Dakota Moon Twenty

We helped Dakota to the Rainbow Bridge earlier this evening. She simply could not overcome the damage done by the kidney failure.

Dakota Moon Twenty

September 13, 1999 - November 16, 2009

Our hearts are broken, but will heal. Godspeed my baby girl. We'll see you again someday.

Thank you all for your love and well wishes over the past several days. Dakota knew she was loved by many.

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dakota update

Hello to all of our friends.
Dakota did not respond well to the IV fluid therapy, and we decided that we would bring her home so that we could love and comfort her. She doesn't have much of an appetite, and we are doing what we can to encourage her to eat and drink. She's weak, but she is interacting with the family and interested in her surroundings.
We've done what we can for her medically, without subjecting her to even more time being poked and prodded, not to mention away from home.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Dakota's family

Update

For the past several months, we've mentioned from time to time that Dakota was diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure earlier this year. She had done quite well, maintaining the best blood levels and her weight. As little as six weeks ago, she was still good.

On Wednesday of last week. She seemed a bit out of sorts. We went to bed early, and in the wee hours, she fell off the bed. She took a bit to come out of the fall - concerning since she has a history of seizures as well - so I took her to her vets first thing Thursday morning.

A review of the blood work showed a dramatic increase in the blood levels that we were monitoring. She was started on IV fluid therapy, and has been in the hospital since Thursday morning. We were very hopeful that this would go a long way toward getting her back to the maintenance status we had enjoyed, and until earlier today, it looked like it would do so.

I heard from the emergency vet a little bit ago, that they had decreased her IV intake as a result of a concern about weight gain (about 2.6 pounds since Friday evening). Today's blood work showed an increase in certain blood levels, as well as an increase in the calcium level, something we had not seen prior to this. They have given her a light sedative, and have inserted a catheter to help us measure the input and output. She will go back to her vet tomorrow for further evaluation.

For now, we are trying very hard to keep a positive outlook, and hope and pray that we can have Dakota home with our family.

As we get more information, we'll share with you.

Dakota's Family,
The Mom, Momma Bev, Bandit, Sadie, Molly and Pedro the fish

Snow report!

There is none. That's my report.....................

But it is nice and breezy and about 60 degrees outside here. It's supposed to drop to the 40's tonight, which means I am going to squeeze in an evening nap, so I can get The Mom up two or three times tonight. She never knows if I have to potty or I am faking it to go outside!
All remains well here. Bandit is getting a bit slower, but he's still a big barking labbie. The new pup a few doors down was walking his people tonight, and Bandit started to bark as soon as he saw them. The pup seemed to want to walk across the street after that.
The Mom spent many hours in Molly's room yesterday. It's almost Colorfest time, which means my Nana will be here soon with donut holes! I can't wait. She brings us stuff when she comes, because she knows if we are eating or playing, we'll leave her yarn alone. She makes pup blankets and people blankets I'll have to get The Mom to drag out the flashy beast and get a picture for you. Bandit's blanket is particularly nice.
Yawn...... off to nap.

Home Improvement

Pups and kitties - remember these words. Home improvement. Now, if your people ever utter these words. Run. Pack your bowls, see if you can tuck the laptop in your puppacks and get OUT!

The Mom decided the home needed a little improvement. So, she hired this really nice guy to come in and do lots of stuff. He came in, and he put stuff everywhere! My stuff, stuff The Mom bought. Stuff I didn't even know we had. And they covered up the laptop! They covered up the door to get to the laptop! So I haven't been blogging. But, we now have...............

New counter tops for me to surf on - the new dark color really hides the paw prints!

Chilly square little tiles. Oh, they're in the bathroom, which is a NO DOGS ALLOWED room. So I'm not supposed to know this. Shhhhhh............ don't tell.

A new kitchen floor. I'm not sure about this though, our bowl slide a LOT.

Now, they did one or two things I didn't approve of............ like...................

Yeah. They took the doors out. On a rainy day. Rain in, the lovely cool air out.

Then she decided last week to paint my bedroom! I got ousted! I had to sleep in the hall! It was horrible, just horrible.

"My gosh, Bandit, the next thing you know, we'll have to sleep outside in the dog house!"

So pups, if they say 'home improvement' - run! Who knows what is next? My blankie redone?

A special request

Hi there all pups and kittys!
I apologize for not posting in a while, and I assure you it's The Mom's fault!!! But more later on this.
We just found out that next Wednesday, August 12 has been declared "Adopt a less than adoptable pet day!" by those folks at Petfinder!

What does that mean?

Well, did you know that big black dogs........ like Bandit!........ and senior dogs........... like ME! ......... are harder to find a good home for???? Well, we just need to put a stop to that. I assure you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a big galoot like Bandit or a delicate mature woman such as myself. WE MAKE VERY, VERY GOOD COMPANIONS!!! So, if you're thinking about another furbaby, think about taking a second look at a less than adoptable pet! You'll be awful glad you did.

