There have been many changes since my last update. 

First, the good - I brought Sophie home in July 2015. 

She is a prapso shihtzu and she's bossy, moody, adorably cute and loving.

 Mocha passed away in 2016 after a long battle with heart disease. Mocha made it to 14 years old. She was so strong, so determined, had such strong preferences, and she was my little shadow. You can see in this picture how tired she was. It is one of the last pictures I took of her on the day Lap of Love came to help her cross over. I miss her little snorts and fast wagging tail when I would talk to her. Though it's been a few years since her passing, I still think of her and all of her past playmates. It's so hard losing our fubabies.

 Rodney (aka Boyfriend and only male dog) passed away in July 2019 after a battle with Cushings which ended in cancer. He was so bonded to my dad and my dad so bonded to him. He was jerky, funny, sweet, and a good friendly boy. I miss him trying to dart past us to run outside and how he wanted his spot on the couch and if you were there, he would make you move!! He was a funny boy. I always told him he was friendly, nice and good...and sometimes a jerkdog. He is so missed.

 Last night I said goodnight to Bella. This blog started off as "Bella's Photoblog" but as I adopted more puppies I changed it to incorporate all. Last week Bella stopped eating and turned out she had kidney failure. I can't think of anything she got into or why this happened. She stayed at the vet since last Tuesday night and she was getting progressively worse. Treatment was not working. She was not eating. When I touched her I could tell she was in pain. Her breathing started to labor and I decided to not allow her to suffer. She went so quickly. I am going to miss how I would come home and hear her loud cry for me, wailing above all the other dogs and when I got closer she would run away. She was so bonded to me. Watched me wherever I would go. Would lay next to me on the couch. She would hold her pee and do one long "Lake Bella". Her leg would move every time I called her name and sang her song to her. She was such a funny dog in her own special way. She loved pill pockets, bananas, chicken, toys, and her playmates, especially her sister, Callie. Bella just turned 11 years old in October. Not enough time with this beautiful soul. I will love and miss you forever, Bella... Dippy do... dadadeeedadeedadardar....

Happy 7th Birthday to Callie & Bella!!!

RIP My Sweet Taffy

We had been treating Taffy's eye ulcer and infection with better success for a period of three and a half weeks and during that time I was also giving her subq fluids. She became very depressed, stopped eating, and was very woozy on her feet. I thought maybe the eye infection had drained her but when the vet ran blood work it was off the charts. How it had gone from stable (and a little bit improved on March 28 to off the charts almost a month later I do not know. When she stopped eating she spent the night at the hospital and was given fluids for 24 hours. I began syringe feeding her and while she would let me do it, she also was not happy. She was just so tired, so weak. I knew there was nothing more I could do for her and while I could keep her going for me I knew it wasn't fair to her. I kept Boy Kitty alive much longer than I should have because I could not let him go and I vowed never to do it again. On April 28, 2015, my mother, aunt and myself spent some time with her before she was given those two peaceful shots. I held her. I cried. I couldn't let her physically go. It's been so very hard. I have not adjusted to life without her. I still look for her. I still cry. Her bed is still in my car.

Tonight is a Monday Evening Candle Lighting Ceremony at petloss.com and I will be participating, My friend gave me a memorial candle on Thursday that had the information with it. I paid for a permanent tribute for Taffy.

I just miss her so much.

Senior Dogs Diagnosed with Heart Failure & Stage 4 Kidney Disease, One middle-aged with Pancreatitis

Haven't updated in a long time and since that time I adopted a Shih Tzu (Prapso) puppy that I named Sophie. That totals 9 little dogs under one roof. Crazy and yet, fun. Sophie is sweet, sassy, bossy, aggressive, and loves to play with everyone. She jumped right into the pack and if my observations are correct, she is becoming the new pack leader.





