Gryffindor
Gryffin’s back on the couch!
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 | Gryffindor | No Comments
I got home last night to a surprise that I need to share…
A few friends had a wonderful Fetch & Throws blanket made with my favorite picture of Gryffin. I know your first question is likely how could I possibly pick a favorite picture of Gryffin because he was such a photogenic dog. All pictures of him are wonderful. But this one is definitely it.
So, while Indy and Beowulf were outside, I opened the box, put the blanket out, sat on it, and had a quick cry. (It was a happy cry. More of a “what wonderful friends I have” cry.)
Then I let the dogs back in and the silly Swissy stuff started. Indy was barooing like crazy, so for a moment I thought someone was at the door. Then I realized she was barking at the new addition to the couch.
Still going…
Beowulf was not amused with the loud dog.
And she’s still talking back.
She calmed down a bit, so I thought I’d try to get her on the couch. I don’t think she’s ever been up there. But it didn’t work. This is as close as we got.
So thank you again, my wonderful friends. You know who you are. I will always remember this.
Follow Up
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 | Gryffindor | No Comments
I thought I should post this for those of you that may be curious and don’t belong to the dog forums where it has been discussed.
It turns out that Gryffin definitely had cancer. More specifically, hemangiosarcoma. The emergency vet opted to biopsy the tumor on his prostate for their own information and decided to share the findings with us.
Hemangiosarcoma is an ugly cancer. According to information found on Wikipedia and a few other sources, it’s a “rare, rapidly growing, highly invasive variety of cancer.” Blood vessels will grow directly into the tumor, and they frequently fill with blood. (Remember Gryffin’s abdominal cavity full of blood? It was a ruptured tumor.) It is more common in dogs than in humans, but I understand there have not been a ton of reported cases with Swissies. Dogs with hemangiosarcoma rarely show any clinical signs until after the tumor has become very large or has ruptured, like Gryffin’s.
To be honest, even if the only tumor in Gryffin’s body had been on the spleen, he probably wouldn’t have survived very long. Average survival with treatent (chemotherapy in comination with other drugs) is 5-7 months. I don’t think I could have put Gryffin through that.
So now you know too.
Thank you all
Saturday, January 9th, 2010 | Gryffindor, Uncategorized | No Comments
I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to everyone out there. We have received so many phone calls, emails, forum postings, cards in the mail, and comments on this blog from friends, family, internet acquaintances, and readers about Gryffin. It’s very, very touching. It makes us all warm and fuzzy (and it’s not just the heated seats in the cars) to hear from you all.
We continue to miss Gryffin, of course. But you knew that, I’m sure.
For those of you that get sad when you think of him, I ask you to do what I do.
Smile.
It really helps a lot. And Gryffin would much rather you remember him with a smile. He was never one for tears. Typical male.
RIP Gryffindor, 4/10/03 – 1/3/10
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 | Gryffindor | 6 Comments
My heart is breaking to write this. Tears are fogging up my glasses and dripping on to the keyboard.
We had to let Gryffin go early this morning during surgery at the emergency vet.
The big guy started acting weird in the evening on New Years Day. More drooly than ever, kind of lethargic, just not right. We figured it was upset belly issues and gave him some Gas-X and Pepto and figured we’d be taking him to the vet on Monday. He was worse on Saturday morning, so we got in at our normal vet. We were hoping for a pancreas infection or something (sounds weird to hope for that), but it was not. They suspected either autoimmune disease or the big C word that I don’t like to say or type. They sent us home with prednisone with the promise of test results in a couple of days.
As the day progressed, we did see some improvement. But I was kicking myself for not pushing the whole Xray thing. So, thinking it could be a spleen thing, we decided to head to the emergency vet for the xray. The vet there was able to see fluid (blood) in the stomach, so we moved forward with a chest xray and abdominal ultrasound. He found a mass on Gryffin’s spleen, so we moved forward with the splenectomy hoping that it would get everything. Sadly, they found more masses on the kidney and prostate that could not be removed, so he recommended we put Gryffin to sleep. Not wanting to cause Gryffin any more pain, we did.
So today we trudge on.
Run free, big boy. Tell Alex we say hello.
Happy New Year!
Friday, January 1st, 2010 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
I’m such a mean human. I made the dogs pose with hats and tiaras last night, then left them to hang out with the neighbors.
Gryffn did not like his hat, but Beowulf did. Indy did not seem to mind her tiara. Either way, you benefit, right?
Happy New Year, everyone! May 2010 treat you well.
Winter Pain
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
The dogs love the snow for the most part. At least the Swissies do. But they are not always a fan of the ice or the cold, and sometimes they end up injuring themselves. Usually it’s on the way up the stairs to the back door. Or it’s unhappy pads on the paws from the snow, ice and salt.
So, what do I do, you ask? Great question, if I don’t say so myself.
I’ve learned from past experiences that keeping the steps clear from snow, unless I’m going to continuously salt them, is not always a great idea. They frequently end up full of ice, which means a higher likelihood of someone slipping. I’ve salted back there, but no matter how plant or animal friendly the product claims to be, the dogs pads are super irritated, or the bushes and other stuff back there ends up brown and dead in the spring. So, I tend to leave the snow there and only clear it if it becomes a large block of ice.
I learned last winter that Musher’s Secret is great on paws. It helps with hot or cold pavement, gives them a little extra grip (IMO) when it’s icy, and helps protect against the salt. At this time of year, all the dogs in my house are getting it applied to their pads once a week.
But, inevitably, someone tweaks something. A muscle is pulled, a nerve is pinched…you know, the stuff that makes you wonder if they are hurt bad enough to take them to the vet.
Case in point-Sunday night, Gryffin is hanging out on the stairs near the gate (we keep it up so we don’t have to go find Indy when it’s crate time) looking weird. I thought he might want more water, so I removed the gate and started downstairs. But he wouldn’t come with. He went all the way up, turned around, took two steps down and started whining. After some poking and prodding, it appears is if his front and rear passenger side was tender and caused more whining. We maneuvered him slowly down the stairs and got him on a dog pillow, gave him a nice massage, and a small bit of peanut butter with one buffered aspirin inside. The next morning, the whining was gone, but he was not jumpy like normal. Same with last night and this morning. So we’ve been continuing with the single, buffered aspirin at meal times plus one in the middle of the day. If he’s still having issues in a few days, we’ll make a quick trip to the vet. I don’t want to give Mr. Sensitive Belly aspirin for more than a couple of days, because it will cause other issues.
But this brings up another point–aspirin. Yes, aspirin can be safe for dogs. Not for puppies or cats, though. Most vets recommend approximately 5-10mg per pound of the dog’s weight during a 12 hour period. If you want to be safe, start out with the lower dose, 5mg per pound, and see what happens. If you are uncertain, call your vet.
Snow!
Monday, December 28th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately. There’s really not been much of anything dog-related going on.
But…we did get a lot of snow here this weekend, which makes for happy dogs. (At least for now.) It started on Christmas evening and went through Sunday morning. I’m guessing we had about 6-8 inches total, and it was the fluffy white stuff that the dogs love.
I’ll stop babbling and give you some pictures now.
It’s always best to stop and smell the snow from time-to-time.
Even if you have to shove your nose right on in.
Cautious Basset is cautious. Snow is slippery and girl dogs are sneaky.
As usual, Gryffin loves to pose for pictures.
Gryffin and Indy started to play a bit.
But for the most part, Indy just had the zoomies.
She had them for a while.
My hands started getting numb because she had them for so long.
She finally calmed down.
Which is good, because the old guy was tiring of her antics.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend!
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