The Little Pack

Cheyenne looks as though she is going to sneeze in this photo, but in actuality, this is how she demonstrates contentedness. I’ve written before about Cheyenne’s snaggle and finally captured an image of it. The “snaggle,” as we call it, makes an appearance when Cheyenne is especially happy. Usually this takes place with her upside-down and getting her belly rubbed… Sometimes, when she is in really high spirits, the whole side of her mouth goes into this weird half smile exposing all the teeth on one side of her mouth.

This dog is just so outrageous, I often find myself bursting out loud laughing. I have never known a dog like her, and I would bet, I never will again. When she was younger, I had several moments of doubt when I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. But now, not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for her very existance.

It is so hard to get a good picture of this cat! She blinks every time. I have to try to catch her on sunny days when no flash is required. Her eyes were almost open all the way in this picture. Although her kittenhood was rough, she has turned into the sweetest cat and loves nothing more than to curl up in my lap.

As it turns out, Dixie’s internal stitches did not hold and surgery was required. The vet had to open her back up, debride the incision and re-stitch everything. He told us he used a lot of knots this time which will cause swelling. She is pretty sore, but in good spirits. In 2 weeks she goes back for an x-ray, a month after the bladder stone surgery. This will give us a good idea as to how quickly her body produces stones. From there we will come up with a battle plan.

Dixie went to the vet tonight to have her staples removed and I expected to be able to report how well she is doing and that she was given a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, they think that the internal stitches may not be holding, which means: more surgery. This poor dog! I would ask if it could get worse, except that I know it could. She goes in Friday and we will know more then.

On a better note, the vet now believes that he may have missed the stone the first time around. He went back to all the x-rays and thinks that it may have been there the whole time, just in a difficult spot to see on the x-ray. This is actually good news because this means that her body may not be making the stones as fast as previously thought. If that is true, we may be able to manage these stones after all.

All research indicates that wet food is a better choice in the case of calcium oxalate stones because it consists of 80% water. The more water she drinks, the more diluted her urine stays, and the less chance the oxalates have of binding together. We have switched her to the wet U/D, and so far, she loves it.

All we can do is take this one step at time and see where it takes us. We are hoping that brings us to a happy, healthy dog with a long future ahead of her.

Cheyenne’s other new routine involves snuggling with me about 20 minutes before the alarm goes off. Which sounds sweet until you realize all that is involved in this process. The dogs each have specified spots in the bed. Jack sleeps on the outside of the bed next to my side, and Cheyenne sleeps next to me, but towards the end of the bed. IO sleeps in the middle at the foot of the bed and Dixie sleeps towards the foot of the bed on the outside of the bed by my husband. Often Baby Titten sleeps between my huband and my pillows. So Cheyenne wanting to snuggle means disruption for at least one other animal. For about a week now, early in the morning, she stands on my pillow, and usually on top of my hair–she has learned that more pain means more urgent attention will be paid to her. I tell Jack to go down to her spot, which he usually will and then Cheyenne will spend several minutes pawing my face, to “ask” if she can cuddle with me. After several moments of coaxing and cajoling her, she will snuggle into me, and just as I fall asleep relieved that she did not cut my face open with her razor sharp claws, the alarm goes off and it is time to start my day. Today, however, Jackson and Cheyenne managed to coordinate the switch without me, and Cheyenne figured out how to lay down without me prompting her. So this morning we were all happy. Let’s hope this is the new trend.