Pip's little sister went for an operation last Friday. We hope she's healing beautifully. We have our paws and fingers all crossed for you. Our thoughts are with you Pip and Kristin.


We finally got around the scare and the scary and found a certain balance in our lives again.

I had a scare one morning last week. Waking up and moving over to Dom's chair, i looked at him and he didn't move. Usually when i wake in the morning, he will be all ready to go for a leak. But here i am looking at him and he didn't move a muscle. I put my hand over to his chest to check. Suddenly he jumped up startled. He was just in deep sleep. Very very deep sleep. It must have been the medicines.

A day later, i found him a bit wobbly and didn't quite use his left hind leg. It got worse and he started to hobble around and lie down most of the time. That got us worried and we were off to the vet again last Thursday.

The vet checked all his legs and was bending it here and there just to make sure he didn't sprained it. Then he made Dom walked here and there to see his gait. It turned out he became anaemic from not eating properly. Poor nutrition.

He hasn't been eating his kibs for the past 2 weeks.. or so. Ever since he was sick, he stopped eating his kibs. He has been very choosy about his food lately.. and still needs to be handfed. I think he's beginning to like the idea of being handfed.


Eating just chicken breast without the normal nutrition from his kibs is just not enough. The minerals that are contained in his kibs are just not found in just chicken. The past week has been a bit of a topsy turvy as each day, we struggled to force him to eat something... and trying to come up with new ideas for food for him. At one time, i even started to beg him to eat. He seem to understand and took a few more mouthfuls.

The vet advised that if he really does not eat, give him some essence of chicken... or an egg.. or something. We got to keep him eating else he'll be wobbly. When he's anaemic, he does not feel like eating at all. Lethargy and he just lies down the whole day.


Then we cooked a pot of chicken... added some carrots.. peas... potatoes... and sweet potatoes. We mix some up with an egg... with some flour and oats.. and we have meat patties. Meat patties go into the oven for a crunchy feel and he seem to like that. My sister suggested i put some of his kibs into the mixture too and we have meat patties + kibs included. He ate some of that too.


We made some progress these few days. He is not limping anymore and seem to have more energy. He's even eager for a walk. We had a short slow walk yesterday around the neighbourhood and he was so happy to get out there for his mails. We can't do long walks at the moment as we do not want to stress his heart. We are being careful and am scared.

His lungs are much clearer and he is without fever now. The medicines did help but his enlarged heart will always be enlarged.

We had a long talk with the vet... and dad asked the vet a lot of questions. Even the ones that i didn't want to know. The vet said, if we are lucky, we'll probably get 2 more years with Dom. He was quick to add that his own dog survived 4 more years after his dog was diagnosed with a heart condition. We can't really know. It will probably get a bit worse in the end and some of his organs will give way slowly. But for today, we'll just have to be happy and be thankful for another day well spent.

What we must know is that we cannot stress him too much. He'll just be like an old guy taking it easy now. With love and lots of care, he'll probably outlive me :)

We have a lot of people praying for him everyday. Thank you all so much. He is so loved by so many.

"We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our own,
live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the necessary plan."
~ Irving Townsend

17 woofs:

Spiffy said...

Urmmm Dommy, if you don't want those meat patties, you can posraju them here, I'll eat them for ya ... hahaha!

Get real well soon buddy!

Anonymous said...

Bless every moment he is with u...

Stormy..

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

He is very fragile. You've come up with some original ideas for feeding him...that's great. Let's hope he gets stronger so you can enjoy him longer.

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

houndstooth said...

Dom, quit scaring your mom! When our senior dogs get finicky about eating their food, we've found that adding in something that has a strong smell can motivate them to eat. We even tried liverwurst at times! They sure like to keep us on our toes.

BloggerCats said...

oohh... hope everyone will feel better soon.. no fun when one of our family member is sick ... get well soon all!!!

Marg said...

