DOGS RULE !!! To share all the good times for being dog lovers.

Lordy lordy Mya’s forty… well it’s been that many days and nights, { some very long }, since she had her surgery and we’ve only had one or two minor setbacks. We had our first vet visit after chemo for blood work etc. Results are all good, { pretty sure I just got a few pounds lighter }…  She is manoeuvring a lot better, but still gets in that zone seeing another dog or squirrel and charges along. Its all good until there is an abrupt change in direction, speed, or elevation, then we are at about 50% 🙂 It’s getting better by the day though. Really she had more troubles before the surgery with pain and limping. She wasn’t overly energetic at first but as soon as we finished the pain medication she started to do more. We have seen her run { at a good clip mind you } and she can beat me up the ramp at the back door. Some day soon I’ll get a video … She doesn’t like the beeps our phones and the camera make so its hard to catch those random moments because she will stop and look at you if she hears it.

Allison just told me about the Budwig Diet , for dogs with cancer. It’s cottage cheese and flax seed oil based, and she said there was a lot of good info. Al’ looked up “canine cancer diet” and then “dogs Budwig diet”. Seems there is a lot of precautions around these type of diets, like Omega 3 is good but Omega 6 and things like primrose oil are not.  Has any one here heard of this ?

All for now .

We just got home from Can West Vetrinary , Mya had her first Carboplatin session today, IV in the right rear leg.  Her bladder infection has almost cleared up. She still has a week of antibiotics to take along with the antinausia meds daily. We have set up the barriers around the poop spot in the back yard to keep Macleod away  from the chemo in Mya’s pee and poop. He’s pretty pissed… He usually follows her around and re-marks her spot after wards, then if she isn’t done yet she will do the same. Both of them tend to step in it durring the whole process, so we are trying to limit them tracking it in and out of the house. For the next 72 hours or so we will keep the bathrooms seperate, but they can be together in the house. We just can’t predict when Mya will hop up and have a the urge to pee, and will need to clean up any messes if she gets sick in the house with a 10:1 bleach and water solution.

She is doing good so far, although we didn’t really notice the bladder infection before so its hard to guage. She is getting little bossy with Macleod now so she must be getting back to her old self again. A few min ago allison was near the cookie jar and Mya lifted her one leg to shake a paw like it was time for a treat, we now have to remember to let the paw go slowly or put it back on the floor so she doesn’t do a face plant… She still tries to move too fast some times and forgets there isn’t another leg up front to make the quick step or the abrupt hault. Her hair is growing back pretty good now and I noticed the spot that would have been just behind the sholder is a bit slow groing, almost a bald spot from the leg rubbing on her side the last 8-1/2 years. It will be intresting to see how all the colours blend in afterwards. We have stopped putting the T-shirt on her last few days , but may through it on if the rain keeps up and she wants to lay out side for a bit. ( over protective parents )

We have two follow up appointments with our regular vet next two weeks then third week is chemo #2 .

Mya playing footsies with Macleod,

Mya with her shirt off …

Yikes!!! Theres a shadow on the floor right where her leg would have been…

She’s so content and seems to be happy, Isn’t really playfull yet, but is starting to be more and more interested in things since we quit the pain meds. I’ve seen the muscles in the sholder area flexing a bit more now, they used to twitch and she would let out a yelp at first. I think when these muscles have compleetly healled and she can hold her core tight she will have a better time hopping around. She doesnt want to wait for me to put the little stool down I made for her to get in the car. Ocasionally she slips but mostly makes what ever she tries as long as she isn’t rushing. 29 days since the surgery now and we are so happy with her progress and know we made the right decision.

Well today Mya went in for her first chemo session, dropped her off in the morning so they could run some tests first and they found she has a bladder infection. They don’t want to see that turn into a kidney infection with the chemo hitting on her immune system. So she is on a weeks worth of antibiotics now and we wait… some more… We don’t want any preventable problems to knock us back so we aggree with the vets about not having an infection going in to chemo. I figure they will probably want to do another chest Xray if this takes a while to clear up. We were all prepaired to segrigate her for bathroom breaks to keep Macleod from the drugs and getting over the worries of the chemo, now the first real setback. I guess we have been very lucky so far and bumps are to be expected. She’s a tuffy so we are sure she will get through this as well. She is still pain free and happy so thats what matters most.

Mya and Macleod snuggl’n

sptptptpt… not sure how to spell that ???

Mya & one of her brothers at 4 weeks

‘Gonna get that damn squeeker!!!

figured some happy thoughts were in order …

The last few months we’ve weathered the storm it seems, but Mya’s smiley face brings the sunshine. 19 days today and she got the staples out last Thursday (day16) at the oncology appointment. They shaved a bit near the incision and cleaned the area, overall it was healing well. Still a little raised in the spot she tagged that time with her rear leg, but it has receded a lot. The hair is growing back pretty fast now, hope it stays that way. We are scheduled now for wed the 24th to start Carboplatin Chemotherapy. We got the results back from post op biopsy and it is Osteocarcoma with fibroblastic features; low mitotic index (3/10hpf) considered histologically low grade. Our worry now is eventual mastastis so we are hoping an early start on chemotherapy will take out any of the cells that have not yet materialised in the scans. She has done so well this far, we expect the same will come of this part of her journey.

The other day I noticed Mya sitting next to Macleod and she was sniffing and giv’n him kisses, he seemed uneasy and shortly backed away from her and sat over by me a few feet away. That PUNCHED a big hole in my heart, they would sit and play with each other all the time, they are inseperable. To see what looked like Macleod being distant towards Mya really took me, I had to grab my mouth and jaw in my hand to keep from losing it. He was 8months old when Mya was born, kenneling with the parents, and they have been kennel mates ever since. We got Macleod a week before Mya was ready to come home, to get used to our place, and they were so happy to see each other. I never even considered how Macleod might react to the whole thing, other than how he’d be without her…  Yesterday I saw Macleod laying on the spot Mya usually goes to when she stays out for a bit, then later they were both sitting side by side there again. A few min. ago I heard a thump, went up to see what-up, and the were all laying in front of the AC unit, Allison said the thump was just Mya laying down. So I got down and had a big snuggle with them both, Mya pretty much rolled over right on my chest. They were kiss’n and sniff’n as usual. I feel waaaaay better now!

Today has been good all day up until the power went out just before I posted a reply … the house got pretty hot in just 15 min lucky it was a scheduled work outage so they were quick at getting it back on. The dogs were already wanting to go out side but I knew it was still hotter out there so we stayed in side. Thought I might take Macleod for a walk but I’ll have to do it way later with this heat. Time to take Mya out for a pee.