Picked up Bailey today from having his x-rays to find out he has a bum hip, arthritis on both sides, the balls don’t excactly fit in the sockets, and a disc issue in his L1-L2 vertabrae. For now we will treat medically with cosequin and rymidal(sp?) and see how he acts in a couple weeks. If there is still trouble we will do surgery. The vet actually said amputation of the left hind leg is a possibility .That’s the leg Buddy had amputated, but hopefully the med therapy can work or a less invasive surgery to start with. So..I get home and let the dogs out and they immediatly run to the back fence where the most pathetic, matted, dirty little dog was sitting and looking at us like ” please can you help me, i’m cold!” I went down to check his collar and there was only a city tag.no name, and the collar was so tight i coudn’t get it to turn around let alone have a finger space in between his neck and the collar. horrible. Then I noticed his skin was all red and chapped on his rear end .
I called the vet’s and ran him over, no micro chip, no name tag, just the city tag. I told them I’d take care of him if they can’t locate the owner and that in fact i almost hope they can’t. Obviously the dog isn’t taken care of very well. Anyway, they’re going to bathe him and get him shots etc and I will call tomorrow.
I felt so sorry for that little white fluffy thing, actually he looked more of a beige-grey color from the dirt.
Buddy and Bailey were so excited to have rescued a little one in need and gave him lots and lots of attention:)
My dilema now is what if the owner lives on my street and i find out. Do I scold him/her for neglecting their dog or say nothing, or not turn the dog over to them? I’m very tempted (as i told the vet) to give this dog a new loving home either with us or my mom.
All I know is that animals are dependent on us and it makes me soo mad when i see one who isn’t being taken very good care of. On the other hand I don’t know the full story and I would be devastated if i lost one of my guys ( or my cat, who by the way was very weary!).
On a happier note, Buddy is doing fantastic and I’ve caught myself already having moments i forget he’s a tri pawd!! I love to watch him do his little twist when he turns around! He’s got quite the moves!!
I have some new pic’s i’ll attempt to post here from our first snow last week.
As for the animal hospital thing going on over here…I’ll keep you informed!
Buddy’s Mom
P.S oh and peyton I too think we’d be great friends if we lived closer,but can still be great friends even though we don’t!!

head in the snow

I'm pooped but that was fun!

Bailey eating snow!

Tonight my mom went to dinner with my grandma and aunt and they told her they have seen another golden retriever tripawd in grandma’s neighborhood!! my mom said she would find out who it is and maybe we could meet and play!! how fun to have a friend just like me in town!!
My grandma lives in a neighborhood where everyone is so friendly and people are out walking a lot so the chance of grandma seeing this dog again are pretty high!!
Bailey is fun to play with too, but he hurt himself last night and i think i’m in better shape right now than he is:))
he and I are always competing you know. we are both boys, both prefer to have ALL of mom’s attention to ourselves, and even though i am the alpha male, he is noisy and sometimes gets his way just so we can have quiet!! what a trick i’d say!
The snow is melting and mushy outside now, mom was worried about us sliding so she put down kitty litter. Is she nuts? I kept having to sniff it just to make sure i hadn’t lost my mind! finally i realized that yes, mom is nuts and i went off to explore the back yard!
Gracie ( our cat) is an indoor cat and has always had her litter in a box. she likes to try to come outside with us, but mom doesn’t want her too, so why put out all her kitty litter? she said it’s so we won’t slip.. i think she needs to remember that so far the only one who has slipped is her. lol:))
My new harness came today and i think i’ll like it better than the first one, the first one was too big and when i’d pee i’d get it all wet! this one shouldn’t be a problem! I do have some dignity you know!
Bailey goes to the vets on monday for his x-rays, because they were understaffed and booked this morning. I think peyton is right, he just wants more of mom’s attention. well he got it, she is still giving me lots of attention and too many kisses so i won’t complain yet!!
well, i better take another nap and get rested up for the next time we go out.. the neighbors dog likes to bark at me and run back and forth up the side of our fence.. i keep up with him, in fact i out do the little runt:)) I’ll show him who’s boss!
goodnight to y’all, hope everyone is doing well:))
Buddy

what a night. I was letting Bailey,my beagle in when i noticed him limping when he tried to get up on the couch with me(his favorite spot), he started wailing out in pain. Buddy came to the rescue, sniffing him all over frantically while i tried to calm him. off to the med vet we went, and 2 hours later with meds in hand came home with diagnosis-hip problem. I chose to take him to my vet for the x-rays as there is quite a difference in price and the med vet thought that would be fine. i’m to keep him quiet and not let him run or play for the next 7-10 days. he is on his pain meds twice a day( just like his brother Buddy) and now i have my hands completely full. Please dear God don’t let the cat get sick or injured. I’m not sure how this happened with Bailey as he was outside alone, but I’m guessing he jumped off the ramp.
Buddy is relieved that his brother is home and is happy to have someone to share med time with.
So that is my friday night in a nut shell, besides the worst part-which has nothing to do with us- while we were at the ER, a young couple came in crying hysterically with two week old puppy’s in hand that the deaf mom had laid on. The puppys had to be put down and after talking to the guy, i found out they had just been there 2 nights before with another puppy that also had to be put down. he said they had a litter of six and were now down to 3. Man my heart went out to them! There is always someone with a worse situation out there, helps me to keep things in perspective!!

i love my bone:)

It’s Dec.6th and we are having or first freezing drizzle outside. My mom had a ramp built for me when what we thought was just bad knee arthritis had gotten so bad that i constantly limped and held my leg up most of the time. Well the ramp has been great because those stairs were really painful and hard to take however tonight my mom was worried about how the ramp would be with the light freeze set upon it and so she put on my leash to guide me down into the back yard so i wouldn’t slip and hurt myself. I did great, my mom..not so great. i hopped on down but my mom slid and had an even harder time getting back up the darn thing. lol, it was pretty funny, but now she’s on the hunt for a better ice melter. for now i guess she’ll be taking me out front so i don’t get hurt. Buddy

