Duke

I’ve been putting off writing this post for almost two months.  If you’ve been visiting for a while, I’m sure you know where this is going.  We had to say goodbye to Duke on December 21, 2022. 

I really thought we’d get one last Christmas with him, but when he started to decline, it was so fast.

Duke had his surgery for Cushing’s Disease in January last year.  They were able to get most of the tumor, but it was malignant, and we knew there was a chance it would grow faster than expected.  Duke recovered well from the surgery.  He had a great spring and summer.  He played in the yard, ate a lot more rabbits than anyone would have liked, was the center of attention on quite a few game nights, and shoplifted at the dog wash (don’t worry, we always paid for whatever he helped himself to).  His mobility wasn’t perfect, but it was good.  He struggled to get up from some floors but was fine once we helped him up.  And we lost an egg and cheese bagel to the assumption that he couldn’t get to it.

Then his mobility got a little worse.  He needed help up from every kind of flooring.  Then he started occasionally needing help up in the yard. Then he started losing weight.  The weight loss wasn’t a concern at first.  Dr. M had lectured us on Duke’s weight for years.  But the weight loss continued, even when we tried things to put weight back on him.  He developed some cardiac concerns.  His heartbeat would race for no apparent reason.  In consultation with Dr. M, we made the decision not to pursue cardiac treatment from the specialist.  We knew he had part of a malignant tumor left, and we knew we weren’t putting him through another surgery.  So we shifted our focus to keeping him happy and comfortable. 

In the meantime, he developed a sort of abscess on one of his hips.  Dr. M was treating it with antibiotics and even tried closing it up, but it reopened.  Duke didn’t seem terribly bothered by it, so we continued antibiotics and hoped for the best.  And Duke stayed his happy, friendly self.

At Thanksgiving, he needed help up and out of the bedroom, but once he was out in the living room, he was delighted to see everyone and went around the room to visit with everyone and see what they might be willing to feed him.  He got a lot of attention and petting.  Duke had a great Thanksgiving.

After Thanksgiving, his decline really picked up.  He lost too much weight to be able to wear his harness.  The abscess got worse.  He started struggling to stay up once we helped him stand up and was beginning to fall down more often than not.  We made an appointment for him to see Dr. M on Monday, December 19^th. 

That weekend, Nick wasn’t feeling well at all.  He was tired and had a lot of muscle aches.  The weekend before, he and some of our neighbors had saved another neighbor’s chickens from some dogs that were loose, and Nick ended up carrying a very large dog around for a while.  We attributed the back pain to that and lifting Duke.  Duke’s appointment with Dr. M wasn’t until late Monday afternoon, so I went to work Monday morning for a mandatory meeting.  Nick stayed home sick and decided to get a flu test.  They also tested for COVID, and Nick was positive.  My job sent me home.  And we canceled Duke’s appointment with Dr. M. 

Duke was having a relatively good day that day, so I thought we might be able to get through Christmas.  In the meantime, I went and got tested for COVID.  I was negative.

By Tuesday night, we knew that Duke’s rally was over and that it was time.  We also knew that Nick couldn’t go.  Dr. M is over an hour away.  Dr. D, the vet we take the cats to, is about ten minutes away.  My sister called and talked to Dr. D’s office Wednesday morning and explained everything, including Nick’s COVID and my negative tests.  She also called Dr. M’s office, and they agreed that taking Duke to Dr. D was a good choice.  He had been there before for a few things and knew and liked everyone there. 

I had called our neighbor, Lori, as soon as Nick tested positive for COVID since we had been around them a few days before.  They really are the best neighbors.  The kids insisted on dropping off cookies in the carport as soon as they found out, and Lori had been calling to check on us every day.  When I told her I was taking Duke in that afternoon, she said she’d go with me, so I didn’t have to go alone.  I found out later that their 15-year-old had offered to go with us in case we needed help lifting Duke. 

I am so grateful for so many reasons that Lori went with me, but the biggest one is that she saw the difference in Duke and said we were making the right choice.  If you’ve ever made the choice, you know how impossibly hard it is.  To me, there’s always the thought in the back of my mind that I’m giving up too soon.  Lori was shocked at how much Duke had declined since they were over for Thanksgiving and said he didn’t even seem like the same dog.

