Tag Archive | Leishmania

It’s about time you got an update, don’t you think?

We’ve had a horrible storm here today, and it’s been pouring down all day long… No pleasure in being outside, in other words, at least not for an old fart like me. Instead we’ve spent the day curled up in our beds and next to mom, as she eats, cleans the house, folds laundry, rests and takes care of my blogging… Mom, you’re welcome.

Ugh, those were the days. The dry ones.

Ugh, those were the days. The dry ones.

I haven’t been blogging for ages and the irony is that it’s because so much is happening. “Isn’t that a perfect time to BE blogging?”, you might ask, and yes, my friends, it is. In a perfect world. In a perfect world where your momma thinks higher of updating her precious bulldog’s much-valued diary than working to help underprivileged dogs and building a career so she can feed us. I swear, sometimes I don’t get her at all. I mean, get your priorities straight, woman!

In all honesty, we had a worrisome couple of months in the beginning of this year with little Iris, our former foster-sister, who had a deformed hip that needed some fixin’. She arrived that way so she was not insured, and needless to say, we lacked the funds to get it done. By now you guys know, though, that that doesn’t mean my folks won’t make it happen! Momma started asking for donations on facebook and people actually came through. Tina, mommy’s dear friend, pitched in with A LOT, and auntie Suzanne drove them all the way to the special vet (3 hours one way), spent all day there with them, and took care of the costs. Numerous people from all over the world helped out financially, and old friend Ciara sent us a box full of hand-made toys all the way from Germany, as well as a donation, to show her support. We were all humbled by these great acts of kindness, and are eternally thankful for all the support.
Iris was adopted about a month ago, and moved on to live happily ever after, not too far from where we live. We wish our sister the best of luck and look forward to seeing her in the future.

Iris, post surgery

Iris, post surgery

We also have a new brother, probably to no one’s surprise. His name is Faro, which means “lighthouse” in Spanish, a name quite suitable for this handsome Spaniard with a pitch-black coat and a snow-white tip of the tail, reminding you of the dramatic scenery of a lighthouse-light at night.
Faro is stoic, friendly, intelligent, agile, affectionate, and honestly, a bit peculiar. He won dad over in a blink of an eye, with that playful act and “needy” demeanor. I’m telling you, a dog’s one-way ticket to our house is to sleep on dad’s head and crave his attention 24/7. Don’t ask me why; myself, I’d kill him if he tried that s**t with me, but some seem to really like that crap. Me, I’m not so sentimental.
It might sound like I don’t care much for my brother, but that’s not true. I care about him as little as I care about any of my family members, and that’s the gospel truth! He stays out of my way and I out of his, but he does take well to Alfie. He completely LOVES Alfie! Alfie seems pretty fed up at times, and man, do I hear him, but at the same time I bet he likes being doted on like that. Poor schmuck.

See how he begs for attention??

See how he begs for attention??

Then there’s all this traveling! It started in April. Mom and dad went to California to volunteer at Cesar Millan’s Dog Psychology Center. Dad stayed for a week and mom for a month. Meanwhile, grandma and cousins Atlas and Ricki watched the pack, and boy, she’s not playing around! At least that’s what I heard, ’cause Evian, Adela and I were actually watched by mom’s boss, Roger. It was cool.
When mom got back she only stayed here for 3 weeks before she went back there again! Only this time she was gone for 2 whole months! Once again grandma stepped in for a while, until dad finally got on vacation.
We all missed mom a lot, and that says a lot coming from me, but I ain’t gonna lie. This bulldog is best off with his mommy by his side…

Mom, ehh, working (?) at the DPC...

Mom, ehh, working (?) at the DPC…

Other than that I don’t know what else to tell you. We had great weather all summer long, at least the definition of “great” that all non-flat-faced beings seem to share. Correia and Sylvester have both gained a bunch of much-needed and longed-for confidence, Mafaldah had her blood test done and is nowadays leishmaniasis negative – YAY! – , Evian and Adela had their teeth cleaned, and Alfie… Well, he’s still on the list for being neutered. Oh, and Yoshi lost an eye.

This is as fun as it gets

This is as fun as it gets

Correia is one happy screwball

Correia is one happy screwball

Later this week momma has a big surprise for us, she says, but that’s not even funny anymore. We all know it’s another dog. Hooray. No, really, it’s fine, we all consent and are overwhelmed by joy (…), but it’s really not necessary to try and act like we’ve never been through this before. Mom, you’re happy, we get it. But will there ever come a time when you won’t act like a silly little school girl, all nervous and excited and thrilled?! No? Didn’t think so.

P.S: Yoshi’s fine, don’t even worry about it. What can you expect from a dog that doesn’t have a snout but both his eyes are bulging out of his skull? My folks were all wound up, so I said; “Hey, you guys, he’s FINE. F-I-N-E. He lost an eye, so what? Dogs don’t care! Yes, it was traumatic and all and I’m sure it does feel worse that it happened out of nowhere, but the best thing you can do for him now is help him move on by behaving just as usual”, so they did, and he recovered in a week. Yoshi is a tough guy, you know.

See, you can't even tell!

See, you can’t even tell!

Rooting for Zoe

Much is going on right now and we have big plans for the future… Unfortunately that’s all I can say at the moment, I don’t want to reveal too much about it before anything is certain. I only mention it so you have something to look forward to reading, that’s all ;).

One thing that is certain though, is that 5 more dogs are coming soon. Mom is back on Monday the 23rd with them, and the next day 2 of them will be going to their foster homes. I can’t wait to meet them all! Our neighbors think we’re crazy but we don’t mind. If you don’t happen to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood you better get with the program; people will look at you and they most certainly will talk about you. But as long as you’re happy with what you’re doing and you’re not hurting anybody – be strong and stand up for yourself! It’s good for us as a pack to meet other dogs and get the chance to live with them and really get to know them. These dogs usually come with a baggage, too, but we see that as an opportunity to learn and grow as individuals ourselves, since it takes somebody special to help them recover. I’m glad we get to be those “special” ones.

Today we received all the dogs’ test results for the various diseases they’re checked out for. Almost all of them came out negative, but sadly little Zoe has Leishmaniasis. Fortunately it’s on a low level so we’re hoping the medication will do wonders for her so she’ll still have a chance at being adopted. In other words, we’re still having her. Leishmania infanatum is a parasite spread by sandfly bites, thus transferring Leishmaniasis from dog to dog (or human to human). It’s a fairly common disease in the Mediterranean but it is in fact treatable, although it often means that medication is necessary throughout the dog’s life. We don’t have the sandfly in Sweden so we cannot get infected here. If properly medicated, an infected dog can have just as good of a life as any other dog, symptom free. There are even cases where dogs have been given a clean bill of health after a few years on the medication. So we’re keeping our paws crossed for Zoe!

Meanwhile, here’s what Alfie thinks about sharing his home with 3 more dogs:

Say whaaat?!? 

On second thought it’s not that bad. Not enough to keep me awake, anyway.