Good-Bye

Sir Lancelot

2005-2013

On Thursday, May 2, we made the much hard decision of saying Good-bye to our handsome boy. The previous weekend he started panting and licking a lot, which seemed to show he was in pain, and one spot on the end of his last surgery line seemed to not be doing well. Rather than subject him to more probing which also causes him to go lame at the vet, we felt it was best to let him rest. 

My heart breaks as I try to pull up the few good memories we were able to have during the much much too short of time he was with us. Many friends have encouraged us, reminding us that we gave him a good home and tons of love during this last part of his life and he knows that. Yet, it is still hard to accept that we had way too little time with him. I want to be angry, but no where to shoot those bullets, so I just keep praying that he knows we did what we thought best for him these last 5 months.

We know he is now playing with Sasha and Max and many other furries that went ahead to Rainbow Ridge.

Run, sweet Lancelot, Run!! WE LOVE YOU!!

"The pain now is part of the happiness then."

Beautiful Day

Today was yard work day. Plus it was finally warm enough to give Lance another bath. Then I came outside to this?

Hmmm, think he is not ready for a bath yet?

Then as I start to weed, he would follow me, and lay in the freshly weeded, turned soil. I had just moved this little palm fledgling, when he decided to lay ON it!

NO! So I helped move him just to the side, and he stayed there like a good man.

 Cinder is getting very antsy about wanting to come outside. She stands at the door, and tries to run out as soon as Lance comes in. We are not quite sure if she will make a run for it, so not ready to test it yet.

We pulled out one of the GIANT crates we have, and put it together to take pictures to list on Craigslist. Then I thought it would be a GREAT chance for Cinder to come out and get some fresh air too.

She was very good. Explored the crate for awhile. Then smelled everything she could. Then settled down and watched us work most of the day. She was very calm. She is such a good kitty. We hit the jack pot when we got her. 

Lance finally got his bath and all his nails trimmed and filed. He and I laid in the front yard for a bit to let the sun dry his fur. He was so calm, let me lay next to him, then laid his head on my back. What a good guy he is. I can never tell him enough what a good, handsome boy he is. 

Now for me...? I am going to be SORE tomorrow! Lot's of advil tonight. Maybe a glass of wine too :-)

Brother & Sister

WARNING... Last picture is graphic.

Mmm... so many smells!

 Hey big guy, you go find your own window!

 Peace!

Sir Lancelot is doing much better. He now has his "good" side, and his "ugly" side. And I am not talking about his personality. His right side looks great. If you see him from that side, all looks well.

Then you move to his right side, and reality kicks in. He still has some healing to go through.

But the good news is (we hope) he has gone through the worst part of the surgery healing. After his surgery, the incision and the area surrounding it swelled incredibly. We were very worried. We held off going to the vet for 2 days, as each time we take him, he goes lame (due to his spinal arthritis). When we finally were able to take him, she said it was too much to drain, and wanted to open him up again to take out the clots. We had to make the decision to say NO MORE SURGERY! We took him home and watched anxiously. He did not show ANY signs of pain or discomfort at all. He even lays on this side. The swelling got even bigger, so we were preparing for the possibility of having to say goodbye soon. I googled everything, and could not find ANY experiences like ours.

Knowing what we have been going through, friends have surrounded us and have been praying for Lance. People that we know are not usually "animal" people actually cared enough to pray and keep checking in. This last weekend marked a huge change in the swelling. It actually started going down. We are both so hopeful now. The vet has confirmed this is good news, and is now sure it was a Seroma, and said to wait until the swelling in completely gone before we bring him in to remove his stitches. Which is another good thing, considering his arthritis. What joy is in our home right now. Even Cinderella comes over and gives him Victory sniffs! This is a current shot of the wound. The swelling is about 1/2 the size it was a week ago (His side used to look pregnant). This looks good compared to before.

I keep telling him... "No matter what, you will always be my HANDSOME guy!" 

Thanks to everyone that prayed and sent good thoughts. We all felt them and have no doubt that it resulted in where we are now. My handsome boy thanks you too!

BOOF!

Back to the Vet

Good news or bad news first? 

I guess I prefer to let you leave the blog with a smile, so I'll start with the not-so-good news. 

