Baby blues....

Baby almost 10 years ago, one of my fav pics of him :)

No, no I haven't been in hiding. My loyal Brianna brigade knows that I have been caring for my little pup for the last little while. He needs me so I have kind of put whatever I could on hold to be here for him. For those that have no clue what I am referring to, I will divulge. A couple of months ago I noticed my little man had lost some weight, and for a dog his size, it is not a good thing. I took him to the vet but we did not get blood work done, she recommended that I start grinding up his dog food since he's older and that might help. At first it did. Then a couple weeks ago the weight loss was more dramatic. I am beating myself up now about it but I should have dropped everything & taken him in to get blood work. I waited a week & then did it. I was honestly just scared at what they would say. Well the verdict is that due to his age, his kidneys are going into failure-not full blown where its too late, but bad enough that I have to give him an intravenous fluid flush to help detox his kidney's twice a week as well as medication & special food. I learned that when the kidney's don't filter properly it makes him feel very nauseas which makes him not want to eat at all, lethargic & weak. Terrible. I really wish that I could take the pain from him & have nausea for him instead. The only thing I cna do right now is to be there for him, be strong & do everything the vet says so he goes into a quick remission & starts to feel better.

Tuckered out

There is no other animal in the world that loves you more than himself, but a dog.

This week was really tough. The 1st IV didn't go well. He screamed in agony when the needle went in and hated it the whole time. (He normally takes shots just fine, but this is a huge needle) Then the vet food wasn't something he liked, I think he can smell the medicine in it & doesn't want it. Its a powder and pill med though so I have to get it in his food. He just wouldn't eat anything (I tried everything except protein) & I was afraid to give him chicken or any other protein I knew he'd eat because they said protein is a lot harder to process for his kidneys and might make him more sick. Finally after him not eating much of anything, I got permission from the vet to give him whatever he would eat because he needs the calories & to gain some weight back. So I made him some chicken thighs, shredded them up with rice and broth... snuck some medicine in there & success! He GRUBBED hard! He was really starving but everything made him feel sick. He was throwing up everything :( Poor little guy. Not to mention that he already has arthritis and a hip issue now. He can't tell me what's bothering him, so I have to guess.

He loves my feet as much as you guys do! For different reasons lol!

So now a full week later, he's doing better. Not fully but enough to where I can see it. The 2nd IV went much better than the 1st. I opted to get the needle in while he was sleeping :( I didn't want to scare him awake but since he was already laying down, he relaxed a lot more and didn't scream. He almost instantly felt better after that, ate a lot more of my concoction & he has gained back 1 full pound! So Baby steps for Baby, but we are going to be ok.  He is gaining some strength back.

My little Baby beggar (pre-sick days)

Little by little :) I am (trying to) staying optimistic and know that he will be ok. I cannot lie though, the stress of this has been a lot to handle. He really is my son and will forever be the most important person in my life (yes, he's a person to me...)

Loves playing with his squeaky bone...

So I will get caught up again, live shows will resume, website updates will continue...the relaunch is very close. I know they are still coding videos and content but we are in the end stage of the release & just tying up some loose ends with the design portion. You will all be very happy I am positive.

Thank you for all understanding and for the well wishes and positive thoughts. We really appreciate them. Next blog entry will be a happy one! Talk soon xoxo

Brianna signing off ;)
xoxox

Hugs & Kisses

I will cherish these times forever! (video shot last year)