High Maintenance Doggie

Cleo is finally as of the past few days eating normal food (a venison dog food from Petsmart) but while she was still getting better, for each meal this is everything she needed to be fed. I was boiling noodles and chicken for her. She wasn't drinking enough water (finally she is drinking a normal amount) so I was sneaking pedialyte into her water. She is still on a few medications, but her appetite is good. She has good days and bad days, and sometimes I worry about her stomach hurting. We are just taking it a day at a time.

Taking it a day at a time

I still don't have an answer for what really ails Cleo. I would have to say she is doing a lot better, but she still isn't herself. She has lost about ten pounds since she got sick, and is lower energy. Recently she has had moments where she is much more her old self, jumping around when I come home, wagging furiously at people on the street, and begging at Petsmart checkout counter. She is eating more normal food now (although she is on a venison dog food) and today after running a few errands together and going on a walk, I just saw her run out of gas. She started to droop at Petsmart, lowering her head instead of walking up to the employees. She immediately laid down in the new car, which she has yet to do (it is slanted way differently than my older, bigger car and she is way too interested and excited about it to sit) and slept the whole way back. I woke her up long enough to give her medication and feed her, and then she was right back to sleeping.

I am going to try to contact CSU about getting a grant to find out about her, but I'm worried they would give me something like that. She isn't really getting better...and I am worried I'm going to have to say goodbye sooner than I would like. I guess it is out of my control now, and I should just enjoy the time I have with her.

Not doing so great

It has been almost a week since Cleo got sick. The vets still are not entirely sure what is wrong with her. All she wants to do it sleep, and all the spunk has gone out of her. She doesn't want to play at all (we normally play in the apartment at least for thirty minutes every day), it is hard to get her up to go on walks, and she hunches her back like she is in pain. She won't drink water.

I brought her back to my original vet, and got a new antibiotic and a painkiller for her. She weighed a pound less than she did at the hospital a few days before. She is now about 52 pounds, so almost ten pounds less than she was when she was healthy a few weeks ago. She is going to get her first taste of more normal dog food today, instead of her bland diet that she has been on since Sunday. I'm grateful that I will spend less time cooking noodles and boiling chicken (which smells terrible).

I am currently sleeping on my couch, since the accident Cleo had on Friday morning completely ruined the smell of my bedroom. I am getting the carpet cleaned tomorrow for a decent price, as well as doing a bile test on Cleo super early in the morning. Hopefully it all comes out normal, so we can rule out any liver problems completely. However, if anything ever did go wrong with her liver in the future, she has so little that it would most likely kill her.

Cleo's health problems

I have not posted in a while because some terrible things have happened to Cleo and I. On Thursday night (Feb 2nd) Cleo suddenly cried very loud, and when I came running she was throwing up blood in the living room. I immediately packed her up and drove to the vet emergency room, even though it was beginning to snow very hard. When I got there I was settled in to a room, but they assumed she had eaten something she shouldn't have (I assumed the same even though I couldn't find anything that she could have gotten in to at the apartment) She threw up one more time in the room, the blood was dark and her vomit looked like coffee grounds. She was lying down (which she never does in new places) and hiding under my chair. I began to get very worried.

The doctor recommended blood tests and an x-ray to make sure nothing was in her stomach. When the vet finally beckoned me back in to an examination room about an hour later, the results were shocking. Cleo did not eat a sock. Her liver was abnormally small for her body, and her stomach is too high in her chest (both these are guessed to be congenital defects) and the enzymes in her blood were off the charts. She had severe stomach ulcers and was not clotting her blood correctly. The vet gave it to me straight, she might not have much time left. What that meant she didn't know yet. Maybe a few months, maybe a year. I was devastated. I cried in the waiting room for another thirty minutes while they went and got her an anti-nausea shot and some other medications. They recommended I take her to a specialist the next day to get an ultrasound of her liver.

The next morning I woke up to a huge accident in the bedroom (of the liquid poo sort) which I madly tried to clean up (while gagging) and then dug my car out to drive about 20 minutes away to the specialist. The consultation alone cost me $250. After the ultrasound they told me that there was nothing visible like shunt in her liver, and I felt that was pretty good news. However, they could tell me that she was going to have explosions from both ends and she should be hospitalized. At this point Cleo has lost almost 8 pounds. I agreed to have her hospitalized. The bill was overwhelming. It sounded like things were not doing so well.

