Update on Badger

I finally got the urine results back on Badger, and the good news is that the E.Coli infection has cleared up. For that, I'm truly thankful. However, he continues to 'decline'. Unfortunately, I'm really starting to believe that the vet who suggested that it might be a brain tumor is right. The 'seizures' have steadily increased not only in frequency but also in intensity, and some of them now involve his whole body. He has them throughout the entire day now. He also has steadily worsened in his balance, especially in the hind legs. And he's really sensitive to the sunlight in his eyes now. The vet has switched him from prednizone to a generic version of Neurotin but I can't see any change at all in him, better OR worse. He just continues to 'decline'. I'm slowly giving way to acceptance that he will probably not recover from whatever it is. Do I really need to tell you how many tears have been shed in the last few weeks? I finally had a long 'talk' with him the other day about the 'Rainbow Bridge', and told him that when he's ready he can go, that I'll be okay as long as I know that he's 'free to chase bugs and deer and run run run with his little ears flying in the breeze without pain'. I'm not giving up on him, but as I said, I'm slowly gaining some acceptance. He will always be the love and light of my life, that one most precious little face with the silky soft fur, with more zest and courage for life than anyone or animal that I know, that one bonded heartbeat, unlike anything I've ever had with all of the pets that I've had throughout my 52 years, that will always be there.

Happy October 1st!

Can anyone tell me what this little fella is?

Sweet little Bluebird

Look at this beauty---and was she/he loud!

Going, going gone

Look how the foliage is turning

Wow, can you believe that the Summer has passed so quickly? I blinked and went from Spring almost straight into Fall! And what a gorgeous first day of October it is here!! The sun is shining, but the wind is howling around the windows, and it is only 62 deg. (at 1:27 p.m.)! We have gotten in four loads of firewood, stacked and drying, and not a moment too soon. :) I have a big pot of veggie beef soup simmering on the stove for dinner tonight, and the 'boys' are lying here at my feet. In spite of the emotional turmoil of the last couple of weeks over Badger, at this very moment, I'm reveling in a sense of peace and well-being that I've been sorely lacking for quite a while now. I'll take it as I can get it. :)

Badger is still not doing very well. For the last several days, he has been so lethargic that he's almost like a dog that I don't know. He had a return visit to the vet this morning. She's sending a urine culture out to another lab to see if the E. Coli infection is clearing up. She also mentioned that his spleen felt a bit large. I have no idea what that means, and for the moment, I didn't ask. I should have the results of the urine test sometime tomorrow, and then we'll see where we go from there. The vet did say that the antibiotic and the prednisone can make them extremely lethargic. Let's just hope that that is what's causing it.

I've been so caught up in my Precious Pup's ill health that I haven't even gotten my Fall decorations out yet. I better get on the stick or it will be time for the Santas, and I can just forget about pumpkins and spooks and goblins. :)

Another Glorious Early Fall Day

The first Phoebe that I've seen at a feeder :)

Mr. Tom Turkey

Beautiful Bluebird

These little cuties were adorable playing in the birdbath

Goldenrod in front of my Carolina Cypress tree

The last few days have just been breathtaking---the temps are perfect, there's a breeze in the air, the sunlight has that lemony look to it, the birds are having a ball, and all of nature keeps tempting me outside---to dig in the 'cement', snap oodles of pictures of the birds and blooms, to sit on the porch with a Country Sampler magazine dreaming and woolgathering---fishing in the evenings with a sweatshirt on *s*---

Badger seems to be feeling a bit less lethargic. I can only hope that the antibiotic is taking care of the E-Coli infection, and that the prednisone is helping his back. He goes back to the vet tomorrow.

I have a dr's appt. this afternoon just for a check up, and my glasses are ready for me to pick up. Oh, I do hope that I made a good choice in size and how they fit. There will be no changing my mind for a long time, if not, because they were so expensive. I'm really anxious to get them -- fingers are crossed that I will be able to see 'near and far' LOL with only ONE pair rather than the requisite TWO pairs that I drag around with me right now. :0

