2020 It Is.

Hello 2020. It’s better late than never I know to welcome the year of the metal rat. 

2019 has been a rough year for the family after losing three of our precious furry friends and nearly lost one more before the year came to a close. We lost a couple of our senior dogs during the first quarter of last year and one more three days before Christmas, our gentle giant German Shepherd, Jagger who was only 4 years old from heart worm, a deadly illness which afflicts 1 out of 200 dogs per year based on statistics. 

A couple of weeks prior to that we almost lost our 7 year old cat from infections brought about by his wounds after having a catastrophic fight with a stray cat and yes was let out despite my strong resolve to never let the cat out since he’s very susceptible to illnesses even if he’s neutered compared to outside cats but to no avail my sister let him out after he begged incessantly. He’s overweight which is common to neutered cats and was also a great disadvantage compared to outside cats since he moves slower. We were devastated after his wounds started pussing just 3 days after he came home all wounded. Thank God we rushed him to the newest veterinary clinic in town on time where he was treated, stitched and was prescribed medications. I will not mention the name of the vet clinic but t’was really brand new, a full service animal hospital compared to the others we used to bring our pets to. However, they obviously charge way more compared to the small vet clinics around not to mention they offer a lot of unnecessary tests to your pets which makes the bills way more higher than it should. I thought, they weren’t as considerate compared to the other vet clinics we often visit wherein they will ask for the pet owner’s permission first before they offer any unnecessary tests to avoid the vet bills to sky rocket. So anyway, my cat was treated well except he had a bad case of sneezing and side effects from the injectible antibiotic administered to him and yet again thank God the vitamin C helped to rid off the side effects and he’s definitely well now except my sister and I made a pact to not send him to that vet clinic again and never ever let him out regardless of how pathetic and cute he looks when he begs!

R.I.P Jagger 2016-2019, ILY.

Then, weeks later, I was devastated one morning when I saw Jagger, our GSD heaving and his breathing reminiscent to our dogs before who all died from distemper many years ago. His breathing was laboured and is obviously abnormal. So, we rushed him that same evening to the same vet clinic we sent our cat to and we were told t’was bacterial infection, no kidney problems or whatsover which somewhat set our minds at ease although they were doubts at the back of our heads because he was never better despite the many antibiotics prescribed to him. Days later we rushed him back again to that same vet clinic because we saw his enlarged scrotum and swollen feet and that’s when we heard the real bad news, he has heart worm which can be really deadly if not treated properly. Jagger’s doses of antibiotics were increased, a heart worm medication was prescribed to be taken once a month and other medications so forth were given to him but to no avail my elder sister found him dead one unfateful morning just days before Christmas. 

We were totally aghast because he’s being treated well and monitored properly how come he still died? We asked for the vets explanation and we were told that his condition might’ve been already severe when he started his treatment. We couldn’t wrap our heads around with what happened and we were left to just accept the fact that he was gone too soon no matter how hard it was to swallow. I loved that dog, he was the kindest despite his really huge frame, he thinks like a puppy and often leaves food in his bin to feed his little Mountain Sparrow friends who swings by all the time looking for food. I was really heartbroken and the thought I’m not gonna see him ever again tore me apart. That’s the problem with owning a huge breed dog, their presence feels more human because of how big they are, it’s impossible not to notice their presence and he’s a howler like a talky, whiny kid. I know he’s crossed the rainbow bridge just like the rest of our lovely pets in the past. I told my Mom to take care of him on the other side in case they meet or if animals do really have souls. 

I know a lot has already happened since last month considering it’s only the first quarter of the year. From the sudden eruption of Mt.Taal last January 12th which affected hundreds of people and animals within the danger zone, the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Corona Virus, the bush fire in Australia which almost wiped out species of Kangaroos, Koala bears to mention a few, and the recent passing of a basketball legend, Kobe Bryant and his daughter from a plane crash. My heart goes out to all people who’s hearts were broken this first quarter of the year from the calamities and sudden deaths of their loved ones. God is always here to guide us all. We just need to keep praying and hope these too shall pass. May we surpass all the trials this year brings forth moving forward. 

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OC In Me

multi tasking: baking whilst scanning through Brandon's check list.

I always want to keep things organized because my memory no longer serves me right most of the time probably caused by tons of medicines I took during the previous years as well.

