Sunday 12-18-11

Well, today is my son's 36th birthday, and he went over to his dad's for dinner.  Kayli (son's daughter) was coming over also.  He had not seen his daughter for almost 2 months, due for one reason or another, since she lives in another town.

Since I was not invited, I took the dogs to the annual basenji meet-up at Point Isabel.  I think we had about 10 basenji's.  Last month, I think it was something like 12-14.

Zak, courtsey of M.C,

I don't know why, but half the time when you take a picture of Zak, he always looks sad.  Or, maybe he's just looking for food and nobody will give him any?

Jenna, courtsey of M.C.

Not to many picture's of Jenna, straight on. Either she has turned her head or something, like this one.  Not a bad profile shot.

Courtsey of M.C

Then, Dannii is, well, Dannii

Beta

We met this little guy, named Beta.  Very cute, if I do say so.  Nobody was sure of what he is, M.C. thought he looked like something that I can't even begin to pronounce, let alone spell, other's thought he "might" be a basenji mix.  Same size, ears, and curly tail.  But, oh so cute, and so very friendly.

From left to right, Dannii, Scout, Zak and Jenna 

Not too often that we can get a shot like this, its too bad that Baree wasn't in the picture.
This photo is courtsey of M.C.

Jenna on the left, and Zak

Now this picture would have been complete, if only Dannii had gotten onto the table. Even though neither Jenna or Zak are looking at the camera (me), I still think it turned out ok.









Well, that's it for the dog park this time around.  You all come back again, now hear?

12-14-11 San Franciso Palace Hotel Gingerbread Houses & Christmas Tree

Golden Gate Bridge made out of Gingerbread

I had my Deposition with the courts in San Francisco this morning.  This is for the accident that I had nearly two years ago.  It was the other guy's fault, and his insurance company does not want to pay very much, so which is why we are going to go to court!

I don't drive in San Francisco because I don't know my way around down there, and there are just too many one way streets.  So I had a neighbor who was kind enough to take me and wait for me.




When I came out, the Palace Hotel was right across the street, so my neighbor took me inside to show me around.  I have never ever been inside there before.  Mainly he wanted to show me the giant Christmas tree that they had up in the middle of the dinning room.  It was stunning.  I couldn't even begin to guess how tall that tree was.  I guess I should have asked somebody, but I didn't.

Palace Hotel Christmas Tree

People were eating lunch or whatever, and they didn't seem to mind that we were taking pictures.  The chanderliers were stunning, really a beautiful room.











Just off to our right from this Christmas tree photo, they have quite a few Gingerbread houses up.  I didn't get the names on all of them, so you will just have to kind of go along with the flow.  I "kind of" remember a few of them, but not all.

Victorian Houses

I don't really remember the name of this one, but as you can tell they are of the Victorian Houses in San Francisco.  Truly the photos do not do them justice.  Up close and personal, they were really stunning, and amazing.

I Left my Heart in San Francisco

Now you all should know this one!  I left my heart in San Francisco!  Again, photo does not do it justice.  The handiwork is very meticulous on  the gingerbread houses.  It just doesn't show up in the photos.












This one had something to do with Santa and his Reindeer.








Underneath all the gingerbread houses they had the name of the person who made it and what the name of the house is.  Course I didn't get photos of that, as then you wouldn't be able to see the houses themselves.


To make this about Dannii, he's still holding his own, still eating.  Just still having problems getting him to eat his flaxseed oil and cottage cheese, unless I mix something in with it, then he will eat it.  Like I said before, he used to eat it by itself, and even lick the bowl clean, not anymore, I have to mix something that he likes, or he won't eat it. :>(



Ok now, you all come back again, now hear?

Happy 13th Birthday to Dannii

This past week has been unremarkable.  Dannii has been eating like he should.  Still have some problems with getting him to eat his flaxseed oil and cottage cheese, but if I add something to it, then he will eat it.  I much prefer if he would eat it with out me having to add anything to it.






For breakfast he got his flaxseed mixed with cottage cheese and then I added in a good handful of ground turkey, and a egg.  He gobbled it up.  I was then going to give him a can of sardines, but Jenna did not finish her breakfast, so Dannii cleaned out her bowl.  So, so much for the sardines, he will just have to wait now.









I didn't have to work today, as I had no students, so since I have NO money to do anything with or able to go anywhere, we just stayed home, and sacked out by the fire.










For a snack, Dannii got a bit of a scrambled egg.  It was not a full egg, but I did give him some of mine.










Zak is my garbage can on four feet.  He thinks he is entitled to eat whatever and where ever, he wants.  This guy needs to go a diet big time.










It was truly a lazy day for all of us.  For dinner Dannii got some boiled liver mixed in the can of sardines from earlier in the day.  He looks pretty content now that his tummy is full.


When he was first diagnosed with lymphoma back in October, the vets did not think Dannii would make it to see this day.  But here he is, in all his glory.  He's 13 today, and if I can do anything to help things along (with the Lords help, of course), Dannii will make it to his 14th birthday, and prayerfully beyond.

12-4-2011 Sunday and the dog park

Golden Gate Bridge, with ship underneath

Turned out to be a beautiful day down at Point Isabel.  Sun was out, and not cold at all. Although I did have my jacket with me.  My arms seem's to get cold real bad, so I just like to have something with long sleeves.








I know the coloring in this beautiful dog may not show up well, but he was a very good looking dog.  He fit right in with the rest, looking for treats!







Our gang always take over this picnic table.  If you squint and look closely, you can see the Bay Bridge straight down.  Beautiful blue skies, what more can I say?

Zak on the far left, Baree, and Scout

Lots of people and dogs at the park today.  My camera still isn't working, so I "borrowed" my son's camera.  Same as mine, but a tad bit older, but at least it works!

Baree in back, Dannii looking down

Zak found something down that hole!

I do believe that this if the first decent picture that I have gotten of Jenna!  Course Dannii is not paying attention to anyone, and neither is Zak, but look who's looking at me!  Jenna, of course!  I think that's a good picture of her.








Naturally now nobody is paying attention.  That is par for the course.  Dannii doesn't look happy, Zak is indifferent, and who knows what Jenna is looking at?






