The information below was written by my husband and sent to all our boating friends on Tuesday. Here is part three, written by hubby, on this continuing saga.
The Saga of Old Dogs – Part III
So back from the Vet Tuesday. Little Bit’s liver function continues to improve with her numbers being down a little bit from last month. Good news there.
She continues to lose weight however. She was 64.4 pounds last month and is 62.4 this month. So in perspective she was about 82 pounds just this time last year.
We asked today about what we can do to increase weight. The Doctor has been concerned about the allergies and the food has been specific to that problem. But now we are focusing on liver issues. So she now also gets canned wet liver function (I think it is called hepatic) dog food. She had that can gone in record time.
This reminds me of a couple of guys we had at Willow Berm when we first starting having this boating addiction. Doug and Dave took in and rescued standard poodles. In fact the license plate on their car was “STUDPL” or something close. I always thought it referred to various manly parts since they were a gay couple.
Anyway, Dave was talking about cooking chicken and rice for their rescue dog and Doug asked me what we fed Little Bit. I said, “Dog food.” “What a concept!,” he said. Doug was the frugal member. If he asked me now I’d have to say something entirely different.
Our boating buddy Duffy did a cartoon of their dog riding a surf board and Dave liked it so much he had it professionally framed and they had it in their boat.
So the news continues to improve on the Little Bit front. Now if we can just get a few pounds on her.
We do love our babies, don't we? I think even more so when they get older. They become even more precious.
Except for Gracie, who is almost 5 and a half now (how did THAT happen?), my kitties are all geriatric patients in the eyes of my Vet. Geriatric blood work, etc. Gandalf's littermate Sarah is now on Thyroid medication twice a day as she has developed hyperthyroidism. *sigh*
Big hugs to you, Zane and LB. xoxo
Yes we do Barb. Little Bit is old, but we want her to have the very best quality of life we can give her. It's our responsibility. 🙂
Wow, that is such good news about Little Bit. So glad she is doing better. Very exciting. Keep up the good work Little Bit and all of you have a super day.
Now if we can just put some weight on her. 🙂
So good to get a LB update, especially one that brings a smile. Yes, we do love our furbabies and will do whatever it takes to keep them healthy and happy. They bring much joy to our lives. Always good to hear from Zane, BTW.
Big hugs, honey…
We'll do whatever it takes for sure honey. 🙂
I am glad that Little Bit is doing better and send love and prayers your way!
Thank you. Love and prayers are more than welcome. 🙂
I like that cartoon about the dog. Maybe you could get a photo about Little Bit on the front of your ship, standing proud in the front, riding high in the waves.
Have a great Thursday Sandee and say hi to Zane and especially to Little Bit. See ya.
Cruisin Paul
Empress Bee should be under the knife as of now. Think great thoughts for our friend Bee. See ya.
Little Bit is on our boat all the time, and only on the bow once. She was very young then. Have a terrific day too my friend. 🙂
awww we do love our fur babies…..thanks for the positive Little Bit news ……big hugs and scritches for LB!
It's getting better and better. 🙂
Glad the vet gave you some good news. I wish I could help you figure out how to get some weight on your dog. I've always had the opposite issue with Levi, who eats and begs like a pig.
Little Bit eats well, but she just doesn't keep the weight on. 🙂
That's wonderful news that Little Bit's numbers are improving! Yay! Sadie lost a lot of weight as she got older and especially when she had liver issues too. She didn't want to eat though so it was extra hard to put weight on her. Is there a safe puppy food that has higher calories that might help? Of course not if it's bad for her liver. Our vet also suggested chicken and rice or other homemade food combinations. It's just so tough. I have the opposite problem myself! 🙂 Anyway, great news Sandee! Give her extra smooches today!
We're doing the wet dog food and she's loving it. There are a lot of choices out there and we're experimenting with all of them. 🙂
Glad to hear your little friend is improving! Now sending good wishes your way so that you can add a few pounds on her!
Thank you Jennifer. She's bright eyed again and that's a good thing. She was pretty sick for a bit. She's feeling good again. 🙂
Our best wishes for Bit's improved health and prayers for its continuance.
Have a great day!
Thank you my friend. 🙂
LB weighs more than twice as much as Kaci, Kali and I put together.
Yes, but Little Bit doesn't weigh enough. 🙂
Fingers crossed that his weight starts going back up. Glad to hear those numbers are down, though. I think you're supposed to give dog food to dogs, right? It's specially formulated for a dog's needs. I'm not sure chicken and rice would be good for them long term unless they had food allergies. I did switch to expensive "all natural" dog food, though, after I heard Beneful was killing dogs.
We don't give Little Bit people food at all. She only has her dog food and organic treats. We've ever so careful with what we let her eat. 🙂
We are relieved to hear about Little Bit's improvement 🙂
Thank you so much. We are relieved too. 🙂
Glad to hear about Little Bit's improved liver function. The weight loss may improve with time and tinkering with her food. Pets can be as finicky as people when it comes to food.
I think the weight loss will improve with time too. We're giving her canned dog food too, so that is sure to help. 🙂
Our dogs get Pedigree routinely, but are treated with canned food on occasion. They love their regular food, but they seem to inhale the canned stuff and so do the cats.
We've never fed Little Bit canned food until several days ago. She inhales it too. Can't wait for you to put the bowl down. Now if it will just put some weight on her. 🙂
While i'm glad liver function is better, i agree that getting a bit of weight back on her may be very important — it gives her some reserve on which to draw if needed.
She doesn't have much reserve right now. We're working on it. 🙂
Good news about Little bit. Let her gain weight asap 🙂
We're hoping she does. Going to start weighing her weekly. 🙂
Glad you're doing better Little Bit.
She's doing much better Odie. 🙂
I didn't have any idea Little Bit was in ill health! Sending prayers and hoping for the best always. Guess I need to go back and find the first parts of the "saga".
We were giving her some medication that was killing her slowly and we didn't know it for a very long time. She's way better now. Thanks for the prayers. 🙂
That's good news for your little dog!! I like the idea of the surfing dog picture, it does sound cute. 🙂
I've a friend that could probably pull that off. He's done a lot of artwork for Little Bit. 🙂
Great news about Little Bit. I know of a lot of people who cook for their dogs, I'm not one of them. I know if it was a necessity I would do it but otherwise it's regular old dog food being served here 🙂
We don't cook for Little Bit either. She eats only food that her vet allows her to eat and all her treats are organic and low in protein. Probably why she's lost so much weight. 🙂
I hope Little Bit continues to improve and starts gaining weight.
We are hoping the same Binky. 🙂
Oh if only I can donate all the extra weights I have….Hoping she'll get even better Sandee!
I'd love to have a few of your extra pounds my friend. 🙂