Straydog UPDATE posted WEDNESDAY 11/27/02 at 7:47 p.m.

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 27 2002

Danny Boy seems to be improving

     This evening's update may seem really weird to some, but to us it is Big News and worthy of reporting to all of you who have been interested in Danny Boy's health.

     [Danny has prostate cancer, and he can no longer urinate on his own, because the tumor is squeezing his urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body), which is why we have to catheterize Danny twice a day, once in the early morning and again in the evening.]

     Today went amazingly well for Danny Boy, even tho he started out by not wanting to eat his morning meal. As the day wore on, however, he ate a little and seemed perky. Then this afternoon about 4:00 when Guy took Danny to the big play yard for a scheduled outing, Guy called me over the walkie-talkie, announcing in an excited voice, "Danny is peeing! Danny is peeing!" I ran outside to see if I could catch a glimpse of this happening. All I could think was that for Danny to urinate on his own must mean his tumor is shrinking!

     On an earlier occasion I saw Danny "dribble" a little bit of urine, and excitedly reported the news to our vet, who told me I was reading too much into this, but today, as soon as I got to the play yard, I saw a short stream of urine come from Danny as he "aimed" at a groundhog mound of dirt, and this was a "good amount" compared to the tiny trickles he had occasionally done before.

     Then just one hour later when Guy and I went to tend to Danny for his usual five p.m. procedure with the catheter, we both saw several six-inch long "strips" (or tracks) of urine that showed up clearly on the sandy soil of his kennel ground. This has to mean he is beginning to urinate on his own again, which should mean that the tumor is shrinking, ... I think.

     So, for all of the followers of Danny Boy's story, this is the very latest news. We are hoping we will have more good news tomorrow.

Frosty's chewing her stitches!

     Frosty Husky seems to be settling in okay, except that she is beginning to chew on her stitches. Now we have to watch her really closely to keep her from messing with them until this Friday (two more days) when she goes to the vet to have him remove them the proper way!