5C's Que Pasa

We never heard back from the vet until 8:00PM last night.  They were swamped and then she had to go out on a horse emergency.  Meanwhile we waited.  Carmeh is responding to the Metacam which is great as she is not in as much pain and it is helping to reduce the pressure on her spine.  However as she feels better she wants to do more and is becoming more difficult to control.  We don’t have her in a kennel nor do we need to said the vet, besides she would do crazy with trying to get out and likely do more damage.  She is allowed to walk around, just not jump up and down nor do stairs.  Now she is doing things like suddenly jumping up and putting her two front paws on my knee while keeping her back legs on the ground, not good for her.

Finally the vet did call and didn’t have much to say.  Both her and the pathologist are puzzled with the low white blood count but can’t find a reason.  All other blood tests and urine are normal.  Part of the concern is that she has lost a lot of weight in the past month.  The plan is to redo the blood work in 6 weeks. This is a separate issue from the back problem.  Meanwhile our concern is keeping her quiet for 2 weeks and then see how see moves in weeks 3 and 4.  It will become more difficult day by day as she wants to go for walks and she wants to jump up on the stool by the window so she can see outside.  She also wants to be held most of the time.  Of course that means only one person can walk with Caeli while the other stays with Carmeh who doesn’t understand why she is being kept inside.  Hopefully her back problems will settle  down within the month.  She will be 11 in August and I suspect that this is just the beginning of reoccurring problems with her discs.

As we have windows down to the floor on the lakeside she can watch the ducks but she isn't interested in them.

Carmeh's favorite place to nap and hang out during the day is on our bed but that requires two stools to get up there so she is banned from the bed. She just sits where the stools used to be and looks up and then at us. Poor thing.

Caeli has been good at keeping her company. This new bed arrangement is just a few feet from our desks.

Thank you for your comments and emails, your support and suggestions were much appreciated.  Just about 10 years ago we lost a doxie, Channel, she died on the operating table during back surgery but she was just three years of age. A friend’s blind dog has stepped on Channel’s back while she was sleeping precipitating her back problems.  We won’t be doing surgery with Carmeh and plan to get her well and back to walking and hopefully no running nor jumping but we won’t restrict the rest of her life.  She deserves to live it doing what she likes but pain free.

Finally saw some babies, we don't have many any more as they addle the eggs.

Tags: medical, pets, The girls

I have been back from my Mother’s memorial service for only 23 hours.  It was more than I expected and I was extremely touched as were many of the speakers.  Many many tears were shed.  I will fill you in on this another day.  I really would like to.

I arrived exhausted yesterday and while I had a lovely soak in the tub, Colin made us a wonderful dinner, then I went to bed.  Seems that I missed a mini snow squall while away in Edmonton.  Nice!  I discovered a lovely wine while waiting for my plane on Monday, but at $9.99 per glass, ouch!  Well worth finding a bottle though….Graffigna Pinot Grigio from Argentina.

When I awoke this morning I hit the ground running.  So far today we have dealt with a lawyer, a landscaper, our insurance company, our investment advisor, banking difficulties, our accountant, clients, an eye appointment and a Dr’s appointment,  and worst of all our vet.  Why oh why, all in one day?

Over the weekend Carmeh had many downs and a few ups.  This morning after letting her out to do her business I observed how difficult it was for her to climb the stairs up to the house.  In fact after struggling with the first two steps she stopped on the third.  We carried her in.  Seems like she had a spinal issue.

After a few of our urgent calls that kept coming one after another, Colin delayed an appointment with a client and we were off to the vet.

Dr. Susan Wales spent a long time checking Carmeh over. She did test after test and repeated several of them to confirm her findings.

It appears that Carmeh has a bad spot along her spine which is where Susan is pressing in the photo and a VERY bad spot at the hump of her spine, about a hands width higher than the bad spot.  She could feel heat rising from it.  We had observed from time to time on the Isla that Carmeh was walking slowly and sometimes was reluctant to walk.  Since being back home, not even 2 weeks yet, she has had to be carried back from a walk twice as she just stopped walking.  When she is good she is great and runs and jumps, even running and playing on the lawn with Colin on Monday.  But when she is sore, she doesn’t move, but brave little girl that she is, she has never complained.  So she now has two very fragile areas along her spine, likely two discs ready to pop!  She needs to be immobilized.

Blood was taken but Carmeh was forming a hematoma so Susan was applying pressure.

Carmeh is now on Metacam, once daily for pain and to decrease inflammation.  If there is no change in a few days we will switch to Prednisone.  She is also requiring ice packs, on for 10 minutes and off for 10 minutes and if that is not tolerated then heat packs.  Bad parents that we are, this has not yet happened as Colin had to go to see two clients and I had an eye appointment and a medical appointment, yes even more to pack into these crazy 23 hours.  Sadly I just found out that our GP is retiring in August as he turns 65.  I knew he did not like practicing, but had no idea that he was planning on quitting, and sadly he has no replacement.  Apparently the clinic has been advertising for over a year with no takers so we are stuck with using the walk in clinic as none of the other Dr’s in the clinic will take on new patients.  I have since done an online search and found out that no doctors in this area are taking on new patients.  Another hurdle to deal with.

The most important thing with Carmeh is to keep her quiet and calm.  She is the one who never stops while Caeli is the one who sleeps.  So no walks and no jumping.  We have removed all the stools in the house, so no bed, no sofa, only the floor and dog beds to lay on.  She is allowed to go down stairs if she can but not up the stairs.

Then we got a call from the vet.  Problems with her blood work.  Her white cells are low.  The blood work has been forwarded to a vet pathologist.  Not good news.  Results tomorrow afternoon.  A very crazy 23 hours indeed.