Spring

I was laying around in the freshly mowed grass, making sure my nice white belly got a little of the green on it, and I thought, well, I haven't blogged in a while.
So here I am.
We got lots of questions about our last post, and yes, I can now confirm.
THERE'S ANOTHER STINKIN' CAT IN THE HOUSE!
Now, no offense to Huffle or any of the other kitties out there. I love you all. And I love you all because you don't live in my house!
Molly, the new cat, is staying with us while Momma Bev's dad is in a nursing home. See, Molly was his cat, and now he can't take care of her, so I have to take care of her. She's not furry nice. She's ok with The Mom, and she likes Mamma Bev too, but she does not like me or Bandit. She hisses, and she swats at us!
Is that any way for a guest to behave? I think not!
So, she lives in the 'guest' bedroom most of the time, and she comes out when The Mom works on her laptop or watches TV in my room.
I guess my readers want to know that I'm doing well with the kidney thing. I take pills, and I'm getting some tasty rice and chicken pretty much each meal. I even gained three pounds! My Dr is happy, and right now we're waiting for the latest test results to come back. I'll have to post when they are in.
Ok, so , that's the update.
Back to that nice newly mowed grass for me!

Wordless Wednesday

Charlie the Cockatiel

Sad news today. Charlie the Cockatiel, my very own bird in the house, went to the birdie bridge. He was furry old, 21 years!
The Mom and one of the kids adopted him about a decade ago, after his first owner had to go to a rehabilitation center. They also adopted Molly the Cockatiel - Charlie's birdie girlfriend - at the same time. Molly went to the birdie bridge some time ago.
While we are sad, we are also happy that he had many good years with us. The Mom hasn't been able to locate a picture of him yet, if she does, I'll post it.

Wordless Wednesday

Sadie, the sister cat in her sleepy basket.

NOT Sadie, but living in the guest room.............

In Every Pup's Life......

........there comes a time when they have to go to the vet! My time was a few weeks ago, and little did I know what it would bring.
See, The Mom thought that I needed a super duper teeth cleaning. She had just had her pearly whites all polished up, and she thought it was time that I mine all shined up too. So, as part of my senior visit, the vet agreed that it was time and they checked me out to make sure I was OK to sit in the dentists chair.
They snatched my blood!!!
Yup, they poked a sharp thing in and took my blood from me.
And they tested it.
After the test, The Mom and the vet decided that they would not make me sit in that chair after all.
It seems that while I'm all furry and fabulous outside, my insides aren't working as well as they could. My kidneys need some help. So, now, I'm taking pills. Not too bad, because they are wrapped in bread and jelly or some fake cheese. Oh, The Mom doesn't know that I know about the pills, I just humor her and eat them with the good stuff!
I'll be seeing the vet in a few weeks to get those kidneys checked out again. In the mean time, I'm keeping The Mom busy, making her get up, put me out. Let me in. Put me out. Let me in. You pups know the routine.
Just about time to go out again!

Wordless Wednesday

On being a puppy.......

Colby and the kid visited again. I have my doubts about this little guy. I mean, who lays like this? And naps?

Wow!

Over the past few days, since we aren't going outside much because of the stupid, stinkin' ice, I've been trying to catch up on friends blogs and visit new friends. Imagine my surprise when,

well, I figured out that I've been missing a lot!!!!

I got this award from Khyra! It's the Proximity award and I am quite honored that she shared it with me! Here's the text that came along with it:

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Wow! I'm honored to call Khyra and her mom friends and thank them for this. My eight will be coming up shortly!

The whole SMS gang received this one:

Those pups and kittys at SMS are some really great friends. I'd like to give this to my readers. If you leave a comment, I always go check out your blog, and I must say that each and every one of you deserves this! Blogging is such fun, and so many pups are so creative! Check them out!!!

And finally, this one comes from Khyra too!

In light of my recent kitty rescue, and because Khyra is one of my sister Husky girls, I'm giving it right back to Khyra. Thank you and your mom for being our furiends!!!

I'm a hero!

Yup. I know I shouldn't be wooing my own horn, but I'm a hero! The Mom told me so.

It's been furry cold here, and all of my wonderful snow has turned to ICE! It's so bad, that we have to go downstairs to go outside to potty - the deck steps are too icy for us to use. Last night, Bandit's Momma took us downstairs to put us outside.... and Sadie the cat snuck out with us!!!!! She's not an outside type of kitty, she's furry old (The Mom says she's 19 or 20 years old!!!) and she doesn't have good outside fur like I do. But she went outside and started to escape! I knew she wasn't supposed to be outside, so I chased her behind the woodpile, and kept her there until The Mom could get outside to get her. I got extra pets and even some livergreat for being a good big sister and helping The Mom get Sadie back inside where she belongs!

I guess this shoots my plans for HULA membership!!!!???

Mother Nature......

Finally got off her butt and dumped some snow in the Catoctin Mountains! Two lovely inches of the white stuff and more to come! Here I am outside enjoying the snow:

That's the only really exciting news I have. January is tough around here, The Mom is at work all the time and she's not spending enough time with me. I keep telling myself that someone needs to pay for the pup food, and it may as well be her! Even Bandit's momma is working right now. It sure was nice to have her home for a while...... sigh. We need to talk to her about that.

The Start of a New Year

Welcome to 2009!

2008 was quite busy. I'm guilty of often not getting enough time to blog and, just as important, not getting enough time to read blogs. I'm going to try to get to visit lots of new blogs this year.

I got to meet young nephew Colby over the holidays. Here's some pictures!

Here's Colby chewing on a stinky old tennis ball - note his brand new toy right next to him!

And here we are after opening presents on Christmas morning!

He's a little guy, only about 5 pounds. His head fits in my mouth! And I probably won't reveal how I know that. We get along OK, but he has some Sibe rules to learn before he comes again. Oh, and he still poops in the house. Apparently pooping under the Christmas tree is not what your humans consider leaving an appropriate present.

I think I'm going to squeeze in a nap before dinner! Blog at you soon!