Rest Peacefully, Sweet Cody

This is not the Christmas Eve I envisioned when I woke up this morning. I actually woke up at 3 am from heartburn pain and decided to stay up and get some work done. At 6:30 I went downstairs and took care of the dog, letting him out and feeding him. I then decided to try and go back to sleep.

I woke up again at 9:45 and went downstairs to talk to my husband. Sitting in the corner was our dog, Cody. All of the sudden, Cody started acting strange and then had a seizure. He was foaming at the mouth and his jaw was locked down. At first, we thought he was choking on something, but then just as fast as it had started, it was over.

He seemed okay after that for about a half hour and then all of the sudden, his neurological functioning was impaired. He was confused, didn't know who my husband was, and lost control of his body.

My husband called the vet and there was no answer. We started thinking maybe Cody ingested something poisonous so he called the ASPCA Poison Control Center. Given the symptoms, they didn't have any answers. My husband called the vet again and still no answer, so he decided to take him to another vet, one that actually answered their phone.

By this time, which was only 45 minutes after he had the seizure, Cody's breath was labored and he was howling in pain. My husband called me 15 minutes later to let me know that he had died on the way to the vet's office.

My husband is on his way to take Cody's body to be autopsied so that we know what happened to him. The neurological impairment is similar to what our other dog experienced right before he died, so maybe it is something in the yard...I don't know. We have spent hours speculating but have no answers to explain how a 6-month old dog in excellent health could drop dead like that.

I am doing okay, but when I really think about it I get very emotional and cry. When J. saw me crying he asked what was wrong so I told him, explaining that Cody was in heaven with Cosmo, our border collie who passed away in June. J. looked at me and said, "we can get a new dog, Mommy." Though I don't think he really understands, it amazes me that kids can be so resilient. It is a good thing.

At this point, I really don't want another dog. Especially with a new baby on the way.

Anyhow, I hope our Christmas gets merrier because this sucks.

Meet Cody!

Yesterday, my husband drove all the way to NC to meet his sister, who had picked up our new puppy in Virginia for us. Cody is a 8-week old male English Black Lab and we are absolutely smitten with him! My only complaint is that he gets too excited when J is around and jumps all over the place. He is also a biter, though he has been much better today than he was last night.

The funniest thing to happen was when I pulled a blanket around me to keep him from biting me...he started humping it! Oh, Lordy! I think Marley has been reincarnated!

Farewell to Cosmo

A few weeks ago, our dog, Cosmo, was diagnosed with heart worms and had elevated liver enzymes. He was being treated for the liver problems and the vet said they would treat the heart worms after the fact because he wasn't strong enough to handle being treated for everything at once.

He started deteriorating over the weekend and by last night, he couldn't walk straight and his eyes couldn't focus. This morning, he was struggling to breathe and couldn't even lift his head to drink water.

My husband took him to the vet and after considering the options of putting him to sleep or allowing him to suffer, we decided to put him to sleep. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for my husband to do that. I don't think I could have handled it.

Anyhow, today's been a really sad day. Cosmo was only 7 years old and still had a lot of life left in him. We are heartbroken.

New and shaking...

Let's see...

First off, we got around 22 inches of rain last week, which is just insane! Luckily, no flooding, though one of our windows sprung a leak, causing all kinds of damage to our flooring, dry wall, and molding. I'm not a happy camper, though I know it could have been so much worse. There are people in my community whose homes were completely immersed in water. Just awful.

I'm watching my parents' Pomeranian right now. She is the cutest thing, but quite overweight. Today, I left her outside for a couple of hours so that I could clean the house. My husband came upstairs a with her and said, "she's not doing very well." The poor thing was severely dehydrated. He tongue was dark purple and she was gasping for air. I seriously thought she was going to die. Once I got her to start drinking water though, her tongue and her breathing went back to normal. It was the craziest thing. I called my mom to tell her about it and she let me know that's happened before. That dog could stand to lose at least 5 pounds and I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't diabetic. I'm just glad she didn't die on my watch!

Speaking of dogs, our vet told us last week that she thought our dog had liver disease, which had us freaked out for a week. After an x-ray, it was determined that he does not. Phew.

In other news, I got my IVF schedule for this coming month. I will be starting back up on June 18th.

My child is tired and being a punk, so that's all for now.

This sucks, big time

We've had our dog, Costa, for almost seven years now. Before J., she was my baby, and I treated her as such. Of course, as is common, things changed when J. was born and she became #2. Not a happy dog.

