Day 3274

Another long day. Dash continues to lose control of his bodily functions. It didn't surprise me that he pooped while he was sleeping last night. It did surprise me that he peed on the bed when he was trying to get up. Oops. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Urinary incontinence is even messier than all the poop we've been dealing with lately. If this continues, we may have to try putting Dash on Incurin like we did with Dot. Until we make that decision we brought home a large plastic sheet that was waiting in the storage warehouse just in case we needed it again. A plastic sheet isn't a perfect solution, but it sure beats spending all day doing laundry.

Dash seem totally unaware of what a high maintenance dog he's become. I guess that's a good thing. Although you could knock him over with a feather, he still enjoys stumbling along on his daily walks. He loves the special meals we cook for him now, although a lot of what he eats just falls out of his mouth. Along with many other neurological problems, he's starting to have trouble chewing. I don't think there is a cure for the incontinence at this point. We just have to learn to deal with it.

Amazingly, I did get some replies to the enquiries about the house I sent out yesterday. A few people I trust recommended contractors and repair people. I'll give these companies a call and see what they suggest. Although the roofer told me he is too busy to make repairs right now, he did say he'd drop off a bucket of the elastomer coating so I could make some emergency repairs myself. Hey, that's better than nothing. If this guy is true to form, he'll drop the stuff off on a rainy day after the leak has started again.

I did some research on the Internet and found some special extra wide construction tape that was supposed to bond instantly with anything and provide a quick and permanent waterproof seal. The stuff was called APOC Incredible Tape. It sounded perfect for my needs. I called the commercial roofing supply company to see if I could buy some this afternoon and they'd never heard of the stuff. This happens to me again and again. Doesn't anyone else know how to use Google?

I ordered a few Christmas gifts on Amazon.com today. Now I can check one more thing off my 2018 to-do list. It is so easy to order on Amazon that it's hard to believe I ever shopped any other way. Amazon even keeps a list if what I bought for people in previous years so I don't inadvertently order the same thing twice. This is a great feature because I could easily order the same thing twice. My memory is a sieve.

Now that Janet has fully retired it's become a lot harder to remember what day it is. It certainly didn't seem like Tuesday today. Basically all days are more or less the same. Poop gets cleaned up. Wash gets done. Fruit smoothies get consumed. Dash gets walked. The blog gets written. And I fall asleep watching Perry Mason. Tomorrow will be different though. It will be Wednesday.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3184

Dash needed a lot of attention today. He got me up several times during the night and then when morning arrived he was slow and listless. We got him suited up for his morning walk, but in less than half a block, he turned around and wanted to go home. He wouldn't eat his breakfast and immediately went to sleep. I always worry that his heart condition has become worse when this happens, but he was breathing normally and wasn't coughing. I figured he would eat later in the day when he was hungry and I went ahead and fixed my own breakfast.

About 11 AM, Dash wandered out to the kitchen and started to eat. He didn't finish everything before he went back to his bed, but it was a start. Early this afternoon when I was getting ready to take a shower, Dash got up and headed toward the back door. I could tell he was finally ready for his walk, so I quickly got dressed, put his rubber boots on, and off we went. It was a little too warm, since it was the middle of the day, but Dash was determined.

Not surprisingly, he was pretty tired when we returned to the house and promptly went to sleep again.   For the rest of the day, every time I got ready to do something, he appeared by my side and let me know that his needs were more important. Dash has perfected the art of being needy. He knows I will never ignore him. I want him to eat, so I always feed him something when he heads for the kitchen. I don't want him to poop in the house, so I make sure to take him outside at regular intervals. He likes me to lie on the bed with him. The only way I can get anything done is to join him on the bed for a few minutes until he falls asleep and then quietly get up and go about my business.

The only thing on the agenda today was picking up a prescription at the pharmacy. I asked the pharmacist if they had the new shingles shot. My doctor seems to think I need this, even though I've already had the old shingles shot. For some odd reason Medicare pays for the shot if you get it at a pharmacy and won't pay anything if you get the shot at your doctor's office. It's exactly the same vaccine, but two different sets of rules. At the pharmacy, the shot is considered prescription medicine and is covered by Medicare Part D. In a doctor's office, the shot is considered a medical procedure that has not been approved yet. Nothing is covered at all. One more example of our bureaucracy at work.

