A COLD night ahead....

...I am NOT looking forward to tonight!!  Audrey was out four times last night...tonight our temps are going to be around F I V E degrees!!  I've been sleeping in sweatpants so the trips outside aren't so bad, but tonight....I may have to sleep with my boots on too....or with a really L O N G extension cord attached to my electric blanket!!

Audrey didn't feel well yesterday - she did not seem to be in pain, just tired.  Hounds have really sad eyes, but when you know something is wrong, those sad eyes just about break your spirit.

She has felt well today - it was so cold that I threw some old bread out in the back yard for the crows---OH MY GOSH, Audrey could not stand it....every time we went out, she tried to make her way to the bread.  She has ME SO TRAINED.  She would beg to go out...not needing to potty....just wanted to check if the bread was still there and if she could side track me down that way.  Finally, I gave up...I went outside and threw it out in the woods so she could not see it from inside the house!!

I've tried a new method to deal with the unsettled time she has between 6 pm and 10 pm-----I read more about the types of food that are good for her to eat while receiving chemo.  I steamed chicken liver and pureed it and froze serving size portions...also boiled a few eggs and chopped them (with the shell) and froze serving size portions...bought some Greek yogurt with blueberries and some cottage cheese; around 5:30 or 6:00 ish I have been serving her some of those items, plus throughout the day I have been giving her snacks of these items.  The last three days it seems to have helped.  

The U.S. is in a "deep freeze" coldest temps in decades; for those people that are in areas of extreme cold, I hope you stay safe and if you use a portable heater, be extra careful!  I saw a funny joke today about snow.... a sign in the yard trying to sell "unassembled" snowmen!! lol

Stinky Farts.....

......SUPER stinky POOP!

Audrey's 3rd Chemotherapy Treatment

January 2, 2014

Off we go on a rainy, gray dreary day - Audrey headed out the door and immediately went to the door of the RV!  I would rather trek to the Vet in the RV; it would be so much more comfortable than my small car, but the Vet has a huge nice building and a crappy parking lot and it is always completely full of cars. I have trouble finding a parking spot for my car much less an RV!!  The first day I was there, a UPS truck was parked in front of the Vet's door and had traffic blocked all around that section of the lot.  Their parking spaces are so small, it is difficult to get your dog out of the car without opening your door into the car next to you.

Audrey was given Vincristine IV in her right front leg - same drug she was given on December 19.  It only takes about 20 minutes or less to administer.  They do a Complete Blood Count (CBC) prior to each treatment.  I asked for the results this time.  I wanted to see how her numbers were doing.  So far, all of her numbers are in normal ranges.  The Vet said Audrey is responding well to treatments and her lymph nodes are continuing to be small.  A victory.

Cost of this visit $178.45

We are settling into a routine at home.  During the night, three hours is the magic mark; she has to go out every three hours; except the one night when it was seven times.  She really does need to go!!  Once we are up for the day, she does a bit better. She has been having an "unsettled" time between about 6 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.  She wants food, she wants to go out every 30 or 40 minutes and she drinks lots of water.  I'm trying to find the balance.

In previous posts I've stressed how much water she drinks....how much is "a lot"?  About two gallons a day.... I need to keep a close watch on the water bowls in the house.  I used to have one of the big two gallon containers that gravity feed into the bowl....I also have a cat that thinks it's great fun to push that container all around the floor until he turns it over!!

I always bring water with me on our drive to the Vet.  As soon as we get parked, she is ready to drink and after the appointment she is ready for more.  Today she drank a 20 ounce bottle in those two servings.  When we got home and back into the house, she went straight to the water dish for more.

Her next appointment will be January 9th and she has to be there by 8:00 a.m. and most likely not be finished until around 2 or 3 p.m.  Apprehensive about this visit; this treatment is the "big" drug.  The traffic is our area is brutal in the mornings and I have about 35 miles to drive to the Vet.  Luckily, my daughter lives near the Vet office, so Audrey and I will spend the night with her.  She's a cat person...lol

I posted pictures the other day and I think I finally figured out how to make them appear directly in the feed rather than in an album...jury is still out on that... Soon I want to hunt up some of my pics from when Audrey was a puppy...what a cute little baby!  January 16th is her 5th birthday - afterward I'll post pictures of what we always do on our dog's birthday!!

