It's not great news

Well, Jessie's blood test results are in, but it's not great news. After the great drop in her levels after 2 weeks of daily camel treatments, we had high hopes we'd reach the magic number after another 2 weeks and be able to reduce her camel treatments. (Jessie's a trooper, but she doesn't like them.) Unfortunately, her numbers have actually gone up again. The specialist isn't very sure what to do. He suggested twice daily camel treatments, which Momma is against, and a supplement called Azodyl that he isn't sure works but can't hurt. <sigh> Momma is checking with her LBR friends to see if anyone has suggestions. One said Azodyl didn't help her pup at all, but something called Renal Essentials did.

If anyone has any experience with any renal supplements or other possibilities, Momma would appreciate the advice!

This and that

Well, folks, Momma's Renny-sauce faire had its closing day this weekend, so Momma is DONE with that!

Momma and that interloper Patches. Auntie is the one next to her, in the straw hat 

On the down side, that means we won't be visiting Auntie every weekend. That makes me SUPER sad. BUT on the plus side, it means a lot more of this:

Snuggle time with Momma!! We spent most of yesterday snuggling on the couch together and watching Game of Thrones. I think Jessie, Pigeon, and I are like Daenerys's dragons -- she takes care of us, and we take care of her!

Speaking of taking care of, this morning Jessie went back to the specialist for another blood draw. We're hoping her kidney levels have reached the magic number and we can drop down to 3 days a week of camel treatments instead of every day. Cross your paws! We should have the results by tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

Storytime!

Settle in, Jessie, I have a story for you.

Really? I loves stories! Is it about a dragon? Or an ogre? Or--

Jessie! Let me tell the story! Okay, once upon a time, there was a beeYOUtiful cowgirl. 

Oh Casey! I love cowgirls! They're so much better than silly princesses.

Listen to the story, Jessie.

Sorry! I'm listening. Look how good I'm listening.

Okay. SO. Once upon a time--

You said that part already!

--There was a beeYOUtiful but annoying cowgirl.

That part sounds a little rude.

And she ended up in a skeery place. She was away from her family and the wonderful life she was SUPPOSED to have. Instead, she was all alone in a cold concrete cage at a place called a SHELTER.

CASEY! Those places are skeery! Does the cowgirl escape?? Does a handsome prince come???

Just listen to the story, Jessie!!

Ow! Sorry, I'll listen, I'll listen!

ANYway, the cowgirl didn't know what would happen to her. But THEN a magic fairy godmother appeared in the shelter. And she said, "Hello, beeYOUtiful cowgirl! I'm from LBR, and I'm here to rescue you!"

CASEY!!!!!! I know this story!!! I know who the cowgirl is!!!

Look, it's ME! I was the cowgirl in the skeery shelter, and the magic LBR godmother came to take me away!! I was so skeered still. I wasn't sure what was going to happen!

That's right, kid, but the LBR godmother took you away, got your vet care, and got you all ready to come meet your foster home. Which was US.

It was wonderful, Casey! And that's why yesterday was my birthday, right? 

Yes. You turned three years old, two years since you left that skeery shelter.

And we lived happily ever after, didn't we, Casey?

Of course we did, Jessie. That's how all good stories end.

....Is she asleep at last?

Dawg, this storytelling is hard work!

 Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSIE!!! We're so glad to have you in our lives. Here's to our happily ever after!

So sue me!

So I'm thinking I may be in need of Ernie the Attorney. Isn't improper use of one's image something you can sue for? Take a look at this!

They even called it "Casey"! And I was obviously the model for it. Whaddaya think, folks? Should I sue?

We're still here!

Sorry for all the silence lately, folks! Momma took a few days off work and thought she'd spend plenty of it updating for us, but she didn't read or post once! We spent some extra time at Auntie's, and she and Momma got exhausted doing the Student Day at their Renny-sauce faire. Plus she celebrated Mother's Day with Grandma! So sorry for all the silence. We'll start reading again, but if there was anything big we needed to know about, please let us know!!

We could really REALLY use some POTP today. Yesterday Jessie went back to her kidney specialist for another blood test to see if her daily camel treatment and new meds have had the desired effect. We'll get the results sometime today, so please cross your paws!


Edit: Good news! Jessie's kidney levels are dropping, though they're not at the level we want them to be yet. She needs to get her creatinine to under 3 and BUN to under 50. Currently they've dropped from 6.1 to 4.4 and 76 to 52. So doing good, but not there yet. We're going to keep doing the daily camel treatments and test again in two more weeks. Hopefully we'll be at the magic levels by then and she can drop to camel treatments just three days a week. Thanks for the POTP!

Good news!

Momma said she could use some GOOD news this week. We headed back to the specialist again -- this time to check on my heart instead of Jessie's kidneys! You might remember that a few months ago I was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia. I take medicine every day to control it. This week we were checking to see if it was doing its job.

I was a VERY good boy in the waiting room and had another momma telling her pup to behave like me. BOL. Then I went back to see all my girlfriends and get the EKG test on my heart. And....

PAWFECT!! My medicine is working grreat, which means my heart is pumping away like normal. Momma and I were SUPER happy.

We even stopped at Sonic on the way home. I got a celebratory cheeseburger, and she got a celebratory shake. Woohoo!!!

The most comfortable spot in the world

Touching your momma is always the most comfortable spot anywhere.


Jessie!

May the Fourth be with you!

Happy Star Wars Day, everybody!

News

Hey folks, Jessie here! OMD, I had a fun day yesterday! Momma came home early from work, and we went off on an ADVENTURE! We went to see the special vet, which I guess is only for really special dogs. The vet tech loved all over me, 'cause I'm Jessie. And also 'cause I'm a boxer and she loves boxers. She remembered Casey pawfectly even though he's only been there once a couple months ago. I got scritches and pets from her and the dogtor, and I even got the coolest kind of belly rub. They put me in a special pad that let me lay on my back comfortably, then the dogtor rubbed my belly with gel. It was cool and tickled. I even got to go back this morning so they could steal my blood real quick before I had breakfast. I think overall it was a pretty cool visit.

The Momma here, and sadly I'm not as happy about the visit as Jessie. Nothing dampens her spirit! But her little kidneys just can't keep up with the rest of her. They're getting worse, and there's not a lot we can do. We're moving at the specialist's recommendation to a more aggressive treatment, switching her to a stronger med and trying daily camel treatments. We went in this morning for a baseline blood test (she wasn't fasting yesterday and couldn't do it then), and we'll re-do the test in two more weeks to see if the new treatment is helping. But the vet warned me that it's a progressive disease and there's really nothing we can do but try to ease the load on her kidneys so they can work as long as possible. If she was human, she'd be on dialysis right now and on the list for a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, neither of those is an option for dogs. So we're just going to keep doing all we can to keep her with us as long as possible. She barely shows any symptoms and doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort at all, which is the biggest blessing. She doesn't have any idea she's sick, and we're not going to tell her! Casey, Pigeon, and I are just going to keep loving her as long as we have, whether that's 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years.

Cross your paws!

Jessie's specialist appointment is this afternoon!

Weird weather

We had some weird weather predictions in Texas this week. All the weather dudes were saying we had a 100% chance of rain on Saturday, with bad storms and stuff. Then the system unexpectedly went east, and we ended up with bright sun, 90 degree temps, and 90% humidity. YUCK! But then the cool front blew in Saturday night, and yesterday was sunny and 69 degrees, low humidity. What weird weather we have.