I was trying to explain to Janet how strange Dash had been acting today, but he was completely normal by the time she came home from work. He eagerly ate his dinner, took a nice sunset walk, and then settled down with Janet to watch Netflix movies. I have no idea how he's going to be feeling tomorrow. Every day is a new day.

I didn't make the cut to cover the Mars landing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I've applied for these NASA events twice before and was accepted both times. I guess my social media status has diminished. When I initially applied to cover a launch several years ago my Klout score was still pretty high and I had a ton of Twitter followers. Now, Klout doesn't even exist and I rarely even look at Twitter. Maybe NASA has finally figured out that I just write about my dog. I am on a waitlist in case some of the other participants cancel, but that rarely happens. When November arrives, I'll probably be glad I stayed home anyway. Lord knows how well Dash will be doing then.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2857

When I was at breakfast this morning, I heard people at two different tables arguing about politics. This isn't a good sign. People should be talking about Halloween costumes and home improvements at breakfast. Football and Fall weather are OK, but it's way too early to talk about politics. I guess it's a sign of the times. I didn't hear the entire conversations, but these didn't seem to be Democrat vs Republican arguments. I got the impression that everyone was disgusted with both sides and thought that the entire system was broken. Actually, most people would probably agree that the system is broken. They just can't agree on how to fix it.

I tried to order something off the menu again with very limited success. I wasn't asking for anything exotic, but my request seemed to confuse the waiter. I should have stuck to the menu. I probably should have just stayed home. I wasn't even hungry this morning.

Our plan to get Dash walking again didn't work today. We should have headed toward the park where the smells were stronger, but we headed down the street instead. Janet was able to turn around and go home, but Dash didn't walk much further after that. When I stopped to clean up his poop about halfway down the street, he used the opportunity to turn around and head for home again. I tried to get him turned around so we could continue our walk, but his will was stronger than mine.

This evening, we tried an experiment. Janet tried to walk Dash by herself to see if he just liked to walk with her better. He refused to leave the yard. I watched her try several times to get Dash moving before I joined them. As soon as Dash saw the whole family was together, he headed for the back gate and we took a very normal walk. I can't really explain this behavior, but I can't seem to change it either.

It was a very slow day. I had to go to the grocery store twice, because part of the store was closed when I went after breakfast. Come back after 10:30 AM the sign said. I had a coupon Janet wanted me to use, but I probably didn't save any money, since my car gets such poor gas mileage.

I repaired another pair of Dash's protective boots this afternoon. This has turned out to be a very messy job. The Shoe Goo I'm using to repair things seems to be fairly durable, but it's hard to apply neatly. Someone needs to invent a better way to bond rubber to rubber. Rubber cement might work if the surfaces were smooth, but they're not. I guess it doesn't really matter if my repairs aren't pretty. The boots just need to stay together.

The refrigerator isn't warming up as quickly as I thought it would. Should I take things apart and defrost the coil this weekend, or just let the food get a little warmer and wait for the repairman on Monday afternoon? Those are the kind of decisions I make these days.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2853

It was a beautiful morning, but Dash refused to walk again. Does his leg hurt? Is he feeling dizzy or nauseous? Is he just being stubborn? It's hard to tell. I don't want to push him too hard, but he still needs a certain amount of activity. When he first wakes up, he does exhibit some telltale signs of vestibular disease. Maybe he doesn't feel steady on his feet. All I know is that he used to love to walk. This evening, he seemed eager to go outside when Janet returned from work, but the sun had already set. Our evening walk was very short. It's a shame that I've got all the time in the world and Dash doesn't want to do anything unless the entire family is nearby.

The refrigerator part didn't arrive today. This was the second time this part hasn't arrived on the date that was promised. I asked the company today when the part was really going to arrive, so I could plan accordingly and they just told me that they would call me when it got here. This is really frustrating, since I know how to get the part overnight. The appliance repair company refuses to work with anyone other than their own parts supplier. I suspect this is because their very slow supplier doesn't require them to pay immediately. I think I would have been happier if I'd just bought the parts myself and learned how to install them by watching readily available YouTube videos. I'm gradually learning exactly how the refrigerator works, but there is no joy in this learning process. I hate dealing with repair companies in a world where nobody keeps a parts inventory. Plumbers, HVAC repairmen, and electricians are all the same. There are no parts on the truck anymore. They diagnose your problem and then they order the parts.