I gave Dannii a mixture of 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil and 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese and mixed together.  He got breakfast of his kibble an hour after that.  Then we left for the park.  That may be why Dannii is not looking too happy.

When we got home, I gave him another mix of the flaxseed oil and cottage cheese.  He had  2 small chicken breasts with some broccoli and cauliflower and parsely.  I was truly surprised that he ate it all up!  He's not one for veggies.  I bought the broccoli fresh, and then steamed it, the cauliflower was frozen, and yes, I cooked it, instead of letting it thaw out.  Next time, I will buy frozen, and let them thaw, but I may still have to steam them as I tried to give Dannii some fresh broccoli, and he wouldn't even touch it!  Steamed, he ate it up!

You all come back again, now hear?

12-3-2011 Saturday and Dannii's mass is coming back

This is a first for me.  I have not worked ALL week, and the office told me that I have NO students for Monday, either.  I do not like this.  I can't pay any of my bills.  This is making me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

Its nice to have this time off, but since I am so worried about how to pay any bills and such, let alone get any food in the house, I haven't been able to do much around the house, but sit and mope, or be on the computer.

Christmas is in a few weeks, and of course, I have no money to speak of.  I truly do not  like this feeling.  I trust in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but the weak part of me, is scared.  I only have one paycheck coming in next week, and that is for 10 hours.  After they take taxes out, I am not going to have anything left.

Ok, enough of that.  Yesterday I followed Dannii outside to see if he was going to go poo.  Which he tried.  He's back to straining, but nothing like he was doing before.  So, I called the vet to see what they would charge, just to do a rectal exam.  No charge.  So I brought him in around closing time.  The vet did the rectal right there in the waiting room.  Yep, its coming back.  Not very big yet, but was big enough for Dannii to yelp and whine when she inserted her finger in his rectum.  Two weeks ago, there was nothing there, so she told me to drop Dannii Prednison from 1.5 tablets, down to just 1 tablet.  I wonder if that is the reason for this returning?  So, now he's back up to the 1.5 tablets.  She also told me to truly consider starting the CCNU (which is a chemo pill).  The only thing is, that after 21 days, he would be off of it for 7 days, and in there somewhere, they would need to do the CBC/Chem panel to check his liver values, and his white blood cells.  If that's not done, I could be killing Dannii, and not even know it.

With No money coming in, I don't know how I would be able to pay to have the CBC/Chem panel done?  The oncologist, does not take payments in any way shape or form.  My vets office is not all that big, so they are not able to do everything that they oncologists office can do.

I mixed 2 tablespoons of organic cottage cheese, with 1 teaspoon of Barleans 100% organic flaxseed oil, and 1 egg.  Ended up like a smoothie, and Dannii drank it all up!  He even was licking the bowl clean afterwards.

You all come back again, now hear?

11-29-2011 Zak's 7th birthday

Today is Zak's 7th birthday.  This box is what I usually put kindling in, but it was empty, and so Zak decided to be "Zak in a box"!  Couldn't help but takin' the picture.


For breakfast he got some of his regular kibble, plus he also got some oatmeal.  I was thinking of scrambling some eggs, but I was in the mood for oatmeal, so he got some oatmeal also.







Jenna took over Groucho's bed.  For some reason she likes it, and the cat doesn't.  Her birthday is next month.  Does this bed make her look "fat"?








Dannii likes to curl up in what I call the "dog chair", since Zak was the one who dug to China in the seat.  There is only about an inch of foam right above the springs.  Good enough for the dogs, I guess.









Zak sitting in front of the woodstove.  He is always around the stove, either in front, or on the side.  He doesn't care, as long as he is as close as he can get, without actually being right inside of the stove itself!





Zak had gotten some treats throughout the day, not too many, as I am trying to get him to loose some weight.  For dinner, he got half of a can of wet food, plus some raw liver.  Now, he got a little bit of raw liver last week, and he ate it.  Tonight, he ate all around the liver, wouldn't touch it, and neither did Jenna.  But, she's a priss, so what do you expect?  Dannii however loves raw liver, and he scarfed it up like there was no tomorrow.

I have not worked at all this week so far.  I am trying to put all of my trust in the Lord to help carry me through this.  I can't afford to pay the second half of my rent for this month.  Wednesday (tomorrow) is my normal day off, so I hope and pray that I will be working Thursday, Friday and Saturday.   I signed up for unemployment last Friday, and they will probably use that as my waiting period, I'm not sure.  All I know is that I am going to go several weeks with no paychecks.  That is going to hurt big time.

Even if I had wanted to start the CCNU for Dannii, I can't afford to now.  I wouldn't be able to pay for the CBC/Chem panel that will need to be done, and then having to come up with another $45.00 for the next dose of the CCNU.  Right now things are going well for Dannii, and I just hope and pray that things continue as they are right now, for him.  Still praying that he will be around for his 14th birthday in Dec. 12, 2012.

That's about it for today.  You all come back again, now hear?

11-27-2011 Point Isabel with photos

Things have been going very well lately.  Dannii has been eating, and then even looking for more!  I just want to be careful and make sure that he does not get too fat.  This here is another sweater that he has.  This one, I bought at Walmart.








Today was our annual basenji meet-up at Point Isabel.  My friend, Dale did not make it today, as she has family up from the LA area, and they were heading back home later today.  We had about 12 basenji's today.  One was new, and came down from Sacramento.  They had a 8 month old basenji girl, named Sierra.  She was a very nice girl, and such a sweetheart. No growling or snarling from this girl.









This here is Sierra.  She is a very sweet 8 month old.  Takes treats very gently out of your hand.  Not the snarking or snarling b-girls that we are used to.












Chris has the oldest basenji.  Sunshine is 14, and Cassie is 4, I think.  Between me and Dale, her Baree is the oldest at 13, Scout is 12.  I think Chris is checking out his video camera, and of course the dogs all thought he had treats to dispense.









Two gals asking questions about the basenji's.  Chris is petting Jenna, and Dannii is next to her.  Sunshine looks like she is trying to get on Chris' lap.









