Aesop Update 2

Well, this weekend was rocky. Literally an up and down emotional roller coaster. I thought we were going to lose him at one point.

I believe Aesop's infection in his mouth has subsided. We'll continue the antibiotics until the bottle is empty. He hates the taste of it, though. It's bubble gum flavor.

Last night I saw him run to the sectional and get on it. And he was also lounging on our chair and a half and I hadn't seen him on it in DAYS. So, I think he's becoming more spry.

We're not out of the woods yet, though. There's still a long road. I cannot wait until Wednesday to start Aesop on the Alpha Interferon. It'll give him a daily boost to his immune system. I am PUMPED to start this treatment. I feel like we're doing EVERYTHING we can do for him now.

:)
Please pray and wish us luck. I know have been.

Aesop Update

We've switched veterinarians - Sort of. When we got the puppies Brian and I decided that we wanted to continue taking them to the vet that the breeder took them to. The puppies had to have their second round of vaccines yesterday and while we were there I asked the vet about Aesop. (Lately - since getting the puppies - Aesop has seemed down. I looked up cat depression and found that he showed one symptom. I was still really worried because he's feline leukemia positive.)

The new vet, Dr. Hart, informed of us of two treatments you can give feline leukemia kitties to help boost their immune system and help keep them active. It won't cure feline leukemia, but it will prolong their lives and make them happier. Our old vet never mentioned this to us. Frankly, I was upset. (I mean, would Amelia have lived longer and happier on these treatments?)

So, Aesop went to see Dr. Hart today. Within the first couple of minutes he checked Aesop's heart beat and said, "So, you're aware of the heart murmur?" Brian and I were like, "No..." I got to thinking, the last time Aesop was at the vet was 4 months ago... I don't remember them ever checking his heart. Brian doesn't remember either. Dr. Hart informed us that the heart murmur would have taken longer than 4 months to develop. So, still mad at the old veterinarian.

He discovered an infection in Aesop's mouth. Just a slight one, but still worrisome since he's fe leuk positive. So, Aesop is on an antibiotic for the next 7 days. He also got an injection of vitamin B that will give Aesop more energy. Brian will administer another injection at the end of this week. Aesop will also start treatment on Wednesday of something called Alpha Interferon. It will be given to him daily and will be a boost to his immune system every day. So, it'll help prolong Aesop's life. He'll be more active and he'll have daily doses to boost his immune system.

As for the heart murmur, we have to watch it closely. In the future Aesop will go to a specialist and have an echo cardiogram.

For now, we're going to get his infection taken care of and continue his other treatments.

Our old vet only had us giving Aesop a medicine called viralys. We found out from Dr. Hart that it's not really going to help Aesop. Viralys is more for upper respiratory problems. It does nothing for the immune system.

So, I'm still mad.

Wish us and Aesop luck. I can't imagine losing my little man. He's so special.

So, when I say we've switched vets, I mean only Aesop has switched so far.

Aesop still has a long road ahead, though.

Introducing...

Brian and I made the decision a long time ago that we wanted a dog. It took us SO long... What breed? Should we rescue from a shelter? We had talked about adopting an ex racing greyhound... And even though that is still in the realm of possibilities in our future, we held off. I also put in for adoption of "Lenny the Pitbull" (find him on Facebook.) Lenny is still in much need of socialization training and still has a long way to go in his life's journey since being rescued in August of 2010. I still talk to the woman that rescued him and I wish her so much luck.

So, here they are... (Oh yeah, did I mention that we got TWO?)

Charlie and Henry!



Charlie is the brown one. (Get it? Charlie Brown...) And Henry is the black one. (Nothing witty for his name. We just think that's a really adorable name.)

We actually ended up finding a breeder of Labradors and Labradoodles. We decided to stop and take a peek...

Brian and I adopted, what we feel, would have been the less desirable puppies in the litter. Charlie is a runt... Very small... And in the 3.5 days that we spent with them before coming back to work we've noticed that he's a little behind Henry developmentally. Which isn't bad... He'll get there...

Henry was injured when he was around 4-5 weeks old and the skin between his nostrils was torn... Probably by some other puppy. (There were 9 in the whole litter - big wrestling crowd of puppies.) So, he had his stitches removed last Friday morning. He'll have a permanent scar. We don't mind, though. :)

Here are more pictures:


Cuddling on the puppy blanket that I made them. Cute toes, huh?


Well, here's a close up.


Annnnnd an even CLOSER close up. :)


This isn't the best picture of Henry... He had just gotten his stitches removed and was super sleepy... But this shows you his scar.


Charlie.


And here's Brian with them.

They are cute little cuddlebugs. They'll play, play, play on the floor... But the minute you pick them up, they just melt in your arms and want to cuddle.

You're probably wondering how the cats are adjusting... Well, they are tolerating the new additions. I thought Aesop would be best buds with them since he tried being Cheech's BFF when we first introduced him into the household. But.... No. Aesop senses they are not cats... So, he's hesitant... But he's also a little curious. Bella, who has been around dogs before, is the only one that has gotten the closest to them to investigate their unique aroma. :) I'm sure they'll come around.

