Onto 2024

The last day of 2023 -- I've or rather we've made it through the holidays pretty much unscathed. 

I've been off work since before Christmas. And after more than a week of eating too much of all the wrong things, and sleeping a little later than usual, I'm feeling recharged, and okay, not so grouchy too. Back to work on Tuesday. 

~Max~

Speaking of eating. We celebrated Ree's 7th birthday on Christmas Eve. She was sent a package from "Maria," her first owner and the person who loved her first (and still does). 

~Birthday girl, Ree~

Ree thought it was better than the half-box of baking soda she ate the week before.  

I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who has visited my blog and taken the time to read, and comment on my posts. 

~Lily~

My continuing goal is to be a better blogger next year than I was this year. There is a lot of room for improvement!!

~Marley~

That includes finishing the posts that I start writing that never get published to my blog. 

~Iva~

And so, I’m looking forward to a lot of things hopefully improving next year. 

~Daisy~

And I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that your 2024 will be a fantastic year for you and your families who are two and 4 legged!! 

His Natural Element

What we have here, is a Scottish Terrier in his natural element. 

Todd could not have been happier on a recent rainy day. 

I had to bribe him with a couple of treats to come back inside ....

And I couldn't help but wonder what Todd was dreaming about afterwards?

An Unexpected Diagnosis

A couple of weeks ago, I was off to the vet with Marley and Lily. Marley was just a simple recheck of an ugly ear infection that is mostly cleared up now. Lily has been with us for six months now, and so she was due for a 6 month senior-wellness visit. I'll confess to putting off this vet visit for Lily because she's a little high-strung, and because she was extremely nervous and anxious at her last visit in March. Which is why I thought it may help to have a calm companion like Marley along to reassure her. And it did - When Marley was taken out of the room, Lily's anxiety really showed until he returned. Poor Lily....

With that, I have to say that I never expected anything else to come from this visit to the vet. Unfortunately, I was wrong.  The bloodwork was returned and Lily has been diagnosed with cancer, specifically leukemia. This was totally unexpected, and we are sad and heartbroken by this diagnosis. 

There is treatment that Lily could receive for leukemia. But her general health, and her age (she's 13 years old) and any treatment if it were totally effective, would only prolong Lily's life by about a year. Since Lily is a 'foster dog' the Medical Coordinator and I talked through all the options and her vet's recommendations. And the Board of the Rescue discussed it as well and voted on Lily's care going forward. It has been decided that Lily will not receive chemotherapy, but rather palliative care, including seeing the holistic vet to keep her comfortable for as long as possible. 

~Lily left and Marley off to the vet~

Of course who would provide Lily's care was never a question. I am grateful for the trust that the rescue has in us to continue to care for Lily, and make this last chapter of her life one full of love, good care, and fun too. 

"Comfort" is of course also a big part of this last chapter for Lily. Lily being comfortable while she's resting has been changing the last month or so. This is because Lily has several very large lipomas. So, thanks to "Jean B" I bought Lily a new bed that better supports those key pressure points that the lipomas are pressing on.   **lipomas are benign (noncancerous) tumors of fat that can grow anywhere on the dog's body, even inside their abdomen.** 

~Lily totally comfy on her new dog bed~

Lily seems much more comfortable on her new bed. And we are of course thankful for that and are hoping for many good days of grace with our high spirited and fun, flaky girl. ❤

On a different note about Iva:

Thank you all for cheering Iva on as our search continues for her forever home. And I'm going to add a huge and very big thank you to "Gemma's person, Beth" who commented on my last post that she'd love to be considered for Iva -- Unfortunately, as you thought, the Golden Retriever Rescue that we foster for does not allow for adoptions out of the service area that centers on the Baltimore and DC beltways and surrounding areas of Virginia and Maryland. Beth, I'm so thankful and grateful for your interest and willingness to open your heart and home to Iva. ❤❤

Full Speed Ahead!

Here we are in December.... Already. Another busy week is in our history book. 

As I mentioned in my last post, there has been a lot of focus on Iva lately. She remains available for adoption via the rescue. But  there hasn't been a lot of interest in her. One reason is probably her age. Another is that her needs are specific. But after all these years, I know that sometimes the home that doesn't look perfect from the outside, is perfect on the inside. 

~Iva in late October~

Keeping that in mind, I'd gotten a call from a couple living in "King George" Virginia, just over 2 hours from me. I liked them, and even though some things in their home visit report made them not a fit for Iva, I was willing to meet them. And I thought that Iva's best chance would be to take her to them, to see if they were a fit after all.  Okay, so you may be wondering, why they were not a fit on paper... It was that they have steps - Iva's broken shoulder before she came into the rescue means that she has limited range of motion and she has difficulty going up stairs, and can't control her speed coming down them. Thinking ahead, her size also makes going up and down stairs difficult if she were to reinjure her shoulder again. 

~Road trip for me and Iva~

So we were off on Sunday for a road-trip. I've never been to King George Virginia, and many people here in northern Virginia, have never heard of it. It is a quiet rural town east of Fredericksburg (Virginia) and let me tell you, it's way the heck out there. 

~Way the heck out there in King George VA

We found our way with only a few wrong turns. "King George Couple" were nice and welcoming. They are two people with big hearts and really do want to make a difference for senior dogs. And they are totally devoted to the 2 very senior Labs that they have. But as their home visit report said, they had very slippery laminate floors that Iva kept slipping on and the inside stairs were steep and Iva slid down them both times we had her do them. And then their 2 Labs were both not the fun and active companions that Iva really needs. There were a few other things that I won't mention because it'll seem a bit trivial and maybe I was being too critical and unfair... 

But I knew leaving their home, they were not a match for Iva. However, I decided to think about it for a few days, thinking that maybe the cosmos would tell me something different when the dust settled on a 4 hour road trip. Well, it didn't. The memory of her sliding down their steps and my having to practically catch her before she ran into the wall stayed fresh in my mind. So, I let them know. And onward the search goes for Iva and for King George couple too.