A couple months ago we noticed a hard patch of skin on his side, about a foot long and 6 inches wide. It was just hard, but fur seemed fine, and he didn't pay any attention to it. When we pointed it out to the vet, she was baffled too, but said to just keep an eye on it, in case it got bigger (I'm sure she realized we had bigger issues at the time). So I have watched it, and it seemed to be getting smaller. A couple weeks ago, little puffs of hair would pull out if you rubbed or pulled on it, and it looked scaly underneath. But still seemed to be getting smaller. Then on Monday, after he did his morning stretch we discovered blood coming from it. Seemed to be a small slit. So I called the vet and got him in this AM. She said it seemed to be like a scab, where the skin was growing under it, and pushing it away. Our choice was to let it continue to heal, but as the scab pulled away, there would be an open wound to maintain and care for, which could take awhile. Or, let her remove the scab and stitch up the new skin, so that could heal right away: No open wound to care for. 

Just coming off the stomach flu and married to a man that will pass out if he see's someone else's gore (never mind that HE grew up in the Emergency room!), we chose the surgery. So back under poor Lancelot went.

When we picked him up this evening, he was still pretty messy. He has 50 stitches, about 2 ft long. Took a tech and my hubby both to get him in the vehicle, then 3 guys to carry him into the house. He has been down for almost 3 hours now. Still tired and I'm sure very sore. My poor guy. With that side all stitched up, he is looking more like Franken-Dog, than my Sir Lancelot! I hope this is IT!! Please keep him in your prayers for quick healing.

Now for the fun story. BEFORE all this happened... he was my HERO! This weekend, the back door was left open a crack when we took him out to go potty. As soon as I discovered it, we went in search for Cinderella the kitty (who has not been allowed outdoors). Did I mention it was NIGHTIME? In a dark yard, trying to find a little 7 lb kitty. Yeh right! Then I saw her... dart toward the back of the yard. So I called for Lance, and he came running. I said "Get Cinder!" and he chased her back into the regular part of the yard . Then he cornered her, until I could reached them. They both stopped and sniffed each other, and then she ran past me. At this point hubby came out to help. She ran onto the side of the house, dark again, so I sent Lance... "Go get Cinder!" and he and hubby went looking and Lance cornered her again, until she gave up and ran into the house. MY HERO! I made such a big deal out of it and of course he got a treat! There is some spunk in my handsome boy!

There, hope that leaves you with a smile.

Barks, snuggles and slobbers - Fur Mom

Better is Good

Too much time has gone by without a post. It has been a roller coaster ride, which was hard to update. Seems we have taken two steps forward, one back. But even a little better is better than not at all, right?

Lance is doing much better. Now that his ears and teeth are cleaned, he smells much, much better. Making it a lot easier to just hug on him, which he enjoys. Everything healed nicely, and his fur is growing back very slowly. We are down to only two health issues now, but still just as tiring.

He does have arthritis in his spine and possible neurological damage in his rear, which is what causes his back feet to turn under. He isn't aware when it happens, so he doesn't correct it. We do use Paw-tectors when we take him out, which has helped protect his back nails. They seem to last awhile. Unfortunately  there is not much we can do about the ortho issue, just ride it out, as we did with Sasha. 

The most current exhausting issue is his intestines/bowels. Since we've had him, his stool was pretty loose, some times almost to watery. After eliminating the worms, and being on medicated dog food, metronidazole, and Tylan powder, he firmed right up. Then we went back to his regular dog food (good stuff) and it was awful  The vet does not feel there is an allergy issue yet, she thinks his bowels may still be inflamed and may have been damaged. So we are currently experimenting with different recipe's of the regular food, medicated food and drugs. Trying to find the most effective at the least cost. So needless to say, we still have occasional interrupted sleep. And planning our day around who can come home for lunch break. 

So there is the update. Now for the fun stuff...

Lance doesn't seem able or willing for much walks anymore, but we still want to keep him from becoming a bed-potato. He still likes to pull out his toy and have it tossed for him to leap up and catch, or play tug-o-war with daddy (mommy doesn't do it right), or just do circles with us. This is about the only time we see a wag in his tail, which is what makes my heart patter.

