Another Quagmire Update

Thursday started off normal and the whole day was rather uneventful and boring. Gary got home from work around 4pm. I was sitting in the computer room when I heard him open the door. He came through to me about 5 minutes later and tells me that he doesn't know where Quagmire is because Quags usually comes running when Gary gets home. Anyway, I freak for a second. Maybe I had left him outside but I check the living room by the front door where Quagmire is usually sleeping and I see him there TRYING to stand up but failing miserably. 3 days later that sight haunts me. The little guy just wanted to come see his Daddy and couldn't.
Anyway, we figured he had just had another seizure and was getting over it. We didn't take him to the vet but I did call them to set up an appointment for this coming Monday. I explained that it was financial and of course they told me that wouldn't matter and if we needed to come in to just come in. We decided to wait it out because in the end there isn't anything they can do immediately for a seizure.

So, now it's 10:20 pm. I'm sound asleep and I wake up to Gary calling me telling me to come to him. Of course I'm in some sort of crazy daze because I had taken a sleeping pill and was out COLD. I stumble into the kitchen and see him there sitting with Quagmire. Quags is trembling pretty bad and trying to walk but can't do it. I'm FREAKING out at this point. In my sleepy head all I could think was that this was the big one and Gary had called me out to say goodbye. Quagmire recovered from this one pretty quickly after I got up. It had started at 10pm though so this one was much longer and more intense than the one 6 hours prior. I took him in the bedroom and was laying on the floor with my pillow next to his with every intention of sleeping on the floor with him but that got him all excited and he was pretty set on getting up in bed with us. He was even TRYING to jump into our bed but his legs are too short so it's just a cute little hop he does. Anyway, he sleeps with us and I'm up at 6:45 in the am to call his vet and make him an appointment. They had me bring him in right away so I do and once I'm there with him I go through everything that had happened the day before.

So, here we are on Saturday. He's a little lethargic, panting, thirsty (all symptoms of his new medication) and this is what the doctor is saying.

She said we COULD pay for an MRI for him. They don't do it but there is a vet downtown who will. The cost is $2500. She says it's not even something she recommends per say (because of the price) but that it is an option.
She started him on Phenobarbital and Bromide for seizures. He's on an aggressive dose because he had 2 in one day. He'll be on the Pheno for about 4 months. We'll test his blood then to make sure his Bromide level is high enough to stop seizures then they'll take him off the Pheno. It's a good med but the liver damage risk is much higher on Pheno than on Bromide and he already has a bad liver.

They're also going to test him for Cushings. Here's a link if you're interested in reading about THAT. He's got most of the symptoms except that he's a little young for when dogs usually get it.

I'll post more later when we get test results back. :)

Quagmire update!

Hi people,

I haven't updated about Quagmire in quite some time and since he just had another round of blood work a few days ago I thought I'd take a moment and update people.
His valley fever (1 to 32) is right where it was 3 months ago. They'd like to see it around 1 to 2 or 3 to 4 so we have a little ways to go. He really needs a dental cleaning but they can't do anything about it until his valley fever drops. They are estimating he should be ok for that in November so keep praying.
His pancreatic levels are a little high but they said that is normal for dogs who have previously had pancreatitis.
His liver enzymes are elevated mostly due to the fluconazole that he's on for his valley fever. I'm picking up a liver-protecting pill for him in a little while.
His thyroid is PERFECT! We FINALLY got the right medicine at the right level. That's only taken .... 9 months!
His triglycerides are a little high. He needs to stay on the low-fat/high fiber that he's on right now. And bland, very very bland.
Um... A few other things are a little elevated but it all points back to his valley fever. Man that valley fever is a pain in the butt.

His weight is down almost a pound. I was looking at his records on Wednesday and his highest was 20.8 about 9 months ago and now he's down 16.2 so over 4 pounds and that's a LOT for a little guy. We'll be happy with about 2 more pounds. But with his diet and his thyroid under control now that should be going down just fine.

I think that's it. He's looking good!

Love you guys and thanks for all the prayer for my little dude.

Quagmire's Weekend

Quagmire gave us a little scare over the weekend. By "little" I mean HUGE.
Saturday started off pretty normal. I made breakfast for Gary and I and saved 1/2 an egg for Quagmire to eat with his breakfast. Around 1:30 he had his lunch. I was going in around 5pm to feed him his dinner and noticed he had gotten sick in the living room. It was just all his dry food lunch. Gary went to check on him (love on him and make sure he was OK) and I was cleaning the carpet and all I remember is Gary calling out Quagmire's name pretty frantically. So I look over and I see Quagmire trying to walk but his front legs wouldn't move and then his back legs gave out so *I* of course start to panic and then I don't remember HOW he got to me .. maybe Gary carried him but he was next to me leaning on the wall shaking ... so Gary is running around getting his shoes on and getting the leash out and I'm running around throwing clothes on and calling the vet just to remember they close at 3 on Saturdays and Sundays.
So, we pile in the car and head out to the ER vet. About 3 miles down the road Quagmire seemed to have snapped out of this "seizure" of sorts and was just panting (hot car) and looking pretty tired. We decided, having dealt with the ER Vet before, we'd honestly rather wait to take him to his own vet in the morning since he seemed to have come around and was doing OK (pupils not dilated and responding etc...).
When we got home Quagmire drank a bunch of water and got sick again... all I can think is it's the pancreatitis all over again.
After that we did tablespoons of water at a time and 2 tablespoons of some rice and corn, all of which he handled just fine.
After a crappy night of sleeping and waking up all the time to check on him, we woke up early today to be at the vet by 8am. Quagmire was as hyper as could be. His nose was MUCH cooler than it was the day before. He really just wanted us to get up and give him his breakfast like we do every morning. We skipped it and headed to the vet. He had NO fever, his heart sounded fine and his pupils were fine. They had just done his blood work 2 weeks ago so they didn't want to do any more quite yet. They don't really KNOW what's going on. It's possible that his valley fever (while getting better) has settled in his nervous system or that he's developing epilepsy or something. Really, we just need to keep an eye on him. If it happens again they'll want to do some sort of an MRI on him or something. They changed up his valley fever meds to a higher dose of fluconazole which enters the nervous system (his other medication didn't).
He left the vet a happy puppy and they only charged me HALF of what they said they were going to charge me so I left a very relieved mom. We've been monitoring his water intake all day to make sure he doesn't gorge himself and get sick.
Tomorrow I have to run errands all day and I'm really nervous about leaving him home alone but I think he's doing fine now. I just won't leave an endless supply of water out for him. Just enough to keep him from dehydrating.