I sent out my October invoices this afternoon. My monthly billing was so small that it probably wouldn't even pay the electric bill. It's hard to justify continuing the business. I did get a new writing job today and there's a potential new website job as well, but this isn't a profitable endeavor anymore. When I was eating breakfast this morning, I watched a GoDaddy commercial bragging about how anyone could build a sophisticated business website in less than an hour using one of their super cheap website builder widgets. How do you compete with that?

I had to pick up more phenobarbital for Dash today. Maybe the increased dose he is taking now is causing some of his problems. I'll never know for sure, because all the vets tell me that going without phenobarbital isn't an option for Dash. Maybe they are right. Once we took Dash off phenobarbital about five years ago when we were convinced he was cured. About a month later he had one of the most violent seizures he's ever had. There really aren't a lot of easy answers with this dog. We've got to deal with thyroid cancer, vestibular disease, epilepsy, a partial cruciate tear, and blood clots in the heart, all at the same time.

If I get up really early tomorrow morning, I should be able to see a very thin waning crescent moon centered between Mars and Venus. Is this worth setting an alarm clock for? It probably depends on how late I go to bed tonight. I still like astronomy, but like everything else, enjoying this hobby seems a bit of a hassle.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2829 - Autumnal Equinox

It's officially Fall. The days are getting shorter and the leaves are starting to turn. Last year at this time we were taking early morning walks in the dark. Sadly, Dot is no longer with us and there is no need to get up early. I just walk Dash by myself later in the morning after Janet has gone to work. Usually, Dash still enjoys these morning walks, but today I had trouble getting him to leave the house. He was in a weird mood all day. He didn't eat his breakfast. He didn't want to walk. And he was lethargic for most of the day.

Something is wrong, but I don't know what it is. There's a good chance that the antibiotics he's taking for his dewclaw injury have affected his appetite. This has happened before. Maybe the increase in his phenobarbital dose is a factor as well. It's never good when a dog won't eat normally, but hopefully this isn't serious. Dash's blood work and vital signs are good and his vet doesn't seem worried. I worry about everything though. You don't want to take chances with a dog who is already dealing with cancer, vestibular disease, and epilepsy.

I finally fed Dash some canned food around noon because he refused to eat his breakfast at all. The fact that he ate the canned food leads me to believe that the stubborn dog is just holding out for a tastier menu every day. Every dog we've ever had has lost their appetite toward the end of their life, so I still need to get to the bottom of this. If his appetite doesn't return when he's finished with the antibiotics, we'll need to run some more tests.

My appetite is still good. I had a nice breakfast and then went shopping at Central Market for dinner. That was my outing for the day. When I returned with the groceries I didn't leave the house until it was time for Dash's evening walk. Dash walked fine this evening. He seems to need someone to follow. When Janet goes with us, he will always follow her.

There are several big Dalmatian Rescue events this weekend, but I'll be staying home with Dash. I feel a bit guilty about not volunteering, but I don't trust leaving Dash alone all day with a cone on his head. I don't feel comfortable boarding him either. It would be so easy for him to open up that cut again. We could take him with us to one of the events, but Dash is terrible in the car. After cleaning up an explosion of poop after one trip in the car recently and cleaning up blood after he tore out his dewclaw during another car trip, I'm nervous about ever taking him in the car again.

Sometimes I feel like I'm destined to be housebound as long as we have dogs. Even short trips are problematic. I need to go to the dentist next week to have my teeth cleaned and the forecast says there will be thunderstorms that day. Jeez. It's been clear all month. Why would it rain the one day I need to go somewhere? I can't leave Dash during a thunderstorm. We'll see. Maybe the forecast will change.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2706

Dot is giving us quite a roller coaster ride. Yesterday evening and even early this morning we were feeding her with a syringe. She wouldn't even drink water. When she took her morning pills around 7 AM, I couldn't get her to eat anything. I was feeling discouraged, but we went ahead and took our morning walk anyway. Nothing seems to dissuade Dot from going on these walks. Dot went to sleep for a few hours when we returned. When she woke up, she went straight to her bowl in the kitchen and ate a full cup of kibble. When she finished eating, she went to her water bowl and drank quite a bit of water. I was amazed.

Dot had such difficulty eating this weekend that we were going to cancel tomorrow's appointment at the cancer center. There didn't seem to be much point in doing more tests if she'd given up eating. I was actually just about to call and cancel the appointment when Dot started eating again. This will be the second time that Dot has returned from the brink. What happened today was remarkably similar to what happened when she stopped eating a month ago.