 Lance has always been a kisser, since the day we met him. Beware when you get your face near his. This was a rare moment that I was able to capture, but then...

 the licker came out. He wouldn't stop for nothing. Thank goodness for Doggy toothpaste!

We know that dogs live in the moment, and probably don't care about what we worry about. With that in mind, we are committed to loving him to the end, but avoiding wiping out our savings trying to fix it all. We will live with what we can, keep him comfortable and just love, love, love him.

A New Dog...?

Well, practically. 

The dr said once he heals from all this, he will be like a new dog. 

We had a rough day. Dad had a death in the family and had to fly out of state, the same day Lance had his procedures. Thinking I am super woman... I say "No Prob.. I can do it ALL". 

We loaded up Lance in the Big Green Machine, drove dad to the airport (80 minutes away) and then try to race back to drop off at vet. Lance didn't relax well, and guessing we BOTH had to potty, I made a stop. MISTAKE! I couldn't get him back into the machine. UGH! Tried many different ways. He finally worked with me, and allowed me to guide him up the ramp to the passenger door and lift his rear end (not easy) around the edge of the door. So now we are BOTH anxious and I'm late! Not a good way to start a vet visit. But he came through fine.

He is a bit out of it still. 

 I about fainted when they told me HOW MANY pills I need to give him, a couple times a day. 19!!! Yes, 19 pills, twice a day! Just gave him his first round wrapped in bread (broke it up into smaller portions) and he was so good. Took them all, no spitting out. I can tell his teeth still ache (I understand, just got mine cleaned last week), so he would chew once and swallow. Then went outside and ate a small portion of dinner. And back to resting.

The Cone of Shame has been prescribed. So far he is so out of it, he doesn't care about any part of his body. I can't believe how BIG it is. A toddler could go inner tubing in this thing.

 I think Cinder wants to try it on. 

Mom is tuckered too. 

Updates will follow. Keep him in prayer and good thoughts for a quick healing and for the antibiotics to do the work they need to do. 

Fur Mom

First Vet Visit

Lance and I took our first trip alone. I was able to help him up the ramp into the Big Green Machine and then we parked by a small mound at the end of the parking lot, that allowed Lance to just step off the tail gate to the ground. We were going on our first vet visit. He did very well on the ride, sat in the back like a good boy. Of course, putting the ramp in the middle space between the head rests, helps to keep him from trying to climb up front. We learned that early on.

This was a new vet for us, so was not sure what to expect. Lance paced the office and smelled every space he could get his nose into. He panted a bit, but otherwise was calm and very behaved. Even when he smelled and heard a dog on the other side of the door. 

The vet gave us a lot of hope. I discovered she has other big doggie clients, so that raised her a notch in my opinion. She did a lot of checking and gave me an inventory of her concerns (which matched most of mine). Most of what she wants to do, she said she would prefer to have him asleep (ie: infected ear flush and bad dental plaque and abscesses). She did discover that he has worms, which she said may be a huge culprit to some of his issues and we started treatment immediately  She sent us home with some special medicine food and some antibiotic tablets. He will be going back next week for his big day of treatment. 

We really love this guy and have decided we can live with his lameless, arthritis and/or hopefully old age ortho issues. But we are hoping the rest (tummy, ears & teeth) can be resolved with short-term antibiotics and treatment. He hasn't exhibited a single behavior issue, which is a huge relief and blessing. We can trust him around other dogs. Seeing a squirrel or cat on the walk doesn't get more than a look and then back to the usual sniffing. People coming to the door, just gets a greeting, no barking or aggression. He is incredibly sweet and loving. We have seen small glimpses of his playfullness, so knowing it is in there, are anticipating better health bringing more of it out. Of course, since we got him, Sunny California has had an abnormal amount of drizzle and rain. Playing outside hasnt been much of an option. Looking forward to sunny days, good health and seeing his personality emerge.

In the meanwhile, I have become addicted to a site that has a full time web cam on a group of Great Dane Service puppies. Almost all of them are Mantle's, so I can picture what Lancelot looked like as a little guy. My heart just goes pitter-patter when I watch these cute little guys, then I run over and give my big guy a kiss on his nose and call him my Big Pup! Check out the site here.