When she was a puppy, she once bit the crap out of my husband. He called me up at work and said, "I'm taking her to the Border Collie Rescue." I started bawling my eyes out, and pleaded with him not to. I told him that if she ever bit me, she'd be gone, but otherwise, I couldn't bear to part with her.

She bit me today.

Mind you, in the past she's also bitten my husband a second time, our realtor, and my mom, but if she could bite me, then she could easily bite J. And there's no negotiating when it comes to him.

So, that's it. Sometime this week, my husband will probably be taking her to the Border Collie Rescue. The nice thing about that place is that they will never put a dog down, unless medically necessary. I will pay to sponsor her and if I can bring myself to do it without crying, will even go visit her.

This really sucks, but if there is ANY risk that she might bite J., I have to let her go. :(

Lo Siento!

Dear Cosmo,

I am so sorry that I yelled at you last night. I thought you had pooped on the carpet and was very upset. When your daddy went to clean it up, however, he discovered that it wasn't poop at all...it was the legs of your stuffed sheep.

While I am not happy that you tried to eat your stuffed sheep, I wouldn't have yelled at you over it. You're a dog. Dogs like to eat things. Then again, you are a border collie. Border collies aren't supposed to eat sheep. They are supposed to herd them. It's a good thing you aren't a working dog or they'd be giving you the Old Yeller treatment!

Anyways, I am truly sorry I yelled at you. You are a good dog. I love you.

Always,
Your mommy

Costa: Gives Nasty a New Meaning

I've always thought that my dog, Costa liked chasing cats because she's a border collie and has herding instincts. Well today, I caught her digging up cat shit in my parent's yard and eating it. I realize now that it had nothing to do with wanting to herd them and everything to do with scaring the shit out of them (literally) so she could enjoy a treat.

Anyone want a dog whose breath smells like a litter box???

No more "people food!"

Costa is doing much better now, which makes me beyond happy! She is on a prescription diet for the next month and will never be able to eat "people food" ever again, however considering the alternative, this is great!

Here she is today:

My sick little princess

I am beside myself right now. My little girl (border collie), Costa, is in the hospital. She was throwing up all day - to the point where there was just foamy water coming up. In the evening, I gave her a bath to clean her up and afterwards, she would barely move. I tried to brush her and she just laid there in a catatonic-like state.

Because she's a border collie, she's usually full of energy - always wanting attention. She loves to stand up and give my husband and I hugs and more than anything, she loves to be in the house with us.

I tried to get her to come inside the house and she wouldn't move. I had to carry her like a baby into the house to lay her down on the couch. She was hot and her breathing was raspy. I panicked. I called my husband and could barely tell him what was going on, I was hysterical.

Yes, she's a dog, but she's also my baby. I can't tell you how much I love this animal. Most children in this world should be so lucky to have someone love them as much. If something were to happen to her, I'd be devastated. Broken.

I took her to an emergency vet and they ran tests. They called a little bit ago to say that she has acute pancreatitis and is severely dehydrated. She said there were some other things that came up in her blood work that were of concern so they were going to take some x-rays. She will have to be on an IV for 2-3 days so as soon as I pick her up tomorrow morning, I'll have to take her to the vet and keep her there until they say she is better.

Yes, I did experience sticker shock when they gave me the estimate... and I was always one of those people who said, "It's just an animal - I would never pay that much if they were sick." But being that it is Costa, there is no way I wouldn't do what I had to do to take care of her.

The vet said she should be fine, however if left untreated she could have died. There is a lump in my throat waiting to burst just thinking about it. She's not just a dog, she's my princess.

COSMO!

AKA, Cosmo D. from Outer Space, AKA, Cosmo Kramer, AKA, Cosmopolitan, our new pup. Stephen went and picked him up today while I was at work. He's a 13-week old border collie and is just the cutest little thing. He's got this head that's too big for his body and he's so clumsy that everything he does is picture-worthy!

We VOW that from here on out, no more pets. Next step: children. But don't check your mail for an announcement anytime soon. We'll enjoy the zoo of cats and dogs we have going...for now.

Puppy

We've decided to get another puppy -- a companion for Costa. The problem is, we don't know what we want to get. We went looking around yesterday and while there are some adorable puppies at the Humane Society, most were black lab mixes -- which grow up to be too big for our liking. I'd LOVE to get a golden retriever, but they too are too big. On the other side of things, we don't want one of those little dogs either. Something medium, like Costa. Any suggestions?