One of the vet nurses at Dr. D.’s office is in vet school and works there doing breaks.  She’s one of our favorites and was there the day we took Duke.  I was glad to see her, and she also helped when she said Duke had declined so much since she had seen him during the summer.

They carried Duke in on a little stretcher and laid him down on a nice little nest of blankets on the floor.  Lori and I sat with him, and we all petted him and fed him treats and even a little bit of cat food.  Everyone told him what a wonderful dog he was and how much everyone loved him.  He wagged his tail, licked my hand, and drifted off to sleep. 

We had Duke for eight years, and he was our boy from the moment we walked out of the shelter with him as a foster dog.  You couldn’t help but instantly love him.  He went through so much with the heartworms, kennel cough, and leg amputation.  I will never understand why he was an owner surrender, but I’m so glad he was.

I don’t think it’s possible to quantify the joy that Duke brought to people.  He made us happy.  Howard adored him.  Dr. M’s office sent a card, and more than one person talked about how seeing Duke walk in could turn around even a terrible day.  Everyone loved him when I brought him to work at my old job.  Strangers loved him.  I will never forget walking him downtown and a man running up to us and hiking up his pant leg to show us his metal leg and asking to take a picture with Duke.  Of course, I said yes.  He wasn’t the first or last person to ask for a picture with Duke, though he was the only one with a prosthetic leg. 

During the worst of the COVID shutdowns, when everything was drive-thru and/or curbside, I took Duke with me for practically everything.  At first, I did it because Duke loved car rides, but then I saw how happy it made people.  Even with masks, it was possible to see someone’s joy when they saw Duke.  There was just something about a dog who was so loveable and didn’t want anything from you that seemed to make a difference when things were so bad.

Duke made people happy.

A Catch-Up Post. Finally.

So much for sticking with blogging at least once a week for Thursday 13.  Since it has been a while, I have some catching up to do, so here are 13 things, not on a Thursday.  As usual, for this kind of post, not all of the pictures are related to the post. 

1.    We didn’t have any damage from Hurricane Ian.  I know a lot of people weren’t so lucky, but we didn’t get any of the horrible weather we were expecting.  We even had nice sunny weather by the end of that weekend.

2.    We went on vacation during my little blogging break.  We rented a house on Folly Beach for a week and got home on Saturday.  We had a great time and didn’t really want to come home.

3.    Our neighbors very kindly took care of the cats and were even fine with giving Howard his shots. 

 

4.    I’ve gotten a little better at giving Howard his shots. When your 15-year-old neighbor does it with no trouble, it kind of shames you into sucking it up a little more. 

5.    We timed our vacation quite well to avoid the cold for a while longer.   Our area had its first hard freeze and even dropped down to the 20s while we were gone.  This week it’s back in the 60s and 70s.  I’m happy to avoid the cold for a while longer!

6.    We ended up taking down a small-ish rose of Sharon tree in our backyard.  It had vines growing on it (I’m not sure what the vines were; it wasn’t anything we planted or wanted) that were growing on cable/internet lines.  Our neighbors were having internet trouble, and the technician who came out told them it was because of the vines on the lines. 

 

7.    I didn’t take a picture before because the original plan was just to take down the vines and some branches, but the project kept going.  There are power (service lines which apparently the power company doesn’t maintain or service), cable, internet, and phone lines there, and it seemed like every trim just moved branches closer to another set of lines, so we finally opted to take the whole tree down.  I don’t know what possessed someone to plant a tree there in the first place!

8.    Taking a tree down is seriously hard work!  It didn’t seem like a large tree until we started cutting branches, but then it seemed like a massive tree.  Our neighbors very kindly helped us with it.  They felt like it was at least partially their responsibility since it was their internet was having trouble, and we felt like it was our responsibility since it was our tree in our yard. 

9.    I’m very glad our neighbors are so nice and that we all get along so well!  And I’m so glad they helped us!  Even with their help, it took the vast majority of a weekend to get it done. 

10. I learned how to use the electric chainsaw during the tree removal.  I enjoyed using it and wouldn’t mind using it again when we have another project that we need to use it for.

11. After all of that, it turned out that the tree and vines weren’t the cause of the neighbors’ internet issues.  They’re having ongoing problems with it, and subsequent technicians have told them it sounds like the first one just didn’t want to do anything, so they blamed the tree and vines.  We don’t regret taking the tree down, though, because with it being near so many lines, it was probably only a matter of time before it did cause someone problems. 