I may have to revise my thinking. For a long time I've been convinced that Dot's extensive nerve damage was making it hard for her to swallow. I thought her throat was partially paralyzed. When we were feeding her with the syringe yesterday I noticed that her swallowing reflex was completely normal. As we slowly squirted the liquid down her throat, she swallowed it without any problem. When I watched her eating this morning, she seemed to be swallowing normally too.

We've known Dot was getting senile for a long time. Maybe her eating problem is all in her brain. Sometimes when she walks up to her food bowl I can almost imagine her thinking "what is this and why am I standing here." Perhaps when she gets really hungry, the rusty synapses in her brain make a connection and she remembers what eating is all about. I really have no idea what is going on, but I'm happy that Dot has continued eating normally for the rest of the day.

When she and Dash were sleeping this afternoon, I went to Central Market and got a few tasty things to encourage Dot to eat while she's taking her pills. Dot loves chicken tenders. She eagerly ate two chicken tenders while we were doing the pill routine this afternoon. We're going to continue giving her a syringe full of the Dogsure liquid supplement in the morning. She seems to like it and maybe this is what provided the catalyst to get her eating again.

It still seems like I spend my entire day feeding, walking, and worrying about these dogs. Dot has become a very high maintenance girl. Some days seem futile, but other days like today make everything Janet and I do seem worthwhile. Everyone says you will know when your dog is ready to cross over to the other side. Dot is not ready yet.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2668

Dot wouldn't settle down this morning, so I skipped going out to breakfast. I don't know what has changed, but she is more active now after we return from our morning walk. It's a good thing I stayed home, because she needed to go outside to pee twice while I was sitting in the kitchen eating my frozen toaster waffle. I walked her around half a dozen times before she finally settled down around 10 AM.

While I was waiting for Dot to go back to sleep, there was a knock on the door. The roofers had arrived. I wasn't expecting the roofers at all today. Truthfully, I wasn't even expecting them this month, so it was somewhat of a happy accident that I decided to stay home this morning. I went up on the roof with the crew to show them where the damaged areas were. There was still water on the roof, but the guys said they would blow it away with a leaf blower before they made their repairs. I would have picked a sunny day to come out, but beggars can't be choosers. I was glad they were here.

The repairs only took a couple of hours and then the roofers were gone again. I was a little worried that it would rain this afternoon before the patched areas had completely dried, but the skies cleared and the temperature got warmer as the day progressed. I think the patches will have plenty of time to cure properly and maybe I won't have to worry about leaks again for the rest of the Summer.

Dash has started throwing up again. This has happened periodically for years. I take him to the vet and they can never find anything wrong. They either tell me to give him a Pepcid, or if he vomits more than once they prescribe some Cerenia. Usually this takes care of the problem. I used to think that Dash had just eaten something bad in the park, but this has been going on so long that I now suspect that there is something else involved. Intermittent problems like this are very hard to diagnose. I'll talk to Dash's oncologist the next time we go in for a check up, but I think he just suggested taking a Pepcid too.

Since Dot has switched her nap time to the afternoon, I waited until she was asleep to go to the store and pick up something for dinner. On my way to Central Market I stopped by my doctor's office to ask why I was no longer receiving reminders to come in for lab work. I used to get lab work done every three months, but the nurse I talked to today told me that Medicare will now only cover once set of labs per year. Did I really ever need the extra blood tests when the doctor was able to bill them out? I'll never really know. Maybe once a year is enough, but I'd have a blood test every week if I could. Frequent tests allow you to chart the results and see if a change in diet or meds is making a difference. Once a year isn't really enough. An annual test will warn you if something really alarming is happening, but it doesn't let you monitor subtle changes. The neighborhood health food store used to offer low cost blood tests several times a year. The tests only cost $25 and I would always take advantage of them. It was really disappointing when one of the guys administering these tests unexpectedly died of a heart attack and the testing service was discontinued. The fact that these $25 tests went to the same lab as the $400 tests my own doctor gave me told me everything I needed to know about the health care system. As soon as insurance gets involved, things suddenly get very expensive.





