Another visit from Mr. Hankey's family

It's been a while, but a member (a small member) of Mr. Hankey's family came to visit last night.

Final photos & a note

When you feed a dog a Taco Bell super cheesy beef burrito it results in very smelly farts.

More pictures from Pacific Beach

Pacific Beach #50 - woo!

Me and the boys had a great night camping at Pacific Beach. Although the weather wasn't beach-worthy, it at least wasn't raining, and we got some fresh air and to sleep to the sound of the ocean. There was a lot of kite flying, and we went for an hour long walk this morning (at 7 am) and only saw two other people on the beach. It was nice.

One ironic note - Aberdeen's town motto is now "Come As You Are" (which I believe is new), and it appears that they hand out Nirvana t-shirts to angst-ridden teens because the only one I saw was wearing one of the Nirvana shirts that must be at least 10 years old.

Odin Incident

It was hot yesterday, and is warm today (and supposed to be tomorrow too). Yesterday the boys stayed outside all day (8:30 - 7:30), but they had lots of water (that they didn't drink), shade, and their cooling beds.
This morning, we went on a walk - it was about 70.
We made it to the park and were on our way home, when Odin flopped down in the grass. He panted for a little while, then rolled around all frisky and scratching himself in the grass, then got up and walked a few more houses, then plopped down in the grass again.
After a while, he got up, made it one more house, and plopped down in the road. He got up, made it a couple steps, and plopped down in a driveway.
After a long rest, he made it to the next yard, and plopped down in the yard. It took a long time for him to get up, he made it only a couple wobbly steps, and he plopped back down in the same yard.
A kind-looking elderly gentleman was working in his yard the next house over, so when I finally got Odin up again, I asked him could I please leave Odin tied to something in his yard, so I could run home and get my car. He was wary, but agreed; I left Odin, ran with Stampy as fast as I could home (which was not that fast), got the car, and came zooming back. Odin looked a little nervous but worn out.
So we are home now, I am anxious as all get out, and Odin is resting on the floor.
I don't know if it's the heat combined with his age (it's not THAT hot out), or if this has something to do with his heart.
The last time I got him up, he growled at me.

Some Photos

I forgot these were on my camera, and just now downloaded them.

(Note behind Peony and Poppy is a photo of Odin.)

Dog Weight Update

Odin is 128 pounds.
Stampy is 130 pounds.

Cat weights & now Peony & Odin BFF

My boss asked me if the girls had turned into big cats (she has a sister or half-sister cat). I said no, they were little, and she said "are you sure? Or is it just next to your big dogs?" So I weighed them.

Peony is 11 pounds, the lightest of the bunch.

Poppy is 11.5 pounds.

Kappa is a whopper, 14 pounds.

Odin's bloodwork from vet visit

His blood is looking good after the first 6 weeks of heart medications. He got his final increase in the carvedilol, sohe is getting 50 mg 2x day. In two weeks, we will do another blood test for that in his bloodstream, and then hold steady.
The bad news is that he is now a solid "Category III", instead of being on the cusp. So it's good that Stampy bit him on the ear and he had to go to the vet and start all the heart medication, because otherwise he would have gotten worse, faster, but it still means the inevitable is coming.
Dr. W had an 11 year old shadow the day we were there, and it was so cute. She got so excited listening to Odin's "swish swish" heart murmur instead of "lub dub" heart beat.

Stampy & Peony: BFF

Stampy is now in a maximum security facility

He broke out again. Stampy can break wire. And he bent the fence to make himself a hole to squeeze out of. He also opened the back door again, despite six layers on the outside alone. And the cats were running in and out and I went ballistic.
So Stampy now has an electric fence INSIDE his kennel, down at dog knee height, so that he shouldn't be able to reach the fence either over or under it with his mouth to bend it and escape.
If he escapes again, I'm frankly totally out of ideas, and I guess he'll have to find another home.

Super-Odin

Yesterday morning Odin took forever getting out of bed. I was sending email (in the other room) and I could hear him making some noises, but I thought he was just stretching and enjoying luxuriating in bed.

When I went in to see what was taking him so long, he had somehow put his head through one button hole in the comforter, and then stuck his nose out two holes later. So he had the comforter on like a cape.

I started laughing so hard I couldn't undo it, so I took a picture.

He is such a doofus.

Panic 1

Well, Odin got sick while he was at the kennel and I was out of town. He barfed, but the staff were really conscientious after I made a huge deal about his heart condition, and I'm glad they called. But I just panicked.

Also, Poppy is in love with Stampy right now. It's kind of weird. She is always rubbing up next to him and sitting next to him.

Peony made a break for the outside today when the dogs were coming in. I had to grab her by the tail. I thought she was the least likely to cause me trouble.

Stampy did not break out of the kennel yesterday or today, but he did mange to break some wire.

No Smooth Kennel Transition Here

Stampy managed to bust out. He scratched the hell out of the sliding glass door - it is moving funny, so I think he almost knocked it in. He also scratched the hell out of the back door, and ripped out the cat door and ripped up stuff he could reach inside. Fortunately, for some reason the cats didn't walk outside. Possibly because they were terrified of him going crazy outside the door. I wasn't even gone 4 hours.

This is so discouraging. He's so big. I don't know what to do with him. What do you do when a 6' kennel doesn't stop him? Why does he have so many problems?

Stampy's New Kennel

Courtesy of Janis and Michael, Stampy now has a kennel to stay in while I'm gone. Here's photos of it, and Odin's awareness of where he'll be sitting from now on.

