Blogville ISO-lympics

So, it's here! April 16 (Singapore time) and taking part in this 🏆🥇🥈🥉🎖🤾‍♂🤸‍♀⛹‍♀🤾‍♀ event is 🌈 Angel Bowie 🌈 . Thank you Bella, Roxy & Dui for hosting (go over to watch other participants' events)!

Get set ... ...

"Hey, wake up Bowie! The ISO-lympics is starting now!"

"OK, I'm awake and ready!". 💪

Event: "LookCool-lympics"👇

Event: "Cute-lympics"👇

Event: "Funny-lympics"👇

Event: "Sleepyhead-lympics"👇

Last but not least, my participation in both "Notti-lympics" and "Dogwalk" events summarized in this video:👇

Phew! Those were tiring events but great ones! Hope everyone enjoyed the ISO-lympics and stay safe during this pandemic. 😘💞

Farewell

You are dearly missed, Bowie. 

Run free, play hard - you are now free from pain and suffering. 

Go make lots of friends at the Rainbow Bridge. We will meet over there one day.

LOTS OF LOVE,

MOM & DAD

💖💖💖💖💖💖

    💖💖💖 You are home now, watching over us 💖💖💖

PS. - Bowie did not go because of cancer. But kidney failure!!!!! Who would have thought?! Last Thursday 7 Mar he had his 5th lump removal surgery as it grew so big (and fast) that it pressed against his left eye and he could hardly open it.  The blood works that day showed that his kidney was failing. We did at home daily subcutaneous fluid therapy (injecting sodium chloride solutions into his skin in between shoulder blades) to flush out toxins from the kidney. Poor boy whined when needled was inserted :'(

He did not get better with that, no appetite (had to be syringe fed but he'd only take minute amount) and by 9 March (last Sat) evening he starting vomiting. It got worse on the night of 11 March, vomiting constantly throughout the night till the following morning. By then he was already very weak and could not even hold up his neck properly. 

We called our vet to say that we'd like to end his suffering. While vet did ask if we'd consider giving Bowie IV drip (injection into the vein) to see if his kidney will get better, we decided against it as even if his kidney does get better, he would only need to go through more and more surgeries to remove the tumor regrowths. By now, he only weighed 5.1kg or 11.2 lbs (from his usual 6.3kg or 13.9 lbs). Every jab and every cut is a stab in our hearts. We said, no, enough. It was the most difficult decision we have ever made but we needed to.

Wordless Wednesday - Darling Baby

💤💤💤💤😆😆😆

The Struggle Is Real

Very real 😢

Getting stuck at places:

Unable to get up:

Luckily, Mom is always there to help me 😘🙏

Surgery #4

Had my 4th surgery last Saturday to remove yet another tumor. This time it was on the gum.

On Saturday morning, not knowing that I'd be going off to vet's 😅:

Warning: Graphic content below showing my mouth before surgery (left upper gum):

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The circled part is the tumor, quite hard to see as it is black color:

Resting at home:

Looking perky TODAY! 😘

Fortunately unlike the last round of surgery, the recovery this time is so MUCH better! My appetite was already back the evening I came home from the op 😃

Good news is that the cancer seems to be localised at my mouth. Lymph nodes and chest x-ray are all in the clear at the moment! 🙌👍🙏

Oncept Vaccine #4 & Surgery #3

Got my last jab on 30 November. Unfortunately, there was also another lump that grew at (or very near to) the previous sites - all localised at LEFT UPPER side. So in the same session, I got my #3 lump removal surgery + the jab.

Warning: Graphic content below showing my mouth under surgery (left upper inner cheek)😅

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   That day after going home... lots of sleep and sleep. I didn't want to eat for 2 whole days, excluding surgery day, which makes it total of 3 days without food! Only drank water.

I'll be doing a second round of 4 (booster) jabs of the same Oncept vaccine. Placed order for them, hopefully this time they'll arrive on time!


   Me, on 28 November.

Wordless Wednesday - Hairy Lizard

Still Gluttony

Despite all that's happening with me (cancer, dementia, etc), nothing can deter me from trying to get food! BOL

I have trouble getting up or stabilizing my position due to weakened hind legs. Front legs also getting weaker therefore ... 😅

Doggy Dementia Got Me

Confusion, disorientation, dogzheimers. Call it what you will, but canine dementia (known clinically as canine cognitive dysfunction) cause dogs to show many of the same symptoms just like humans: 

(👈 means applicable to me):

• Sleep-wake cycle disturbances 👈 (recently I would wake up middle of night and pace)
• Generalized anxiety 
• Lower threshold for aggression
• Decreased activity levels 👈
• Inappropriate vocalization (howling, barking or whining)
• Repetitive behaviors (pacing) 👈 pacing + circling
• Elimination disorders 👈 (more like I forget where to pee)
• Staring at walls 👈 (I don't stare at walls but most times I am like stand frozen and stare at the floor. Mom has to help snap me out of it).
• Fewer social interactions
• Disorientation (getting “lost” in the house) 👈 (more like getting stuck at places, not really "lost". Now my brain is set to turn only in 1 direction eg. to the right, so even though there's plenty of space on my left side and a wall immediately on my right, I don't know how to proceed because I can't turn!).

(source of above from here).

Oncept Vaccine #2

2 down, 2 more to go. So far so good *keeping all paws crossed*

Oncept Vaccine #1

So here it is:

This was yesterday, 19 Oct. 

Three more 💉 jabs to go. Every 2 weeks. 

Sleep Poses

My sleep poses in recent months:

How Do I Look?

What's with this hanky tied up like a snood around my head?!

Mom was trying to experiment making a "bib" to catch my droplets of saliva. I guess I've been smiling too much sticking my lil tongue out BOL 👅

Well, it didn't work out. Though the v-end part beneath my tongue was soaked but the hanky dropped off by itself - it didn't stay on my head long .... 😝😅

Wordless Wednesday - Senior Struggles

Most of the time mommy would give me a boost. Thanks mom! 💋

Throwback Thursday - Time Flies

Time really flies!

Wordless Wednesday - Oops

hee hee hee ... ... 

Surgery #2

Had my #2 lump removal yesterday. I had been fasted since the night before (smart move mommy! Otherwise we'd have to make another trip another day), pre-op X-ray done and it was okay to go ahead for the surgery. I was told that cancer cases have priority so they could slot me right in.

I was out on the grass doing my toileting💩while waiting for my turn.

Other furries with sickies were waiting too.

Around 10am I realised mom and dad had disappeared! 😰😭 

Then everything was a blur .... ....

Before I knew it, I was already in daddy's arms!

Lost another molar. The root was already infected so it had to go. Not sure if it was due to the cancer but it had been rather difficult for mom to clean that part of my mouth. Well, think on the brighter side it would easier to clean without teeth 😝.  For now, it seems that the cancer is localised on my left upper gum area. Lymph nodes and lungs are currently fine.

Dogtor showed my pawrents photo of the nasty lump in my mouth. He said there were lots of "materials" came out of the lump. Vet is Italian and he speaks English with quite a heavy accent - we think he meant to say "toxins" 😅. He is a nice and good vet, we like him.

My appetite was still good despite today's ordeal. 

Thereafter, it was good night 💤💤💤

Smell The Grass

These were taken yesterday:

"hmm...i smell something "nice" here!"

  smelling the grass very intently!

    blooper shot

Behind the scene: besides smelling, I licked the grass too! Mom said gross and pulled me away 😝

Hey, isn't that the best part??? 😈