Sirocco_Nikki

Happy Gotcha Day Loca! Rules ARE for lesser beings.

I am very sorry for your loss. My favorite stories about your crew involved Saint and puppies. Your boy certainly lived up to his name.

I am feeding Drake Pro Pac Senior Chicken & Rice. Good ingredients. No corn. Made in Evansville, Indiana. He likes it. Firm poops after 2 weeks. Good price. Available at the feed store 5 minutes from my house where every 10 bag is free and the owner insists on carrying it to my car. More importantly, our vet does not want Drake on a super high-protein food. He said that too much protein stresses the kidneys and that there is no benefit for a dog with Drake's activity level (2-3 mile walk per day).

Happy Gotcha Day, handsome Phene. I didn't realize that Phene had bounced. I would say it was shocking that such a perfect boy could be returned; however, my Yukon (aka: he who did no wrong) bounced twice. I hope you are celebrating with all the rest of the pups.

I am sorry for the loss of your pretty girls. Please know that you are not alone in your grief. When we lost Yukon in October (2 months after losing Nikki and 14 months after losing Sirocco), I felt like I would never be able to take a deep breath again. The pain gets better even though it can randomly hit at odd times. (I may be one of the only people to get teary-eyed because there was no poop to clean up in the corner of the back yard.) I hope your girls send you a sign soon that they are ok and that you will be too.

I hope that both Dani & Spicy found Heart, Emmy & Gee at the bridge. I would imagine that Emmy has already started training them for her cloudball team. May they run fast and free and know that they were loved..

Hope, I am so sorry your Kayla left you too soon. But then, forever wouldn't be enough time with such a sweetheart. However, I am hoping that Kayla helped Yukon find his way across the bridge.

Ouch! That is more than twice what we paid the opthamologist here in Indy.

Heaven has a new angel today. Yukon found his wings and flew to join Nikki & Sirocco at the bridge this morning. We had been outside in the sunshine when he decided he needed to be inside. He flew up his little ramp onto the deck, slipped in some water from last night's rain and fractured his leg badly. I rushed him to the vet for xrays and as soon as the vet said "it's bad", I said I don't want to hear any more, please let him go. After losing Nikki to osteo 2 months ago and Sirocco to osteo 14 months ago, I just couldn't take a chance on hearing that word again. But, this post isn't supposed to be a rehash of his death, it is supposed to be a celebration of his life. Yukon took a rather indirect path finding his real home with us. I helped a co-worker adopt Yukon 6 years ago after he had bounced at age 7. Hope (Ullaluv) drove with me to Ohio to pick him up from the foster family. The foster mom emphasized that we shouldn't expect too much from Yukon. He's very shy and just doesn't seem to care about people. As soon as we were in the car and on the road, Hope told me "Carol, this boy is special". (Hope is never wrong about a dog.) Yukon spent a lot of time at my house whenever my co-worker was working overtime or on vacation. He was a joy and so very special! His favorite spot in the house was in ds's room beside his bed. He got along well with both sweet Nikki and snarky Sirocco. After having him for a year, the co-worker called me to say she wanted him out of her house NOW! He was aggressive and she couldn't deal with him anymore. I thought she was nuts and told her he couldn't go anywhere except to my house. (This is the co-worker who dumped her boyfriend for offering to cook dinner and wash the dishes. Definitely nuts.) Both Nikki and Sirocco had very high prey drives and Sirocco had issues with food, sleep, and younger males. I recognize aggression and knew Yukon had none. Yukon showed up at my house extremely hand-shy and refused to come out from behind a chair in the family room. For months, I couldn't figure out how to gain his trust again until I won the Burpdog basket in the Miss Nellie auction. Even terrified Yukon couldn't resist the allure of a Burpdog. He quickly learned that an outstretched hand meant good stuff like "nom nom nom". I have never been owned by a dog as "good" as Yukon. During our walks, whenever Nikki & Sirocco would go on high alert over bunnies and squirrels, Yukon would just give them the incredulous look that quite clearly said "Why chase food when mom brings it to us in a bowl with a scoop of yogurt on top?" When Yukon was happy, he would put his face next to my jaw and nit. He smiled. He gave little kisses. He did happy dances. He didn't bark, whine, counter-surf, pee on dh's stereo, eat the sofa and mini-blinds, kill chipmunks, or jump fences. All he needed was his favorite bed over the floor register, luvins from ds, and to lick mom's ice cream dish. Keeses my boy. Please send a sign soon that you found your buddies at the bridge.