I will always treasure those 10 minutes taken at a rest area a few weeks ago. She was happy and free.

Interestingly Caeli has been sticking really close to Carmeh these past few hours.

I have a fur baby I have to go ice………hasta manana.

Tags: medical, The girls, Wine

My regular readers will remember that when my mother passed away last July, I could not go back home as I had just very recently had a hip replaced and could not travel.  At the time of her death my mother’s body was donated at her request, to the University of Alberta Anatomical Gifts Program.

The University is having a commemorative memorial service today for the families of the Anatomical Donors, that the University’s Anatomical Division have concluded their studies of.  I have known about today for three weeks now and have been emotional off and on.  For me it will be a closure of sorts.  I know that I will be extremely sensitive all day.  I’m certain that the afternoon ceremony will be very moving and melancholy.  My plan is to have a quiet breakfast at the airport before meeting my family at the University.  I will later go back to my Dad’s and spend the evening with him and fly back home late afternoon Monday.

We spent Friday catching up on personal matters which involved a lot of phone time.  I did manage to get out and pick up my car insurance and at the same time do some grocery shopping. Sticker shock.  We have been eating what I had purchased in the US last week and this was my first time in a Canadian grocery store in over 6 months.  Everything from bread to fruit is so expensive not to mention the veggies.  I’ll have to start looking at the flyers and doing some selective shopping.  When we unloaded we found many of the basics unusable.  Both the salt and the sugar were rock hard, I guess they had absorbed a lot of moisture while in Mexico. They were new when we left and neither had even been opened.  My grocery list is expanding.

One of the calls Colin made was about getting the RV fumigated.  The first quote was for $500.00.  The second guy we called had already heard about us from the first guy and didn’t want to quote.  The third guy is willing to do it for $159.00 and will come in twice, a few weeks apart.  No one will guarantee killing the flea eggs, if there are any, in the carpet.  Those eggs can withstand a nuclear blast.  The termites appear to be dead and we have only seen three cockroaches and we think they came in hiding within things brought into the RV from the outside while on the Isla.  Do we really have fleas?  We never ever saw any and we were never bit.  We did see their feces on our sheets, the dark blood spots so the girls did have them before the flea bath at the vets.  I still think they were transient fleas picked up on the beach and not an infestation in the RV.  Colin wonders if we should just wait and see what develops.  I say we fumigate mostly because I don’t want to be on the road and start having issues.  Any thoughts?

I have several of these little guys flying in and out this week. Can't say that I have ever seen them before.

They don't sit still long enough to get a good shot of them.

Does anyone know what they might be? They have a yellow stripe/dot on the top of the head.

Remember whenI purchased my new camera last month, for $180.00.  Well Colin decided he should get a new camera also.  Only his is bigger and way more money.  This was the year he just had to get a new Nikon D800 and of course he is justified as that is how we make our income.  The body only, no lens was $3,370.00 with tax.  Good thing we can write his off as a company expense.

Is anyone looking to buy a Nikon D200 camera with AF - S Nikkor 18-200mm DX ED VR lens? Complete with charger and 4GB flash card. Very good condition. Only $300.00.

EDIT…..the ad for the camera and lens was placed at 6:00PM Friday and has been sold by 10:30AM this morning to the first caller.  Amazing  🙂

Tags: CJPS, critters, Isla de la Piedra, travel

I finally got the year end completed.  My eyes were burning and I did have to resort to eye drops the last day.

Yes I do it the old fashion way. Our accountant loves what I do because I am so accurate and has offered me a job in his office anytime I want but I would have to learn how to do it on the computer. No gracias.

Not only did I get it done but I balanced the entire year to the penny  😀  That does not happen too often, especially on the first try.

All the documents for the entire year for both the company and for the two of us compact into one small package.

Then I called our accountant in Vancouver to let him know that all the company documents and our personal tax information would arrive on Monday morning.  Not good enough, he wants it today, Friday.  I called UPS ASAP on Thursday afternoon but they said that for this area we need to call in a pick up by 10:00AM.  I know for a fact that UPS drives around here some days as late as 4:00PM so I called the gatehouse and asked them to direct UPS here to our home if a truck happened to drive into the Park.  I would have driven the package into Kelowna my own but I have no wheels.

Well I do have wheels but Wednesday Colin had a problem trying to get my insurance renewed.  We put storage insurance on the Z3 for six months of the year and I usually just sign those papers on the back as indicated for renewal.  No go.  The lady at the insurance agency insisted I had to sign the back of the latest existing insurance policy in order for someone to insure my car on my behalf.  Only problem is that I don’t have any paperwork for existing insurance, just for the storage insurance.  Not acceptable said the very bureaucratic lady at the agency.  Contessa must come in here in person.  Colin patiently ( I would never be patient in such a situation as you well know ) explained that he has done it this way for the past two years.  Not this year she said.  I have been chained to my desk since Monday working on the year end and Colin left a 9:00AM Thursday for a full day shoot so there was no way to go in and get the paperwork completed.  So there I was with a perfectly good BMW ready to drive but no insurance.  Sigh!

Colin got home early and we drove to the main UPS depot which is just 4 KMs from here. They took the parcel but would not be able to have it delivered until Monday as we had missed the last delivery to the airport by 30 minutes. Well we tried.

The important thing is that it is done and out of my house. Now I can enjoy our table again, well at least until we hear from the accountant as to how we much we have to pay.

It was an odd day weather wise.

We got the rain and the mountain got more snow. Interesting clouds.

That was my day yesterday.