I went home with a leash and a collar, but no dog. I wasn't going to see her again until Sunday. On Saturday they called me to let me know she was done being violently sick and I could pick her up early. She wasn't herself, and still isn't. She has trouble getting up in the morning, sleeps most of the time and does not want to go on long walks. I won't know more until the next set of tests comes back, but from now on Cleo is on a special bland diet. Her entire underbelly was shaved, so I bundled her up against the cold weather. I'm hoping for the best, but even the best means I don't have as much time with as I like.

Learning patience and tolerance (living with a dog)

Living with a dog is a lot different than living with a person. When you live with another human, your rent is generally cheaper. With a dog your rent is more, and you spend more money on repairs and other costs. Your roommate will never (usually) chew holes in your blinds. All dogs are different, but most dogs want to be with you all the time. They only have you, and they expect a lot from you. I am still learning how to deal with this feeling of being too responsible for something. Cleo is a very needy and high intensity dog, and honestly some times I could say I don't like her. The last few days, however, I have been dealing a lot better and learning a lot about myself. Here are some things that I've been doing.

1. Telling myself everything will be ok. I know this sounds simple but it is really important. Nothing is terrible and the world will not end no matter what happens with Cleo and myself.
2. Curbing my temper. I try not to direct harsh words or even LOOKS in Cleo's direction unless she really did something bad. I found that for a while I was just cursing at her because I could, and assumed it didn't affect her.
3. When she starts fussing at night, instead of waking out and yelling at her, I calmly talk to her and tell her it will be ok or ignore her. I can ignore much louder noises than just her.
4. Force myself to pay attention to her in a good way at least once an hour, this keeps her from being too clingy.
5. Let her wander the house. Sometimes I want her to be in my sight all the time because I don't trust her, but she has never gotten into anything on the other side of the apartment while I have been home and awake, so I should let her do her doggy thing.

Advice before getting a dog

Getting a dog is a lot like having a child in the way it will change your life, except YOU have control over when a dog comes in to your life. A lot of people get a dog before thinking about all of these things that will change/become part of your life (including myself).

1. You will never be able to leave spur of the moment ANYWHERE. No more vacations because you want to, every vacation will have to be planned months in advance so you can afford a kennel or find a dogsitter.
2. You will be only away from your dog for the length of time they can control their bladder.
3. Everything you own will be covered in dog hair, no matter how hard you try to keep things clean.
4. Everything you treasure may and will become a chew toy. Don't get attached to objects.
5. You will never be alone. Forget private bathroom time, sleep time, or tv time.
6. There will be someone watching you have sex, no matter how disturbing you think that is. Its what dogs do
7. You will get jumped on, have to pick up dog poop, and wipe up unsightly messes on your brand new carpet.
8. You are a parent, and everything is your fault.
9. You will have to stand in snowstorms, rain storms and hail storms while your dog doesn't do their business.
10. You will have to watch them grow old and die, it is highly unlikely that a dog lives past 18. This also means that the next 18 years of your life will be spend with a furry tumor.

Also here are some things you should do before getting a dog.

1. Spend the whole night out without worrying what is happening back home (you will never be able to do this again)
2. Drive somewhere, park your car for 8 hours and leave the windows up
3. RESEARCH and be honest. Don't get a higher energy dog because you think it will motivate you to walk more. It won't, and you will be miserable.
4. Don't get a rescue dog unless you are willing to have a dog with baggage.
5. Don't get a puppy mill dog, unless you want it to die early and cost you a lot of money.
6. Think if you would be willing to live with yourself if you had to give away the dog, the dog died under your watch or you had to surrender your dog for any reason. At some point in your dog's life you will consider it, I promise you. Before I had a dog I couldn't fathom how people could just give their dogs away. Now I know that no matter how much you love dogs, if it isn't the right fit it never will be.

Good morning yoga with Cleo

I have started stretching every morning, since it is a good way to wake up. Cleo has decided that she also likes this morning routine and joins in by licking me in the face, stretching as well and trying to get me to play with her ball. Sped up for your enjoyment, the music in the background sounds kind of like video game music.

Happy new years!