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Unfinished Business

My father is definitely thinner. Frailer. His kidneys are failing him but I can’t decide whether he has lost his mind. He probably has, but I don’t want to face it. Most likely because, if he has lost his mind, I am not far behind him. But this is not about me.

My father needs to decide whether to go on dialysis. He’s old. And frail. And forgets things. Did I mention that? However, he has always been rather forgetful as he doesn’t pay attention.

There’s probably only one sure thing. Ama, our little dog who is supposed to be dead by now, will probably outlast us both. She doesn’t forget anything. The diagnostic blood test clearly didn’t tell the full story. The excess insulin in her system was from her pancreas correcting for the dawn phenomenon and not from a tumour. Ama is unusual but not that unusual. Thank Dog!

So here we all are. Not going strong, but still going. Hope you are too.

Take care and try to pay attention.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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Ama – The Nice One

Everything you wanted to know about a little old dog who has been diagnosed with insulinoma (an aggressive insulin producing tumour), but were too afraid to ask.

To recap. Our little dog, Ama, had a bad episode of pancreatitis in January. Too much cheese and yoghurt. She came home from the specialist vet with a not unreasonable diagnosis of insulinoma and a blood glucose sensor. Her medical team had trouble stabilising her blood glucose levels and a blood test showed a high insulin blood serum level. Two weeks of BG data indicated that her BGLs were fine.

We suspect the diagnosis may be wrong. So we took her back to the specialist vet who confirmed she had insulinoma. However her regular vet hadn’t sent through her BG data, so we did that after the appointment. People get busy. It happens. And then we heard nothing.

This week we took Ama to the regular vet for another BG sensor and follow up blood tests because nothing much seems to have changed. And those tests were fine! However the new BG home data indicates lowish but steady BGLs. So, who the hell knows?

By necessity, Ama has been rather sedentary. Don’t want her to go hypo. Mostly she sleeps in the kitchen. It is her domain now, reinforcing her superiority over the other dogs. We will do a few experiments while she has the new sensor and see what happens to her BGLs when we introduce some exercise.

Anyway, the prognosis for untreated insulinoma was six months at most. It’s been three months. Ama continues none too shabbily.

So we wait and wonder. None of us are in a hurry to see the back of her, including her regular vet team who we overhead call her the nice one. We shall not mention that to Fynnie or Makea.

Is my backside too big?

In the meantime, we medicate Ama with non-fat treats. Ama doesn’t complain but she would prefer cheese.

Take care, everyone. Stay calm and don’t forget to eat a treat every now and then.

Kind Regards.

Tracy.

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Bright Star

I thought now would be a good time to repeat this post about my little dog, Ama, for she is now 12 and has been quite unwell again.  She recently spent a week in the vet hospital with severe pancreatitis and left with a diagnosis of insulinoma, an aggressive cancer.  She’s been home for two weeks now and is still quite bright.  Not at all like a dog on her last legs.  “Perhaps the diagnosis is wrong?” I entreated the vet on our last visit.  He didn’t think so based on a relevant blood test.  I still hold out hope.  That’s quite strange for me because I am usually such a catastrophiser.  In the meantime, we continue to enjoy her company and deprive her of cheese.  Life is so unfair.

*****

This post is dedicated to my little dog, Ama, who is not well.  So far we know that she has copper storage disease but not how bad it is or whether we can mitigate it.  I’ve not had much time for blogging lately as we’ve had a lot of medical appointments and I’ve been researching treatments, including low copper diets.  It helps to be informed when talking to veterinary specialists.  It also gives me something to do while I worry.

Ama

Ama’s birthday is this Saturday.  She’ll be six.  When I was looking for a pet name for her, I read that Ama meant born on a Saturday (in Ghanaian).  As she was born on a Saturday, and the name had a nice ring to it, we just went with that (plus we like to say Um-ah when she is naughty).  She also has a pedigree name – Eurabbie Taehti.  Taehti means Polar Star in Finnish.  Everything does seem to revolve around the little minx so it is fitting, but more importantly, she lights the way.

Here’s hoping that her star continues to shine.

Regards
Tracy

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24 Stories – II

Earlier in the year, our little Finnish Spitz, Ama, suffered an unpleasant medical episode, or at least we thought she had. One night she wouldn’t settle. She paced and whined, panted and barked constantly. For hours. I thought she was having a heart attack so my True Love rushed her to the overnight emergency vet.

The vet said she was in pain, maybe a back injury, so they gave her some strong pain medication and told us to keep her quiet. It didn’t work. She continued to pace, whine and bark. All night in fact. She also wanted to go outside every five minutes and cried at the back door. We were exhausted. What were we to do? At 6am, we took her to the other emergency vet for the blood tests we had declined the previous evening. The blood tests revealed very little. It was a mystery. The vet gave her a sedative so that we, I mean, she, could get some rest. We slept all day and Ama seemed to improve. As evening approached, she started to get agitated again.

A couple of months later, she saw her regular specialist – special girl that our cherub is. We discussed the possibility of dementia but he could see no evidence of cognitive decline. The verdict? She’s getting old and demanding.

Weeks later it came to pass that the same thing happened again. But this time, the cause of this agitation became abundantly clear.

A possum eating our climbing rose! Ama is now banned from going out at dusk and early evening until we check that the coast is clear. Typical Finnish Spitz. The force (hunting instinct) is strong in them. So is the cheese instinct, but that’s another story.

Ama turned 12 years old in December. She still shines brightly.

Here’s to Ama.

Take care, everyone. May your evenings be free of rose-eating possums.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

RDP – The Day After

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All My Trials – Ms Irrepressible

Today, I thought I might do an experiment and try posting a short video of the irrepressible one.  I have no idea whether the file is too big for readers to view, so your feedback would be very much appreciated.  The irrepressible one is of course my little dog, Ama.  When she wants her dinner, she engages in some remarkable attention seeking behaviour.  What do you think?  Should we surrender to her will?

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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All My Trials – Ama Barks Again

About this time last year, my niggling concerns about the health of my little dog, Ama, were vindicated.  I knew my girl and I knew the Finnish Spitz breed, so I knew there was something wrong.  I think we should trust our instincts. Read more

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All My Trials – The Finnish Spitz

Originally posted Nov 23, 2017.  Updated Jan 20, 2022.

I’ve been training my two primitive dogs (a Finnish Spitz and a Finnish Lapphund) for a couple of years now.  We have had many successes and failures.  We’ve had frustration and tears of joy.  Just this past week, my little Finkie (short for Finnish Spitz), Ama, achieved her first obedience title (Rally Novice).  [Update:  this is ancient history now.  We are no longer attending classes or participating in dog sports.] Read more