Video clips

Here are a couple of video clips of Ferdinand. Enjoy!

Typical day...

Ferdinand thought he would take a few minutes out of his very busy schedule and tell you what a typical day is like for him.

6:00 am Mommy's alarm clock goes off
6:10 am Mommy's alarm goes off again
6:20 am ...and again
6:30 am Mommy finally gets out of bed and I snuggle into her spot on the bed while she takes a shower.
6:45am Mommy makes Daddy, Moxie and me get out of bed
7:00 am Mommy or Daddy makes me breakfast. I get kibble mixed with canned pumpkin and some soft canned food. The pumpkin is supposed to be good for me but it's definitely not my favorite.
7:15am Mommy and I head off to work
7:30-8:30 I hang out and watch Mommy while she gets the school ready for the kids. It's kinda boring and I usually sit in one spot, shake, whine, and try to look as pathetic as possible so Mommy will pick me up again.
8:30 am Mommy takes me upstairs and puts me in my playpen. I don't mind being in there too much. It's pretty close to the heater vent so I stay plenty warm. I also have my favorite blanket, a cozy bed, some of my toys and a pee-pad (In case I can't hold it anymore).
11:30 am Mommy comes upstairs to get me and brings me down to have lunch with her. I am so happy to see her that I wag my whole body and give her lots and lots of kisses.
11:30-12:30 I eat lunch and snuggle with Mommy until she makes me get up.
12:30-1:00 A little more snuggle time either with Mommy or Daddy
1:00 One of two things happens at this time. Either I stay at work with Mommy and go back upstairs to my playpen or I go home with Daddy for some more snuggle time.
4:00 Mommy gets done with work and either goes to work out or comes home to spend time with me.
5:30 pm Mommy and Daddy give me my medicine (I only have to take it every other day, now) and fix my dinner. I get the same thing for every meal. I wish they would change it up once in a while.
6:00-9:00 More snuggle time
9:00 pm This is Mommy's bed time. I usually go snuggle with her cuz she has a warm heating blanket for me to share. I like the heating blanket. I scoot under the covers and then turn around and put my head on Mommy's arm like a pillow. This is my favorite way to sleep, but I don't think Mommy always gets a good night sleep.

I know, it's a really rough life. But, somehow, I trudge through each day. :) In the picture I am snuggling next to my big sister, Moxie right in front of the gas fireplace. We both love the gas fireplace and snuggle near it a lot.

Today

Ferdi has healed very well and is back to where he was before his unfortunate surgery. However, we have noticed that ever since he had the original problem with brain swelling he is afraid of some of the things he used to do well. He used to go up a short set of stairs without any problem at all. Now, he is afraid to go up any steps at all. I will keep working with him by offering him treats to go up the stairs. I am hoping that if i continue to push him past his comfort zone that he will not be afraid of the stairs anymore.

I get frustrated sometimes and wonder if it's something I'm doing or I've already done, or if it's all because of his neurological issues. I know that I coddle him but I make sure that he gets plenty of exercise and walks on his own every day. I do try not to carry him absolutely everywhere. But I also worry about where I can set him down because he's so little. I am afraid he might get stepped on.

It was a beautiful, fairly warm day here today so we took the dogs to the neighborhood school to play on the playground. It's nice because it is 3/4 of the way fenced so we don't have to worry about Moxie running off. We played for over an hour and had Ferdi walk all around the play field. He probably walked 1/4 mile or more today and did great. We need to work on getting him to run more, too. We're hoping that this summer he will grow a little more and gain a little more confidence when it comes to trying new things.

I better sign off for tonight. Ferdi is tired and ready for a snuggle with Mama. :)

Doing Very Well

Ferdinand is healing very nicely and is doing well. He is feeling so well that he wants to play with big sis again. We are very nervous about letting that happen because the doctor said he would need to wait between 1 and 3 weeks before he could play and roughhouse again. He goes in to get the stitches out next week. I think at that point I will ask the vet if he can play a little bit rough again.

We are also being overly cautious about Ferdi eating anything else. We won't set him down on the floor or the bed if there is anything that he might be able to fit in his mouth. We can't afford for him to get sick and have to be in the hospital again. It'll end up putting us in the poor house.

Ferdinand is getting to play with his buddy Chloe and her big brother Taylor during the next few days. Their parents are out of town and they are spending the weekend with us. Thankfully Chloe is not the kind of dog who likes to be crazy and play. She is a mellow beagle who loves to snuggle. Right now Ferdi is barking at her and wagging his tail like crazy. He hasn't seen her for a while so I think he's not quite sure what to do. But, he made out with Taylor when he saw him. Taylor is 13 and is one of Ferdi's favorite people in the whole world. Ferdi climbs all over him and gives him kisses and loves, then falls asleep on his lap.

