Hopefully pet owners understand (Dedicated to pets) ??

Walrus

How long is the ride to the vet? I know sooper used to get traumatized and would have bloody claws when I returned from trying to open the gate of the pet carrier but I found the shortest route to the vet. I’m not yet sure how the brothers will tolerate the trip as my usual vet closed up shop. While stress is very bad for cats I consider the occasional medical trips a “stress with benefits” so it evens out but perhaps my thinking is flawed.

Dan S

Sadly, we said our final goodbye to our beloved Zelda last week. She was sweet and affectionate, a playful clown, our self-appointed guardian and pack leader, and an incredibly devoted companion - either by my side or waiting at the door for me to return.

After her diagnosis last month, she benefitted from palliative care, and we enjoyed 5 happy weeks with her before the disease finally caught up to her. We are all (humans and dogs) struggling with her loss. She was very special to us, and her absence leaves a huge and un-fillable hole in our lives. She goes to join her friends Piper and Lola, and leaves behind Opus, Max, my wife, and me ... who will miss her forever.

Zelda had an adventurous spirit and lived life with enthusiasm. She had an infectious personality and often made strangers smile with her eye contact and her goofy "jumpies" on our walks around the neighborhood. We traveled thousands of miles together, including hundreds of nights in the Colorado mountains, where she summited peaks, scrambled over boulder fields, forged swollen creeks, bushwhacked through dense forests, and plowed through deep snow. Zelda was our "try-hard" dog, and would not be stopped by any obstacle. She was athletic and agile, but sometimes a bit reckless, resulting in some memorable events, including a double "cut by ski" incident on Christmas Day 2019. I will never forget a heart-stopping moment when she tumbled down a 40-foot cliff, landing hard on a narrow ledge above a sheer 500-foot drop. True to her breed, she was fearless, with a strong prey-drive, and was always on the lookout for wildlife. On a few occasions, these interactions did not go in her favor, most notably with a porcupine, a rattlesnake, a skunk, and a grumpy bull moose. A few years ago, she successfully chased down a mouse on a high alpine ridge, swallowed it whole, and promptly fainted - causing her to keel over and slide down the tundra, fortunately coming to a stop before she reached the edge of a cliff. Terrifying at the time, but funny in retrospect.

Zelda had her share of health and medical challenges, but nothing slowed her down for long. She was not breathing when she came into the world, and was resuscitated. She dealt with allergies, eye and stomach problems, and survived bouts with fainting spells and cancer ... until cancer finally got her the second time around. Still, up to and including her last day, she persevered with joy and enthusiasm. Nothing ever stopped that little butt from wiggling.

Archer

Remi had a few days where he felt pretty off, so he wouldn't eat or drink, and we ended up taking him to the vet to have IV fluids for a couple of days - he came home each night, but was there for the day. The end of the first day he still had the shunt installed, and all wrapped up.



He got over that, but we know he needs some dental surgery, but due to his heart condition, we had to do some testing to see if his heart could take the general anesthetic. Sighthounds are already quite sensitive to anesthetic, so with him having some murmurs, it's even more risky. So a trip down to a cardiologist to have some testing, and then last week he had a Holter monitor fitted, and arrived home with a stylish vest!



When we removed it, I snapped a photo of what the Holter looks like - similar to the style I've had before:



Whippets don;t normally have much hair, but early on in Remi's Cushings disease, he lost a lot of his hair. When we started to have some success in treating it, his hair grew back much longer and thicker than it had ever been before. This shows just how long and thick his hair is, where they had to shave him:



Not yet cleared for his dental work, and he's on some new meds, but hopefully we can get him stable enough to get that taken care of soon.

NOTSHARP

The Hooligans.

The old lady was twelve at Christmas, but is still plodding along at her own pace.






Steve.