Chris has his left hand on Dannii, and Zak is standing next to him.  That looks to be Sunshine down on the bench.  Not sure who belongs to the butt, as the rest of the dog, got cut off.







It was pretty foggy when I left the house this morning to head for the park.  I was thinking that probably nobody was going to show up, but was pleasantly surprised that we had as many basenji's that we did.  It was just too bad that Dale couldn't make it.  It turned out to be a nice day, not really cold, and the sun was out.  Hardly any wind at all.

Well, someone mentioned on one of the cancer sites that I am on, that her vet told her to give her dog raw liver, twice a week.  I have been giving Dannii liver, but I always cooked it first.  Well, last night, I gave all 3 dogs some raw liver.  Most of it went to Dannii, on top of his kibble, and Jenna and Zak got smaller pieces.  Well, Jenna wouldn't touch it at all, but Dannii and Zak sure chowed it down in no time!  I'm not fond of raw liver.  I grew up on liver, and I do like it, but it needs to be cooked.  But, if raw liver is much better for Dannii, I am willing to do that for him.

When I went to feed them tonight, I "thought" I had given Dannii his phenobarbital pills, but a few minutes later, I couldn't remember if I gave the phenobarbital, or the prednisone!  So stupid!  He is suppose to only get the prednisone once a day, in the morning, but the phenobarbital, he gets twice a day.  So, I gave him another dose of the phenobarbital.  I don't think it will hurt him, compared to if I didn't give it to him, but gave him the prednisone instead.  He would be having a seizure sometime during the night, and I don't want that.

Angus, I think is in the group photo above.  They had to leave early.  When we were still waiting for everyone to show up, Angus went up to get some water, and some dog nipped him in the butt, not just on the butt, but his anus also.  Greg and Nancy decided to leave and take Angus to the vet to get him checked out. She informed everyone that Angus is ok, that he is on antibiotics, and he got his butt shaved, and I think he also got a shot of some kind.  Glad to know that it wasn't anymore serious than that.

Well, that's about it for today.  I hope you all come back again, now hear?

Happy Thanksgiving & photos from the 13th

I didn't make dinner, as it was just me and the dogs and cats.  My son had gone up to Oregon, with another friend, to a friend of their's, for Thanksgiving.

I made a stew a few days ago, and so I heated up some of the broth, and poured that over the dogs kibble.  Dannii did not get any potatoes, unless they were really, really small.  He got some stew meat, carrots, and green beans, plus the broth.  I've never seen all 3 of the dogs eat their meals so darn fast!

The batteries have not come in yet for my camera, but it finally dawned on me, that my printer, has a slot for the SD card.  So, I inserted the card into the printer, and got them up on the computer.  Too bad I didn't think of that last week!  Anyway, not really any great photos, but at least you can get to see their sweaters that they wore on the 13th of this month.

This here is Dannii, and his sweater is a blue, and a darker blue, with some black.  Jenna's sweater is in pastels.  Although it makes it kind of hard to tell.

The morning started out kind of cold, and since the park is right on the water, is why the dogs wore their sweaters.  It eventually warmed up, but I still didn't take the sweaters off until we got home.

Baree is the brindle female that has her butt to the camera.



This here is our pack, when we usually meet up every Sunday. My guys are in the sweaters, and Scout is the Tri, and then Baree.








A close up of Dannii.  Zak is in the red, and white, and black sweater, in the back ground.










We haven't seen this pack in quite awhile.  There are about 4 Italian Greyhounds, 2 Whippets, and 1 Windhound (the longhaired dog off to the side).  There is a picture of him in one of the earlier blogs from either last year, or earlier this year.










Am trying to take as many picture of Dannii that I possibly can.  This is another close up.









This is the same group as before, just a bit different.  Somebody really wants a treat!




Dannii is still eating very well, and still taking his supplements.  I just hope this continues.  I have the CCNU, but I have not opened the box, and am almost tempted to send it back, but I guess I will hang on to it, just in case, Dannii starts going down hill.  I don't really want to use it at all, if I don't have too.  The Essiac Tea seem's (maybe, hopefully, besides lots of prayers) to be holding things at bay, besides the Prednisone.

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.  You all come back again, now hear?

11-21-11 Monday

Well, I don't think I actually posted exactly what Dannii gets in the morning.  First off, around 5 or 6 am he gets his Essiac Tea, and since its in capsules, I just roll them up in a piece of lunch meat, and he just swallows them down. "Sometimes".  Once or twice, he has dropped it and then would just try and tear a piece off a little bit at a time. One time, he even bit down on a Essiac Tea capsule, and just dropped the whole thing!


Now, just before breakfast, he gets his phenobarbital pills (1.5), a pepcid, a Ondansetron pill to help with his loss of appetite, a Mirtazapine, to stimulate his appetite.  Sometimes, I will just mix that up with a bit of baby food on a spoon, and let him lick it up.  The last couple of days, I wrapped them up in a piece of lunch meat.

Now, we wait for about a half hour or so, for the pepcid to kick in.  Now he gets 2/3's cup of Innova Evo Turkey and Chicken.  In the mornings, I will wet it with very hot water, not enough to soak it in, but just for a bit of flavor, then I pour off the excess water, and give him the bowl.

About a half hour or so later, Dannii gets his Prednisone pill, a Selenium, a vitamin E, and a SAMe.  If I can, I use one piece of lunch meat for all, but found that, that is too many pills, so have to use another slice.

That's it for the morning.  If I don't have to leave for work until later in the day, I try and give him something to tied him over until my son can feed him dinner.

Son only gives Dannii dry kibble at the dinner meal.  He eats it right up. Sometimes he is still looking for more food, as if he just wasn't getting enough.  He also gets his second dose of phenobarbital pills, either in baby food, or lunch meat.

Around 10pm, Dannii gets his second dose of Essiac Tea.  These capsules are big, about an inch long, but I put them end to end and roll them up, and give one end to Dannii, and he just inhales it.  Now I have the Essiac Tea ready for in the morning.  This time, I cut the lunch meat in half, and rolled up one pill in each piece, should make it a bit easier to swallow that early in the morning.

