Monday, February 20, 2023

Cushing's Disease Follow Up

Shadowfax had her two week vet checkup today to see how she is tolerating her new medication (Vetoryl) for Cushing's Disease. We will get the test results in a couple of days, but our experience thus far has been positive. 

After a few days of getting acclimated to the medication, she's back to normal. She has been participating in her normal walks every day, is drinking less (she drank a lot every day!) and has noticeably curbed her mulch and dirt consumption. She's probably going to always have the rounded midsection that is common with Cushing's Disease dogs. But unlike her male caretaker, she at least has a documented medical condition to attribute her husky figure to.

The tests are mostly to see how her liver and kidneys are tolerating the current dose of medication. If everything is OK with that, we're just going to stay the course until our next check up in a couple of months. We won't scare you with the gory details of how much this new medication costs, but we'll just say that it's a good thing we are both gainfully employed.

Shadowfax came back from a morning at the vet and crashed hard. She has three dog beds and one large fluffy pillow available (even more are out of frame), yet somehow she managed to sleep-squirm out of all of them and nap on the floor in front of the fireplace. To answer your questions: Yes, she has legs under her blanket. Yes, this is what a manatees' tummy looks like. No, she doesn't care what you have to say about all this. 

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Sunday, February 5, 2023

Shadowfax and Cushing's Disease

Shadowfax has been diagnosed with Cushing's Disease. We thought her tummy was getting a little larger over the past year or so, but it turns out this is a symptom of the disease. Dogs with Cushing's can often have a "look", a midsection that looks slightly bloated. What we thought was her large torso build and a few too many tasty dog treats was in fact something else.

This is somewhat of a relief as it explains a lot of her recently developed tendencies; she's been drinking and urinating a lot more, seems to have an insatiable appetite (to the point of eating dirt and mulch in the back yard), and is generally a bit restless, unable to get comfortable. 

We are still in the process of learning more about the disease and are easing her into some new medication, but the prognosis is very positive. There is a chance of some side effects from the medication, but this should be a condition that we are able to manage for the remainder of her years. 

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Tuesday, January 24, 2023

A New Sweater from Overseas Cousin

Shadowfax's British cousin Gelato sent her a lovely sweater for Christmas. Gelato happens to be a Cane Corso, and understands what it means to be a full figured gal, with the big barrel chest of bully type dog. As such the sweater fit Shadowfax perfectly.

The sweater is pink and has a bone made of sequins on it, the works. Shadowfax looks smashing in it, and it's a velvety soft sweater, perfect for our chilly winter morning walks here in Idaho.

And we have the added bonus of pictures of Gelato trying on the sweater to make sure it would fit her cousin over here in the States. Thanks Gelato!

You can find a great dog sweater for your pup at Chewy.

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Saturday, December 31, 2022

A New Kerchief from Grandma

Shadowfax got some great Christmas presents this year. A new bed from Auntie Alma, some tasty new snacks from the Grandparents in North Dakota, and this festive new kerchief. 

It looks pretty good on her, red is definitely her color. Thank you to all our awesome friends and family, Shadowfax felt well loved this year.

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Friday, December 2, 2022

Maximum Warmth on A Cold Day

When it gets chilly here in Idaho, there's lots of ways to stay warm. Shadowfax has probably mastered them all over the years. 

Shadowfax demonstrates the sunbeam on left side, space heater on the right side warming technique. This is a pretty advanced technique, not for newbies. 

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Saturday, November 26, 2022

The Power of Cozy Laziness

Shadowfax maximizes her cozy-laziness potential, the perfect way to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She may not have a tummy full of tasty leftovers to digest, but she won't take any chances.

It's a good thing we have her in our lives to inspire us to new levels of inactivity. We would feel guilty spending a lazy day on the couch if Shadowfax had a hankering for a 5 mile hike, but she obviously does not. And that's just fine.

She's an impressive beast, sandwiched between a comfy dog bed and a blankie, with another dog bed folded in half for her pillow. 

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Sunday, November 20, 2022

12 Year Shadowfax-Aversary

Last week was our 12 year anniversary with Shadowfax. We had to go way back through the blog archives to find our original announcement post from 2010 when we told the world "It's a Girl!"

These are the first few pictures we got of her when she was being fostered and the first pictures we posted of her here at the world famous Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes.

It's hard to believe that we've had this silly beast in our lives for 12 years. She has slowed down a bit from her initial levels of puppy craziness, but we still have bouts of racing around and needing to roughhouse. 

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Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Shadowfax Chewing on a Tasty Bone

We've gotten some comments that all of the recently posted pictures of Shadowfax are of her napping or sleeping, or even snoozing. She does do stuff, but it's sometimes hard to capture her in all her majesty. Chasing after a squirrel in the backyard is tough to catch on camera.

When we had Shaak Ti we didn't give both of the dogs bones to chew on. The dogs would get weird and start resource guarding and being prickly towards each other, so we decided that we just wouldn't give them bones. Now that Shadowfax is an only dog we can give her things to chew on - bones, bully sticks, and other tasty items.

Chewing is a good low key way for her to release some energy, when she's too tired to play but not tired enough to nap. Chewing or licking is also a good soothing mechanism and keeps her relaxed. 

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