My two senior girls, both 13 years old, are dealing with terminal diseases....
Taffy, chihuahua, was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease late last year. With a change in diet to Royal Canin Renal Support LP Modified and half tablet daily of Enalapril Maleate. Her 4 month recheck showed that her improved slightly and also stayed steady in other values. However, she developed conjunctivitis and has been depressed lately. The vet wants to see her again tomorrow to rule out an eye ulcer.

Mocha was diagnosed with heart failure about 3 weeks ago after I woke up one Sunday to her pacing and panting. This is not Mocha. Mocha has arthritis in her hips and she doesn't stand up for a long time. I waited a few hours, thought maybe she was just being weird, and then after she didn't stop, I google pacing and panting. I took her to my vet who told me right off she had a heart murmur and after x-ray she has an enlarged heart. Mocha gets stressed really easily and will turn blood when handled the wrong way. Thought this was because of the collapsed trachea but after reading more, maybe it was early signs of heart failure that went undiagnosed for years. I don't know. Anyway, my vet told me to take her to the emergency vet right away because they could keep her in an oxygen cage and also run tests my vet did not have. So we went. I thought I was going to lose her that night but she is hanging in there. The emergency vet kept her overnight, did another xray, but referred me to a cardiologist. I was lucky enough to get an appointment the next day and that's is when I learned that she has "Chronic degenerative valve disease causing moderate mitral regurgitation. Suspect ruptured chordae tendinae. Mild pulmonary arterial hypertension." She gets Lasix twice daily and Pemobendin twice daily. I noticed she was sort of back to normal two days later.

She's been doing good since beginning of treatment but seems a bit less interested in food.... even tempting her with chicken doesn't always do it. She doesn't turn away treats though so I am not sure what is going on. All day today she has had runny diarrhea. I am going to make some rice and see if I can get her to eat that and some more chicken.

 Here is a pic of Bella, Callie, and Annie... all are doing well!!! (knock on wood!)

Last year, all of my dogs got sick... either bad bag of dog food or a bacteria or viral infection that went through them all. One day I came home from work and there was vomit, diarrhea, pee, blood everywhere! I didn't know who was sick! As I was cleaning up, I saw that Lucy was pooping blood and I brought her to my vet. She had a 105 fever and they told me to take her to the emergency vet because they needed to get that fever down. Lucy was diagnosed with pancreatitis and changed the food over to Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal Low Fat. Everyone (except Taffy) eats that now and really like it. Some of the dogs have shed some weight too. Lucy has not had another flare-up since then.

Happy Birthday, Annie!

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!!!

I chose May 12 as Annie's birthday. I rescued Annie in November 2010 and the rescue had estimated her to be about 18 months old at the time they advertised her adoption.

Annie is the sweetest and nicest puppy. She loves to play with her toys and her fursiblings... and she loves cookie time. She is always close by me and only a cuddle bug at night. When I sneeze (or anyone else for that matter) she races to me to see if I am OK. She likes to sniff close to my face and then blow back. There are so many wonderful things I could say about her... she is just pure love!!! I am so happy to have her with me.

Happy 5th Birthday, Annie. <3 p="">

Callie & Bella's 5th Birthday!

October 8, 2008 Callie & Bella were born and soon after given to a rescue organization. I saw Callie's picture on Petfinder.com and KNEW she was my dog. However, the rescue organization approved a couple to adopt her. I was crushed but happy when they offered Callie's littermate to me. For a few months, Callie & Bella were separated, living in separate homes. For some reason, I periodically checked the rescue orgs website, maybe because I thought Bella could use a friend as she was a very active puppy. One day, I saw Callie's picture on the site. I was so excited! There she is! My dog! A little older, but still that spunky face. I called the rescue org to inquire (not even a care as to why she was returned) and short story shorter, I made the 3.5 hour trip to bring my baby home and reunite her with her sister in March 2009. I cannot imagine my life without them for they fill me so much happiness, joy, and love every single day. I love them to pieces (and my other furkiddos too)!

Bella & Callie's 4th Birthday!