w w w . S t r a y d o g. o r g U p d a t e
POSTED EVERY DAY AT NOON CENTRAL TIME U.S.A.
Straydog Inc., The Late Pat Arnold's Happy Home for Strays, a No-Kill Dog Shelter
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147 * (903) 479-3497 * EMAIL: straydog@straydog.org

THURSDAY JULY 8 2004

NOON UPDATE

Erin gives Katie a reprieve!

     When Erin heard we were contemplating taking Katie in for her last vet visit yesterday afternoon, she came right to Straydog (even though yesterday was Erin's day to teach classical guitar in Plano) to give Katie another evaluation to see if the old girl might still have some quality time left.

Erin tries to get Katie to walk a little in the park.

After a time in the park Erin carries Katie back to the air-conditioned hospital trailer.

 

     Then this morning at 7:30 Erin arrived from Plano and spent some more time with Katie in the park and then took Katie in her car to Tyler to get Dr. Reeves' assessment of Katie's condition. If Dr. Reeves thinks Katie has some time left, we'll keep caring for the sweet (but formerly sassy) little old lady a little longer.

     We probably won't get an update from Erin before noon.

Toby is measured for a cart that will allow him to move freely around the park

     Toby's hind legs just barely function now. After extensive tests Dr. Reeves has diagnosed Toby as having Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), which is very similar to MS in humans. The cart we are ordering will cost Straydog between three and four hundred dollars, but without a cart Toby now has to pretty much drag his hind legs behind him whenever he has to walk anywhere by himself. (When we take him out to the park, we use a strap to lift up his hind end.) Fortunately Toby's disability hasn't seemed to dampen his spirit and his will to live and enjoy life. We will hopefully get the cart for him ASAP.

Chris holds Toby up with a strap while Erin measures the length of Toby's leg. (Note Toby's fancy boots.}

 

Gretchen's getting along okay living with Maggie and Dallas at the Bollingers', but some bad news came from her new vet

Email from Pam Bollinger:

Bill and Erin,

I wanted to update you on Gretchen. She does not bother Maggie and Dallas nearly as much now. If she irritates Dallas too much, he just growls a little, and Gretchen backs off. Maggie just ignores her or walks away. I have taken a couple of pictures of them all together and one of her and Dallas touching as they slept. These are not digital photos, so I will have to mail them as we don't have a scanner.

We took her in last Friday for her clinical workup before her heartworm treatment and the chest x-ray identified cancerous lesions in her upper left arm. It is osteosarcoma - they do not biopsy because there is too much of a chance that the bone will fracture. The vet called me and did not proceed with the heartworm treatment. I was broken hearted. I left work early and picked her up. She exhibits no symptoms yet, but we will watch her for pain. Our goal is to make the rest of her life happy and pain-free. I will keep you posted.

Pam

 

Molly had three suspicious tumors removed yesterday

     Molly came back home yesterday afternoon rather than staying overnight at Morton's Clinic, because one of her incisions is on her neck, and she can't really wear an E-collar as it would rub on the incision. Another tumor was on her elbow and another on her thigh. Both of these other incisions she can reach with her mouth, so we're having to watch her constantly to be sure she leaves them alone. So far she's behaving herself. Randy (our overnight man) said he had to tell Molly not to lick her stitches only a couple of times during the night.

     Dr. Morton sent the tumors off to the lab to see if they're malignant, and we'll have the results in a couple of days.

Beautiful Molly