I feel a little embarrased at letting out my angst yesterday in the blog. I talked to my vet and know understand why we did’nt do the extensive bone marrow path. In the blood work they check the plasma count related to marrow and buddy’s wasn’t significant so he felt assured that the cancer originated in the tissue etc etc.. not to bore anyone and out of fear that i’m getting the specifics wrong, i’ll end there.
Buddy is now able to run and talk walks, but i am to be careful and watchful of his other hind leg and hip so he doesn’t injure them.He is a lot more playful now and it makes me smile:) I am of course still concerned that the cancer could show up somewhere else, but for now i am so relieved that we caught it when we did and that he is happy. I’m sure there will also be bad days, and I am so grateful that you all are here. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this weekend:)) Buddy’s mom

no path on bone marrow sent in. apparently it was not affecting his bone and therefore they (he) did not think a bone marrow path needed to be done. Well lets hope so , because to do one now would be to put buddy under again and this poor dog has had enough stress for now as far as i am concerned. Not the happiest gal right now . I knew it is all i can say.

Today Buddy gets his sutures out!YEA!! I know his main concern is to get this lamp shade off his head,but my main concern is: did the vet ( my friend) order the bone marrow path and when will it come in? Thing is kent is the type of guy, personally , who likes to be the one who knows more than i do ..on everything! Well, that’s probably why we are now just friends, but anyway..i am concerned that because i asked him to run the path and because he told me post op that he feels confident that he got all the cancer,well that what he really meant was”marty i don’t think the cancer is in the bone and therefore did not send off for path results. Well I go in today at 2:00 and already feel ready for him to disappoint and make me mad. Dogs love him and the cat..well she’s a cat and wouldn’t like any vet! lol
I’m really just thinking through writing today i think, just anxious and worried that my concern about this will be right. I’m usually very tolerant, sweet, the nice gal..you know! Today however, if my anticipation about this is correct, i might actually get upset.
Anyway, i just needed to journal so to speak, this helps so much!
I’m sure that whatever the case, Buddy will be fine as he has already shown me in how adapt he has been with this amputation!!
Well, I’m currently one of the adults back in school to change careers and have end of the semester work to do, so i’m off. will check back later to report what transpired at the vets office:)
Now I have to figure out how to get this harness to work. When i first used it the vet tech put in on buddy in the back..now i get to try to figure out how to put it on at home( to help him get in the car). Why these things don’t come with directions i’ll never know.UGGHH.

Well today was the first day since Buddy’s surgery last tuesday that hasn’t been so great:( I knew something was wrong when he wasn’t waging his tail and wanting to go outside with me this morning. He did eat his breakfast, and when I finally did get him to get up to go outside I saw why he was down. He was way off balance and fell. i helped him to get down the ramp and into the backyard so he could relieve himself , and he did just fine, but on the way back up the ramp he lost balance and fell again. pretty much the entire day and night has been like this although it seems like tonight it’s getting a little better. I hope tomorrow will be a better day. I hope this is common post op for an amputee and when i talked to the vet tech he thought buddy had just over done it. I see the vet friday to get the sutures out, but can get him in sooner if need be.
Everything was going so well and I was so surprised and relieved and now I am so scared that something has gone wrong and that he won’t be ok. i hope it’s just my fear.

good day again today:) buddy is amazing to me, he has so much energy and seems to be doing better than before the surgery. It’s getting tough to keep him quiet because he is so happy and wanting to run around and play, ugghh. I’ve one more week before the sutures come out and he can have permission to run, hopefully. He has had a few visitors, which is really nice, but he tends to show off a bit and it worries me that he’s overdoing it. If it were up to me I’d let him run loose but I don’t want to push my luck or get a scolding again from the vet who is also a close friend. It’s funny how the first couple of days his amputation site was so noticable to me and now i hardly see it even though it is still shaved (of course) and stands out. He is getting lots of positive attention, but I can feel the protective side of me ready just in case someone would ever say anything in bad taste.
Poor bailey, my beagle, he is a little miffed at not getting more attention although he has been really good about it, i think he must instinctively know that buddy deserves the most right now, i took bailey out on a walk just the two of us, so he could feel special too!
I’ll try to get a picture up, i hope it works, thank you guys for being here! hope you are having a great holiday weekend, Buddy’s mom

Hi all! I know my mom has ben doing most of the writing here, but i am feeling so much better i thought I’d say a few words..First, when is this woman going to stop giving me all these kisses? she keeps telling me how proud she is of me and how I’m a one of a kind dog in our neighborhood! I love it of course, but I’m a male and it’s getting mushy.
She did bring home a little turkey for my brother bailey and i tonight which was really good! She has us on diets, so the treat thing has been lacking and tonight i lapped it up:))
I slept so well last night that she didn’t have to give me the sedative meds that Dr. Kraus had prescribed just in case:) i’m on so many meds right now anyway. Dr.Kraus has called or has my mom call him everyday to check up on me, i like him, but he’s spoiling my fun. He scolded my mom for when i ran in the backyard the other day, so now she goes down into the yard with me keeping me still.
I wish you other tripods lived near so we could meet up and play sometime, but i’m grateful your here just the same:) I know my mom really appreciates your parents kind words and advice!
When will i be able to get away with being on my own in the backyard to run and play? I love my mom ,but geessshh!!!
Well, I just wanted to say hi and to let you know how happy I am that we are all surviving well and have parents who, even though they get all mushy with us, really do love and take care of us!
Hope you all had a great thanksgiving, Buddy