Jenna is still having problems with her mouth.  She's leaving her food, even after it has soaked up the hot water, and had been mushed down.  The Rimadyl and the antibiotic do not seem to be working.  Will need to call my vet in the morning and see what she has to say.  I know she will want to do x-rays, but I just can't afford them right now.  I just pray that this is nothing too serious with her.

Am off the bed, you all come back again, now hear?

Combined Friday, Saturday, and today Sunday

First off, I am pretty sure that the batteries are the culprit in my camera not working, and not the charger!  I have some new batteries coming, so hopefully that will prove my theory correct.

I started a post on Friday, and was going to finish it up Friday night when I got home from work.  I didn't turn the computer off when I left, so when I got home, Firefox had crashed, and all that I had written in the blog (even tho it was suppose to be saved), was gone!  Ticked me off to no end.  So, now am combining all three days into one.

On Friday morning, I was looking at Dannii, and I just thought that he had seemed "bloated", or fat. Well, fat was not the word I wanted, he just looked "bloated".  I don't know how to explain that.  He was acting kind of funny when he would walk across the room, like maybe something was bothering him in his neck or back.  I did call my vet, and she said to tap his tummy.  That if his tummy was tight, or sounded like a drum, then I needed to get him in ASAP.  Well, at this point, I'm not home.  So would have to wait until I get home at 10pm.  His tummy was not tight, nor did it sound like a drum when I tapped on it, so I guess I over-reacted.

My son could not get Dannii to eat Thursday night at all.  Neither could I when I got home.  I did give him some organic yogurt, and he ate "some" of that.

I was afraid that Dannii was going to quit eating on me, but that was not the case Friday morning.  He ate his kibble, and I had no problems in giving him his pills either.  Son, said that Dannii ate his dinner and again took his pills.

Dannii, eating

Saturday morning, I didn't have to leave until 10am.  Dannii again ate his breakfast and took his pills.  It helps by putting his pills into some lunch meat, and then roll it up like a sausage.

This here is a week old, picture of Dannii when he first really started eating.  Am still waiting on my batteries for my camera.

Son also said that Dannii ate his dinner and his pills Saturday night.  I just hope this keeps up.

The CCNU came in on Friday, but I have yet to start it.  Things are going good, and I hate to do something that might change that picture, right now.  Am looking into other things (Essential Oils).  My pocketbook is not that deep, and I live from paycheck to paycheck.  But I want to do all that I can possibly do, to help Dannii live a much longer life.  Last month, the vets didn't think he would make it to his 13th birthday, which is in 23 days.  Am really praying that I can get Dannii to, and beyond his 14th birthday, which is 12-12-12.

No dog park today though.  Even though its not raining, it is cold out, and I just don't feel all that great.  Feels like I am either coming down with pneumonia  or bronchitis.  Coughing up a storm.  Am afraid that all the cold air, and being right on the water at the dog park, would do me in, and I can't afford to have that happen right now.  So, we are staying home.

Ok, Dannii ate his dinner.  I baked a regular potato and sliced it up so all the dogs could get some.  I also gave Dannii 2 Beano tablets about 5-10 minutes before he ate.  So, hopefully this will cut down on the gas.  He ate all his dinner.  Jenna left some of her kibble.  I sure would like to know what is going on with her mouth.  The vet said it was not her teeth, but she "kind of" has stinky breath, not anywhere near as bad as it used to be before she got her dental done.  I hope its nothing more serious as I just do not have the funds available to do anything for her, or for Dannii even, at this point.

Well, that's it for now, you all come back it again, now hear?

11-17-11 Thursday

The problem may be with the batteries for my camera!  Here, I thought it was the charger, until my son reminded me that the batteries do give out after a time.  So, ordered some new batteries, and hopefully they will be here by tomorrow.  Hope, hope, hope.

I wrapped Dannii's pills (the supplements) in lunch meat, course, I can't put all the pills into one rolled up piece of meat, it would be too much.  But at least I am getting him to take the selenium and the SAMe.  He's taking the Essiac Tea 8.  So far so good.

Breakfast was unremarkable.  He ate. 

I had to work til 9pm, which mean's I don't get home until 10pm.  My son called me, and asked a question unrelated to the dogs, but did tell me that Dannii didn't eat.  He soaked their food in hot water, Jenna's bowl was empty, but he's not sure if she ate it, or one of the other dogs ate it, and there was still food in Zak's bowl!  That's unheard of for Zak.  He is the garbage can on four feet, where there is food, he eats it.

When I got home, I couldn't even get Dannii to eat.  He did eat some organic yogurt, but it was not alot.

I'm just praying and hoping that this is not the end.  All his blood work from the comprehensive CBC looks very, very good.  The vet was really, really happy.  Just hope and pray that he will eat tomorrow.

You all come back again, now hear?

11-16-11, Jenna went to the vets

Jenna at Point Isabel

Jenna has been having a bout of what we thought was stomatitis.  She went in about a month or so ago for a dental, and a week or two later, she was having problems with her mouth, again.

So, I took her in today.  The vet checked her teeth, and they still look good, the gums are a tad bit red on top, but nothing too serious.  The vet is checking her mouth, and she wants to look in the back of Jenna's mouth.  So I am holding her, and try to open her mouth, and on the left side, toward the back, and near the jaw, she has pain.  Lots of pain.  The vet could not see anything.  She's afraid that whatever it is, its in the jaw area.  So, we put Jenna on Rimadyl and antibiotic for a week, to see if this will help.  If not, then it boils down to doing x-rays, which at this point I can not afford to do, with what is going on with Dannii right now.  So hopefully these meds will help Jenna to feel better, and maybe eat without having to soak her kibble in extremely hot water.

I took Dannii and Zak with me.  Mainly I wanted to get him weighed, to see if he has put on some weight, which he did.  The CCNU is coming from Arizona and should be here by the end of the week.  He will be on that for 21 days, then off for 7 days and have a CBC/Chem panel done (if he doesn't have or show any side effects before hand).  I decided to do a comprehensive CBC on Dannii and will get the results tomorrow.  He has been shivering, and I've read that low white cell count, can cause that.  The vet also thinks (which I don't because he was doing this before any medication), that one of the appetite pills might be causing this.  Its possible, I guess.

