Be True!

So last Saturday Mom took me to the vet for another B12 shot. She found out why I slipped out of my collar last time – those things sting! The vet showed her how to give me the shots herself, and sent us home with a bottle and some needles…I really don’t want her to poke me with those, but maybe I’ll get a carrot if I’m good. Mom says I can have carrots for snacks now, ‘cause they aren’t really digestible anyways raw. I like ‘em – they’re crunchy!

There was a little bad news though. Mom thought I was gaining weight, but I actually lost 2 lbs, according to the scale there. Now she’s worried that the ‘zymes aren’t working after all, even though I feel better and don’t have gas or diarrhea anymore. I thought maybe I just need more food (hint, hint), and she decided to try that. Now I get sweet potatoes, and more eggs and meat with my meals. I’m not complaining! She’s also going to let my ‘zyme-mush sit for a little bit longer before it’s ready, to make sure my food is getting digested well enough. The vet said I should come back in a month to get weighed again. I sure hope I’m better by then!

I hope the weather is better by then too. I’ve been cooped up inside for weeks now with this stupid sub-zero weather (aside from our trips to the vet, of course). I want to go out and play, but the cold snow just freezes my paws and makes me limp. Mom puts our boots on sometimes so we can stay out longer, but they only help so much. I need a sweater or coat or something so I can play outside longer! Maybe Mom will get that sweater that she’s been promising me done soon (and one for Gabe too).

The EPI-c Journey Begins

Hi everyone! My name is Lucy, I'm 3 years old, and I just found out last week why I've been starving (literally) for the last several months. The doctor says I have a condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, or EPI - a disease that I could have inherited from my parents. It's more likely since one of them was a German Shepherd, and the disease strikes that breed a lot (Collies too).

Mom had no idea last spring that when I got all weak and dehydrated, that it was probably a major pancreatic attack. I had to stay in the hospital with IV's and everything - not fun. All summer long I had yucky diarrhea, and I kept getting skinnier and skinnier. Mom kept changing my foods, thinking I must be allergic to something, but the only thing that helped was changing to a raw diet. But then my stools turned white, and Mom was worried I had liver damage.

We kept trying to get an appointment to see the doctor mom likes the best, but the vet was always too busy. Finally, mom took me to see a different vet, and he recognized my symptoms right away. Smart guy, that vet. I liked the nurse there too - she was really nice, fed me lots of liver treats, and kept saying how cute I was.

Mom paid a ton of money for tests, and finally I was diagnosed with something called a TLI test. I guess "normal" is 5 or above, and my score was 0.4. That's way low! Basically, my pancreas doesn't produce digestive enzymes anymore. My Cobalamine test was low too - mom says that's because my pancreas can't produce Vitamin B12 anymore either.

So last Saturday, I went in to get my first B12 shot, and a bottle of enzymes for my mom to put in my food. They basically digest the food before I eat it, so my body can use the nutrients. I didn't like the shot - and I slipped out of my collar and ran around the vet clinic for awhile until they caught me. That was fun!

Mom spent the weekend trying to figure out the best way to get my meals ready for me to eat, since the enzymes need time to do their work (if I eat the food too soon, I could get mouth sores from the enzymes). She's got it figured out now though - she makes all my meals for the day the night before, and I get three meals a day now, instead of just two.

This Saturday, I have to go in for another shot. Mom says she's going to try to learn to do them at home, so I don't have to go to the doctor's office all the time. My pal Gabriel will like that better too, since he gets left at home when we go. I'll get weighed on Saturday too - I can't wait to see if I'm gaining weight yet or not! Mom says I look better already though, and the constant shedding has stopped (along with my little...ahem...gas problem). No more diarrhea, which is good, because it's been below zero degrees most of this week! Brrr! I hate going out in the cold...

More later - time for a nice nap now.