Zeke, Page Nine, The Start of a New Year
January 13, 2003... Took Zekie to the vet today for two issues, one is his back leg and the
other is what seems that he is gulping and moaning when he eats, like it
hurts.
Looks like he has a big of loss of motor movement in his legs, either
arthritis or just muscle loss, or even because of the limping in the
front leg is walking out of whack thereby forcing his other legs to do
more work. so the leg stiffness is something we'll just have to deal
with and perhaps the rimadyl will help lessen any pain... The gulping
with food, she suggested that I feed him small portions,so he isn't
gulping it. (I tried this for breakfast and it seemed to help). We
didn't take another xray because it really won't do any good for him, we
know the tumors are there.
We came home with a new batch of pred as we only have 4 days left. She
suggested since we are going to have to go back and forth with the pred
to the rimadyl to get him some pepcid to take with each meal.
I currently have him on pred to get the tumor size down, and when it
goes down, we'll switch back to the rimadyl. She says just keep the
meds going back and forth as needed.
She said too that we are seeing more signs of the cancer but not to
worry, when he is ready for the bridge he will let me know. She said
most likely in his
breathing coming raspy or hard for him to breathe.
Amy wrote: I've been wanting to put these thoughts into writing for a while.
As some of you may know, I have had the extreme pleasure of meeting Zeke The Man in person. Let me tell you that that
smiling happy face you see in his photos is absolutely truth in advertising! This is undoubtedly the happiest dog I've ever met.
I hear/read people lamenting Zeke's bad luck, the fact that previous owners didn't bother to have his cancer treated when it
would have been treatable. But, Zeke is totally unaware that his life has been anything but perfect. Thank goodness these
wonderful dogs live in and for the moment. Zeke is in the most loving home imaginable, he adores his mom, dad and the rest of
the amigos.
I guess what I want to say is go ahead and feel bad for Pam and Greg, who, once Zeke has made his way to the bridge, will
hurt unbelievably. Feel sorrow and pain for all of us who will miss him. Even feel anger at the people who failed to take action
that could have extended this wonderful dog's life. BUT, don't waste your sympathy on Zeke, he doesn't need it! I imagine
Zeke being able to understand that someone feels sorry for him. I can only imagine the incredulous look on his face, the
disbelief that anyone would see anything wrong with his life.
I wish I had the ability and capacity to take life the way Zeke has, one day at a time, where all is right with the world as long as
he is surrounded by those he loves, and as long as there are woobies to strew around the yard!
Tami wrote: Zeke is such a happy-go-lucky guy who doesn't let much of
anything bother him. He's been doing so well for the past 11 months
that I sometimes forget how sick he really is. He's been surpassing
all of our expectations about his longevity for so long that now
we've come to expect him to just keep on going and playing with his
woobies. Reading what the vet said about him letting you know when
it's time to go brought tears to my eyes; I--who have never met
Zekie the man--will have a big whole in my heart when he goes to the
bridge. I can only imagine how empty your house will feel when he
has gone to the Bridge. Thanks to you opening your heart and your
home to a special guy, Zeke has a lot of people who love him and
will miss him terribly.
We had our annual RAGOFAZ Rescue picnic and Zekie was able to attend and felt pretty darn good all day! What a happy boy he was enjoying all the people and doggies coming to visit. An auntie from Tucson brought him a woobie (thank you!) and many people came to hug and kiss him! He walked in the rescue parade with a woobie in his mouth and touched everyone there. We were very happy to have him able to attend this event. Even Uncle Rich and Julie came by to visit and hug him, he had many hugs to give for those that sent them through Rich!
January 30...Well good news and bad news. Bad news first. Zekie has torn his
acruciate ligament and there is not much we can do about it other than
no major walking, 1500 mg of glucosamine and tender care.
Good news is that he seems to be ok with it, doesn't show signs of it
hurting him terribly, so all the things I've done to keep him safe, soft
beds, lots of carpet and carpet runs so there are no slick areas for him
to fall. He did not cry when she manipulated his leg, but you could see
the "play" in his knee.
we can't bandage it because he is compensating his walk and "falls" now
and knows how to, if we bandage it might throw him out of whack. And to
bandage it correctly it would fall and create more problems than it
helps.
On a younger dog we would do surgery, but as you know we can't put Zekie
under anesthesia because of the cancer in his lungs. So we work with
this and do everything right and if he can handle it we can too.
she has given me some pain relief he can take with the pred in case he
has bad days, or if he isn't sleeping well at night. We save that only
if he needs it.
Walked in to the office with his woobie in his mouth and everyone loves
him there. OH another thing, he has gained weight again (pred) so I'm
gonna have to take him to diet food and compensate with something (he
dislikes vegetables). Maybe pumpkin, we'll try that.
So good thoughts for Zekie man to continue to handle it please!
RAGOFAZ always walks in the Scottsdale Parada Del Sol each year. We knew that Zekie would not be able to walk this year and were very disheartened because of it. Many people encouraged me to see if we could get him in a wagon, so I called our brother-in-law who we knew to have a wagon. We set it up, and took him for a test stroll. The wagon is a hit, Zekie stepped right in and away we
went! I walked about the equivalent of 1/2 mile with him, and the only
problem I can see we are gonna have is during the trip he wanted to
STAND UP! I guess he doesn't have full view of where he is going
because of the rails... Now I have to figure how to get him a little
higher but not too high that he'll step out of it.
I put a 3" cushion below him so he'd have good soft ride.
I like this wagon it has a front and back gate and each side gate that
come off. So I can load him in from the rear and take him out from the
front!
Parada del Sol date: Zekie and the amigos had a great time, thank you all for
coming over and giving him hugs and kisses, he was thrilled to be there
and I'm so happy we figured a way to keep his golden butt planted so he
could enjoy it. During the parade I walked beside the wagon Greg was
pulling so Zekie could keep his eyes on me. Throughout the parade he
would be roo-rooing and everyone just loved it! He was the hit of the
parade in the wagon, but that roo-rooing certainly got alot of
attention. He certainly reminded me that life goes on, sickness or not,
keep on keeping on and enjoy the moments one has!!!
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This is me and my mom getting ready for the Parada Del Sol. I wanted to stand up, but she was worried about my legs, so she did a chinese torture with leashes to hold me in! I roo-roo'ed the whole parade cause I was so very very happy to be out with all those people! |
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This is me, I was so happy this day. So many doggies and people to meet! I especially loved all the huggies that Unkill Rich brought along from all of you! |
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Mom made me a bed in each room so I could be comfy. Of course each bed has to have woobies all around it too. (I'm not spoiled!) |
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Nice profile don't you think? This is a new woobie to me too, mom caught this awesome photo and enhanced it a touch. |
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I really love this big blue Ocotopus! |
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I'm still looking quite happy! This is my January photograph |
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