I have to tell you that Jenna acted like the true lady that she is, and she took a hugh dump right in the waiting room, right in front of the vet herself!  I am digging out my baggie and got most of it cleaned up, and out came some spray and paper towels, and the vet herself, cleaned up the rest!  But that wasn't the end of that, nope, not by a long shot.  Zak had to make his presence known, and he made a hugh lake in the waiting room, right in front of the vet.  He couldn't stop, the poor thing, you could just see the relief come across his face.  Only one left was Dannii, but he was a gentleman, and waited till we got outside to leave, before he went pee.  We were on a roll, two for three, but the third never came!

The morning is nothing to brag about. He gets those 4 pills before breakfast, plus the Essiac Tea 8.  He got about 2/3 cup of his kibble mixed with hot water.  His kibble doesn't really soak up the water, but I just let it sit there for a bit, and then pout off the excess into another bowl.  It was the supplements that I was trying to get him to take before we left for the vets, but he wasn't having it.  So I covered it, and waited till we got home.

Dannii still wasn't having much of the supplements, so I added in a egg, and mixed it up, and used a slice of bread (think french toast), to soak some of it up, and put the bread in Dannii's bowl.  He eventually ate it up.

For dinner, he got a slice of liver. one whole piece, course it wasn't too big, and I don't think it really filled him up, so I gave him a little bit of canned food, nope wouldn't touch it, added in a touch of wet cat food, and some of his kibble.  Still wouldn't touch it.  I added in a hugh amount of baby food, and mixed it altogether, and he finally ate it.  Just some things turn him off, and I never know what that "thing" is going to be.

The charger came for my camera, but it won't charge the batteries!  The guy is going to send me a shipping label to mail it back to him, then he will refund my money.  I should have told him to refund my money, and I will mail the charger back as soon as I get the shipping label.  Oh well, because if he doesn't refund my money, I will report it, since I got it off of eBay.  Now I have to look for another one.

Well, you all come back again, now hear?

11-15-12 Tuesday, and no students :>(

10-30-11, Dannii at Point Isabel

Am home today, as I had no students.  I kind of like this, but then I don't, because my paychecks are very small.  With all that is going on with Dannii, I am going to need every penny I can get.

Before breakfast, phenobarbital pill, Ondansetron pill (for loss of appetite), Mirtazapine (to stimulate appetite), and a pepcid, mixed in with some baby food on a spoon, and was down the hatch in no time.  I took two Essiac tea 8 pills and put them end to end on a piece of lunch meat, and rolled the lunch meat up into a roll.  He ate it without a problem, but one of the pills dropped out!  So, I had to get another piece of lunch meat and rolled it up in that, and he ate it, no pill dropping this time.

Breakfast, he gets two scoups of Innova Turkey and Chicken.  I heated up some water in the microwave for about a minute and a half.  I have to make sure its really hot to soak Jenna's kibble.  Added water to all 3 bowls, and waited for a bit, so the kibble could soak up the water.  Dannii's food doesn't soak up the water like Jenna or Zak's does, so I just poured off the excess water.  Pretty soon every body had eaten and was trying to sack out in the few rays of sun on the floor.

I decided to call the oncologist as I haven't heard back from him since last week.  He called me back within ten minutes.  He went ahead and ordered the CCNU (chemo drug) from Arizona for me.  Dannii need's to be on it for 21 days, then off for 7 days.  Somewhere in that time, we do a CBC/chem panel to see how his white blood cells are doing.  The pills cost with shipping $50.89.  This is going to be on going, until his body stops responding to it.  The CBC/Chem panel is going to run $145.00 every 3-4 weeks.  He did say, that we wouldn't have to do the chem everytime, but do need to do the CBC to keep check on the white cells, or else, I could end up killing Dannii.  Oh dear Lord, help me.  What a rotten time for my x to stop spousal support!  I sure could use that extra money.

For some stupid reason, my mouse quit working, and its got brand new batteries in it!  If its not one thing, its always something else. 

I made a smoothie around lunch time for Dannii just so I could get the rest of his pills (supplements) in him.  I guess I didn't add enough of something, cuz he wouldn't finish it, and it wasn't really that much.  So, again I took some lunch meat and cut it up real small and added it in, drank some, but didn't care for the lunch meat for some reason.  Ok, so now I add a little bit of DogSure to the mix, and now he's drinking. I keep adding more DogSure and he keeps drinking until all the liquid is gone, and nothing is left but the lunch meat.  So, I split the lunch meat between Jenna and Zak, which both just ate up in no time.

Dinner he got his regular Innova Turkey and Chicken.  Boy, I hope he doesn't get tired of that!  He will eat it.  Also made sure he got his phenobarbital pill afterwards.  Now all I have to do is to make sure that he gets his Essiac Tea 8 before we go to bed.

I just got a phone call from my son, who was on his way home.  Somebody shot out his passenger door window!  Well, its not gone, but its shattered and he's says still cracking.  I told him to call the police.  He just called me back, and he's now just waiting for the police to show up.  I doubt if they will find out who did it.  Probably just some punks, not realize what they are doing, or maybe they do, and let it go at that.  Son says it had to come from some houses off to his right, well yeah, but which one?  Good luck with that one.

Monday 11-14-11

This is an older picture of Dannii.  Taken in September of last year.  My camera's charger is on the fritz, so had to order a new charger. Should be here in the next two days or so.

Ok, Monday morning.  I used up the last of the Zeal that I had.  Had put kibble in each of the dogs bowls, and since Jenna is having chewing problems, I really had to make sure her kibble was mush.  I added the Zeal to each of their bowls, and in no time at all, which included Dannii, all the bowls were empty!  I guess he finally likes that stuff, but I doubt if I am going to buy any in the near future.  I personally did not like the smell of the stuff, and it stayed with me for a long time.

The essiac tea 8 came in on Saturday, so I had been making sure that he is getting that twice a day.  Its suppose to be on an empty stomach, in the morning, its not a problem, but I have to make sure I give it to him before bed time, when his tummy is empty.  So far, so good.  He's been taking it without a problem.