So yeah, that was our weekend scare with Quagmire, my little problem child.

Meet Jack

This is Jack (short for Jackson). He's the newest member of our little furry family. A few months ago my best friend Sandra's dog had puppies and although I told myself I WOULD NOT take one when I met this little guy I couldn't resist, and at the time I really needed something to cheer me up.
He's about 10 weeks old in this picture and about 15 weeks old now. He's growing like a weed!
We still have his brother, JD. JD was supposed to be a present for Melia and we're bummed out about it but her landlords aren't too happy about her having a puppy so I'm currently looking for a home for JD. I THINK I have one lined up but until I get the money in my hands I'm not holding my breath and unfortunately if the man doesn't get back to me soon I'm going to have to bring him to the No-Kill shelter. He will make a great pet for someone I'm sure but he's just too much for me to handle, especially already having 2 cats and 2 other dogs.
It took a little bit for Quagmire to warm up to them but he's hanging in there. He's not quite sure how to play with them because he's been an only dog for so long so he kinda just stands there and barks at them while they're rolling around on the floor. Right now having both puppies they entertain themselves so I'm hoping when JD is gone Jack can find his place in the family and that him and Quagmire become good friends.
So yes, he's my newest fur-baby and I just love him to death. (Gary is even falling for him, although he won't admit it! LOL).

Things that...

...might possibly scare the living crap out of you when you're home alone at night because your husband is at work.

1. Having the phone company hurl new phone books up your driveway banging against your garage door.
2. Having your recycling can fall over ... loudly
3. Closing your cat in your closet and having him thump around for about 2 hours.

When all THREE happen, it's acceptable to sit by your desk freaked out with a great big huge butcher knife. Just sayin'

Black is the new red... I swear

Last week before Quagmire drama I decided to color my hair red again. It didn't go so well. The roots took it GREAT and the rest of my hair stayed black. I guess it's a sign because I'm headed back into the shower to dye it back. Hopefully it won't fall out from all this coloring. So yeah, stained forehead and fingers. I can't wait!

p.s. Quags just ate food FROM A BOWL!!!!

Patiently waiting for...

- my husband to come home.
- my dog to start eating.
- food to get in my belly.
- my percoset to kick in.
- my husband to come home.... (did I mention that one?)

Life is good...

Nevermind that 3 days ago I was crying my eyes out but I sincerely thought we were going to lose the puppers. I picked him up about an hour ago and noticed he smelled like heaven and they said that they gave him a courtesy bath and I said ... "I know what he smelled like.. so basically you're saying you couldn't handle the odor" and we all got a chuckle and we hit the road.
I washed all of his blankets this afternoon and had already lined the couch. You should see this couch. It's huge. It could sleep 7 people and somehow this 15lb dog takes over the ENTIRE thing. I gave him a little water and he hopped his chunky butt right up on the couch and he hasn't moved for an hour. I think he's pretty stinking happy right now. Could also be that I told him he could sleep with me tonight and that Gary would be on the couch. Not sure how that's going to go over with Gary but oh wells...
Now I get to spend the next few weeks making homemade dog food for this dog. Rice, chicken, hamburger, turkey, cottage cheese, chicken noodle soup... these are all foods the vet said to be feeding him. Sounds gross to me but I imagine for a dog he's gonna be pretty happy.. oh and eggs.. he's allowed to have scrambled eggs.. he LOVES scrambled eggs.

I about had a heart attack but someone paid for Quagmire's visit today. Every last penny. We still owe $1350 and have some blood work to pay for next week but that is about $550 we don't have to worry about (right this second because I WILL be paying it back). Our friends and family have been amazing and we love you all so much. Thank you!

So yes, life on a couch with a sweet smelling puppy is good...

HOW could I forget?

As almost everyone in the world knows, my dog Quagmire has been pretty sick for the past week. We got great news from the vet this morning and I'm going there around 4pm to pick his chunky butt up to take home. At some points over the last few days I really didn't think he was going to make it so even though the call came in at the ungodly hour of 7:30 am it was the best phone call I think I've ever received!
Thank you for all of the prayers and donations for his astronomical vet bills. Gary and I really really really appreciate it!