Remembering Sasha

6 years ago today Aliy and Raven were barely 4 weeks old. And I was so thankful they and their siblings were here. Without them I don't think I ever could have gotten thru that day. Or the ones that followed. 6 years ago today was the day I lost Sasha, the dog I thought I could not live without.

Sasha was my heart and soul. I never bred her, but every dog that has come into this house since that day, carries a piece of her pedigree.

Aliy and Raven's grandmother Desti was Sasha's niece on one side and Sasha's half sister on the other side. Kelly's double grandmother Cuddles was Sasha's half sister, Ilsa's grandfather was Sasha's half brother, and her great grandmother was Sasha's half sister. Max and Babe both double up on Sasha's family lineage, with her relatives on both sides of their family tree.

And Pumpkin, acquired when I knew Sasha's remaining time was not long, is not only Sasha's relative, but also Sasha's daughter, in spirit if not by blood, and she does well carrying on the legacy of dogs who are too smart to be trusted.

Read more about the amazing Sasha here and here.

Pupdate!

Pumpkin came home about 5 PM and is obviously very happy to be home but seems quite annoyed at me for putting her thru this :)

The vet said it was a "nasty bad pyo" and I was lucky to catch it as early as I did.

Thanks to everyone that sent good wishes out to my little girl!

Good Thoughts for Pumpkin

Dirt on my face? WHAT dirt on my face?

Pumpkin goes in today for spaying, the vet diagnosed her yesterday afternoon with a probable case of closed pyometra.

She'd been acting "weird" the last couple weeks. It started with the sudden upswing in the amount of water she was drinking. Until today I had NO idea that was the first sign of pyo.

Then this week she lost interest in food. Second sign.

The past couple days she has just overall not been herself. The weather here has been gorgeous and other than running outside to bark at airplanes (her favorite hobby) she has pretty much stayed inside while all the other dogs were out playing.

In order to rule out possible diabetes, kidney or liver problems, he did a complete blood work up on her. Her white count came back at 31,000, normal is 6000-7000. The vet said other than a massive respiratory infection (which she shows NO signs of) he only ever sees this kind of white count, in conjunction with her other symptoms, with pyo. He says we can x-ray tomorrow if I want to see if her uterus is swollen, but he seems so sure I'm just going to have her spayed.

He says we are probably catching it very early given her overall apparent condition and she should be fine.

But of course I am still worried.

The World's Most Expensive Cardboard Box

An ordinary cardboard box. A styrofoam insert. Two ice packs. And two pieces of newspaper, folded: $114.25

And lucky me, I have two of them: $228.50

If Kelly is pregnant: priceless


Pumpkin says "MOM! Think of the biscuits you could have bought me!!!"