Since I was at work for the dinner meal.  I made sure that my son knew how much food to give Dannii and also that Dannii's phenobaribital pills went from 1.5 down to just the one pill.  I got home at 8pm, and asked if Dannii ate and yes, he ate all his food.  Still was looking for a little bit more.  So, gave him a small scoup.

As long as he keeps eating, we're ok.  My prayer and wish is for Dannii to make it to his 14th birthday which will be 12-12-12.  He's turning 13 next month on 12-12-11, which is 27 days from now.

You all come back again, now hear?

11-12-11 & I'm sick, & 11-13-11 & the dog park

First off, I got sick Friday night.  It was something I ate, as I was throwing up,  Sick to my stomach and just couldn't get warm.  May sound like to flu to some, but I been taking Selenium and a Ester C for many years now, and have never had the flu.  Nope, this was diffentley something I ate.  Started trying to call my office manager at 6:30am, but she had her phone off.  I did call the office and left a message on the machine there, just to make sure somebody, somewhere knew that I wasn't going to be working today.  I finally got ahold of my office manager around 8am.  Her cell phone was still off, so its a good thing I called the office again, and she answered.  It was all I could do to stay awake that long, and try and keep from throwing up any more.  Fell back to sleep, but then the dogs reminded me that they needed  their breakfast.

Hard to get out of bed, stomach rolling and turning with my every step.  First I had to make sure Dannii got his pills before he could actually eat breakfast.  Got all of that over and done with it. Thank goodness he is eating now, and not too much trouble in taking his normal pills.  Its only when I try to give him his supplements, do I run into problems.  Since I wasn't feeling well, I just left out the supplements, just made sure that he got his pills that he needed.

I gave him about a half of a cup of his Innova Turkey and Chicken which he readily ate up.  Thank goodness, he likes that.

Sunday, 11-13-11

Stomach is still a tad queasy, but not like yesterday.  Its a nice day.  Dannii got his pills.  I used some of the Zeal for the dogs breakfast.  Since Jenna is having so much trouble with her teeth, I have to truly soak her kibble and then mush it down.  She has no problems with the Zeal at all.  Dannii ate "some" of his breakfast, but did not finish it.  For some reason, this time, Zak left Dannii's bowl alone, and did not finish it off like he normally does.

I also notice that Dannii is shivering, so I put on his dog sweater.  Its a tad chilly here at the house, windy outside, so all the dogs get their sweaters on.  We went to the dog park, but I can't load any pictures, as all my batteries died, but the charger, itself, quit working.  So just ordered a new one, and is suppose to be here on the 17th or 18th, I'll upload some pics then, if I have any good ones, but at least you all will be able to see the sweaters that they were wearing.  The sweaters were hand knitted, but not by me.  I got them from Sally Wallis who gets "donated yarn", makes the sweaters and sells them on eBay, and the money then goes to BRAT (Basenji Rescue and Transport).  I emailed her and asked for some certain colors, if she has the colors, that's fine, if not, then your out of luck, I would guess.  I just gave her some general colors, like pastels for Jenna, red and black and white for Zak, some dark and light blues for Dannii.  They turned out great, but I think just a bit too big on the sides.
They got alot of compliments on the sweaters of course, and I thought that was great.  Course some were looking at us as to why the dogs had the sweaters still on, after now it got warm.  I don't know, I was afraid that if I took Dannii's off, he would get the chills, and I didn't want to do that.  I also need to let you all know, that Dannii finally had his tail up!  He's had it hanging down for so many months now, I think he forgot that the tail does got up!

When we got home, Dannii finished his breakfast.  I guess he was still hungry.  Good boy.  Since he ate the rest of his breakfast, now I had to wait a bit longer before they got their dinner.  Again he got his Innova Turkey and Chicken, plain, nothing added, and he ate it up.

I had ordered some Essiac 8 tea in capsules, and I knew they should have been here by now, but weren't.  Well, nobody went and checked to mail on Saturday.  My son checked the mailbox on Sunday and the tea was there.  The capsules are softgels and they are about an inch long, and I'm thinking "oh boy, here we go again".  But I took a slice of lunch meat, and laid out two pills, end to end, and rolled up the lunchmeat, like a roll. Dannii didn't even stop, he just inhaled the whole thing!  I am thinking this is just a one time thing, and he won't do it again.  The pills are for 30 days at 4 pills a day, two in the morning and two in the evening.  Not counting when I take some, and they cost $40.00.  So now that's another expense I have going to have to make sure that I got covered.

Not to gross anybody out, but before Dannii got on Prednisone, the lymphoma was causing him a hard time to poop, and he would normally have some light blood drip down his backside.  Since the prednisone has kicked in the the lymphoma has shrunk, he doesn't strain going to the bathroom now, but instead of having some blood drip down his backside, now its poop. So, I have to make sure that he is really cleaned up after he goes to the bathroom.

I am writing this on Monday morning, and am feeling a bit better.  I took a Prevacide and a Pepcid AC and it seems to have quiet my stomach some.  I am working today, so I best get on the ball, and get ready.

You all come back again, now hear?

11-10-11 & today 11-11-11

Whenever we have a memorable day like today 11-11-11; I always try and get some pictures.  This here is all the b's hanging out by the wood stove.  Dannii is the only one who is paying attention, while Jenna acts like I am intruding, and Zak, he flat out don't care! He's the one way in the back.

Well, I have to say that yesterday, I got Dannii to eat some of the Zeal dehydrated dog food!  Of course, I had put some of his kibble on the bottom of his bowl, added hot turkey water to the Zeal and waited for a bit, then added it to all 3 dog bowls.  Jenna and Zak ate it up with no problems, and Dannii did to, this time.  Before, he wouldn't touch it, until I had put a whole bunch of liver down and mixed it all in.