Please add my Yukon to the list. (6/9/1998 - 10/31/2011)

Sirocco's opthamologist said he usually only saw cases like Sirocco in german shepherds. Even though he had a stubborn case of pannus, it was eventually well-controlled with cyclosporine in corn oil and prednisolone drops twice a day. He had to have a couple of steroid injections to get it controlled first. Of all the chronic conditions a dog could have, pannus is one of the cheaper and easiest to treat. Our grey savvy vet wouldn't treat his pannus. He wanted Sirocco seen by a board certified opthamologist since there are other conditions that mimic the symptoms. Good luck!

The leg was broken. I wouldn't let the vet give me any details. As soon as he agreed that it was broken, I told him that was all I needed to know and to let Yukon go. Between his terror of being away from home and his 13.5 years, there was no other choice. Thanks.

Please not again.

I am so sorry for your loss. I wish there were some words I could type to ease the pain. Just know that you are not the only member of the greyt-guilt club and that all of the rest of us members are right there with you. Always.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying you can't afford the surgery, chemo, and followups and then going with comfort measures only. Neither your dog nor anyone here expects you to sacrifice your ability to provide for your other dogs and yourself on what could be a crapshoot. It might be different if there was a reasonable chance of a cure. However, many times it is a matter of buying some time. Could be a little, could be a lot, could be it cuts time. If you decide you don't have the means, it doesn't mean you love your dog any less. Sirocco's os was fast-growing. We went the comfort route and focused on making his quality of life the best we could. To me, that was more important than extending the amount of time. With Nikki, we never knew she had os until the leg snapped suddenly. Her passing was A LOT harder on me than Sirocco's since I know she ended life in extreme pain instead of comfort. Good luck. You're right, it sucks!

Gee, please send your mom a sign soon that you made it safely and found Heart. It takes a lot of love when the best decision for them is to release them from their pain and misery. Sucks for us though.

Happy Birthday Loca! Ask Sirocco to steal you a cake for your party. Nikki will join the All-Roo choir to sing to you. Btw, is it odd that I get a bit jealous whenever I see Loca in her thong because I don't think I would have looked that good in one even 30 years ago?

Lots of good healing thoughts headed to Gee from Indy.

This happened a couple of times to sirocco. Both times, he apparently stepped on something while doing zoomies or walkies that left a tiny pumcture on the pad. The puncture then became infected. We never knew he had stepped on something until the leg swelled. Of course, it took a couple rouns of the expensive antibiotics to clear it up. The vet to told us that she prefers to see swelling that 'jumps a joint'. Swelling from os is usually very localized.

Iceman was the best kind of dog, a really good boy. I hope he sends you a sign soon that he found friends and family across the bridge. My really good boy has been gone 12 years now. Even though it may not feel like it right now, the pain does fade until the memories bring smiles instead of tears.

You would have been the first in line (with a smile on your face)and ready to battle any demons that threatened your Baby Girl. I don't think there is any better definition than that of home and family. I am so sorry for your loss. She was truly a beauty.

I would file a report with animal control. Let them know this person is hitting strange dogs and abusing his with a shock collar. There needs to be a record to protect the next person's dog he hits. No comment needed about where his shock collar should be placed.

I'd tell the vet to do the surgeries and then just put it on their bills...... sorry, but sometimes I quack me up.

So glad that Phene will be immortalized next to the sister he adored. This makes me think that Nikki and Sirocco pavers would be nice. Another set of sweetheart and brat to keep things in balance. How did you go about ordering?

Sending good thoughts, hugs and scritches to Traveler, his sisters and you.