Really? A year?

I can't believe its been a year since I updated this thing.

Well, lets make short work of this.

Moxie. Three months after my last post, I had Moxie's labwork rechecked because I was worried about her liver enzymes being elevated. My vet was reluctant, wanted to save me money, but I persisted. SO thankful that I did. Moxie's liver enzymes were seriously elevated. Follow up bloodwork showed her bile acids also elevated. She was referred to CVSC (center for veterinary specialty care) for an ultrasound.

Dr. Gulikers was amazing. He investigated her whole abdomen, including her intestines for the source of her chronic diarrhea. I was terrified she had liver cancer. Turns out she had gallbladder disease.(Which is funny because a few weeks later, I was in the hospital myself having my gallbladder removed!) Bile was backing up into the liver from the gall bladder causing the elevated labs. The good news is this could be treated medically. After 2 months on Actigall, her bloodwork was COMPLETELY back to normal (except for her kidney values, which were still elevated but unchanged from 6 months previously)

A secondary finding in Moxie's ultrasound, was that she had IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) causing her diarrhea. We spent about 9 months trying different home made diets to no avail. I finally gave up and tried a commercial diet, Wellness Simple Solutions. It has one grain and one novel protein source. Moxie loves it, she has done great on it. Her stool is normal 95% of the time. She occassionally needs a dose of metronidazole, but those days are few and far between.

Today, her major issue is arthritis in her front limbs from her accident, as well as stiffness in her knees and some spondylosis in her spine. Basic old lady dog stuff. She cant' take anti-inflammatories due to her kidney disease, so we started her on Adequan Canine injections two weeks ago and so far she is doing well. She turned 11 years old in July, but has no idea she's not a puppy. Its almost sad to see her body failing her years and years before her mind is ready to give up.
We moved this year and are now within walking distance of the local dog park. She loves her morning walks to the park and romp with the tennis ball. We still practice our obedience and our tricks and are still doing therapy visits every week. We started a new visit at the Juvenile Detention Center this summer and love it!

Sadly, Kobie passed away in June. I'd try to explain the circumstances surrounding his demise, but would only frustrate myself. He had a simple ear infection that went haywire. He stopped eating. Even with a feeding tube, he rapidly went downhill. In the span of one month, he was painfully thin and had just given up. So I let him go June 1, 2010. I miss him SO MUCH! He was a very special cat, I can't even write this without tearing up. Run free sweet Kobie. I've always been told animals don't have souls, therefore, won't be in heaven. I really want that to NOT be true. There is a book out there that claims a biblical framework for pets going to heaven. I haven't read it yet, because I don't think I can do so right now with a clear and unbiased mind. Maybe some day.

Also over the summer (it was a busy summer) I came to have a little baby black kitten, just days old, to help bottle raise. For some reason (and this was even before Kobie became ill) I was immediately smitten with this kitten. I named him, Ninja, before his eyes were even open. When Kobie passed, the pain was so great, I needed a diversion. Ninja was about 8 weeks old at that point, so I just brought him home to stay. And he's stolen my heart completely. He's six months old now and a complete joy.

But, what pet of mine has ever been so simple. A few weeks ago, while Ninja was playing and leaping about, he suddenly stopped and started panting. I didn't think too much of it at the time. In fact, I thought, "I can't believe I've actually tired him out!". Since then these panting episodes are more frequent and come about with less and less exertion. Its probably HCM (Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy) which is a thickening of the heart muscle. Its 100% fatal. There is no cure. Its basically a matter of time, and he could just drop dead at any minute. Now, he still needs a cardiac echo to confirm this which I am in the process of setting up. I wonder why my pets always get sick. Then I think maybe God sends me the sick ones because he knows I'll take care of them. Will keep you posted on Ninja.

Sully is sully. He's doing great. He did not like the move at all. But after a few weeks, he's come back out of his shell and is his old self again. Its funny really, how much we thought Sully was a naughty kitten and cat.....we had no idea cats like Ninja existed. Ha! He looks like a saint in comparison.

Thurston stayed behind with Mom. James has since reclaimed him in a sense. I still bring the boys over to visit him sometimes. I feel bad for him, since he has always had and enjoyed other cats for companionship.

So thats it! Pics next post. I'm on a new computer and don't have my pics readily available. Trust me, there are tons!

Check out my new blog if you so desire. http://soulninja.blogspot.com