I think I may be a little obsessive compulsive because there are times wherein I want my clothes to be color coded especially If I have all the time in the world keeping them in a spic and span order. But, when I'm busy my stuff are a perfect mess. I also love to put labels on things such as cabinets and drawers because of my being forgetful. I love check lists that's why I took this opportunity to make this check list of medicines that our nursing senior dog Brandon is taking to keep tabs of everything he eats, drink, time he took them etc. because there's no room for errors when it comes to taking medicines, I wouldn't like that to happen to me neither. 

I was also able to con the people at home to make use of the checklist I made for Brandon's sake and so far they're doing a great job. I even asked my sissy to buy this clip board for me to hold my check list like what you see in hospitals lol. I feel like a child again role playing as a Doctor or Nurse. I seriously dreamt of becoming a Doctor someday because I thought their job is easy when I was still a kiddo.

Just an update on Brandon's condition: he's eating now although not as greedy as before yet but at least he's no longer refusing food. He's however unable to stand on his own yet since we took his dextrose off because he has not eaten much. Food is fuel so not enough food, not enough energy. I'm glad he seems to be regaining his appetite for food gradually. He's whimpering at times probably feeling miserable for his condition so we often talk to him (yes we do no matter how loony it sounds) to comfort him and tell him to not force himself. Brandon often make his rounds at night so he might've thought he's neglecting his duties for being bed ridden. He's a police dog so what can we do right? It runs in his breed :)

posted from Bloggeroid

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Go Brandon!

It's only been two days since Brandon, our ten year old senior dog was released from the veterinary clinic due to loss of appetite and diarrhea resulting to weight loss. He was confined last Monday and stayed at the Vet clinic for couple of days. He was dextrosed but refused to eat the whole time he was confined. We learned that his kidney and liver were affected which is common with German Shepherds his age. We thought it might've been due to the antibiotics he took because of his infected callous/hygroma before since antibiotics are known to affect the liver and kidney if they're weak which is usually the case with senior dogs. He took liver supplements back then as prescribed but he still got sick probably due to old age.

Brandon's makeshift hospital room at home.

We got worried after we received an sms from the Vet to let us know that he hasn't been feeding and it's been 48 hours so we rushed to the Vet Clinic the next day to see how he's doing. Our hopes went up after seeing him ok, a little weak though since he's been refusing food. My sisters and I decided to bring him home hoping to be able to make him eat. We thought, what's the point of keeping him at the Vet if he isn't eating? Brandon might've felt a sense of abandonment that's why he refused to feed. The Vet prescribed this Vitamin C to be taken intravenously, additional bag of D-Glucose for his catheter and off we go.

When we got home he urinated a lot and as per the Veterinarian it would take roughly a week before he poop so it's absolutely normal. We made a space for him at our house's drying area where we set up his bed and everything. We even made a makeshift sleeping area at the dining room (because there's a glass sliding door there where we could peer through to see the drying area) to closely monitor brandon since he's still on a catheter. Boy it wasn't an easy task because he's a huge dog and since he's still groggy we have to prevent him from falling every time he walks around. We watched over him for 24 hours. It felt like one of those days at the hospital except there weren't any doctors and nurses doing their rounds. It was a little tough on my end because I am still enduring this darn stiff neck and I can't do any lifting. Brandon ate a cup of boiled chicken liver, no salt or any spices as per the Vet's instruction.

Yesterday, my sisters went back to the Vet to let her know that he's been eating although not more than a cup. I was in charge of cooking his meals and man it's not easy peasy feeding a sick dog because he still will not devour any sort of food like he used to, he was finicky like a cat. The good thing was, Brandon at least ate about a cup of this canned beef flavoured liver yesterday. He just will not eat the same food over and over. He was prescribed tons of meds: Antiprotozoa, Antibiotic, Immunol and Papi Liv-well for his liver supplement. We already removed his catheter because he's already eating , again as per the Vet.

This morning, we got all panicky because he was shivering so we decided to feed him this Cream Dory fish which I marinated in lemon, honey and very little salt. He might've been just starving that's why because he refused all foods I made for him last night. After eating about half a cup his shivering stopped. We were surprised that he devoured it. He loved it so I made him another cup full come lunch time. Beforehand, we applied this gum paste to boost his appetite by the way which I think worked somehow.

So far so good and we're rooting for his fast recovery through prayers and additional TLC. I once read Armi's (Up DHARMA DOWN) post on Instagram when her 9 year old cat got sick. I was touched when she said that with pets they consider US humans as their only family because they don't have any brothers, sisters or parents to look after them when they get sick. We are their ONLY family. This almost set me to tears because it's true.

As an end note, let's love our pets unconditionally especially during the time they need us the most. For some they're just a pet but for your pet you mean the whole world to them.

posted from Bloggeroid

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