12. I finally started work on the crochet cat couch for my sister.  Technically, I haven’t started on the couch, but I’m almost finished with the dust ruffle.  I think it’s looking like it’s supposed to, so that’s promising. 

 

13. I’ve also made two of the squares for the blanket.  I had hoped that the multi-colored squared would be different enough to use all multi-colored squares, but after I made two, I didn’t think I would like how the blanket looked with just those, so I’ve decided to make some solid-colored squares in some of the colors from the multi-colored yarn.  I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to do the blanket, so I’m open to suggestions and ideas.

 

So what have you been up to for the past month? 

Thursday 13: The Storm Is Coming

Thursday 13 seems to be my regular thing now, so here’s this week’s edition.

1.    You might think that living over four hours from the nearest beach means that we’d never be impacted by hurricanes.  That is not the case.  Quite often, the wind and rain head straight for us, stall against the mountains, and hang out for a while.  We definitely don’t have it as bad as the people on the coast, though!

2.    The wind has been picking up all day, even though we’re not supposed to start getting the worst of Hurricane Ian’s second landfall until tomorrow.

3.    Anticipated wind and rain from hurricanes always makes me think about when we got Charlie and Mortimer.  Remember how they started off as short-term fosters ahead of Hurricane Florence? 

 

4.    Charlie and Mortimer have been officially ours for almost four years now.  Time flies, doesn’t it?

5.    Charlie and Mortimer are still best friends. 

 

6.    It definitely feels like fall now.  In addition to being windy, it was fairly chilly today.  I spent a lot of time walking between buildings at work today, and it was downright cold at times.

7.    Other than the wind, the weather was beautiful today, with gorgeous blue skies.  It’s so weird how much it’s supposed to change in the next 24 hours.

8.    Howard’s glucose level is still improving.  Dr. D. has had us lower his dose back down to five units twice a day.  He goes next week to have it checked again.

9.    Duke did not eat any rodents or other creatures this week.  We’re very happy about that!

10. Yesterday was our 14^th wedding anniversary.  Work has been busy for both of us this week, so we didn’t do much for it.  

 

11. Nick’s mom and stepdad will be celebrating their 16^th tomorrow and my aunt and uncle celebrated their 15^th earlier this month. 

12. We went out for a work dinner with people from my job tonight.  It was nice.  We had a good time, and the food was excellent.  Nick finally got to put faces with names. 

13. We tried Turkish Delight for the first time this week.  We both like it.  I think it’s kind of gummy bears, but tastes less artificial.

 

So what about you?  What have you been up to this week?  Are you getting (or expecting to get) bad weather from Hurricane Ian?  Do you like Turkish Delight? 

Thursday 13: The First Day of Fall

1.    Duke is home from the vet.  We picked him up on Friday afternoon, and he seems to be feeling great.

 

2.    Duke chose to demonstrate just how great he feels by eating a rabbit on Tuesday morning.  I wasn’t able to get it away from him.  His vet is having us call every morning to tell them how he’s doing and said that eating a rabbit wasn’t ideal, but they were glad he’s back to his usual (bad!) behavior.

3.    Just in case the rabbit wasn’t enough to clue us in that Duke is fully recovered, he caught and killed a possum on Tuesday evening.  Nick was able to get it away from him, so he didn’t eat the entire thing.  Again, the vet says it’s not ideal, but it definitely proves that he’s recovered. 

4.    Catching a rabbit and a possum in one day is also very impressive for a twelve(ish) year old three-legged dog.  Don’t ever think that tri-paw dogs don’t lead full, active lives!

5.    Howard also seems to be feeling much better, though he’s not demonstrating his good health by killing rodents.  He has finished his antibiotics and seems to be back to normal.

 

6.    Howard’s glucose is finally at a good level.  It was excellent when the emergency vet checked it last week and excellent when Dr. D. checked it twice this week. 

7.    Dr. D. is a little concerned that it may be too good (coming down too much, too fast), so we have an appointment to check it again next week instead of waiting two weeks in between checks.

8.    It doesn't feel very much like fall here yet.  I know today is only the first day, but we’ve gotten up to 90° this week. 