Gosh Dom, we didn't know you were so sick. Sorry we haven't been by to visit. That concoction sure sound yummy. Even our Mom was drooling over that mixture. It looks great. Take care Dom and take it easy. We have a kitty that has heart problems and she has to take lasix twice a day.

Sandee said...

You are doing everything that is possible to make sure he's having a good life too. Good for you.

Have a terrific day and you all remain in my thoughts and prayers. :)

yuki and rocket said...

Oh dommy, at least your fever is gone. Your moms sister gave her good advice about mixing in food, that's what mom does for me when I don't want to eat my kibble. One time she added a few teaspoons of hamburger meat, making sure she mixed it with her hands to let the juices soak in to the kibble, once she even added the hot broth from her ramen to my kibble...yummy! we will all be praying for you, because even though two more years is very long for a dog...it' not for them humans, you need lots more years cuz mom needs you!

yuki and rocket

p.s. mom says thanks for all the updates, she knows it's painful to have to write-but she wonders a lot about how dommy is doing.

georgia little pea said...

dear Anny,

i'm so sorry about Dom. i feel awful to have missed reading about his heart troubles and your night vigil. it's been a long and busy blog-less month for me.

i hope Dom is now more stable. it sounds like he may be. i know how sad and frightened you must be at this sudden turn in his health. 9 is not old for a littledog. it's just middle age. they can live to 15 and more quite easily (at least the ones here do). he may yet be your companion for many more years if his heart trouble can be contained.

my thoughts are with you both. take care Anny, and give the little one a big hug for me. much love xox

The Daily Pip said...

Oh Dommy, please eat (or I will have to come over and eat for you). I am glad your lungs are clearer and fever is gone.

Live every day and enjoy every moment. I think this is an important lesson for all of us. We are doing the same thing with Sweet Pea. We will continue to keep our paws crossed for our special pal, Dommy.

Your pal, Pip

Chicco said...

Oh dear Dommy,
I'm so sorry to hear about your fragile health. I hope that you'll be better soon so you can live for more years. But don't think about this: you have only know that you have a great family that love you so much and take care of you every day. They gave you the love and the power for go on. You're in my thoughts and in my prayers. because we love you so much, and we don't lose a so special friend like you.
Have a nice week.
Woof, woof,

Chicco

Bailey Be Good! said...

Sending lotsa puppy hugs your way!

Have a happy Monday!

Woofs & hugs <3,

~Bailey (Yep, I'm a girl!)

sprinkles said...

I'm glad all seems to be well with Maddy. I know that Pips is taking excellent care of her.

My boys LOVE to be hand-fed. I don't do it very often though.

I'm glad to hear that Dom is eating a little more now and I hope that he continues to do so. It's so hard to watch our pets in failing health.

Just appreciate all the time you have with him, as I know you will. I'll keep Dom in my prayers.

Ann said...

I'm not going to let Duke see what Dom is getting to eat now or he'll be wanting his own gourmet meals.
Dom be a good boy and eat for your mom and stop scaring her. We're thinking of you.

the booker man said...

dommy,

i think we need to have a speed eatin' contest so you will eat up all your noms! i know you can't turn down a good competition!! besides, those chicken 'n veggie 'n kibs patties look sooooo goooood. pretty please eat them up so you will stop havin' the wobblies!
we love you lots and want you around for 50 gazillion more years!

*woof*
the booker man

Happy.Bark.Days said...

Good on you for not giving up when it comes to feeding the Dom-ster! As challenging as it can be, ensuring that Dommy gets the strength he needs from his meals is a necessity. It's wonderful to read about the innovative recipes that you guys are coming up. I'm pretty sure Dommy appreciates your efforts, and hopes that you'll continue to work your magic in the kitchen!

Jon Terry said...

Yes, we are to enjoy every moment we have and of all knowing that we must all live to fulfill our purpose. Keep your spirits up and live life to it's fullest each and every day :)
My dear friend, take it one step at a time as we are praying for you all.

Take care

Love ya,
Jon Terry & Kim

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