Day 1708

I've been sleepy all day. Dot woke me up about 3 AM needing to go outside and then I had trouble getting back to sleep again. After three uneventful nights of restful sleep, I thought we had put most of Dot's incontinence issues behind us. Evidently not. Rehabilitation is not an exact science. There are still good days and bad days and today was not one of the better ones. When we went for our physical therapy session later in the day, I asked the vet why Dot appeared to be regressing. She said Dot probably just drank too much water later in the evening yesterday and said I should start withholding her water around 7 PM until her kidneys started concentrating urine normally again. Maybe it's as simple as that. Actually, I did let Dot drink water later in the evening last night because I thought she was back to normal. I need to remember to be patient.

It wasn't all bad news though. Dot had another good day on the underwater treadmill and continues to get stronger. I walked the dogs together again this evening and Dot had no trouble keeping up with Dash. Physically, she's doing great. She just pees all over the place. Despite the lingering incontinence issues, I'm still reluctant to give her estrogen. It would be so much better if she can resolve this on her own.

Sometimes it seems like these dog problems are never ending. Exactly one year ago Dot was having some serious issues with seizures. We managed to get those issues resolved and then Dash got sick. Dash appears to have made a complete recovery from his cancer, but he's still under treatment. In fact, he goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for another evaluation. We're hoping that Dash's oncologist will give us the green light to discontinue the chemotherapy. They're going to do an ultrasound tomorrow and if everything looks good, he might be finished with his cancer treatment entirely. We'll follow the doctor's recommendations though. We've come this far and Dash is doing well. If he needs more treatment, that's what he'll get.

You'd hardly know it was Janet's birthday today. She left for work early after we each walked a dog around sunrise. We still don't walk them together in the morning, because Dash likes to walk much further than Dot can manage in the mornings. When Janet came home from work later in the evening we had chocolate Sprinkles cupcakes and opened presents. Then it was time to waterproof the bed again. Our birthdays may not be glamorous anymore, but we've got a lot to be thankful for. Both our dogs have survived some pretty serious illnesses and are happy to be alive. We're also managing to stay reasonably healthy ourselves. We're all survivors. At this point in our lives, that's enough.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day