The dogs are both quiet now. Nobody is pooping or throwing up. I hope it stays that way. Whenever Dot and Dash are having problems at the same time, I realize that one high maintenance dog is really all I can handle. I'm glad the roofers finally made good on their promise. That's one more thing I can cross off my list. Now, I just need to get the landscapers to come out and take care of the back yard.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2550

These days are getting longer and longer. The dogs are typically pretty good in the morning. After breakfast and a long walk, they're usually content to sleep the rest of the morning. This brief quiet time is when I get most of my work done. Things begin to fall apart after lunch. Dot will usually sleep until 1 PM and occasionally as late as 2 PM. After that, she is determined to stay up for the rest of the day. This would be great if she could walk, but she can't. She has perfected a pitiful look and bark that summons me from my desk every time she needs something. All afternoon we walk from her bed to the water bowl in the kitchen and then out the back door. Sometimes she pees when we go outside, but usually she just pees in her bed. Every time she sits or lays down I have to make sure there's a puppy training pad strategically positioned under her.

Dash gets bored now because I don't have time anymore to take him on brisk five mile walks like I used to. When dogs get bored, all they want to do is eat. I've had to split their dinner into two smaller courses spaced an hour and a half apart so we can make it through the afternoon in one piece. It may seem silly, but it works. Usually, Dot and Dash will go back to sleep for a short while after the first half of their dinner. This is when I run errands and go to the post office. After they finish their two part dinner, they both get an evening walk. Dot only walks to the end of the street, but her short walk takes just as long as it takes to walk Dash several miles. Lord, that girl is slow.

Janet usually helps with the evening walks, but she's really busy during the holiday season and often gets home late. Now is as good a time as any to learn how to make this work by myself. When Janet leaves to visit her family for Christmas, there won't be any choice. Walking Dot alone has been slow going so far. She likes to follow Dash, but there is no way I can walk the two dogs together while holding up Dot's rear end with the harness. We're learning though. We did a little  better today than we did yesterday.

I finally figured out why my fitness tracker app was still tracking steps even after I lost it and the battery ran out. It turns out that the UP band app on my phone also receives information from my Apple watch. It wasn't ghost data after all. It was just information from my watch. Cloud computing has made everything so interconnected and complex that I have no idea what is going on anymore. My appointment calendar seems to be everywhere now. Text messages appear on my watch and I can answer my phone in the car by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Who knew that the watch was sending information all over the place too.

I tried to download some new Avid software before my upgrade subscription runs out in a few days. I forgot my password to the download site and had to request a new one. After I finally got the lengthy download started, our Internet went out. I had to start the download all over again after I rebooted the U-Verse router and re-established the connection. Was the latest version of Pro Tools worth all this trouble? Maybe. I didn't use Pro Tools at all this year, but next year I might start getting audio jobs again. You never know.

I'd love for tomorrow to be peaceful and productive, but I'm probably just going to be spending most of my time cleaning up poop. We have our tree up now, but I'm definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit yet.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2368

I almost got Dot outside this morning, but she peed on the very last rug before we went out the back door. I'm still having trouble coordinating things in the mornings. There is a very small window of opportunity to take Dot outside before she pees all over the place. If Dash gets outside while I'm tending to Dot, he will eat leaves or grass which make his throw up later. If Dash starts barking in the kitchen because he wants his breakfast, it often makes Dot poop. Both dogs have pills they take in the morning and they need to be ready to go by the time the dog walker gets here. I also need to re-arrange the dogs beds in their daytime configuration and make my own bed before Dash decides to spend the day sleeping under the covers.When our morning walk is finished and the dogs are tired, I sit down and eat my own breakfast.

Dot stumbled around a bit and seemed tired when we got up this morning, but did surprisingly well in the underwater treadmill later in the day. I keep looking for a predictable pattern, but everything seems random. Some times Dot will poop every few hours, and other times she can make it through an entire day without any incidents. I never know what to expect. There are good days and bad days and you have to be prepared for either. All in all, today was a good day. The acupuncture session relaxed her, she didn't poop in the car, and everyone was pleased with her performance on the treadmill. Of course you can't have everything. Both dogs are driving me crazy right now with their incessant barking. I don't know what they want, but they don't seem to want me to write this blog.

I'm surprised at how well the dogs are getting along with the dog walker. I had expected these walks would be a giant hassle, but everything is working out pretty well. It's only been four days and Dot and Dash have already grown to expect her every morning. They often start waiting at the front door around 7 AM. The fact that this minor variation in their daily routine seems enjoyable to them probably says a lot about how boring their daily lives have become. They used to have a lot more variety in their lives when we went to training class every Wednesday and frequently took them to the dog park on weekends. When they were younger, they were often ambassadors at Dalmatian Rescue events. You can't do as much when one of your dogs has trouble walking, but I do need to think of some new ways to add a little variety to their lives. It would probably be a good idea to add some variety to my own life as well.

