Long Time No Post

Quick updates: Buford and Della (ok, and Guinness too) are doing JUST FINE! No crazy medical reports to make, nor are there any crazy antics to report. All have been hiding inside the air conditioned house and away from the oppressive heat and humidity of Delaware. Smart "kids."

I've had my hands full with other things...many of you from the Daily Drool know what's been going on, others...perhaps not. My mother was diagnosed with breast, liver and kidney cancer at the midpoint of June. Since then I've been taking her back and forth to NYU where we have family in-house as well as just living in Manhattan and the surrounding northern NJ area. She's happier there so I have no issues driving back and forth.

I started another blog about it as a way for me to vent/de-stress, etc. and also for friends and family to stay updated so I don't have to remember who I've called/emailed and who I've forgotten to call/email.

Should you wish to follow along: http://cancer-is-evil.blogspot.com

**OH!** Wait!! There is a doggie update!!!!

I just had the laundry and powder room floors replaced with BEAUTIFUL tile! (you know how it is, when it rains it pours---did I really need contractors, plumbers, tile guys in my home the last 4 days with everything else going on with mom? Nope! But that's what happened anyway.)

Buford and Della have finally finished their thorough investigations. The outcome: much louder nail clickings on the tile and not sure if they accept it as part of the house yet. Della actually walked halfway in and then backed right out! It was too funny!!

Ok, onward.

Buford--Cancer Free!

Everything came back BENIGN!! Just a bunch of fatty tumors and nothing to worry about....well...

Except that his alkaline phosphatase level is high so it is time to retest for Cushings Disease. Poog guy must feel like a pin cushion! But if we can finally figure out what is up with this one level that is out of whack perhaps we can get this boy COMPLETELY healthy!

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Buford here........what the heck is all the fuss about?!?! So I drink a lot of water; so I pee alot....even me, a basset hound knows that if you drink a lot you pee a lot. What goes in must come out. SHEESH! But is it necessary to keep sticking needles in me? I only have so much blood and people keep taking it out of me. THAT'S NOT RIGHT! IT'S MY BLOOD!!!

And another thing. What's with all these little strings hanging off my back, out of my arm pit, and right next to the only part of me left that identifies me as a boy???? How rude!! Is there no privacy left in this world? A guy takes a nap and wakes up shaved, cut and stitched up! What did you take out of me??? I'm not sure I'm missing anything that I needed, but I do know that one doesn't get sliced up and not have something gone missing.

Can't a guy just be what he is and leave well enough alone? I don't see anyone cutting open that "little princess?" And why is she a "little princess?" She eats poop out of the cat's litter pan, periodically pees INSIDE the house--WRONG!!!, gets biscuits for no reason other than the fact that I'm getting one and if she doesn't get one too she sulks. I sulk but I don't get an extra biscuit---WHY NOT?

There is an inequity in this house and I demand an investigation!!!

Buford--time to remove some growths

Oh my poor boy!

Every year there seems to be another medical "procedure" or anomaly that he
has to endure and/or suffer. Now it's growths and their removal.

He has a sebaceous cyst on his back that has doubled in size in the last month and change. Then there's this mass under his left front arm within the folds of his skin. And then there's this mass wihtin the skin of his belly just to the left of his penis.

--and he doesn't seem to care or even notice them. That's good!

But, given that he is anything but normal, we are going to be safe rather than sorry and have all of them removed and biopsied. My vet and others are not very alarmed by them, nor overly worried, but again, get them off/out and make sure. Right now he's healthy and vibrant, etc. Why wait for nasty symptoms of a bigger issue to rear their ugly head when now, if something "bad" is discovered, he is strong enough to undergo treatement? That's the thought process.

So on April 11th my baby goes "under the knife."

....I'm a wreck....

Today I Am 9 Years Old!

Yes, today is my birthday and I am 9. I only got lots of extra biscuits and not much else because my mom is afraid I'll get sick like I usually do when I have things I'm not supposed to have. I could have lived with this but then she had to find a stupid birthday hat, put it on my head and take pictures. It is so humiliating.....but I will make her pay when she least expects it!

So Long Dixie...

I just can't get that Blood, Sweat and Tears tune out of my head. Tonight is Dixie's last night with me. She is returning with her "mom" to Florida tomorrow afternoon. And despite all efforts to avoid attachment, it will be very difficult to say goodbye to her tomorrow!

She has been with us for a month. She has traumatized Guinness the cat on a daily basis; she has played with Della until Della has passed out on the couch from sheer exhaustion; she has reaped the wrath of Buford on so many occasions that it has become a game to her. Dixie has caused me to become an expert carpet steam cleaner, as well as the new MRS. Clean of the laminate and linoleum flooring. She has eaten her way through 3 nylabones, assorted tennis balls and 4 rope toys. And she has left her permanent mark by chewing a 4" X 1 " portion along the edge of my new carpeting in the family room.

And yes, she is the only basset I have every known who literally leaps into your lap when you are sitting in a chair and wraps her front paws around your neck while giving you "kisses." She is going to grow up to be the most loyal and affectionate basset ever....and it will be in someone else's home.

I hope she has the perfect life because she is a perfect basset hound. So long Dixie----for whatever reason God had in mind, you graced my life with yours and I will be forever thankful that you did. We will miss you little one!

New "Addition"

Her name is Dixie. She is 18-months old. She is currently a "boarder" in our home until her "parents" get settled in their own place and out of THEIR parent's house. (Hope that made sense!)

She is a handful, but actually is also a VERY good dog--and smart! She has only had one "accident" in the house since her arrival. And it was my fault--I wasn't paying attention to her when she was pacing by the door to go outside. She is much like Della in that way: quiet. Doesn't TELL you she needs to go out, but rather just goes to the door and thinks that is enough to let me know. So I need a keener sense of awareness with 3 in the house, all of which have slightly different habits.

Della is exhausted from all the play time! Of course, Della is a tad overweight these days too! But a full-time playmate will probably slim her down in no time.

Buford: simply doesn't care. He sees the "girls" playing so he gets TONS more "mommy" time!!

Guinness: simply smacks Dixie with a paw when she gets too rambunctious. Gotta love it!

Tempting Fate...

Buford seems to be out of the proverbial woods--he's gained some weight, hasn't had diarrhea in over 3 months and has slowed WAY down on all his water consumption.

Della is simply a tank and is doing great--my little 3 year old!!

...ok, so Buford made me pay for my "sins" when I had him stay at the "puppy hotel" for 9 days. He came home with double conjunctivitis, had a quick spurt of "tummy rumbles" complete with one "runny night" (but it was NOT a set back as he was perfectly fine the next morning), and then decided to gas up like a balloon the next night and make me ALMOST race with him to the emergency vet in fear of bloat. But he belched twice and "deflated" ....and attempted to asphyxiate me throughout the night as he slept soundly and passed "silent bombs."

God I love that dog!!!!