Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Crime!

The Victim is Mom...


The one who feeds, exercises, plays endless games of ball.. This poor innocent sandwich (such as it was) was to be my work lunch. It was just sitting on the counter (well back) just waiting for me to go to work.



Suspect #1



Raider, 75lbs, 4 yrs old with a history or counter surfing.. previous sandwich theft, chicken theft, Prime rib roast theft, well ok he has a LONG record.. But he was not found at the crime scene. That does not necessarily mean he is innocent, it just means he heard Mom coming and made a fast getaway. Currently on probation for toast left.


Suspect # 2


Chauncy 69lbs 9 yrs old.. Found at crime scene.. also has a history of counter surfing, food theft although record has been clean for some time.. well other than the coffee thing that happened... Probation period is over.. he however cannot seem to look me in the eye with those beady little eyes..

So I ask you, who is guilty? Raider or Chauncy?

Saturday, October 31, 2009

What Evil Lurks in these Ceatures...

Looks like this little pup got into the chocolate...

The darkness is coming, better hide....






Happy Halloween from Miss Butterfly...




Where's the Candy!!!



Sunday, October 25, 2009

Wonderful Fall Day with the Furkids.


Caley is looking pretty good here. She is really active for a 10 yr old but has started to slow down and put on weight this last yr.. almost 10lbs.. So in for a checkup and blood work.. it was all perfect. So we decided to try metacam to see if that would help. It has made a big difference, she is like a puppy again.. She must have some achy joints.. So we need to get the extra weight off and hopefully that will help too. It kind of snuck up on us.

Raider as always checking stuff out to see if it's edible.. He would not want to miss something.

Raider watching a deer, and deciding if he is going to hold his stay or give chase.. He held it..

It's my stuffy and no one can have it.. Chauncy was even worried Mom was going to take it, I kept telling him I have my own.

I know the deer went this way..

The END

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Raider 3 years of Living Life Large with Addison's!!


On Oct 19, 2006 Raider was diagnosed with Primary Typical Addison's Disease. He came to us on May 30th 2006 as someones throw away.. I ask you does he look like a throw away... No answer needed as far as I am concerend. My initial plan was to find him a good home, I already had 2 Labradors and did not need a third. Well at least that was the story I gave my husband.. You have to tell them something right?
There is a long story about how he came to us but that's for another day.

I fell head over heels in love with this boy and there was no way I was giving him up.
We got him on May 30th and he was sick on and off all summer, but nothing serious, the Vet put it down to him eating things he should not have, he is a Lab after all.. But then he refused food and I knew deep down something was really wrong. A vet visit and several calls over 4 days and he was still no better.

On Oct 19th 2006 in the afternoon the 4th day when I came home from work to check on him he did not meet me at the door. I was scared... I put Raider in the car and took him to the clinic and I had to get help to get him in.
One of the senior Vets was on duty and she immediately knew he was very ill. Very quickly she told me he either was in renal failure or he had Addison's and she felt strongly it was Addison's. She told me Addison's was treatable and all i could think of was President Kennedy had it.. Weird what comes to your mind.
He was treated very aggressively and about 12 hrs into treatment he peed. I was never so happy to see a blanket peed on.. I cried. Not long after that he was able to stand again. But for the most part he laid with his head on my lap and rarely moved. He was started on Florinef the next day and he responded so well.

Well three years has gone bye and he is now on Percorten and a very small daily dose of predniosne. We only stayed with Florinef for 7 months as Raider did not do well on it, it never properly controlled his lytes even when he got to 2.2mg a day yes that's right ( 22 tablets ).
But percorten has been a miracle for him. It got immediate control of his lytes and I got my boy back... Here's to a great Vet, one who listens, and values my opinion.

So many people told me to have him put down when he was diagnosed ( many made very rude comments, and you know who you are ).. telling me it is "just a dog" and not worth the money.. But he is MY dog and it's my money and I don't tell anyone else how to spend their money.

I would not change a thing, Raider and his Addison's has taken me on a wonderful journey. I have met fantastic people ( you know who you are ) and many wonderful dogs, all with Addison's who live healthy lives!!

Raider I love you so..

Monday, October 12, 2009

Turkey Day!

Well it's really Thanksgiving but to the furkids it's Turkey day... They always get turkey ( don't worry they get nice lean meat, no skin and the drippings they get have the fat removed.) I am not looking for any more vet visits as much as I like my vet..
They are now all napping peacefully..