Recovery

Since the surgery very early on December 31, Ferdi has been recovering nicely. He is still extra tired and wants to snuggle even more than normal, though. His appetite is better than it has been in a while, which kind of makes me wonder how long that piece of foam was in his stomach. Yikes! I'm just grateful that he is home, happy and healthy.

He went to school with me today and relaxed while the other ladies and I worked hard and fast to get the classroom ready for tomorrow. After school we drove up to Birch Bay and went to Bow Wow & Woofs. While we were there I picked up a "Critter Tote". (No, that's not me in the picture.) The one I bought is white with bright colored words like woof, bow-wow, and ruff all over it. The inside and the string around the middle are both red. I put Ferdinand in the tote just to see how he would like it and he immediately curled up and fell asleep. I knew then that I had to buy it. Especially since that was the last one in the store and the manufacturer is somewhat "unreliable" according to the shop owner. I wanted to be sure I could get one, if for no other reason then to show it to someone who sews who might be interested in making more of them. I wore it all afternoon while I ran errands with Ferdi and it was great! I didn't have to worry about him falling out because it's deep enough that his entire body fits inside. Just his little head pokes out the top. There is also a little strap so that I can hook it to his harness if he has it on.

We're spending this evening relaxing on the couch and getting ready for our first day back at school tomorrow in over 2 weeks. I'm sure Ferdi will do fine, it's me that I'm worried about.

The Latest Adventure

On Monday night we noticed that Ferdinand was extremely restless. He woke up in the middle of the night and vomited something he had eaten the day before. This is not completely unusual for him and did not give us cause to worry. The next morning Ferdi had no appetite. This was when we started to worry. Ferdi loves his "nummies" and has only refused food when he isn't feeling well. We had already set up a 2 month checkup with our vet. It has been about 2 months since he began taking the Procarbazine and the vet wants to be sure to take blood every 2 months and make sure the cure is not worse than the disease. We went to the vet and they did the bloodtests, but we all attributed his discomfort ot the neurological condition. The vet sent him home and said to give him liquids via syringe if he wouldn't drink from a bowl and to call if he vomited again. We went about our day, and Ferdi even ate a little bit of Mommy's lunch. (I shared my burger with him). We thought he was starting to perk up and feel better. Then, after he ate a couple of bites of his dinner, he threw up everything he had eaten all day. Poor little man. We called the vet but they were closing, so they suggested we take him to the After Hours Emergency Clinic. I got him loaded up inthe car immediately and took him in. I was hoping that they would run some more tests, but all they did was monitor him. After a few hours of this I became even more worried and called down to the VCA in Lynwood. The VCA is a 24 hour Emergency Animal Hospital and Specialty Clinic. About 11pm John and I got in the car with Ferdi and Moxie and drove down to Lynwood. They checked him in and immedciately suggeswted that they do an x-ray. We agreed knowing that he could have eaten something he shouldn't have, no matter how closely we watch him. We checked in to the hotel next door and tried to rest while we waited for the results of his x-ray. At 3am we got a call from the vet saying that the x-ray showed an obstruction in his intestines and that they needed to do surgery immediately. We hesitated for only a second before we told them to proceed. We called in a few hours later, when we hadn't heard back from them, and they told us the surgery went very well and Ferdi was in recovery. We needed to wait a couple of hours before we could see him so he could rest up. We tried to go back to sleep for another hour or two, with little success, and then checked out and went next door to be with Ferdi. He looked a little perkier than he had the night before but was still very groggy from the anesthesia. We left him in their capable hands and went home to try and get the house ready for him to come home. We drove back down again late in the afternoon to check on him, and the vet recommended that he stay one mroe night to be able to rest and heal under their care. We agreed and once again checked into the hotel. We rested but didn't really sleep last night and went to see Ferdi again this morning. He was sooo much perkier and even wagged his tail and gave kisses when he saw us. We visited with him for oveer an hour when the doctor finally came in and gave us the good news that he was healing nicely and would be going home that afternoon. The tech came in and gave us all the discharge information. She took him back one more time to remove his IV and then we were able to check out.



As soon as we got home he snuggled up in front of the fireplace and Daddy laid down next to him ont he floor and fell asleep. They have both been sleeping soundly for several hours and I am resting comfortably on the couch. We are all completely exhausted and don't have a lot of plans over the next several days except catching up on sleep.