Update on Badger

Red Collar is Dewey Blue Collar is Badger

Our vet called this afternoon to let me know that she had the results of the urine tests back. Badger also has E.Coli bacteria in his kidneys. She also said that another cause of the instability in his back and head could possibly be mini-strokes. I asked her if she would just shoot us all and be done with it. My poor little fella really has a fight on his hands. This is the same infection that we almost lost Dewey to in March. I'm giving him so many meds now that I hold my breath each time expecting him to start vomiting them up. So, here at Ships Landing, it truly is 'one day at a time'.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Badger went to see his regular vet this a.m. She totally DISAGREES with the vet that we saw on Tuesday. She had the blood results back and everything was good with that. She said she saw no signs of anything in the blood work results NOR in physically examining him that would indicate a tumor. HER diagnosis is that the muscles and nerves in his neck and upper back are causing all of the strange symptoms he's displaying. She feels that the 'twitch' with the head and the 'nobody's at home' stares are directly due to muscle spasms and pain. Now, the back issues I can understand, having had so much experience with his lower back. He's had so many discs deteriorate in his lower back that I've been wondering for a long time now when (not if :/) he would develop issues with the discs in his upper back. He's to take the Prednisone twice a day, along with a pain med, be crated the majority of the day, and be on a leash anytime he is outside (which is a lot right now due to the prednisone making them so thirsty that they gulp gallons of water). She wants to see him back next Thursday. Soooo, meanwhile, we wait and see, and this little girl is on a really scary emotional roller coaster ride---

A bit of other news is that I definitely need eyeglasses, for reading AND every-day tasks such as driving, so I will have my brand new for-real grown-up glasses WITH RED FRAMES (the frames are skinny little ones--wanted the wide red ones but they just didn't work *g*) next week. AND they will be progressive, transitional lenses (no line where the bifocal is and they transition into sunglasses outside) AND they will be non-glare so driving at night should be a much more pleasant experience. I am excited because the lack of clarity no matter what I'm doing has become a huge PITA problem.

My Heart is Shattering, Piece by Piece

My Sweet Badger

Dewey on the left/Badger on the right

Berries on the Dogwood tree are beautiful

We've had some of the most amazing sunsets!

I decided I couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk to the vet, so I called them yesterday a.m. to see if I could bring him in for someone to have a look at him. I just felt like he was much worse with the "shaking". I saw a vet that I hadn't met before yesterday, and I really liked her. There are three female vets in the clinic that I take the boys to. I haven't met the other one yet, either. She spent a lot of time with me and Badger, long enough that he actually did end up doing this weird little 'twitch'.

It is not good. It's worse than 'not good'. She thinks the little twitches are probably Petit Mal Seizures, which is what Badger's regular vet had told me on the phone the day before. That in and of itself wouldn't be so bad EXCEPT that they have just started happening recently. If he'd had them all of his life, like Dewey, well, that would be different. It seems that when they develop them at Badger's age, which is almost 12, they're usually indicative of something else.

There's a good possibility that my precious pup has a brain tumor. How absolutely surreal that looks. How can that have anything to do with my all-boy, vivacious, happy little Sugar Pup??? My heart feels like it is literally being ripped out of my chest. This is not 'just a dog' to me....this pup is 'the child of my heart'.

I have very swollen eyes to greet the optometrist this morning. Ahhh shit, I can't write any more of this now. More later.

Lovely Cool Weather

Dewey likes Shushi :)

This is a REALLLY nice Largemouth Bass

My very first (scratchy Yuk) poncho :)

My sweet Badger

I think we splattered the camera with water when playing with that big Bass cuz it looks like 'ghostie orbs' in this picture :D


Oh man, yesterday was just a perfect day for being outside!! Overcast, in the 70s all day, I actually got outside and dug in the dirt. I was amazed that I was able to actually use my shovel! I haven't been able to even hammer that thing in the ground since early this year due to the amazing 'red clay concrete' that I call dirt here. :) Ever tried digging in clay pottery? :D

I even went for a walk, something I keep trying to get back into the daily habit of. I did take some 'birds and blooms' shots but I'll save those for another day. This time, I've posted the photos that I referenced in my last post, with the exception for the one of my Badger. Unfortunately, Badger's having some new problems, and I'm really afraid they're neurological. He has this tiny little twitch to his head. You think he's going to shake his ears, you know, that thing that dogs do? But then it's like just a tiny little abbreviated twitch. Occasionally it will travel down his whole body. It's there one second and gone the next. When he first developed it I couldn't decide if I was actually seeing it, if you know what I mean. But sure enough, he has something going on...and he's wobbly in the hindquarters again, so I've started him on pred for that. You don't even want to know what kind of mood I've been in for the last couple of days over him. He's got an appt with the vet on Thursday a.m. for cleaning his teeth that's been scheduled for a while. I did call the vet yesterday and filled her in on how he's been, so he's still going in Thursday a.m. and maybe I'll find out something about what his problem is.