Caley has her favorite chair all to herself.

Raider is sharing HIS couch with his brother Chauncy for now..


Raider managed to get HIS couch all to himself. Mind you he did leave me a little room.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Wag and Walk



Well yesterday Emma and I took Raider and participated in the 2009 wag and walk to raise money for the Shelter. We had a great time. Raider proved to be a champ at the underwater hotdog eating contest... No time for a picture trust me... He was a little annoyed at me for not allowing him in the ice cream cone eating contest so we did give him a plain cone with no ice cream, as a treat.. He did manage to get lots of treats including a oatmeal cookie at the rest stop. We were asked if we wanted a cookie and he accepted before anyone opened the dog cookie jar and helped himself to a cookie from the basket on the table, just one though and I swear he didn't drool on any of the others...
He refused to go in the dress up contest though he does have some dignity.... Although they were cute as the above picture shows.. Raider plans to go back year to raise more money for the doggies that don't have a homes and I guess we will go along with him.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Getting it right..


It is so tough to get a good picture of all three dogs with me in the picture.. My patient son in law has helped me out several times. Good thing the pictures are digital. They are never looking in the same direction, someone always is yawning, licking their lips or somewhere else or getting up to go give Steven a kiss or picking at each other... Anyway I am about to give up, but here is one from today... What do you think? A good looking crew or what...

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Book - Speaking For Spot

Just about the time I found the "lump" on Chauncy I ordered the book, "Speaking For Spot" Be the advocate Your Dogs Needs to live a Happy, Healthy Life by Dr. Nancy Kay DVM.

I have to admit I was skeptical but it's a great book that everyone with pets should read. This book will help you navigate the world of veterinary medicine.. It is easy to read, flows nicely and is packed with good practical information... If you own a dog read this book...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

You know it's not a good sign for the Dog when...

A post the other day by LittleVet , Negative Prognostic Indicators got me thinking.

I am a Moderator on the Yahoo Group Addison Dogs. It's a large group with about 30 new members a week. We try to educate owners on the different treatment options for their Addisonian dogs. We help them find ways to get their medications cheaper and in many more cases than I care to admit we help them educate their Vets on the proper diagnosis and treatment of an Addisonian ( no offense meant to the vets out there who already do a great job with their Addisonians). I digress though that is the topic for a whole other post.

As I said we get new members all the time and we know it's not good for the dog when:

1. In the membership application they tell you twice how concerned they are about the cost of medication but never mention that they care about their dog. ( these are the ones who rarely get lytes done and and the dog is always on the edge of crisis )

2. In their first intro post to the group they tell you three times they spent $2500 on diagnosis alone but never once tell you they love the dog.

3. They tell you the dog just got out of the ER that day and they ask how to get the dog to stop pi**ing ( their word not mine) on the carpet because they can't take much more. ( this dog is making it's last trip to the vet real soon)

4. The dog has been home for 48 hrs but drinking and peeing so much they know it is suffering and they can't bear to watch it any longer and they can't see spending all this money on a dog who is suffering. ( dead dog walking )

5. They ask what happens if they just stop treating the dog.. ( we beg them to rehome or at the very least take the dog to their Vet for euthanization rather than let it suffer such a death)

6. They tell you their Vet suggests they euthanize because the dog will never be the same ( this after they find out the medication is for life )..

7. They tell you they are expecting a baby and they tell you how much they really love the dog.. ( the dog is history, although they may ask for help rehoming )

Why do I do this... oh yeah I love Addisonian's like Buddy, Ben, Vita, Becky, TJ, Taz, Millie, Tess, Riley, JJ, Tallie, Rudy and oh yes my boy Raider...

Monday, September 7, 2009


This is my Tribute Ad that I am putting in the 2010 Addison Dogs Calendar.. Steven ( son in law ) did a great job on it for me..
What would I do without a great vet.. I hate to think.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Getting Hit Again

It's only tropical Storm Danny this time but I think there is more rain now that last weekend with the hurricane... It's bloody cold and we put the heat on today. Where did my summer go?

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Getting hit Now..

