Join Us Wed. for the Last #GiveCancerThePaw Hop!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last Give Cancer the Paw blog hop. My co-host Peggy (of The Writer's Dog) and I have done what we've set out to do: raise awareness about canine cancer, share news of studies and treatments, and raise the "power of the paw" in fighting this evil disease.

Give Cancer the Paw: A Tribute Post

This post is a brief tribute to these two beautiful girls that we lost to cancer.

Guest Post from MAF: Help Save Dogs and Kids!

As you know, we lost our angel Abby to osteosarcoma. 

Pamela Anderson had nuthin' on our beach babe.

It was while Abby had cancer that we discovered Morris Animal Foundation when we participated in their K9 Cancer Walk with our girl. We also entered her in the Orvis Cover Dog contest which raises money for MAF. We've been supporters ever since, and attended their gala, and I've pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from Rescue Me, Maybe to them. 

So, when MAF contacted me about doing a guest post, I was happy to agree! I asked if they'd specifically write about a new project they recently started. Thanks very much to Katie and MAF for sharing this info with Pooch Smooches' readers! 

Take it away, Katie: 

~ ~ ~

Every year, ten thousand American dogs are diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. This is a number that Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit working to further veterinary science, would like to change. Even more devastating than the sheer number of dogs with this terrible disease is that this type of cancer develops in young dogs—those between two and three years old. Osteosarcoma does not let up, either, as this cancer will commonly come back in dogs that have already had this ailment.

Photo provided by MAF

Owners can often tell that something is wrong when their dogs start to show symptoms of lameness. At this point, it is highly likely that the cancer has spread to other parts of the dog’s body. The current treatments for osteosarcoma include amputation and extremely strong chemotherapy drugs.

In order to combat this terrible disease, Morris’ 5-5-5 Project will fund five osteosarcoma studies. This project as a whole will last five years and will provide the chosen five studies with approximately $5 million. Every year for five years there will be a new osteosarcoma study bringing hope to dogs affected by this illness.

This study even has the potential to help kids, too. Finding the most effective cancer drugs for dogs, could potentially mean finding the most effective treatments for children affected by osteosarcoma. Morris is continuing the fight against cancer with this new project; join us and donate to Morris Animal Foundation. Thank you to all of our donors and those spreading the word about Morris studies!

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Katie F. on behalf of Morris Animal Foundation. Visit morrisanimalfoundation.org/ to learn more about the animal health research that Morris Animal Foundation participates in.

~ ~ ~

With Abby, she was hit even younger by the disease, being only 15-months old when she was diagnosed. As Katie writes, it was the limping that caused us to take her to the vet. With such a young, goofy dog, we figured she'd just overdone it. But when the limp didn't go away, x-rays confirmed osteosarcoma. 

We opted for amputation (obvi, from the above picture!), and also a lotta chemo (both IV and at-home pills) plus holistics treatments. We had another amazing 15 months with her and lost her at age 2 1/2. But she lives on in our hearts, and now in the character of Maybe in Rescue Me, Maybe.

Here's hoping the research funded by MAF can find some answers and bring hope for parents of both dogs and kids who get this horrible disease!

Thanks again MAF for the post and for everything that you do for the animals! #CancerSucks!

Thanks to Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs for hosting the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog hop. 

Follow-up Friday: More Cancer Stuff and Some Not-Cancer Stuff

It's Follow-Up Friday - the blog hop where we follow up on former posts, answer questions, share funny comments and wrap up the week! 

Dogs of Blogville Calendar
Remember waaay back in August when I asked you to vote to get Rita in the Dogs of Blogville Calendar? Well, they arrived, and they're gorgeous! Big thanks to Jodi of Heart Like a Dog and Julie of Daily Dog Blog for putting these together!

