Where's the Hair?

It's been four months since Presley's surgery. Her fur has been slowly growing in, but she has several patches where the fur isn't growing back at all. Her skin looks very dry in these patches, almost mangy.

There are no lesions or crusting, so I don't really think it is mange. She doesn't seem to be bothered by these furless patches, but they do look kinda strange. She doesn't try to scratch these areas or rub up against them, so I don't think they are itchy. However, every once in awhile, her skin feels hotter or colder than other parts of her.

I just went into the bedroom to take a picture of her furless patches, but she's laying on that side and I'd hate to make her move. She looks very comfortable!

Clean Plate Club

Presley had a pretty good night's sleep except at 2AM she woke me up to go potty. From the window I could see her squatting all over the yard. She must have had to go pretty bad because she was out there for awhile. After that, she slept really well.

This morning, she was a member of the "clean plate club". At first she did not want to eat her breakfast (kibble). So I added a couple spoonfuls of canned food and she ate everything right up.

I'm not sure why one day she likes just kibble, then another day she wants canned food. Maybe she gets bored with her food.

Presley on Tripawds.com

I just received word from Tripawds.com that Presley has been included on their website. The dog featured on the tripawds site is named Jerry. His story is truly inspirational and comforting because it's great to see what the possibilities are when recovering from cancer.

On the site, Jerry's people (Jim & Rene) include health tips, photos, videos, resources and more. Because of this site, we purchased a harness for Presley, which has helped me to get her out of the Jeep, and down steep stairs, like at my mom's house.

You can check out the post at:

Presley's Story: One Milestone at a Time

Home Again!

After Steve dropped off Presley this afternoon, she initiated a mean game of fetch with her sisters. For about 30 minutes straight, she played fetch with one of the new balls that we bought on Thursday. She was the last one standing and outlasted both Diesel and Bristol. After a couple more tosses, they all conked out in the living room.

Unfortunately, the game did not stimulate her appetite because she barely ate any dinner. She ate a couple of bites of kibble out of Scott's hand but that was it. So she's not going to get anything for the rest of the night. Hopefully, she'll have a better appetite at breakfast time.

Steve said Presley did not sleep very well at night. She kept him up most of the night by moaning. He also mentioned that her rear left leg seems to be bothering her.

I'm really at a loss as to what to do with her. It's very strange that one minute she's outrunning her two younger sisters. Then she stays up all night moaning.

She's sleeping at my feet right now. In fact, my foot is resting on her torso as I type this. I'm so tempted to wake her up so she's tired at night. To be honest, it's been nice the last few nights to not get woken up and sleep through the night.

Spending Time With Daddy

Presley went to Steve's house last night. She'll be gone for a few nights to spend some quality time with Daddy.

The house definitely isn't the same without her. Diesel and Bristol don't seem to realize she is away but Scott and I bought them some new toys last night. So they have been very busy.

B-Day Message From Grammy

Below is a birthday message to Presley from Grammy:


HI PRESLEY,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER.

HOPE YOU HAD YOUR FAVORITE MEAL AND BODY RUB.
LOVE YOU VERY MUCH. I WILL SEE YOU NEXT SUMMER,
JUST HANG IN THERE.

LOVE, GRAMMY

P.S. DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR AGE BECAUSE YOUR MOM
WILL BE ALMOST HALF WAY TO GRAMMY'S AGE NEXT MONTH.


Hah! Thanks for reminding me!

Happy 10th Birthday

Today is Presley's 10th birthday. Thankfully her leg seems to be feeling better.

This morning as I shoveled the back patio, Presley and Bristol barked at the shovel and Diesel played with her ball. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning. I also brushed each of them. Presley hasn't taken her Fish Oil supplements in weeks and she has started to shed again.

The girls have been playing and napping on and off all day. As I write this, Presley and Bristol are laying on the cushion in the living room and Diesel is at my feet. Presley keeps groaning and looking at me. I think she wants her birthday massage.

Bonding

Bristol has been sleeping with her big sister every night on Presley's bed. Bristol rarely sleeps in her own bed anymore. Presley seems to enjoy the company and she usually doesn't mind when Bristol lays on top of her legs or snuggles up to her backside. Maybe it's comforting to both of them to be so close.

Presley is doing a lot better today but it could be that the Deramaxx has kicked in. This morning she played outside with her sisters -- chasing after a toy and wrestling. Presley even initiated play with Bristol by jumping from one side to the other. On one hand I don't want her to do too much if her leg is sore, but she is having so much fun that I don't want to discourage her either.

I have to go to Chicago tonight for work. Before I leave I may give Presley another Deramaxx with her dinner. We'll see how she does this afternoon.

Leg Pain, Lumps

Presley's rear left leg is really bothering her. Today when I got home from running errands, all the girls went outside to go potty. When we all got into the house, Presley tried to lay down on the living room floor and began yelping. She looked like she was in a lot of pain and she looked scared.

I helped her stand up and she leaned against the couch holding up her left rear leg slightly. I then helped her into the bedroom so she could lay down on her cushy bed. She was very hesitant to lay down because something obviously hurts. She finally settled down without yelping. I gently rubbed her leg and felt two very hard lumps near her hip, which I don't remember feeling before. But she is so lumpy all over that I can't be sure they weren't there before.

