Ethel isn't doing so well

Ethel Mae Teresa Casey turned 12 years old June 28. Her slightly younger step sister, Lucy Onnie Casey, the little black pork roll on the left, turns 12 October 17th. They are "Senior" dogs, but they are both still full of love and affection for us. One of Ethel's ears just can't seem to stay clear of infection, no matter what we do. The tissue is so inflamed it is blocking any attempts by her body to discharge what's in there, and making it difficult to get much needed medicine in where it can have effect. Surgery at the age of 12 is very high risk, and the odds are against here. She runs around, plays, and seems as happy as ever, but how can you tell if she is pain?

So the Vet gave her a Prednisone shot, and she's on ear drops and meds, that I administered before I left for work at 5 AM. We love her, and we want her to have a quality life. I'm really not ready yet to consider the bad options.

The Dog days of summer....At our House

Lucy (black) and Ethel (Brown and White) are on the porch, and wearing their invisible fence collars. Unfortunately for Sally, sitting out on the first part of the Sidewalk, No level of electric shock therapy deters her from leaving the yard, so she gets a safety line. I hate it, but it keeps her in the yard and out of the street. Is it Cruel? I don't think so, it keeps her safe, and lets her run full tilt in almost a 100 foot circle, so I think it is the best solution to a bad problem.

Here they sit, shaded to some extent, in a 90 degrees + day while I assemble a hammock in the sun at Noontime. It's a dog's life, isn't it?

A weekend without Dogs...and I miss them

Sally Ann Casey, Springer/Cocker Mix, gives me her "Pitiful Face"

I dropped the three puppy girls off at the Shady Rest kennel near Seipstown Thursday Night, knowing I would pick them up on Monday afternoon. It is a nice break from my "parenting" duties, because taking them to the shore would mean constant barking, and middle of the night walks, because there is no invisible fence down there, and no fence on any of the properties. We are responsible dog owners, we clean up after our dogs, and nothing irks me quite as much as when I'm walking our dogs and we stumble across, or into, a mess someone else didn't bother picking up. Dogs are now permanently banned from Cape May Point's beaches, because of a few ignorant people. That's a shame, because in the wintertime the beaches were deserted, and letting the dogs run was something they enjoyed.

I miss my dogs. It is too quiet without them. I know, Quiet is a good thing, but this is too quiet. We call Sally "Bubba" a nickname for Beelzebub, because she likes to run circles in the yard as if possessed as fast as she can. I could go for a good look of pitiful from our Bubba right now, but I'll survive.

It's been 6 years May 9th..

Ethel Turns Twelve June 26th, here she is "BEFORE" her bath.

Since I took my buddy Fred to the Vet, and had his suffering ended. Fred was 17 years old. In human comparison, That is somewhere between 119 and 113 years old. His pain was no longer hidden.

Ethel and Lucy will both turn twelve later this year. That puts them on the far side of 80 in human years. I am not looking forward to that day when they are obviously suffering, and there is no remedy left.

Ethel Mae Teresa Louisa Casey... Before the Bath

She will be 12 years old on June 26th. Her sight isn't that great, and she is deaf as a board, but there is so much love in her heart for my wife and I that we spare no expense for her care.
Her coat is incredibly soft, so much so that when our then 5 year old niece Tessa first touched her, she called her "Snuffalofagus" and the nickname "Snuffy" stuck to her.

Snuffy was supposed to get a bath and grooming a few weeks back, but we had to delay it due to an uncommonly virulent ear infection. Snuffy, like many dogs, has a favorite thing to do when she is let loose inside our invisible fence protected yard. Snuffy runs to the nearest, and freshest pile of deer/fox/possom/skunk/rabbit poop she can find, and rolls in it.
Ah, the fragrance! Many dog books I have read tell me that she is instinctively trying to disguise herself from the other residents of the neighborhood.
The thing is, sometimes she works that dung into her ears, with not so good health repercussions. That's what happened this spring. She was on antibiotics for three weeks, and twice a day ear cleanings with a medicated solution for twice as long. So the risk of having her get groomed and water in her ears was too great, so we put it off. But now she's all better, and it's off to the groomer's for her and her little black sisters, Lucy and Sally!
I'll put a picture up right afterwards, so you can see what a real lady Snuffy is.

Ethel's ear infection is back, Sally's hair is badly matted, and Lucy? She's keeping her Food Bowl safe from any and all Interlopers!

Ethel's right ear was seeping goo that smelled so horrible I had to take her to the Vet. The cost was $317.+ Three days later the vet called, says the analysis of what was in Ethel's ear was pretty dire, and I drove over and picked up $43.00 worth of Meds. That put Ethel's Medical expenses since January 1st over $600.

Then there's Lucy and her Tumors. $280 for her first diagnosis and her shots, and another $876 for her surgery and aftercare. That's $1156+ for my Toodlebug. Those two dogs together were almost $1800 dollars. How about managed Care for Pets?

Question: Do I love my Dogs?

Answer: What do you think?

Now Sally needs a haircut, and the only way for anyone to survive it, is to sedate Sally.

God help me.

Lucy Survives her Surgery!

I'm looking forward to seeing my lollydawdling Lucy today. "Lollydawdling" is a word I made up to describe her, combining "lollygagging" and "Dawdling". I like the alliteration of it.
I made that word up to perfectly describe a dog who sets her own schedule when it comes to life in our home. She had surgery to remove three tumors last Thursday, and today she comes home. I missed my little black shadow.

Lucy, (Or Loodely Doodles as we call her) has a few health issues.

I took Lucy to the Vet, and we discovered that besides the large growth of fatty tissue on her chest under her collar, and the unsightly red splotch below her left eye, she has two other other tumors, one in the "armpit" under her front left leg, and another back near a nipple.

Preliminary testing shows them to be benign, but we are going to play it safe and schedule precautionary procedures and have them removed and biopsied. Yes, it is an expense to consider for an 11 year old dog, but she's a better friend than many people I have had the pleasure or displeasure to know, so I feel she's worth it.