There's not going to be a lot of variety tomorrow. By the time I finish taking care of the basics, I'm exhausted. I never dreamed you could spend so much time cleaning rugs and doing laundry. When you add fecal and urinary incontinence to a severe physical disability and cancer, you've got the recipe for a high maintenance dog. I don't know how you'd deal with a dog like this if you worked in an office all day. Luckily, I have a lot of flexibility.

I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight. You'd think this would be easy, since the dogs finally quit barking and are sleeping now. The only snag in my plan is that I have to wake them up and give them their evening meds and take them both outside to pee before I can go to bed. This means I'll be getting ready for bed and they'll be wide awake again. Eventually, we all manage to fall asleep and then it's morning again.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1973

I've got two very high maintenance dogs. I'm amazed at how long it's taking me to do all the dog related tasks that Janet and I typically share. Normally, she feeds them breakfast and I feed them dinner. She gives them their meds and I renew the prescriptions at the vet when necessary. She takes them out to poop at night while I get Dot's special bed prepared. There are many other little things like keeping a clean supply of Dash's protective socks and taking off Dot's Help 'Em Up Harness before she goes to bed at night, but you get the idea. Early mornings are pretty hectic, but once the dogs have finished their morning routine, which always seems to include barking at me while I eat my breakfast, they just go to sleep. As busy as I've become being the commensurate dog butler, there is still plenty of time to do everything I need to do while they are asleep.

There was plenty to keep me busy today. I finished another writing assignment, answered some perplexing website questions, and started a blog for one of my clients. No, I'm not writing the blog. I just got it started. It's time to send out my May invoices, but I'm going to wait until I finish my pile of articles. June is often a pretty lean month, so it seems like a good idea to augment my billings a bit this month in hopes of receiving a decent check next month. 

Dot was in a mood last night. She didn't want to get in her protected dog bed at all. She was like a little kid who'd decided that she was too old to sleep in a crib anymore. Dalmatians are incredibly stubborn. It's pointless to try to make them do things they don't want to do. I removed the special dog bed next to my own bed where she's been sleeping for the past several month and put a bunch of soft blankets in the hallway and bedroom instead. I gated the hallway where she stays when I leave the house, leaving the adjacent bedroom door open, and let her sleep wherever she wanted. When I went to bed, she was sleeping in the hallway, but when I woke the next morning, she was on a blanket right next to my side of the bed. None of this bothered Dash in the least. He just does what he always does, trying to hog as much of the bed as possible in hopes that I will sleep on the floor with Dot.

Surprisingly, we saw the sun today. It was actually a very nice day. Yesterday's rain cooled things down quite a bit and I didn't have to turn the air conditioner on all day. The crisp Spring air and blue skies definitely improved my mood and the dogs were clearly happier as well. It's all too good to last unfortunately. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow and Wednesday, with thunderstorms and more severe weather beginning on Thursday.

I had another banana/strawberry smoothie for breakfast and more soup made from refrigerator leftovers tonight. I'll probably go back to eating regular food tomorrow, because I've used up all the leftover vegetables. There are still more leftovers, but I can't really see making soup out of a leftover Italian pasta dish, or Jimmy Dean sausage patties.

I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight. My plan of sleeping in late every morning while Janet is away hasn't been working out very well. The dogs have other ideas.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1959

When Dash woke up this morning, his limp was much worse. This was an unexpected surprise, since for several days his condition had been getting better. Dash refused to put any weight on the leg with the cut paw pad today and hopped around on three legs. This was not good. He could easily tear his cruciate on the remaining good rear leg if he continues to walk this way. It was clear that Dash needed immediate medical attention and I was lucky to be able to get him in to see Dot's vet today on very short notice. My initial worry was that he had torn a cruciate ligament, but the vet said that he was beginning to get an infection under his paw pad instead. It happens. We left with prescriptions for Clavamox, Rimadyl, and Tramadol, along with instructions to return for another exam if his condition hasn't started to improve within 72 hours. It's hard to imagine that a little cut could cause so many problems, but the vet said to imagine a paper cut on your finger, only ten times worse. There are lots of nerve endings in a dog's paw and this type of injury can be very painful.