Wordless Wednesday: Pups and a Pledge

Pups:
First I want to show you some special pups today:
{Wait... we interrupt this post to first apologize if you subscribe via email and get this twice. Somehow this posted with a back-dated timestamp. (?) Had to hunt all over to find it and repost it as today. Sorry for the dupe. Now... here are some pups:} 

My mom's angel beagle, Sugar

Ah, the Ups & Downs...And Monkeybutts Explained

Downs
OK, so... it's been a bit of a stressful week. In my last post I mentioned we took Monday off from the beach because I was worried about Abby's leg and lack of stamina. Well, Monday night, after having a bad bout of tummy trouble, she was suddenly her old self - racing around, play bowing, jumping on me, etc. She seemed totally fine, so we met up with her buddy, Dakota, at the beach on Tuesday like usual. She was OK at first, but then started stumbling again. We turned back way early but she still was stumbling and breathing a little heavy and laid down several times, which is NOT normal. I was very upset the whole way home and imagining terrible things…

Ups
While I was waiting for Dr. V. to call back, she started furiously licking one toenail and then she jumped up to race around and chase a fly! So, I figured either she is the most stoic dog ever, or there's no spread of cancer to that leg (which is what I had imagined)… Dr. V. thinks it is just a combo of things all hitting at once: the heat sapping her energy, bit of a tummy issue (maybe ate/drank something funky at the bay) also sapping her energy, plus a problem with her toenail and/or a strained wrist. I think she may have slightly torn a toenail at the base, which if you think about it, would hurt like crazy on the uneven surface at the beach - not to mention the sand and salt water getting in there. So the last two days we have just done short walks in the neighborhood and she's done OK with that. Tomorrow we will attempt the beach again, but plan to take it a little easy.


Monkeybutts
It's been a rough couple of days, but as usual the folks at the Tripawds.com site help you through these things. One of things I love about the Tripawds community is that there are some darn funny people on there. (Gee, using humor to deal with adversity... who'da thunk it??) Well, one of the funniest folks on the site made Abby a special video for her 10 month ampuversary, which I've included below. But before you watch it, I have to explain about Monkeybutts...

Monkeybutts (Latin: canis monkeyanticus familiaris OR canis lupus jealousicus) are other dogs (or cats or ferrets, etc.) who live in the house with a tripawd and get up to all sorts of antics due to their jealousy over all the special attention tripawds get - like car rides! (trips to the vet) and treats! (pills hidden in food). The Monkeybutts try to stir up friendly trouble with the AMBF (the Anti MonkeyButt Forces) on the Tripawds site. Abby is a proud member of the AMBF! The Monkeybutts' leader is this little tyke pictured to the right: Rocket, aka "Monkeybutt-Bunny Vampire Pirate". He is the one who made the video for Abby - which is why (as you'll see) it is not the...er, love message you might be expecting.

Abby explained to Monkeybutt that she saw the hidden message in the video... Just like god backwards is dog, she figured out that NOT backwards is TON and that Monkeybutt-Bunny was really trying to say that he likes her a TON! (I may have left you all with the Barney song in your head a couple of posts back; now just try to get this ditty outta your head!)

One More Little "Up"
Today Abby and I went and got sandwiches and then hijacked Mike from work and took him to the park for a wee picnic lunch and a nice stroll/hop in the sun. It was very nice.

And One More Big "Down"
Hate to end on a sad note, but I wanted to mention to please send good vibes out to Chili Dawg's family. Chili Dawg was the tripawd golden that we sent Barney on to. Sweet Chili didn't make it. (You might not want to click this link unless you have tissues handy...) He had an appointment with heaven that he couldn't miss. He didn't even get to have much fun with Barney, and had to let his monkeybutt brother, Finchy the boxer, try to kill Barney. The Tripawds folks are all very sad about the loss of Chili, a great Tripawd Warrior.

Another Good Check Up & Feeling Crafty

Abby had a quick check up at the Vet Cancer Group today just to check her blood and make sure she is doing OK taking the Cytoxan every day now. All went well and Dr. V. said her blood looked great - in fact, it was the best it's been. We go back again in two weeks for x-rays. Of course we are hoping the Lone Met will still be a loner, and once we have confirmed that he is, we will have the "Rename the Lone Met" contest. Don't want to have it now, just in case... So fingers and paws are crossed for good news in two weeks. 

We still haven't started Abby on the artemisinin (which I blogged about here) as she's had a wee bit of tummy issues. I'm certain it's from stealing green peaches off another of our peach trees which is not producing much yet. (We've caught her munching on the pits a couple of times...) She is almost back to being a "solid citizen" so we'll be starting the "arte" soon.