I gave her a Deramaxx to ease the pain and a Pepcid to offset a possible upset stomach. For about 15 minutes, I kept petting her and talking to her until she fell asleep.

About a half hour ago I checked on her. She looked alert and comfortable, but she did not want to get out of bed so I didn't push her. All the girls are sleeping now but they are going to be up soon either because they are ready for dinner or because Scott will be home soon from work.

The Deramaxx made her really sick before, so this is not a long-term solution. We're probably going to have to take her to OVRS for x-rays and/or blood tests. I don't have a warm, fuzzy feeling about this.

Need to Sleep

I got home from Vegas last night and I am pretty wiped out. I was really looking forward to getting a good night's sleep but Presley had other plans. She was moaning constantly from 2AM until about 4AM.

Bristol was sleeping with her on her bed so I thought maybe Presley didn't want Bristol on there anymore. I noticed that Bristol was laying on Presley's left rear leg. When I slid Presley's leg out, she yelped. I moved Bristol totally off the bed and when Presley stood up to reposition herself, she yelped again. I thought maybe her leg was sore from Bristol laying on it.

About an hour later, I heard Presley yelp again as she repositioned herself on her bed. This happened one more time about 45 minutes later. Of course each time she yelped, Diesel and Bristol had to jump out of bed to see what was happening. So none of us got a good night's sleep.

Presley wouldn't eat any breakfast but during the day she was fine. She played with her sisters in the yard while I picked up poops. I also took all three of them for a walk together. During the walk at the turnaround point, Presley seemed to want to keep going but I kept it short in case her leg or foot is bothering her.

I told Scott about all of this and he mentioned that she had been moaning in the van on the way to the airport to pick me up. Maybe she just missed her Mama and wanted my attention, but that yelping has me worried. She's never done that before.

She just finished all of her dinner, which is a good sign. I hope tonight we can all get a better night's sleep!

Aunt Nikki to the Rescue

Greetings from Las Vegas. I'm out of town for work this week and Scott is working most of the week at Cobo for Auto Show. Luckily Scott's sister Nikki is able to go to the house to take care of the girls for a few hours each day. Presley and Diesel would be fine, but Bristol really can't be in her crate for more than 8 hours at a time.

I just talked to Nikki on the phone and she said the girls were taking a rest after playing and wrestling. When she first got there, at first they were all barking at each other and she wasn't sure what to do.

I told her if they look like they are agitated or if the barking is simply too much to bare, then she should stand right in front of them and tell them "no". In most cases, it's Presley who gets agitated by Diesel and Bristol while they are playing. So she may have to be stern with Presley and show her who's boss.

Earlier Nikki gave the girls some bones that I had stuffed with peanut butter and put in the freezer a couple days ago. I also added a little shot of Cheez Whiz, so they should be pretty tasty.

I am so relieved that Nikki could stop in each day to watch the girls. We looked into doggy daycare, but the hours did not mesh with Scott's work schedule. Plus, I'm not sure if it would have been too much for Presley. She doesn't like to play with other dogs too much.

Sisterly Love

Last night my sister Stephanie (visiting from L.A.), my sister Christine, and my dad came over for dinner. My sisters brought my mom's dog, Dakota, with them and she played with the girls the whole night, which wiped out all of the girls.

At bedtime, Presley and Diesel went to their beds but Bristol wanted to snuggle with Presley. So she curled up on the end of the bed and slept with her big sister. The bed is just big enough for Presley, so it was a pretty tight fit with the two of them on there. Presley was so tired that she didn't protest at all.

Then today I took the girls in the Jeep with me as I ran errands. The girls were still pretty tired from playing all night and within minutes they were all snoozing. The back of the Jeep is pretty tight with the three of them back there. Presley used Diesel as a pillow and Bristol used Presley as a pillow. So cute!

Happy New Year!

The girls were party animals last night. After dinner we danced to hits from the 80s. The girls each enjoyed a yummy rawhide treat from their Aunt Jen. Then at midnight we banged pots and pans on the porch. At about 1AM, Aunt Nikki and Uncle Mike packed up to head home and we all watched from the window as Mike brushed the snow off the car. Once again it was a winter wonderland.

This morning the girls were up at 6:30AM for breakfast. As soon as they finished, we all went right back to bed. I've taken Presley off of all her supplements. I'm just giving her dry food, a combo of her food and Diesel's, because she turns her nose up at anything else. Presley didn't eat all of her breakfast but she has had a bit of gas, I'm sure from the rawhide. At dinner she cleaned her plate.

The girls have taken quite a few naps today. Scott played with Diesel and Bristol outside while he shoveled. Presley was too tired so I petted her while she lounged on her bed. A little later I joined the girls for the late morning/early afternoon nap. I forgot how much I love to take power naps. I think those girls are on to something.

Later in the afternoon, the AT&T repairman had to fix the wire in front of our house. A branch had fallen overnight onto the wire and it was sagging terribly. The girls were having a field day barking at the repairman as they watched him from the front window. He was out front for about an hour and each time he moved to a new spot, they barked as if it were the first time they had seen him. Surprisingly, Presley was the worst offender. She did not like that man on our lawn.

Once again the girls are taking a nap. I'm sure they'll be up in the next hour or two for their last hurrah. We might have to shovel one more time tonight because it is snowing again.