My apologies for the glaring lack of content lately for those of you who are kind enough to make the trip to dog:blog.
That implies both good and bad news, of course. It's good that none of the crew has any new or major medical issue to talk about; bad that there are no miracle cures for the ones with chronic conditions to talk about either!
Of course, with the youngest pet turning 8 years old in October, much of what we are dealing with is age-related. And as much as I hate to think about it, one of the birds and two of the rottweilers are already pushing hard against what is considered the normal lifespan for their respective species and breeds.
Enough of that depressing stuff. We do what we can, right? I'm making some notes in MORE... (mostly for myself, but you are all welcome to read them) about some of the things to talk about and take care of over the next few weeks.
Spot and Annie are doing well but haven't had checkups in a LONG time. Those may get put off for a while longer as long as all seems to be well. Although Charlie's illness earlier this year was quite serious, she had a good recovery and is doing well now; so her checkup may be put off a little while as well.
Heidi has a lump on her side which was diagnosed some time ago as a benign fatty lipoma. It seems to have gotten a little larger so we'll need to have that looked at again and possibly have a needle aspirate done.
Yuki and Random are due for some lab tests. Yuki is apparently still honeymooning from diabetes (this is a period where she does not need insulin injections) but we need to make sure that the diet changes are helping enough to keep renal failure from progressing. Random's asthma seems to be well under control with his daily doses of aminophylline, so my concern with him is to whether the dose may be able to be reduced.
I don't normally bring Oscar to the vet for his yearly booster vaccination in the fall (that's generally done by me at home) but this would be a good opportunity to have the vets give him a six-month checkup following his surgery for testicular cancer this past spring. All appears to be well; I am fairly sure his bout with allergies and gastric upsets this summer are totally unrelated. However, that will be another question... he has always had a touchy stomach and I wonder whether things will get worse or better as he gets older.
And then there are my old ones... why can't time be kinder to them and why can't they live much longer than a decade??? Nothing's wrong with Missy except advancing age... last week's bloodwork looked good. Although she was not young when she came to live here, it is hard to see her actually getting OLD. It's even harder to see Jake getting slower and stiffer. The accident and the cancer didn't get him, but eventually time will. As it does all of us. But it's so hard to watch.
Hey! Just popping by to say hi. I've been too busy to read blogs lately, so just trying to catch up!! Have a good Monday!
*huggs* We miss you! I am glad to hear that on the whole, your family is doing well! :)
Hi Kathi! Just popped in to say "HI" and check in on news with your gang! :)
*huggs Kathi & Jake & give all the other babie pets*
Hi Kathi! Just wanted to stop by and say hi. Sounds like my two cats are babies compared to your brood. They're both 10 years old. Other than Max's kidney stones and Benjamin's neurotic grooming/hair eating, they seem to be doing great. Max (and therefore Benny) are on Purina NF for the kidney stones--and the LOVE it. It's hard to realize my babies are getting older and will be needing more medical care in the not so distant future.