For now, we're dealing with the potty training. They're getting better every day. We love our pups.

I keep telling Brian, "We got the coolest puppies out of the entire litter."

Cheech

Last Friday, Brian and I added a feline friend to our household. Where he was living before had a pretty bad flea infestation and he basically needed to get out. He belongs to a cousin of mine and she plans on being financially responsible for him still, he just can't live where she currently resides. Cheech is 9 years old.

(Fun fact: Cheech's sister lives at my parents house.)

So, meet Cheech.



He has some bald spots on his back side.



Since he's been here, his scabs are healing really well.



The vet recommended he stay quarantined for a week. So, he's been in our storage room in our basement. Luckily our computer server is in there, so we can watch movies and spend time with him.

He's a pretty funny guy.

The Past Few Weeks

Well, I haven't blogged in quite some time. One of my friends informed me of this. So, I thought I'd give you an update.

A couple weeks ago I started feeling intense pressure in my stomach. After about the third day I realized something was wrong and I needed to seek medical help.

I got into my doctor's office. From what I was telling him he thought maybe I had coeliac disease. Or he thought I had a form of colitis - which don't google it because it'll freak you out. I don't show any signs of colitis at this point, but I had in the past year so he didn't want to rule it out. He's strongly urging me to have a colonoscopy, but that is not something that I want to do at this time. Not to mention I don't currently show signs of it.

I had to go in for a blood draw to test for coeliac disease (which is an allergy to gluten). It was supposed to be a simple blood draw - I've had many. It turned into a nightmare and I was almost in panic mode by the time the third nurse came over to do it correctly. After a few hours I noticed my arm:



(It's not the greatest picture because I took it with my phone. Sorry.)

I had to stay on a gluten free diet until I got the results. I do NOT have coeliac. So, that was good news.

After my first appointment with him I was feeling good. So good that I was telling Brian that I was feeling almost back to normal. Then the moment I laid down for bed I noticed intense pain that I couldn't ignore. I was awake off and on until I got up at 4:30 a.m. I had my doctor paged. He called me back rather quickly and I told him how the pain was primarily when I'd lay down at bed time. He told me what I needed to do and what to take that was over the counter until I saw him again.

It's looking like, at this point in time, that I'm producing far more stomach acid. Which I've learned will basically happen overnight to people.

He's not ruling out colitis and is still heckling me to have a colonoscopy. I think some time in the next year I'll go through that. But not right now. (Mainly because the thought of it scares me. Yes, I've heard they're painless, but the day before it isn't pleasant and that's what I don't want.)

He's also got me on a medication that's allowing me far more fiber in my diet. So, I'm basically eating vegetables at every meal and loving that. I feel so good now. So, yay!

The cats are doing well. Aesop has surpassed his one year mark and is doing well. I try to play with him every day. And I even have an extra water bowl for him in our shower since he loooooves water so much. His coat is amazingly soft. I don't know if it's his grooming regimen or what. He does get the occasional hair ball stuck in his throat. And he wakes us up in the middle of the night to pat his back. (Kind of like a little kid.) After a few pats he's back to normal and sleeps with us in bed.

As I was working this week I decided to change my background on my desktop because I hadn't in a while. I stumbled upon this picture:



Aesop is so teeny tiny next to Cognac! Now he's as big or bigger. :)

In this picture you can see the difference:



He's a monster!

And here's another picture of Ace:



(Sorry for their poor quality. They are from my phone.)

Brian and I have been on the go so much that I haven't had time to use my Canon at all. :(

And now we're gearin' up for the holidays... I promise I'll update more!

I Will Never Buy Pasta Salad Again

This weekend, I thought I'd take another whack at this pasta recipe that my cousin, Addie, gave me. My first attempt had failed. I tweaked the recipe and was pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients:
Pasta
Feta Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Italian Dressing
Small Tomatoes

As the pasta was boiling, I chopped up the tomatoes and cheddar cheese (cheese not pictured).



When the pasta was done, I drained it and rinsed it in cool water. Then I combined all of the ingredients.





After a taste test, I felt that it was a little too zesty, so, I added a little bit of ranch dressing to make it creamier. It was amazing.

It's Official! Happy Birthday, Aesop!

Well, Aesop is a one year old!

He went to the vet this Wednesday. He is still feline leukemia positive. I wasn't too happy about the results. Aesop is a whopping 11 pounds, though. (His "big" brother that passed away was only 6 pounds at 16 months old.) The vet said that he had a very strong heart and a good set of lungs. She said to just keep an eye on him. She said he's really healthy considering he's fe leuk positive.

We still aren't sure how much longer he'll be left in our lives, but we're enjoying every minute with him.

... Even when he wakes us up at 4:00 in the morning to "party."






But he's just too precious.

For now, we're just going to continue him on his viralys medicine and keep him active.