Loads of work in progress & dog on the mend

sweetpea butter fly designed by Huib Petersen

I've been doing just what I try to avoid - working on multiple projects at the same time.  My life outside of beading is filled with half finished project and things I can't quite get going so I love focusing on weaving a piece and seeing it through to the end, then starting a new one.  I need that boost I get from a sense of accomplishment upon completion.  Here are a two of the many pieces hanging about:

drop three peyote tube beads with a messy wrapped loop - only 12 more tubes to wrap

Coltrane has also been making strides.  He picked up a toy and brought it over to play, he started doing more steps, both up and down, he rolled onto his back in a stinky spot, and he is cleaning himself again!  It took ten days on all his drugs to get him this far.  He is on the taper down side of his prednisone and has 20 more days, and has 12 more days of antibiotics.  The poor guy was 28.6 lbs. on March 21st and only 26.6 lbs. on Friday. I started giving him some little snacks during the day and in the evening after dinner which seem to be giving him a little more energy.  He is is particularly fond of yogurt, corn tortillas (actual tortillas - not chips so there is no salt), and anything with peanut butter.

Mingus (red) sharing the couch with Coltrane (black) for a nap

Coltrane update

I'm sleeping - go away

Coltrane is doing much better this week.  He had his last seizure on March 28th, his 8th birthday, and finally went on medication.  The radiologists at UF vet school decided that the hydrocephalus was probably an active process so we began treating him for a brain infection.  Still, no one seems to know what sort of infection he has.

Of all the tests he received, everything from blood work, to CTs, to MRI's, and a spinal tap, the only thing which every showed up anything but normal were the images on the MRIs.  They revealed the hydrocephalus and two areas of his brain with problems.  We spent a week waiting for spinal tap results which we hoped would show if he had an infection or autoimmune/inflammatory disease.  Each test came back negative.  Finally he wasn't making enough progress and had his birthday seizure so the vet neurologist put him on prednisone and an antibiotic.  He is still taking thiamine (B1) and he gets a Pepsid AD to make sure all this stays down.  

Lots of pills!  The crazy little boy comes trotting in the room each time he hears the pill bottles rattle.  He wants peanut butter.  I really don't have to put much on each pill and he gobbles/sucks it down.  The fastest he moves all day is at feeding and pill time.

Coltrane & Mingus

He is walking much better. He is much more sure-footed and can walk a bit faster and even trot.  This week he started jumping up on all the furniture again and going down stairs sometimes, but he still doesn't want to go  up stairs.  His hind end seems to be a bit weak still and we think he may still have a vision problem.  To help him out I shaved the fur from the bottoms of his paws.  He had some big tufts growing between his pads and I thought this might make him lose traction on the wood floors.  He really didn't like the shaver at all, but it was Mingus who ran around barking and barking while I worked on Cole.  When I was done Cole grabbed Ming's leg and pulled to try to bother him into playing.  They had a great time playing much like they used to play.

I'm hopeful that he will recover.  Right now I'm concerned that when he comes off the meds the problem will come back.  For now, he still has almost two weeks of antibiotics and something like 22 days of prednisone so I will put off any serious worrying until then.

Sick Dog

Coltrane and his hedgie

I've been absent from everything for over a week because Coltrane is sick.  To make a longish story short, our local vet did not know what was wrong with him and made an appointment for us at The University of Florida Vet School's Small Animal Hospital.  We were in Gainesville, Florida last Wednesday and Thursday.  Coltrane was seen by a neurologist and got every possible test from CT scans to MRI's to a spinal tap.  I think my dog got more attentive care than I have ever received. 

He has some as yet unknown brain disease.  It may be an infection or it may be inflammatory/autoimmune.  The initial results from the spinal tap did not reveal the cause so we are waiting for more results this coming week.  Right now he is being treated for another possibility - thiamine deficiency.

The little guy is in sorry shape, but we have had some glimmers of hope.  Yesterday he played with us.  He had no interest or even enough balance and awareness to do this all week.  I have a couple little dreams - to see Coltrane play with his toys again and to take him for a well-visit to the UF vet school.  Still, some of the results we are waiting for could be deadly.  My mom put it well when she said, "it is kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop as you do the best with the shoe you have."

Who wrote about glucosamine for dogs?

Perhaps one of you remembers a beader who recently wrote about glucosamine and another powdered dog suppliment which she has been giving her dog with great results.  Just after I saw that post, I noticed my little one, Coltrane, starting to show signs of arthritis.  For the life of me I can't locate that blog post.  Maybe you can point me in the right direction.

We want him to keep hopping around like a circus dog

the master of cuteness with his hedgie

Super Cole with his big brother Mingus in the background

Coltrane loves Lulu

Coltrane is the fuzzy little bunny butt on the right.  Lulu is my neighbor's Boston terrier.  You can't tell from this end, but she has one brown eye and one blue eye.  Coltrane and Lulu are almost exactly the same age and he has loved her since they were puppies.  They run and roll and frolic. Lulu is a frenetic ball of energy; she zooms around wheezing and snorting, and even when she is standing in one spot, she seems to be in motion.  Mingus, the red one below, doesn't quite know what to make of the little whirlwind of a dog, but he enjoys the game.

Lulu followed us on our morning walk.  When we got home she came in for some water and dog wrestling.