As for feeling crafty, I've been playing with my "Brushes" app on my iPad a bit more and did this e-painting of Abby. This is the pose you will most often find her in as she very much enjoys a bit of belly rubbing. She pretty much lays around like that, in the hopes that a hand will come by. (I hope you see this as "art" and not "puppy porn." Mike wanted me to incorporate a fig leaf, just in case anyone might be offended, but I know you guys don't offend easily!)

Slut Puppy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Bunnies & A Rat

In other craftiness, my sisters and I get together every once in a great while for what we like to call "Forced Crafting." You must participate, no matter how much you suck at the particular craft we are working on. In the past we have done Christmas wreaths, beaded bracelets, little stuffed Easter chickies and bunnies made of felt, etc. etc. This time we tried "felting wool," in which you basically just get this special wool (called "roving"), form it into a shape, and stab it repeatedly (and yourself occasionally) with a special needle until it magically retains said shape. We made bunnies. (Well, they all started out as bunnies, but one ended up becoming a rat... And a darn handsome rat he is!)

After we made the bunnies/rat, I had to go, but my sisters made a very fine replica of corgi Lou, remember him from this previous post?, and a neighbor's dog, Marley. Too cute, eh? We are going to try again this week. I'm going to start slow and attempt a quadpawd first. Actually, I can't decide if a tripawd will be harder (tough to get it to stand/sit without falling over...) or easier (one less leg to make!). You can be sure that if they come out cute I'll be posting pics all over the place - the blog, Facebook, Twitter, maybe even a YouTube video! (And if they come out ugly, I will only post the pics here.)

Applying the Tail to the Rat

Lou!

Marley, next to his photo

Finally, I just want to say there have been some very sad posts on the BoneCancerDogs listserv and on the Tripawds' site the last few days about sweet pooches who lost their battle with this oh-so-shitty disease. We are thinking of you guys and hoping you are taking some comfort in the fact that your furry family members are now running pain free. Hang in there. 

No New Mets!!!

Abby had her follow-up x-ray today, and while the results weren't miraculous (no, unfortunately the lone met did not disappear...) they were still pretty darn good: that lone met is STILL a loner. None of his rat-bastard friends have come to join the party! Hoorah! Hopefully he STAYS a loner... although I guess that's kind of a long shot. Dr. V. said it's very rare to have just one met--I guess they are like potato chips or something. 

The slightly bad news was that the Lone Met (I've decided to start capitalizing that...sorta like he's the evil villain in a B Western...) had gotten a little bigger in the almost-three-months since the last x-ray. He went from 1.0cm to ~ 1.4cm. The good news is that The Lone Met lives in a "good" spot in her lungs. Apparently the location of the mets can have a big impact on longevity, for instance you don't want them up by the airways. Our Lone Met is hanging out in sort of the "back country" of Abby's lungs, so nowhere near up where all the action is. Phew. 

Dr. V. says if we keep doing what we are doing with her metronomic therapy (maintaining her every-other-day doses of Palladia/Cytoxan) we should have her around for "a good long time." Which, with osteosarcoma, is still not THAT long in the grand scheme of things, and it's impossible to really put a number on these things, but... there is a dog on the Tripawds site who is on metronomic protocol, AND has lung mets (plural) and has been going for 2 years that way! Another two years (at least) would be awesome. 

And, I ask you, does this look like a sick dog??? 

[No animals - or humans - were harmed in the making of this video, although all three of us did end up quite wet.]

Oh, one other thing... Mike was asking, Why can't we just cut that damn Lone Met out? Dr. V. did address that -- it is possible that we could cut it out, but it's pretty rare to do because it's not worth it unless the dog meets three criteria: (1) the met has to be stable (it can grow some, but not a ton -- as it is now, he said we could actually call her met "stable," so check on that one), (2) it has to be a Lone Met (check), and (3) it has to remain a Lone Met for a year (so, we need to keep waiting and see what happens). We'll see if we make it to another six months and The Lone Met still rides alone. It's pretty major surgery, so I dunno... Hopefully we'll someday be at a point where we need to make that decision. 

P.S. She is still having minor diarrhea (still not entirely a "solid citizen") so we are on a little break from her meds until her system settles down again. Hopefully she'll be back into her routine very shortly.