I am new to blogging and still learning how this page works.  I finally found the "STATS" section and have been amazed where readers are coming from...lots of people from Malaysia....HI to you all and thank you for taking time out of your day to share mine...   : )

Pictures of Audrey

I love profile shots of Audrey; I like the rim light on the fur
along the ridge of her nose.

Sleeping in the wrapping paper mess on Christmas Day.

Audrey loves to open presents!

You can see the patch of fur
shaved where they performed
the bone marrow test.

 

Clarence and Harold - Two Great Dogs Named After Relatives

                                                   Clarence the Bloodhound - A Big Boy!

                                                Harold and his MAGNIFICENT ears!

Altering Our Lifestyle for Audrey

Altering our life to accommodate Audrey - She's a little pee-pot right now; we cannot leave her more than 2.5 - 3 hours at a time.  She's always been an indoor dog and we do not have a fence - she has to go in and out on a leash.  If she isn't on a leash, that Coonhound nose hits the ground, she catches a scent and off she goes.  

We had an engagement party to attend across town - just over an hour away - over an hour to get there and another hour or so to get back....all our time is up - no time to visit.  We took the RV !  In October I bought my first ever motorhome - used - 24 foot, "C" Class - still learning all the ins and outs....that's for another blog!!!  We loaded Audrey up, drove across town on a cold, pouring down rain evening - gave her a potty break when we got there; then she had a nice warm spacious area and her own doggie bed.  We came out and checked on her and gave her another potty break; stayed as long as we wanted and then made our way home.  Worked out beautifully.

Did the same thing a day later when it was our daughter's birthday.  We met at a restaurant, gave Audrey the potty breaks she needed and when it came time for cake and presents, we celebrated inside the motorhome!  

A not so easy fix - my husband loves to bowl and he bowls in the National Bowling Tournament every year. It is regularly held in Reno, NV and we love the area. We had plans to vacation in some of our favorite California spots after the tournament.  This year, husband will go solo and I'll stay home with Audrey.  She will be in the middle of treatments and we do not want to board her during this time.  She will be on a weekly treatment schedule - with a week break every 5th week.... just a bit too risky to take off on a 2,400 miles trip plus the dates he needs to be there are Spring dates and the weather in the Reno area that time of year is very erratic. 

I'm sure there will be lots of challenges to overcome along the way and we will do our best to win each one!

WHY....would you name a dog AUDREY?

My entire family is dog crazy....we simply love our dogs, they are part of the family.  If you were to listen in on a conversation, you would learn that we ask about each other's dogs just like we ask about our kids, aunts, uncles, cousins....we talk about memories from past pets we've had!!!

Rebones have been a part of my life....always....my Grandparents always had Redbones.  When my Grandmother passed away in 2006 at age 95, I decided that when I got my Redbone Coonhound, I was going to name her Audrey....after my Grandmother.  My Grandmother was one of the sweetest people ever...I loved being one of her grandchildren and everyone only has positive things to say about her.  My little Audrey is one sweet dog; she is loving and completely devoted, much like her namesake.

To add to the naming story....my cousin has a bloodhound named Clarence...you guessed it, Clarence was our Grandpa's name!!  Grandpa loved his dogs....and cats!  One of my other cousins has a Bassett Hound named Harold.....Harold has the LONGEST ears ever.....just so happens, my cousin's Grandpa on the other side of his family had really BIG ears....!!! lol And yes, his name was Harold!!  One sweet man though....he was a very, very kind man.  I guess we are a bit warped.  I love calling my dog "Audrey"---it conjures up a whole life of beautiful, wonderful memories, however, there are some things I never thought of saying....like.... "Audrey, don't pee on the floor!"

Just before Christmas we learned that Harold also has cancer.  They thought it was an abscessed tooth.  When they took him to the Vet, they learned differently.  Harold is about 13.