9.    The basil is still going strong.

 

10. We still have some roses blooming.

 

11. We have one lone lilac bloom.

 

12.  We do have one fall plant, though.  Our neighbor Lori works at a plant nursery and brought us these mums. 

 

13.   I did not get started on the cat couch over the weekend.  After all of the vet trips, we were both ready for a weekend of not doing much.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to get started on it this weekend.

Thursday 13: A Busy Week

I was hoping to post again before this, but since I didn’t, I decided another Thursday 13 was in order.  It has been a busy week.

1.     Duke has pancreatitis again.  We’re not sure how he keeps getting it.  He had it in April, and we’ve been careful about not giving him too much people food since then.  We took him to the vet on Tuesday, and Dr. M. wanted to hospitalize him.  We’re hoping he’ll be able to come home tomorrow.  He’s eating again (always a good sign with Duke) but still has a fever. 

 

They sent us this picture of him today.  He likes everyone there, so he's happy.

2.     Dr. D. had us bring Howard in on Saturday morning and show her exactly how we were giving him his insulin injections.  Given Nick’s EMT background, no one was really expecting an issue with how Howard has been getting his shots.  Howard’s insulin dose was due before the appointment time, so Dr. D. had Nick demonstrate with our syringes and a bottle of saline. 

3.     Everything was right.  I bought the right needles, and Nick has been doing the injections perfectly.  I didn’t demonstrate (Yay!) since Nick does most of them, and I do exactly what he does. 

4.     Howard went to the emergency vet last night.  He started having severe gastrointestinal issues, and I called in case it was something to do with his insulin.  We were there for about three hours, and they gave Howard fluids and antibiotics and did bloodwork.  His glucose level was finally good!

5.     I really liked the vet we saw.  It’s always a gamble at the emergency clinic; most of the time, they’re great, but it seems like when they’re bad, they’re really, really bad.  This vet was awesome, though.  I hope we don’t need to see her again, but I’d be happy with any of the fur kids seeing her when we do need an emergency vet.

6.     I mentioned Duke’s pancreatitis to the emergency vet, in case it was related to what Howard had.  She said it most likely wasn’t and was just terrible timing.  I talked to Duke’s vet (Dr. M.) this morning and Howard’s regular vet, Dr. D., and they both agree that it’s only a coincidence that Howard and Duke are similarly sick at the same time.  Dr. D. was thrilled about Howard’s glucose when she got the report from the emergency vet.  He has an appointment with her next week to check it again, and we’re all hoping the level stays where it is.

7.     I hate that Duke and Howard are both sick, but I’m relieved that we don’t need to worry about the other five cats having the same problem.  That would be a lot to deal with!

8.     In non-vet visit news, I’m going to try to make my sister a crocheted cat couch for Christmas.  She doesn’t read my blog, so I’m not worried about her finding out.  She has been asking for one for two years now, but I’ve been scared to try it.  There weren’t any left-handed videos, but Crochet Crowd posted one recently, and I’ve been practicing the stitches.

9.     It only has three different stitches; single crochet, double crochet, and half double crochet.  I used the half-double for most of the mask adapters I made, so I’m pretty comfortable with that one.  I think I’m getting better at the single and double.

10.  I like the UK crochet terms better than the US crochet terms.  The UK terms seem to make more sense for what you’re doing.  I like the videos from this website, and she gives you the UK and US terms, so it works for me to learn from a UK site. 

11.  I ordered the yarn I’m planning to use, and it arrived this week.  I really like the gray and rainbow yarn in the pattern, but that yarn was more expensive, and I’m not sure my first attempt will be gift-worthy, so I opted for the less expensive yarn.  The gray is for the couch.  The multi-colored one is called Fiesta, and it’s for the afghan and the dust ruffle. 

 

12.  We bought the foam on Saturday after we got back from taking Howard to the vet.  Nick will be in charge of building the couch.  I’m terrible at things like that, and he says the pattern/building instructions make sense to him.  I’m sure the couch will take me a while, so I’m hoping to get started on it this weekend, assuming we manage to stay out of vet’s offices.

13.  We have cherry tomatoes again.  We’re pretty sure 2016 was the last year we planted cherry tomatoes, but we have some come back every year.  I think they should be called something other than cherry tomatoes.  Maybe immortal tomatoes would be a good name for them.

So what have you been up to this week?