Stampy the Biter

Stampy bit Odin again - on the other ear. It wasn't as bad as the first one, but he seems to have pierced Odin's ear in two places. Yet another reason to try splitting them up during the day. Unfortunately, I can't leave Stampy in the yard, not only because I'm gone about 13 hours a day (and there's not that much daylight right now), but because he stamps all over the sliding glass door when he's out there alone and I think eventually he's going to break it.
This morning when I was gone for about 4 hours, Stampy chewed up a can. Like a can of beans. There were TOOTH HOLES piercing the can.

Odie Vet Report

Odin is getting the following pills, rolled up in two pieces of sliced ham, which leaves (for you non-meat eaters) a disgusting slime on your skin that is hard to wash off: Enalapril, Carvedilol, Glucosamine, Coenzyme Q10, and Fish Oil; plus, on his food, some "Platinum" dog supplement; for a grand total of $70/month. That is not nearly as much as I feared it was going to be, but the twice yearly echocardiogram, x-ray, and blood draw are $500/each.
I got his Carvedilol filled at Costco, which was an interesting experience. I had to fill out a form for him (not me), that had his birthday, gender (Male?), address, phone number, and allergies to other medications. I wonder if he'll get mail from Costco or phone calls, like that time I won a ham.
Odin is NOT exhibiting the "clinical signs" yet - those will be the external symptoms that will mark (usually) 2-3 months to live. But Dr. Westcott said there is no way to know when the clinical phase will start, like it could start tomorrow. The medication is supposed to help postpone the clinical phase (but it just slows it down; it still comes).
I also had Odin's records sent down from his old vet (who was fabulous), Dr. Jeff Mayo. Dr. Westcott is going to look at them to see if Dr. Mayo heard the heart mumur when Odin was a little puppy, like I remember. Since I didn't remember him peeing on the floor for an entire year, it's possible I'm mis-remembering that too.
Odin seems to be feeling pretty good, even with all the new medication. He has been sleeping on my bed more than normal (i.e. instead of on the couch), but I think that has to do with Stampy being energetic, bratty, and pushy. And unfortunately for all of us, now that spring is on the way, the idiot City of Lacey decided to do away with the informal dog park as of this weekend. So you can still go out there and walk, but it has to be on leash, and that doesn't get Stampy tired enough.
However, ham appears to make Odin fart up a storm. Whichever room he's in basically reeks of fart. I think it is probably killing brain cells while I sleep. But it's too cold at night to have the window open.

Doppleganger Odin & Stampy

We went to the dog park on this stunningly beautiful February afternoon. The sun was out (and warm), the sky was blue, 800 other dogs were there, and we met another Odin (a lab looking Odin), learned that there is a great dane Stampy's age and appearance named Bella, and learned about another ridgeback who does not look like Odin but IS another ridgeback. I already forgot his name. Stampy played and played, but at lap 2, Odin started to seem like he was dragging extra, so Odin and I stood in the sun while Stampy played and played more.

Also, Poppy likes to eat dog food. She is kind of a weirdo cat.

Odin has heart problems

He has something called DCM. He went in on Friday and got an echocardiogram, x-rays, and blood work. The blood work is normal and healthy. The x-ray shows his heart is enlarged and misshapen, but not "grossly" so. The echo showed the DCM.

DCM is "dilated cardiomyopathy" and there is a good article on it at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/ if you put that in the search window.

Odin is getting two prescriptions: one for "cervac", a human drug to reduce his blood pressure; and Enalapril Maleate, which thins his blood.

He is also going to get Coenzyme Q10, fish oil, and glucosamine daily. Right now he is getting Platinum instead of Missing Link, but I might switch them up to keep Odin on his toes.

Both Odin and Stampy are loving it so far because to feed him his pills, I have been getting him a $1 double cheeseburger at McDonald's (and thus, Stampy gets one too) and putting the pills inside. But starting tomorrow I am going to hide the pills in squishy dog food.

The vet said that he is a healthy weight, does not need diet changes, and shouldn't have his exercise restricted. There's a chance that he'll have a heart attack while he's running and playing, but the vet thinks it's the best way to go. I agree, but I still don't want it to happen.

The side effects I'll be watching for are Odin acting loopy, tired, taking a longer time to recover, breathing fast or other abnormal changes in his breathing, coughing - especially soft and at night, or turning blue.

He doesn't have any fluid in his lungs yet, but he will be getting echos, x-rays, and blood work every 6 months.

I don't think I'm going to be able to prepare myself for what it will feel like to lose Odin. He is my tail.

In other news, earlier in the week, he stepped in poop in the yard (the day after I did poo patrol), and I tried to clean his foot, couldn't stop feeling gross about it, so I made him wear a sock around the house, with vetwrap on the top to hold it up.

Stampy ate my mango today. He has been a bad dog the past week. He also blasted past the dog crate (blocking the bedrooms, office, and bathroom from the rest of the house, which he is free to roam in) earlier in the week and chewed on my crocs and pajamas.

The cats are all enjoying going out into the garage and hanging out in there for a few hours. Poppy has gotten especially pushy about trying to get out the door into the outside. Kappa and Peony seem to be content to be inside. Kappa likes to sit in my "to shred" box and watch me when I'm on the computer. I'll attach a picture.

Oh yeah, and Odin recovered from Stampy's attempts to overthrow the King.

Picture also attached from that (a gross one).

3 Funny Pet Photos