Even though now that he is eating, he has diarrhea, and for some reason, now he has it sticking to his back-end.  Where before, it used to be just blood, now its diarrhea, and dried at that.  So, have to take a good warm cloth and wash him off, which I don't think he minds too much.  Am not sure what is causing this.  Maybe its because he's getting too many supplements at one time or what?  I think I will try and hold off on them, and just make sure that he gets his phenobarbital and prednisone pills for now, plus the Ondansetron for loss of appetite, and Mirtazapine to stimulate his appetite.  I did increase that one, from a 1/4 of a tablet up to a 1/2, so maybe I will cut that one back to a 1/4 again and see if that will help any.  He looks like he is gaining some weight, but not hundred percent sure.  No way to really tell for sure, the scales at my regular vets office is "kind of off", its the same scale they had back in the 1980's when I first starting going there.  Don't know if it has ever been "calerbrated" or not.  I have taken them out to the one pet store that does have a scale, but I think its "off" too.  When Dannii was at the oncologist's on the 2nd of this month, he weighed 22 pounds.  I am pretty sure I stopped at that pet store on the way home to weigh Dannii, but for the life of me, I don't remember, and I didn't write it down like I usually do.

For some reason, I am not feeling well.  Feel like I am coming down with a cold or something.  I take a Ester vitamin C and a selenium, and usually I don't ever get sick, sick.  But there have been times, like now, where I just don't feel good.  Course right now also, I have acid indigestion but I take something for that, but its no longer working.  It's generic form, so maybe I need to get the "real thing"?

Jenna is going to the regular vet on Wednesday of next week, to have her mouth checked.  I do believe her teeth are bothering her, as she won't eat all of her kibble, even when its soaked to mush.  She was coming down with "stomatitis", and she just had a cleaning about two months ago, maybe less, so she shouldn't be going through this right now.  My vet did say that sometimes they have to pull all the teeth for the "stomatitis" to clear up, as its up in the gums above the teeth.  Great.  More bills that I can't afford.  Hopefully we can get her on an antibiotic for right now, and see if that will help.


Tomorrow being Saturday, I need to get up early.  Had to get up early today, as it was a school holiday, and all the kids were out.  Felt like a Saturday to me, but nope, tomorrow is, so I am off the bed, just like the dogs are.

You all come back again, now hear?

Day 15, so far so good, and a call from the Oncologist

Dannii with his head on my pillow

Ok, since I was awake at 4:30 this morning, but did not actually get out of bed until 8:30, I had been kind of dragging.  Since Dannii sleeps with me, he wanted to go out so he could go potty.  I keep the door to my room closed, so the other two dogs do not come in and start a fight.  Dannii was up 3 times!  Before all of this, maybe, just maybe, he would wake me up, once.  This last time however, I could not shut my mind off, it was racing with all kinds of thoughts and what have you's. So I tossed and turned and listened to Dannii snore.  He reminds me of my x-husband!  I hate snorers! So, I move Dannii around, and for a short time, he quits snoring. But I am awake.  So, I start to read my book (I read before I go to bed). After awhile, I put the book down, but nope, still could not get back to sleep.  Dannii is up for the 3rd time by then, and so I just stay up.  Its going to be a long day.


So, I give Dannii his daily morning pills before breakfast, mixed with just a tad of baby food.  He's doing real good about taking them like that.  Now, need to wait for a half hour before they can be fed.
Did I mentioned this was going to be a long day?  Maybe a nap somewhere down the road, if I'm lucky.

I made sure to put Dannii's Prednisone pills into a hot dog, which he ate.  Thank goodness.  Now all the pills that he truly needs, are down the hatch, so to speak.  Ok, so here come's the Vit. C and Vit. E, Fresh Start, SammE, Selenium, Tumeric (it is a capsule, so I opened the capsule, and just added to powder to the rest of the pills). Outside of the Vit. E and Tumeric, I crushed all the pills together.  I took a half slice of a whole bun, and cut the bottom half, in half again (like a cake), I took some canned Easy Cheese and spread it over the bun, and poured the crushed pills on top of that and spread it all over.  Hard to do that, as it stuck to the cheese!  So, took baby food, and used that to help spread it over, and cut that half of a half, into small pieces, and gave to Dannii.  He ate it all, except for one little piece.   I know that's not breakfast as it was not enough food for him.  I had one can of Paul Newman's Gourmet Beef cat food, (small can), and I spooned a bit into Dannii's bowl, as I didn't know if he would eat it or not.  He ate the whole can, gave him some cut up turkey, and ate that up.  Then he walked away.  He was done.

Early afternnon, I gave him a small can of cat food, as he followed me into the kitchen looking for something to eat.  Before all of this lymphoma stuff, he only got fed twice a day, once in the morning, and then in the evening.  Now, he can't go that long in between meals.

Before I fed the dogs, dinner.  I fried up some liver.  I gave Dannii his Innova Turkey and Chicken, and Jenna and Zak got their Innova Evo Reduced (boy does Zak need to loose weight!).  Again, I heated up some turkey water, and then poured it over all their kibble and really let it soak into the kibble.  Dannii got almost 2/3 c of kibble, and he wanted something more to eat.  I gave him a piece of liver (last piece from the last bunch I cooked up).  He was looking for something more, so gave all the dogs some turkey leg meat.  Guess Dannii had his fill by then.

I noticed his water intake has kind of slacked off some.  At least he's not leaving a swamp on my living room floor anymore.  I do have to admit, before I could get out of bed this morning for one of the times Dannii wanted out, he started to pee on the carpet!  Thanks to Jenna, I had wee wee pads, and had one in my room, and stuck it under Dannii as he's peeing.

He may look uncomfortable in this picture to some, but I tell you, he was totally relaxed.  Didn't know what I was going to do with the camera.


I got a call from the oncologist's nurse today.  He is looking into getting some CCNU (chemo drug) at a lower cost, and he found a place in Arizona.  The clinic would call and order the prescription, then the company would call me for billing and such.  Cost $42.00 for 21 days, then he would go a week with no CCNU, but would need a CBC to check his white cell count at a cost of $145.00.  That would have to be done every 3 weeks!  I don't have that kind of money.  Besides the CBC, they would charge for another office visit of $135.00, on top of the $145.00.  I think there is something wrong with that picture.  So, am now waiting to hear from my regular vet, and see what she has to say.  I told that nurse that I couldn't afford the CBC every 3 weeks, that if they could do it like every 6-8 weeks, it would be better. Since the oncologist is not in on Thursday, someone will call me on Friday and let me know. 

