silentchild

Brilliant news!! Very happy for you. :D

Oh how awful, I am so very sorry for your loss. RIP Buddy, gone too soon. Many hugs to you.

Benji movies were definitely one of my childhood favorites! Lady and the Tramp, Fox & the Hound although they're animated. Homeward Bound. Because of Winn Dixie. Bingo. Eight Below. K-9. Now I feel like rewatching some of these movies. :D

Thank you everyone, I'm sure Emma appreciates the wishes. :) She ate too much on Christmas..... fatty. :laugh:

She must be exhausted from being spoilt rotten.

Merry Christmas from Emma!!!

Oh god, what a tolerant dog. I couldn't bear it when the baby was bouncing up and down on the dog's ribs like it was some sort of balloon... and the parents encouraging it... and the baby ripping the dog's face from side to side..... wtf classic example of bad parenting!!!! Even more sad is that there are people who think it's okay to let their child treat a dog like that, and that dogs are expected to put up with such behaviour with no complaints at all otherwise it is a 'dangerous dog'...

Wow, I cannot believe that Emma will be able to spend Christmas with me, it just hit me. I am so amazed at how far she's managed to come. Three months ago I was 100% certain she would be gone by now... I am so lucky to be able to have this time with her.

Thanks for the info Dyz, I didn't know cortisone had that side effect. I just had a look through the mountains of medication she is on and no, Emma doesn't get any cortisone. :D So she has no excuse, lol! Although when I gave her meds later in the arvo she very gently and tentatively took them from my fingers while staring at me out of her one eye, so she got some Good Girl cuddles after that. I just can't resist that face. :D Sorry to hear about your last ouchie from Dyzney, she must be in kahoots with Emma. Though coming from Dyz it probably was more a love bite to you! Thank you 4Kelpies, yes it does look that way. *touch wood* I've gotten her some yum free-range duck to have on Christmas morning, a huge beef stick and no doubt she will get some yummy leftovers off whatever the humans are going to eat too. At this rate she'll be having a happier Christmas than me! :D

Thanks all for thinking about us. :) Emma is in the doghouse at the moment, she is normally a very gentle eater but lately has started being more exuberant when being fed. Today the little monster rumbled at me and accidentally nicked me with her teeth whilst excitedly taking her chicken necks from me despite numerous warnings of gentle (she knows what it means) and drew a bit of blood, I damn near almost murdered her for it. Now she's staying well far away from me looking extremely sorry for herself lol. At least it shows she's still got some spunk in her lol. Cancer is no excuse for forgetting your table manners!

My dog also completely leaves the tree and presents alone. Not so much as a sniff when we put it up. She's never taken an interest in it every year, no idea why either. Eta. My cat also has zero interest in the tree so maybe I just have a bunch of tree-haters lol.

Emma made it to her 8th birthday! Just reading a few pages back we weren't expecting her to, but she made it! :D Very happy. She's a lot limpier nowadays but is coping well and just laying around more, my precious girl. I'm just lucky that we still have her. Celebrating her birthday:

Thanks for all the links guys, they all look great! :) Keep em coming. Are any of the shoulder/chest straps on these harnesses restrictive or tight around the shoulders at all? Do any of the handles get in the way if they want to lay on their sides / backs? My dog has bad legs and I want to use the handle mainly for helping her get up and down when she gets stuck lying in awkward positions (she always has to position herself in the worst positions possible when sleeping) and sometimes she has trouble getting up without having to twist something lol. Her shoulder is not that good either so I don't really want a strap that will restrict shoulder movement too much. The one I saw on the Dobe at KCC Park was perfect, if only I could find the exact same one.

Hi, hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. At the recent Dogs Vic Big Day Out at KCC Park, at the Dobermann Club stall there was a beautiful brown Dobe that was wearing a harness-like apparatus which had a handle on the back and said 'Therapy Dog, Pat Me I'm Friendly', or something like that. Does anyone know where I can get a similiar harness, with the handle on the back? Doesn't have to have any of those words on it. I've seen the ones on CleanRun but the straps they have that go around the girth are quite thin, whereas the one the Dobe had on was a nice, thick strap that looked quite supportive. It looked very lightweight too, which is what I'm after. Thanks for any help!