Dealing with two dogs who are having trouble walking at the same time isn't quite as difficult as it was dealing with Dot and Dash when they both had cancer at the same time, but it definitely is tiring. Whenever you're trying to help one dog go outside, you're always wondering what the other dog is doing inside. When there's time, I always try to pen the dog I leave behind in a safe secure place. When either of these dogs has to poop though, you have to act fast. Neither one can hold it very long and there have already been a few accidents. Even the vet agrees that I have two very high maintenance Dalmatians right now.

Lately, every day of nice weather seems to be followed by a day of terrible weather. Today was grey and stormy again. Yesterday's nice weather didn't even last 24 hours. Luckily, it didn't rain while I was driving Dash to the vet. He doesn't ride well in the car even on a sunny day. Since he wouldn't go near the hammock contraption I use for Dot, I had to completely reconfigure the car and make the rear section flat again. Dash usually hops in the back when I open the tailgate, but since he can't hop anymore, I have to lift him up to get him inside. Did I mention that Dash hates to be picked up. He squirms around and squeals like something terrible is about to happen. I had a hard time even getting him in the car today. As I said, I have two very high maintenance dogs.

I hope the antibiotics kick in soon. Dash really needs to start getting better in a hurry. I have a feeling that I'll be having my own problems after the dreaded dental surgery. Maybe the dental work will go smoothly and there won't be painful side effects. I hope! I'm not expecting miracles though. Nothing else has gone smoothly this month. Why should my luck change now? It's weird that Dot was actually walking better than Dash today. It just goes to show that you should never take anything for granted.

Needless to say, work hasn't been going terribly smoothly either. There have been some miscommunication here and there this week and several things have had to be done over. I blame it on the weather. When is this rain ever going to stop? It's certainly not the end of the world, but a few days of sunshine and a little luck would definitely improve my mood.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1527

I feel sick to my stomach. The pathology report came back today and Dash has some sort of thyroid tumor. We don't know yet whether the tumor is benign or malignant, but either way it is bad news. In all likelihood, the tumor will have to be surgically removed. If the tumor is cancerous, we will have to act fast, since some thyroid tumors grow quite aggressively. With the help of our vet, we are looking for the best available surgeon now. Dash will probably need a CT scan, nuclear scintigraphy, and possibly a biopsy prior to making a decision about surgery. If the tumor still moves freely in the neck and has not metastasized, removal should be relatively simply. If the tumor has already established its own blood supply and spread through adjoining tissue, the surgery will be much more risky. Even if the surgery is successful, there's a good chance that chemotherapy or radiation will be required afterwards as well.

Let's just hope it isn't cancer. Poor Dash hasn't gotten a lot of breaks in life. When we adopted him in the Spring of 2006, he was not a healthy dog. He had serious skin allergies, kidney stones, and recurring digestive problems. We nursed him back to good health and then he began to have epileptic seizures. His seizures are well controlled now and his coat looks great. These medical issues weren't the worst of his problems though. About five years ago, Dash was attacked by a viscous dog in the neighborhood and almost killed. It required three surgeries, months of physical therapy, and a lot of loving care to get him back on his feet again. After all this, the last thing our boy needs now is cancer.

I have to accept the reality that we have two very high maintenance dogs now. Dot is incredibly resilient, but she is very old now and has all the problems associated with old age. She hasn't given up though, and still seems to love her life. I think the water therapy and acupuncture are really helping. She is much more mobile and active than many other Dalmatians her age. She did great on the underwater treadmill today. Watching her go through her paces, it would be easy to imagine that she was 8 instead of 13 or 14. With both dogs, we're going to have to take things one day at a time from this point forward. Dot had a very good day today. Dash, not so good.

I didn't go to my networking breakfast this morning. I had other things on my mind. I'm beginning to realize that other than the breakfast itself, this group has very little to offer my company. I've been around long enough to realize that few, if any, of these people will ever have a need for my rather specialized services. Don't get me wrong. They are all nice folks and I enjoy chatting with them on mornings when I'm awake. I'm just not a morning person though and never will be. I've tried everything on the breakfast menu and had an opportunity to try on all my old suits again. That was fun. The Giorgio Armani and Valentino suits still look great after all these years. The Jhane Barnes looked ridiculous. I'm trying to think of valid reasons to continue to get up this early, but I can't think of many.

I go for my first evaluation tomorrow to see how well the new Hepatitis-C treatment is working. Mostly this will be more blood tests. I really hope this advanced treatment is successful. At a point in my life where so many things seem pointless, it would be nice to know that there was at least one instance where I was doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day