The End.

As I am writing this last entry in Gambit and Gaby's blog, Gaby is lying beside me on the kitchen floor where we spent thousands of mornings before. Me at the computer and Gaby on the floor. One of the things I love about my Goldens are that they are great to hang out with. Especially doing morning computer work. Usually, I munch on a pop tart and give the corners to the dogs. This morning I have no pop tarts left.

It's 7:54am and we have an appointment at 9:00am to have Gaby put to sleep.

The lymphoma didn't get Gaby but a bladder tumor did. About 3 weeks ago she started squatting a lot during her pee times. We took her to the vet, put her on antibiotics, had an XRay and nothing showed up. We thought she had a stone or an infection. No such luck for Gaby.

An ultrasound showed she had a tumor on her bladder that had progressed to blocking the neck of her bladder causing herself not to be able to pee normally. We tried medication but it didn't work and we won't put her through another surgery.

This is Monday morning and Friday night she started a fast downhill slide. Saturday or Sunday she did not eat or drink at all. Sometime over the weekend we decided Monday morning to have her put down. It's an easy decision but a hard one. I don't want to take her in but I have to. Jennifer and I will both take her and hold her close as she takes her last breath. We will remember both of our Goldens as they gave us so much. It's the end of our Golden era but we will look forward to our next doggies.

Peace on earth - We love you Brother and Sissy.

The end.

Long, overdue update on Gaby

It's been since the end of April since I have updated everyone on Gaby's status. I was just sitting here with Jennifer commenting on it has been that long since Gaby's last seizure. Of course, everytime she moves funny I freak out and that happens a few times a day so it is not like I forget what happened.

Gaby is tolerating the double dose of Pheno fairly well but there is very noticeable differences. For one, she doesn't play with her toys anymore which makes me very sad. It was awesome when she came in the front door, saw Ducky on the floor, and pounced down on it and grabbed it in her mouth. She has chewed on a few sticks (matter of fact she must have known that I was writing about her because she just came up beside me for some pets!).

The second difference is her increased panting and drooling. This has a side effect of putting a nasty funk around her muzzle that we have to wash off fairly often.

The last is that she is very sedate and dopey which is expected I guess with 4 Pheno pills per day.

But, her quality of life is very good and she seems happy. She has taken to looking for the wild bunny rabbits that have built a home in our yard - she will try to give chase but the rabbits know that she will never catch them.

I am very thankful for the extra time that we have had with her. She is the best girl.

Gaby's seizure update.

After the initial mild seizure on Tuesday, we went to the Vets. Dr. B gave her a Dex shot and sent us with some medication for emergency. After we got home Gaby had another seizure. We called Dr. B at home (that is what is nice about her is that she gave us her cell #) and she told us to double her pheno dose. That seemed to help alot. Not another one since.

She is getting better and back to her old self. Her appetite sure didn't suffer!

Gaby had a mild seizure this morning...

This could be the first seizure that Gaby has had since beginning of February however we really don't ever know. I was on my way to work and Jennifer called me to tell me. Good news is that this time she didn't defecate or urinate on herself. Less severe than last time. Dr. B told us that the seizures will get worse when things start to go downhill. God, give Gaby a kiss for me.

Gaby and Juno

James, I hope that is how to spell her name! I'll change it later if it's not. anyway, we are going over to the April birthday bash at the Link's house in Fuquay tomorrow and Gaby is going to see her cousing Juno. I have some video of them together that I will post here or YouTube.

Here is the video:

Here is another:

Gaby has been doing great!

Gaby is a real tough broad! She has gotten over the effects of the Pheno after about 5 days, like our web research showed. We were very nervous at first as Gaby was very, very sedate. I questioned whether we should be putting her through another round of drugs. I just can't let go of her. However, we decided that this is the last round of anything. The next thing will be when we say goodbye to our little girl. She has been the best dog, along with Gambit, that we could ever ask for. Her and Gambit were great brother and sister.

But, we have some time with her now and I have been spending a lot of good time with her.

Gaby had 2 seizures over the weekend.

Today is Monday morning, the first Monday after Gaby had 2 seizures. We had high hopes for that weekend - highs were supposed to be in the 70's, sunny and beautiful. I have been putting alot of computer work into my security thing and school work so I was looking forward to working in the yard, hanging out with my family and enjoying the nice weather.

The weekend didn't even get started.

Friday night, February 6th 8pm. We were 1/2 way into the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie. I was sitting in the recliner and Jennifer was sitting on the sofa, Gaby was laying on the hardwood floor just behind me. Jennifer shouted "What's wrong with Gaby?". I looked over and saw one of the most awful sights i had ever seen. Gaby was having a seizure. She was convulsing but looking back, it was good she was lying down. I freaked out but Jennifer went into machine mode. I thought she was going to die but then found out seizures are rarely fatal in canines. She lasted about 2 minutes and at the end it seemed that she was choking on her tongue. We tried to call the vets but got the after hours clinic. Gaby used the bathroom on the floor so as I cleaned it and her up, Jennifer was comforting Gaby. She seemed to be a little blind and very disoriented after the incident. 30-45 minutes later, I took her outside and she seemed to be fine. She did pace nervously about for the rest of the night. We went to bed and she didn't have another incident during the night.

We waited until the next morning. Dr. B had answered my email and called our home phone. We talked about the alternatives and situations involved with canine seizures. Dr. B mentioned as I did that the fact Gaby had a seizure was suprising. Never thought it would happen in a million years. Dr. B said just to keep an eye on her and don't need to come into the office unless she has another seizure or clusters. Note: cluster seizures are defined as more than 1 seizure in a 24 hour period.

Well, at 11am, Gaby had another seizure. This one was not as bad or as long as the Friday night episode. She looked a little funny, drooled a lot during the seizure and of course used the bathroom on the floor again.

We called Dr. B in a panic and Thank God Dr. B was in the office as we and Gaby are very comfortable with her which is a Godsend when you are freaked out. We went in, did some tests, some neuro physical tests, eye tests, etc. Everything looked ok, Gaby was fine. So, we decided to go with Phenobarbital 2 times a day. Dr. B told us that Pheno takes up to 4 weeks to level off in blood for canines so it would be some time before the Pheno takes effect.

Good news is that so far, it has been 47 hours since Gaby's last seizure. But, I look at her every minute, anxious and watching for any sign of another one. I'll probably be on pins and needles for awhile.