Thank you all for thinking about Emma. :) For those asking, she is doing well again, she had a few bad days when I last posted but she has been improving again since, it seems like her condition will be up and down, so now she is back to normal and running about like a loon. I think having shorter nails has also definitely improved her comfort and mobility - thank you Dyzney for helping me cut them! Hopefully her next bout of bad days stays far away. Big wags to all the well-wishers from her. :)

So sorry to hear, I hope he is able to stay happy and healthy as possible with you for a long time to come. He will be well looked after with you, my best wishes to the both of you.

Thanks Dyzney, her leg is not so good again today. I think I will up her dosage of Tramadol tonight. I have a bad feeling in my bones.

Thanks all. :) Small update, Emma seems to be going ever so slightly downhill, I notice her leg has been hurting her a bit more yesterday and today. She has been holding it up more/using it less. Gave her a Tramadol yesterday and she's been lying around a bit more too. Other than that she is still bright and happy, maybe a bit more sooky lol, still loving her food and scritches. Hope she doesn't get any worse.

Thanks everyone, really appreciate it. Very happy to report that Emma's poop is completely back to normal and she is bouncing around like nothing's wrong ever. Other than her slight limp and her coat looking like it's losing a bit of condition she acts as normal and loony as ever. She's officially one month past her 3 month prognosis, so everything from here on out is a gift. :)

Thanks Grumpette and Dyz. I hope it firms up soon too. Thanks for the tip re. sweet potato, I will try that. In my rush to get to prepare her breakfast before getting to work this morning I accidentally tipped in a whole jar of MSM instead of her breakfast meds into her food. *facepalm* So so stupid of me, and such a waste of MSM. I scooped most of it out but that means will have to go back to the vet to get some more since it's all wasted now. My temper has been rather short lately and I am ashamed to say I've been a bit less than patient with Emma nowadays. I think the constant hassle of the daily dealings with her medication, her diet, the careful monitoring of her exercise, the constant worry etc etc is all starting to catch up with me. Almost lost it with her this morning when she lunged herself away from my hand on her collar in her excitement to go say Hi to the dog next door (who was threatening to bring the fence down, goddamn I hate that neighbour's dog), and decided to fling herself off the deck and land on her bad leg. (don't you know your leg is fragile, dog?! Why do you do these things!! asddfsjhsdfjkkl) (She was fine btw.) I think I need to meditate or something, I would hate for the last thing I say to Emma be some cuss word lol. I just feel so tired. But then I look into her soft brown eye when she nudges my hand with her nose and I know it's all worth it and I wouldn't change a thing. *edited because I forgot she only has one eye now instead of 'eyes', lol

Unfortunately no Dyz, still rather moist. Not liquid but not firm hard either. :S I have started her completely back on her herbs tho and I don't really like giving too much rice to a cancer dog so am going to blend up lots of pumpkin, banana etc instead of rice to help things along. Have also started mixing back some of her raw into her meals, I don't think chicken and rice can possibly be very nutritious! Hopefully it will firm back up soon. :S

Have PMed you apexboxers, I'm so sorry to hear about your girl. Emma is playing with my emotions, last night her poop went back to being nice and firm and solid, but this morning it has gone runny and sloppy again. Maybe it's because I gave her some pumpkin last night with the chicken and rice too. We'll see how she goes tonight. I've got her a new bed, one of those ones that are supposed to be good for joints, and have got the air-con to auto turn-on for her when the temperature rises to 34degrees today in Melbourne... what a pampered pooch.

Oh Dxenion, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. At least your dear girl did not have to suffer for very long. Run free Java, take care of yourself Dxenion. She lived a happy life with you.

Hooorahh Emma pooped!!!! Its no longer the consistency of water but instead the shape of tiny little pellets about the size of my little finger. Very very little poop and still rather sloppy so I'm still worried but it holds its shape and I'm just glad she's no longer gushing liquid poo like a waterfall! I've never been so excited about poop in my life...

Thanks Dyzney and MrR&NR. Emma is ok, she was a little flat last night and just lay in bed looking miserable, I guess from maybe hunger and tired from constantly pooping water plus the huge vomit. She was very confused when her bowl remained empty at dinnertime! She is much better today, back to being bouncy and full of energy. I've just started her on her first tiny meal of chicken and rice and am watching her like a hawk hopefully she won't throw it back up!!! Made her some chicken stock too which she lapped up ravenously. Her diarrhea is still here, but she's only pooped once today rather than having to go every 3 hours like yesterday, so I hope that is a good sign. Fingers crossed she manages to hold her food down and two days without painkillers won't be too hard on her.