But by Monday evening, I decided something was definitely wrong with his rear right paw and possibly also the left paw because he kept lifting his paws off the ground, mostly the right one but sometimes the left one as well. I tried to take a look, but he almost ripped my face off when I touched his paw. So without a second set of hands to hold him, all I could see was a little bit of his paw getting a little raw from him licking. I decided to take him to the vet on Wednesday if he didn’t get better.

Yesterday I dropped Foster off at the vet in the morning, and let me not digress and talk about the receptionist again this time cause it will just frustrate the shit out of me even more. Foster’s paws had been getting worse, not being able to play with Georgia and having trouble pooping since he has a hard time getting into the position to push since he keeps trying to lift his rear right paw off the ground. But I wasn’t worried too much because I thought it was some superficial wound like a little cut on his paw pad made worse by him licking.

The vet found out not only his rear paws, but all four of his paws have skin legions or ulcers that look as if he scraped them on a rough concrete surface. The rear left paw was in the worst condition. The vet thinks Foster has Lupus because not only there was no such occasion for Foster to have hurt his paws like that but it’s very uncommon for a dog to hurt ALL of his paws like that. He’s pretty sure it is lupus since he has seen enough cases like this even though the only way to make sure is to do a biopsy.

I am angry. I am tired. I am frustrated. I am afraid I’m about to crack.

For now, I came home with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory for the wounds. If his paws don’t get better after this round of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, then we’ll go from there and treat it with steroids. In the mean time, I’m looking into natural remedies that would help with canine lupus, but it looks even the most holistically minded people seem to say the steroid is the way to go (from what I’ve found out in a very short period of time). If you have dealt with canine lupus or know anybody who has, please let me know. I would like to hear about the experience.

As some of you know, I have been trying to figure out a way to visit my dad in Korea before he dies. So many things need to happen for me to be able to go because three of my four dogs are special-needs.

Brandy cannot be properly taken care of in boarding situation or I cannot find anybody to take care of her because she needs to be held in upright position after a meal for an hour and will still regurgitate some food due to megaesophagus. So I searched for a way to build a Bailey chair for Brandy. When I say I searched for a way to build one, I mean I searched for somebody who can build it for me. Thankfully, I found some people who custom build it according to Brandy’s measurements and ship it charging only material and shipping cost.  They FedEx it so it doesn’t get damaged, so it’s going to run about $150, but they are going to give me the exact cost of shipping as soon as they find out. I’m waiting to hear from the vet if they are willing to take care of her with the Bailey Chair.

Both Brandy and Brooklyn need to be kept separate from any other dogs including each other. I’m hoping the vet and the staff are willing to put up with managing them separately from others.

Georgia of course is a problem. First of all, I’m afraid they will lose her. She’s so scared of strangers and strange places, she will do anything, including even having to go near the object of her fear, to get out of the scary situation by bolting. And she’s quite an escape artist because of her determination. Second of all, she will probably not eat or drink, and will refuse to pee or poop on leash if they bring her outside. I still have to find a solution for her, preferably somebody staying at my place.

I picked up an application for passport and filled it out. Tomorrow, I’ll have the passport photos taken and drop off the application. I hear it will take about four to six weeks to get the passport, but with more fee, the expedited service would take two to three weeks, unless of course something goes wrong, which was the case for a coworker of mine, who paid for the expedited service but got his passport three months after the application.

Other than these, there are still a lot of things that need to be done, like looking for the substitute for the dogs’ raw diet, etc. I constantly think of something and have to write it down, but God forbid something comes to mind when I can’t write things down! It turns out my memory lasts only 2 minutes on a good day, and why is it always the case something comes to mind when I can’t write things down?

All in all, with the airfare and boarding etc, I will need about $2,500 if I can buy the tickets soon, which will not be the case since I don’t know when I’ll get my passport. Whatever it is, all of it will be borrowed from a friend since my credit card is maxed out and can’t take it any more.

Now I’ll be very busy for some time cleaning up the pigsty I call home in case I get lucky and find somebody to look after Georgia at home.

Please pray that my dad is still alive when I finally get to go see him.

Georgia is doing OK. I had a big scare when I took her to the vet for checkup in May when the vet diagnosed her as having level 2 heart murmur. Since she did not have it last fall, we were alarmed when 2 months later even I could hear the swishing noise by just putting my ear on her side. After  echocardiogram and EKG, it was determined that the murmur is at the beginning stage brought on by old age, and even though by sound it has become level 3 murmur, the sound is loud because the dent on her heart valve was  small compared to the high velocity of the blood circulation. The cardiologist’s suggestion is to do nothing.

Summer in New York doesn’t agree with Brooklyn very well because of the moisture on the ground even when it hasn’t rained. She’s been pooping only once every 3 or 4 days out of absolute necessity. She was absolutely miserable during June when we had maybe 3 or 4 days without rain. She was also diagnosed with heart murmur during her checkup, but the vet could only hear very slight noises. I had not known old age can bring on heart murmur until then.

Brandy’s been doing fine, considering… I hate to acknowledge the fact but I have to admit the side effect of megaesophagus is getting worse slowly over the years. And there is nothing I can do about it. Other than that, she was given a clean bill of health during her checkup.

Foster has not bitten himself and punctured himself this summer! Yet. *knocks on wood* Not only that, I haven’t had to rush him to an emergency vet. *knocks on wood harder* He was also given a clean bill of health.

Now please leave some love for my babies!

Wordless Wednesday

Here are the rules:

1. Go to your picture files
2. Go to your 6th folder.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Tell us about it.
5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.

Here is the 6th picture in the 6th folder of my pictures folder.

This is a picture of Foster, taken by his foster mom before I brought him home. So I really don’t know the story behind it, but obviously I can see he had been indulging on some plush toy and killed it and destroyed it, as he’s wont to do, thoroughly enjoying the process as is apparent from the maniacal look in his eye. By some “plush toy”, I mean some squeaky dog toy or some fluffy stuffed animal or some throw pillow or some blanket or some comforter or some jacket or some couch seats or any some such munchable things.

And I tag The Moistress, Baja Burrito, The insane one, Tortilla chip face, The vibrating one and The fragmented one. If you’ve already been tagged or you don’t wanna do it, no biggie. I’m just trying to follow the rules for a change. But it’s fun, you know.