Miss Pepper has started to show signs of her age this winter. She's 11. We're trying her out on Rimadyl to see how that goes. She's been having real problems with stairs, and since we live in a split level, it's all stairs here. Luckily it's only two steps down to the back yard and she can manage that. But getting her out for walks is a challenge. She can manage going down the front steps to the street side of the house, but won't go down the family room steps to get outside UNLESS my husband's the one taking her out. She'll do it for him, not for me. Getting back in is twice the problem. Won't go up the front steps, won't come in the side (unless Hubby takes her, and he has a bad hip so he usually prefer me to to the leg work with her. So we either go through one side or the other to get into the back door. I nearly lost my shoe in the mud (it's either mud or snow here in winter), but we got her back in the house. Poor old girl! (the dog, not me!(

We've had a bit of a hair-tearing time here. Pepper is doing well. She recovered very nicely from her bout of Kennel Cough and Pneumonia. (I'll be damned if I leave her at THAT kennel again!)

Hubby was due to have a hip replacement. We had it all lined up and then the bank called to say they'd cut our credit limit to zilch on the card we were going to use to pay for living expenses while he was recovering. So we had to post pone it until we can save up enough scratch to cover day to day expenses while he gets back on his feet and back to work. It's hell to watch him limping around, even with the aid of a cane. The family will not help, so we're on our own as usual. (God, forbid the inlaws ever need anything. One must drop everything and run the moment one is summoned!)

At least my cardio exam and stress test went well. Yes, I am a strapping old girl! LOL! The doctor asked if the stress test treadmill wore me out. I said, heck no! I felt great and could have gone a half hour on the thing if they wanted. On the down side he did tell me not to 'nosh', but I am down ten pounds from my last visit. (I want to know exactly how I managed that. Is candy corn now a veggie?)

Nearly All Better!

We got her through pneumonia! Pepper is MUCH better. The awful coughing and gagging have stopped, although she still sleeps much of the time. Her strength is coming back gradually, but she was up to playing with me yesterday in the back yard. We still have a few more days worth of pills to give her, and I have to check back with the vet, but it looks like our girl has recovered! YAY!

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Adventures with Pepper and the Nebulizer

This time, the nebulizer treatment was success. First of all, I fixed the leak in the unit with a little glue and plastic wrap. Yay, Go me! I put 30ccs of saline into the cup, attached the mouthpiece and turned the unit on. She looked a little amused and listened as I told her how Chris used the thing and now it was her's. I sang along with the ipod, cradled her head and held the thing next to her nose. She was very good and lay there, breathing in the moisture for ten minutes or so. She stopped coughing and is breathing easier. SUCCESS! So cheers for Pep for being such a good dog!

Pneumonia

We took Pepper to the vet. She doesn't have Kennel Cough. She has Pneumonia.

We went to an out of two wedding last weekend and put Pepper in her usual 'weekend away kennel'. Wouldn't you know it, Ms Pepper has come down with a case of Kennel Cough, even though we have her vaccinated each year. Called the emergency vet clinic and they didn't want any part of her as long as she wasn't in distress (which she isn't).

So, the old baby is doing a lot of coughing and horking up phlegm (it's regular white or clear), and sleeping. She's still eating her regular meals, begging for treats and interacting with us, so she's not terribly sick- just uncomfortable.

Ack. Nothing worse than a sick dog.

MZ Pepper again

Last week, Pepper was sick again. Not eating, not drinking. This went on for two days. I called the vet and she told me if Pep didn't improve that day, bring her in. Pep just lay on the couch. She as having trouble holding her water. The house smelled like dog pee and Pep was totally depressed about it as well as not feeling well. We sat with her, we hand fed her, we offered her everything she liked. Nothing. No luck. I was preparing myself mentally to say good by to her. We really feared for the worst.

Then.

The next morning, Pepper was up and awake with us. She was ravenous. She ate and drank, and kept it all down. She ran around the back yard, stopping to shake herself throughly every minute or so. SHE'S BEEN FINE SINCE! What ever it was, she got over it. And the peeing in the house stopped.

I am SO relieved!