Day 2833

There are so many things wrong with Dash that we're going to have to go through a process of elimination to determine what is causing his eating disorder. The first step is to determine whether he really has nausea. We'll give him Cerenia for five days and see whether his appetite returns. Cerenia is a very effective anti-nausea medication, so if he still isn't eating this weekend, the cause probably isn't nausea. The vet discovered that his heart murmur had changed and suspects that it might be caused by fluid buildup around the heart. He does have an enlarged heart, so this is entirely possible. I've scheduled an echocardiogram for later this week. We'll check his heart and also his abdomen to see if there are any tumors evident.

On top of all this, the vet thinks that Dash may have partially torn a cruciate ligament in one of his knees. She suspects that this, rather than his vestibular disease, might be causing him to drag his rear legs on long walks. So many things are wrong that it impossible to know how to treat Dash until we learn more. The vestibular disease could be causing nausea. Poor appetite has many other causes too, so it might not be nausea at all. The agitation he often shows before he goes to bed at night could be caused by Pericardial Effusion. Evidently fluid buildup is worse at night while the dog is sleeping and over time they can become nervous about going to sleep. Maybe this explains why he gets upset about going to bed at night. It's also possible, but somewhat unlikely, that Dash has sundown syndrome, or even cushings disease.

It's all kind of sad. Dot and Dash used to love to run like the wind when they were young. I was hoping that after Dot passed away Dash would get another chance to be active again and really enjoy himself. He liked being around Dot so much that he had to slow down to her pace as she got sicker. Now, it appears he is sick as well. Dash has a really good team of doctors, so I'm hoping that they'll be able to return him to good health. He's not getting any younger though, so his days of running like the wind might be over.

The refrigerator repairman came back this afternoon and finished the job. When the repairman began taking things apart, I was surprised to see that the evaporator coil had already become frozen again. Jeez. It's only been a few days since I spent hours thawing everything out. Hopefully the new parts that were installed today will fix this ongoing problem. The repairman installed a new heater that periodically defrosts the coil when ice starts to form. He also installed a new thermostat that will tell the heater when it's time to start the defrost cycle. I can't decide whether refrigerators are crude simple machines, or hopelessly complex. I'm glad someone invented the refrigerator. Modern life would be pretty difficult without one.

I've got a dental appointment tomorrow morning. It's only a routine cleaning, so I shouldn't be long. It still makes me nervous to leave Dash, but sometimes it can't be helped. I'm hoping he'll just sleep while I'm away.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1826

I got impressions made of my upper teeth at the dentist today. I'd never had this done before and it was certainly an interesting experience. First they fill all the little gaps between your teeth with a special putty, so the liquid silicon impression material they use to make an exact mould of your teeth doesn't get stuck in your mouth when the material cures and hardens. Since I still have a cold, I was afraid I would start coughing during the procedure and screw everything up. Staying still while the first base impression cured was fairly easy. When the dentist started to make the second fine detail impression using a different type of material, he told me that I would need to breathe through my nose for four minutes while the impression material cured. "This ought to be interesting," I thought. I'm still very congested and breathing through your nose isn't something you often do with a bad cold. I tried to breathe very slowly through my clogged nasal passages and hoped the four minutes would be over quickly.

Dot gave me a scare today. When I got out of the shower this morning, she was standing near the bathroom door and refusing to put any weight on her left rear leg. The limp was pronounced and fairly alarming. I gently manipulated the leg to see if she might have had a cruciate tear. Older Dalmatians often tear their anterior cruciate ligament and I'm always afraid that this might happen with Dot. Her rear legs are so weak anyway that a tear could happen any time. I've seen many cruciate tears and Dot didn't seem to exhibit any of the obvious symptoms. I have a feeling that her leg fell asleep. She also could have slipped off her dog bed while she was having a dog dream and had difficulty getting up again. At any rate, she wasn't in any pain and could support her weight on the lame leg when I tested her. I rested with her for a while and then we walked slowly around the house when she was ready to get up again. Within thirty minutes, she was completely back to normal with no limp at all. I'll probably never know what actually happened.

I worked on getting all the Santa Paws equipment we used this weekend put back in its proper place today. Some of the stuff goes under the bed, some goes in the storage warehouse, and some I use all the time. Since we won't be doing this again for quite some time, there's no sense to clutter up the entry hallway any longer than necessary.  The house looks much better now that this stuff is hidden away again.

My Jawbone UP band broke today. Janet and I have each broken three of these things. I still think the little UP band is the most inconspicuous and unobtrusive fitness tracker out there. You quickly forget that you're even wearing it. I love the technology, but the quality is terrible. I've never had one of these things that's even lasted a single year. Sometimes Jawbone will sent you a replacement band for free. Other times they won't. It just depends on what kind of mood they're in. I doubt that they'll send me another replacement this time. I'm probably on a Jawbone blacklist by now. I'm hooked on these little activity trackers, but I don't think I'll get another one. Maybe I'll just wait until the Apple watch comes out next Spring.

I still need to do my Christmas shopping. We need to put up a tree too. For some reason, it's hard to get in the mood this year.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1343

One good thing about having so many veterinarians as clients and friends is that Dot and Dash always get excellent medical care. Dot went to her emergency vet today to get X-rays and make sure she hadn't seriously injured her leg. Tomorrow she goes to her regular vet for her annual physical exam. Then, on Wednesday she goes to see her physical therapy vet. I'm hoping that seeing three different vets on three consecutive days will help us find a conclusive answer to the problems she's been having with her rear legs. Today's visit was encouraging. Her spine and hips look remarkably good for a dog of her age. There were no visible signs of Spondylosis or pinched nerves on the X-rays either. She still might have a partial tear of her anterior cruciate ligament, but it doesn't look like she suffered a full tear, which is much more serious.

Since Dot was in no immediate danger and Dash's condition seems to have stabilized, I was able to take care of some of my own medical needs. I took copies of some new blood work over to my Hepatologist. I guess I could have just faxed the records, but there were so many that it seemed easier to drive them over to the hospital. Next, I got another doctor to approve a new cholesterol medication that a third doctor wanted me to start taking. My own medical team might not be as friendly and accommodating as Dot's, but dealing with them is just as complex. I've discovered that getting three or more doctors to agree on anything is next to impossible.

Today was Janet's birthday. We didn't have a huge party with an open bar and a rock band, but we did have some delicious Sprinkles cupcakes. Dot and Dash got to enjoy some Sprinkles doggie cupcakes as well. My favorite new Sprinkles flavor is S'mores. Somehow, they taste exactly like the Graham crackers with melted marshmallows and chocolate that are mandatory on any camping trip. Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to eat any sugar, but I probably won't eat another cupcake until the next birthday party. I think I'm OK.

It's a good thing that work was slow today, because I doubt that I could have met any deadlines today anyway. After I got all my medical errands out of the way, I did have time to update a couple of websites. I couldn't upload the changes though, since one of the sites was moving to a new server. With Dot's annual exam and Dash's antigen shot tomorrow, I hope my workload continues to be slow. After Wednesday is over, you guys can start piling it on again, but let's hold off for a little while. I've got sick dogs to deal with.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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