Animal Photos - June 13

Snoopy - just woke up from one of her many naps

Ribbon - her general outlook on life :-)

Gretta - in one of her cat post houses

Ruby - trying to sleep

Duma - looking scared...even though she wasn't

Amy - half smiling, always happy

'new kid on the block'

Italian Greyhound?

Well, 'Diesel' (according to his tag) the Italian Greyhound was found wandering through our neighborhood. The phone number on his tag is disconnected, so for now we wait and see if someone puts up signs.

I will be taking him into our vet clinic tomorrow morning to see if he has a microchip, but I have my doubts because he doesn't have a rabies license on his collar either.

It was a little bit of a rocky start to get our dogs to calm down and stop chasing the 'fast moving object' that was Diesel. But by last night, after we managed to eat dinner, he spent his time laying on the couch next to us. He weighs in at a whopping 15 pounds...I think one of my cats weighs that much, or possible more, yet the cats are scared of him. He doesn't seem to even notice the cats...so that is good.

Hopefully he behaved himself today, since we leave him in the bathroom for fear that Amy, our greyhound/pit mix (ironically enough, one greyhound goes after another), would injure him.

I will try to update tomorrow and let you know if he has a chip.

On another note, I have not heard back from PACC after sending in my letter and backup paperwork, and when I called today, the lady was not at her desk, so I left a message. I am not holding my breath that I will get a call back. Next Tuesday could be interesting because I need to go pay Snoopy's yearly license fee...so I will try to talk to them about the Brook issue.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Letter to PACC

I finished my letter to PACC on Sunday and sent it off to them on Monday afternoon along with all the receipts from our vet and the emergency vet. You can read my letter below, and also the letter from the emergency vet.

I'll let you know if I hear from PACC. I will be going out there sometime in the next week because I have to pay the rabies license fee for Snoopy, so hopefully I will hear something before I drive out there, or I will ask to meet with Jayne to talk about it.


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Letter from Vet

Weekend House Guest

Last night we welcomed a four-legged house guest. She will be staying with us through the weekend. Everyone, say 'hi' to Beckett, the newest dog to grace the blog!
Beckett is a 9-year-old Bull Dog. Her mom, Jen, is the daughter of some friends and they had a family gathering to attend. Beckett is a very funny "little" (compared to ours) dog. She immediately found the toys scattered around the room, and even created a toy (the lid of the toy box).

After all that playing, it was time for a nap.

Dog Books & More

I added a list to the right of some animal books I have read and recommend. Most are dog related, but there are a few about cats too!

If anyone has read any of these, I would appreciate your feedback :-)

Day 17: Goodbye

Brook was so trusting and amazing it is difficult to express all the ways we grew to love her in such a short period of time. It still brings tears to my eyes now as I write this, more than 24 hours later. Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson was so kind and made us feel as best as possible. They even moved us from a standard exam room to one with carpet, and nice chairs, and a view of their garden area with fountains. It brought us a little bit of peace to know that others care as much as we do, and no matter how long a life is on this planet it is just as precious.

I would also like to share my thoughts from our drive to the vet clinic on Sunday morning:

You will never understand until
You carry an animal when it cannot walk
And are patient and calm
For as long as it takes

You will never understand until
You hold food in your hand
Simply so this frail animal
Will eat enough to stay alive

You will never understand until
You have given everything
You possibly can
And then a little bit more

You will never understand until
You have made a difference
In just one life
But it will repay you forever

But those of us who do understand
Admire those who continue to help
And know the toll it takes
But also the amazing gift of love


Also, Dave has another blog where he has shared his thoughts: From last Thursday, and from yesterday

I really enjoyed meeting people through this blog, and plan to continue updating, but the focus will obviously be a little different. I will give more background on us and our pets in the coming days and plan to add links to pet related articles and animal welfare information.

Day 16: Saturday

Brook had an even more decreased appetite. We tried some herbal remedies from the rescue group Cold Wet Noses (I highly recommend adopting from them; what a great group of people!) to try and alleviate the body tremors, but it didn't work, unfortunately. We got all but the Valley Fever test result back from our vet on Saturday and everything was negative. All the tests showed was a low white-cell count, which means her body was not currently fighting off an infection.

After reading more about distemper, one of the symptoms that jumped out was "thickening of the foot pads". You may remember reading a post from only a few days of Brook coming home that I was giving her a foot massage with some non-petroleum jelly to try to soften her foot pads. At the time, nothing seemed unusual. They were just a little bit rough so I figured she must have been running around in the desert prior to arriving at PACC.

Now, it became obvious that her body was growing more skin starting on the large foot pad (like the palm of our hands) and working its way towards her toes. This is one of the severe signs that only appears from distemper (as far I had read).

Brook didn't eat very much at all, and tried to get away from us each time we would attempt to syringe feet some wet food. I decided it wasn't worth making her time more miserable, so we stuck to offering the bowls of ensure type drink. She would still go outside with me and pee, but could barely walk without stumbling.

Late on Saturday night, my husband and I talked and knew it was time to call the vet. You truly have to love dogs and always remember that they do not care what day of the week, or what time it is. It is a beautiful thing to not live by a clock and I believe it proves how much animals have on us in that department. Nevertheless, I called the emergency vet clinic on La Canada, just South of River, to ask what they charge for euthanasia. Not like that would have really mattered, but I am one of those people that needs to know information before I appear in a situation. It was no different than taking her to our vet on Monday, and we just couldn't let this go one any longer.