I think I am off to bed.  You call come back again, now hear?

Some new food to try, day 14

Dannii taken today

Can't believe its already been two weeks!  How time does fly by.

A friend sent me two bags of Honest Kitchen Zeal dog food.  Its all dehydrated meats and veggies and other good stuff.  Its green, and I thought, "oh boy, Dannii will not eat this at all."  I wasn't even too sure that Jenna or Zak would even eat it.  So I took about a cup of the Zeal and put it in a bowl, and heated up some turkey water (water left over from cooking up some turkey legs), and added a cup and a half to the Zeal, and let it sit for a bit.   I add a small amount of kibble to Jenna and Zak's bowl, but not to Danni's.  I was just curious if he would eat or at least try it without the kibble.  Nope, one look at it, and he walked away.  However, Jenna and Zak went to town on theirs.  They didn't care what color it was or anything else.  Dannii couldn't believe that they were eating "that stuff".  He wanted to eat, but just not "that stuff" by itself.  So, I added a small amount of kibble, nope, still wouldn't touch it.  So, then I added a small amount of cooked liver, ok, now he's eating some.  Just not enough.  So, I added in more liver, and really mixed it up real good.  Yep, now he's eating, and in fact, he finished the bowl.  All it took was a good amount of liver added in.  I had some "stuff" left over, so I divided it between Zak and Jenna, with no kibble, and they ate that.  I do believe Jenna and Zak like this "stuff", but the jury is still out on Dannii.  I still have enough for another meal or two. So should know by then if Dannii will like it enough for me to buy some.

Again, he gets his phenobarbital pills, his Ondansetron pills (for loss of appetite), and Mirtazapine (to stimulate appetite), plus a pepcid mixed with some baby food.  I do have him wait for a half hour before he eats, so the pepcid and other pills will have already kicked in.  This was done, first thing this morning, before he got the above breakfast.

Made the same stupid mistake of taking the Fresh Factor, vitamin E,  & C, and half tablet of selenium, plus his Prednisone pills and crushed them together, and this time I mixed them with lots of baby food.  He wouldn't touch it!  That selenium pill really throws him off.  So, I add some liver and very small pieces, and blended it altogether, nope still no eat.  Added even more liver in very small pieces, and mixed it altogether with a fish oil on top, now he eats it.  He just had to have more liver in it.  Need to remember not to put his prednisone pills into anything but a hot dog from now on.  Sure wish there was some way to hide the smell of the selenium, but I haven't come up with anything, yet.

Since I was at work, son had to feed the dogs,   I guess Dannii ate whatever it was that Shea put down. Which I guess is a good thing.  I know he got the Innova Evo Reduced, and I told him to give Dannii the Innova Turkey and Chicken.  How can one forget in a span of one minute?  At least he also got down his phenobarbital pills.

You all come back again, now hear?

Another decent day of eating; plus a funeral

Got the day off of work. Even though I told them I could work from 5-9, there were no students.  So, had the whole day off.

First off Dannii again, got his phenobarbital pills, his Ondansetron to help with his loss of appetite, and the Mirtazapine to stimulate his appetite, a pepcid mixed in with a small amount of Gerber's Ham and Gravy baby food, with a tad more baby food to cover the pills, then mixed with another spoon altogether, and fed on the spoon to Dannii.  He eats it up.  Now, we have to wait an half hour before he can eat breakfast.

So, now I make another smoothie, but I blew it today.  I added a bit too much water, plus I also added a half tablet of selenium.  What I did was, I put some of the meat off of the turkey leg into his bowl, and poured the smoothie over the top of it.  Yes, he ate/drank some of it, but not all.  I wanted him to drink it all as I made the mistake of adding his Prednisone pills to that mix.  Won't do that one again.

He's still hungry, so I give him not quite 2/3's of a cup of Innova Turkey and Chicken.  I heat up some of the water from boiling the turkey legs, yesterday, and pour that over his food.  I also did that to the food bowl for Jenna, and Zak.  They liked the change from just hot water.  Course Dannii ate it up.  The rest of the smoothie that he didn't drink, I put it into another container and saved it until I got back home, which was around 3pm.  Dannii's looking for something to eat, so again, I heat up some (what I will now call Turkey water) and mixed in a small amount to the smoothie, and poured it into Dannii's food bowl.  He ate it up.  Thank goodness, now he got his Prednisone pills down, even though they were not all at once.

For dinner, I again gave him about 2/3 cup of the Innova, mixed with the turkey water.  He ate it all up.  I keep forgetting, and am going to have to make a note to remind myself to add some fish oil to his food at dinner time.  He gave me the impression that he was still hungry, so I added a small handful of kibble and turkey water, but he only ate a few more bites, and left the rest.  There was not much left over, so one of the other dogs, ate it up.  Wasn't paying attention to which one it was, but it would be my best guess that it would have been Zak.  That guy is always hanging around just off to the side and in back of Dannii, just waiting to move in to check his bowl out.  Its no wonder he is getting fat, and needs to go on a diet, which I am trying to do, but Zak always finds something to eat.

Jenna and Dannii 10-30-2011

 
Jenna's teeth are bothering her again.  She's been prone to "stomatities" but the antibiotics are no longer working, because that it not the problem!  She had a dental done about two months ago, and I was told that there was some more teeth that needed to come out, but not for awhile.  With all this going on with Dannii, I just don't have the funds to do another dental for Jenna.  I had some generous people donate some money for Jenna's dental, so not a penny came out of my pocket.

So far, the only healthy one has been Zak, but of course, he is the youngest.  He will be turning 7 on the 30th of this month.  I just hope that I don't have any problems with him down the road.  Outside of his weight, he is doing good, but is always looking for food, because he is on a diet.

Zak 10-30-2011

He does not like being on a diet.  His favorite thing in the whole world is to eat!  Poor fat baby.  Nice pose of him, but you can tell he's paunchy.  I would like to see him nice and trim like he once was.  He looked so much younger.



Well, all the dogs are curled up for the night, and I guess its time for bed myself.  I do work tomorrow, and I hope tomorrow, we have another successful day of eating!

You all come back again, now hear?