Ok it's pretty windy and very wet now.. The picture is not great but my camera was in a bag.. The wind was driving the rain so hard I could barely keep my eyes open. The water is over the rocks here and I have never seen that before, about 4 feet above the high tide mark. I am so glad we still have power when many do not.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Hurricane Bill

Ok we are right in the path of Hurricane Bill... hmmm how did this one get named after my husband... People here in Nova Scotia are certainly preparing more than they did for Juan a few years ago.. We have started to get things in and batten down the hatches.. This is only the second hurricane to hit in my lifetime... I just may take the furkids to the basement when this begins to hit to get away from all the picture windows... Bill keeps saying it will be fine but who knows. I like to plan a little for stuff like this. We have a generator this time so even if we loose power we can still keep some things going. maybe we will be lucky and Bill will head out to sea..

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Addison's Dogs Rock!


This is Buddy, he owns Adina and Brian, two very good friends of mine in Oregon. Buddy also has Primary Typical Addison's like Raider. Both Raider and Buddy take the miracle drug "percorten" and a very small daily dose of prednisone to control their Addison's... The first picture is one of Buddy that will be in the Addison's Dogs calendar. I met Buddy in May and he sang to me..

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Winners are!



These are the two pictures I am sending in for the 2010 Addison Dogs Calendar .. pretty handsome boy if I must say so..

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Swimming at Crescent Beach

Emma and I took Raider and went to Crescent Beach. They both had a blast. He would chase balls in the water all day. There were lots of other dogs but he could not have cared less. Mom brought the ball and the chucker, so he was in heaven.


Monday, August 10, 2009

Calendar Pics

It's time again to submit pictures for the Addison's dogs Calendar. I have narrowed it down to a few... Suggestions are appreciated but not expected because I don't think anyone else is reading my blog.

#1

#2

#3

#4



Saturday, August 8, 2009

Looking Better


Well another dressing change behind us and hopefully we get through the weekend without a vet visit. He goes back Monday. He has that spark back in his eyes. Poor boy now has an ear infection on top of everything. Because of a friend ( Big Thanks =D ) I now have lots of good journal info on Mast cell treatment including the new drug Palladia.. It's not available in Canada yet but I feel better being prepared. My highlighter will be busy today.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Check Up

Well Chauncy took the dressing change pretty well today.The swelling is gone thankfully. Melissa took the retention sutures out and the rest of the sutures will come out on the 13th. Some black tissue over the incision and it certainly has opened up some. She cleaned it up really well and we put another compression bandage back on. He has to go back for a recheck Thursday unless something comes up. I gave him 20mg of Anafen but he still will not walk on the leg at all. Melissa said she would give me some Metacam for him if he needs something after tomorrow. In fact he sits and refuses to walk, although the little bugger went quite well at the clinic... adrenaline rush there I guess, he was wired for sound.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

I hate tumors!

Well Thursday July 29 th Chauncy had a small tumor removed from his right hind hock and it was sent off to find out what it was. It was a bit swollen when we left the clinic at 3pm but the tech said just to snip the white tape near the bottom. Well this is what it looked like only 3 hrs later.. Needless to say I called the vet twice and finally back in we went and used warm towels and massaged the fluid out and home we go.





Zonked out on morphine ( thankfully ) and notice the swelling again only 1.5 hr after we had massaged it to normal..

This is his foot less than 12 hrs after being at the vets and I spent the whole night spending 20 minutes every hr massaging it. Back to the vet this am and it looks like he has had a histamine reaction to the tumour removal, between his toes and around the incision looked like raw oozing meat and its only 24 hr post surgery. My Vet figures we are looking at a Mast cell tumour so now we just wait for the results. So more drugs to combat infection and benadryl for the histamine reaction..But I have a bad feeling about this and so does she.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009




This is Raider and he is a Calendar boy! Raider has Primary Typical Addisons's and he was diagnosed Oct 19, 2006. He is the Centerfold for the Addison's Dogs 2009 calendar.. and before you ask, "what's with the rooster?" I swear there was no rooster when I took the picture.. Raider is the picture of health, in fact you would never know he had a chronic illness. He has the best vet there is, thanks Dr. Melissa, Raider loves you!
Raider and I belong to the Yahoo group Addisons Dogs and we got amazing support and learned how to properly manage this disease. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AddisonDogs_/
So if anyone out there has a dog with Addison's and you need some help Addison Dogs is the place to go http://www.addisondogs.com/