HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I am very grateful that "old lady" Mishka is still with us for another year!!

Sometimes you are just a warm spot to land

Chewee's favorite beanbag pillow fell off the back of the couch and landed on Mishka while she was sleeping on the couch. Chewee crawled right on and Mishka didn't care!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ok the photo is from last year ... but I am still VERY grateful that old lady Mishka is still with us!!

Family Connections

I have been wanting to take these photos for a long time (well since the birth of Miss's litter thus creating the four generations under one roof).Mishka is my beloved 'old lady' and so I felt it was only fitting that I get photos of them all together.

The group (from RIGHT to LEFT)

Mishka (the grand 'old lady')

Miss (Mishka's daughter)

Fan (Miss's daughter thus Mishka's granddaughter)

Mulan (Miss's granddaughter thus Mishka's great grand daughter)

I needed to get these photos when I did (last week) as Fan (Mishka's grand puppy) was headed to her new home as a working goat dog.

The photos didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped... I knew Miss would be busy looking behind the fence for squirrels, and of course the 'old lady' only has so much tolerance for cold (it was in the teens) and for the youngsters....

Needless to say this was the 'out take' that ended my attempt for the 'perfect photo'

... Grandma said she had taken 'enough' from the young whipper snappers poking at her!!

Mishka Update!!

I admit it!! I am a 'bad blogger'. Things are busy and so I have just not taken the time to upload photos like I should. I have gotten several messages asking how "Mishka" is ... so I thought I would take a bit of time this morning to post some recent photos of her.

She is perky and happy!!! Still doing all the extra time and work to blood test her muptiple times a day and giving insulin in various amounts (as appropriate by her test results). She is quite spoiled and wakes us up in the middle of the night to potty. But overall she is perky, happy and doing great (considering her age and diabeties).

These photos were taken of her recently when I took her along to the park with the Cloud puppies for a social outing.



Still moving great!!

Bright and HAPPY!!

Yeah we love ya old girl!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I would post Mishka's old dress up demo. I have been a bit busy taking OTHER people's pets for Halloween so my guys have not been dressed up yet this year (I do say YET!!).
This was a demo I did with "Sheriff" Mishka herds the "Jailbirds" back to jail!!

These were taken a LONG time ago ... But Mishka would still 'try' to herd ducks dressed or not if I would let her.

Yep even the ducks had to dress up for their part as "Jailbirds"

Mishka Update

I know I have not mentioned Mishka in awhile. We have had our ups and downs, but overall she is doing very very well (considering all her issues at this point).

The most recent blood panel that was done at the vet, showed her liver values are still out of normal but far better than the original values (this is thanks to her liver medications). But sadly the recent blood panel does show she is anemic. Research did find a medication that might boost her red blood cells, but it is very expensive and not proven to work in this situation.

Mishka's blood glucose levels do seem to still vary greatly (some mornings she is very low and other mornings she is very high.. nothing seems to predict why). But she is such a good patient and allows her blood to be drawn for testing easily.

When her blood glucose is very low, the important thing is to get glucose into her quickly so she can have a raise in glucose level soon and not have it continue to go 'lower'. We have found Mishka's favorite way to do this is "maple syrup". I have a syringe where I suck up pancake syrup into it and all I have to do it hold it out and Mishka begins to lick it right out of the end of the syringe!! (I wish my video camera would allow an upload as I would video it to show how silly she gets about getting her syrup).

So Mishka spends her day, relaxing and napping often (the couch has become a favorite spot for naps). But she still finds great pleasure in going for rides out and about. Just this week we took her to TSC (Tractor Supply Co.) she ambled up to all the customers she could find for a pet and a scratch behind the ear!! Everyone thought she was 'so regal' and such a polite lady.

Life is still good for Mishka!!

Another Mishka update

(Mishka and I at the park last week)

Mishka had another (seems to be an expensive weekly event) vet visit yesterday. She had a bad bout of diarrhea and had been on her new liver medication for almost two weeks so was due for another full blood panel.

Last week I had worked hard adding natural food (mackerel, ground turkey etc..) to her meals trying to get her to gain weight. It worked but the short day and half of loose stool this week made her loose a small amount of weight.

My vet was pleased to hear how happy and perky she was (I mentioned her chance to work sheep for a short time). He said her heart rate was great, and overall she was looking fine (knowing all that is going on with her blood panel and blood glucose curves).

Sadly she is very time consuming to keep happy and healthy. We are still testing her blood glucose at least 4-6 times a day, and giving insulin 3 - 4 times a day. But so far it is working so well, and I am making the time to do it.

Yesterday's blood panel came back today ... and IT IS GOOD NEWS!! The liver pills she has been taking appear to be helping. The liver numbers are not in the normal range, but they are better than they were before!! So we are going to continue with them and hope for the best. Sadly her red blood cell count is down .... so the vets are investigating if there is a way to safely raise that.

She is happy and perky ... which makes this all worth while!!

Mishka and I enjoying the sun and getting a snack. (taken last week)

Mishka got to work sheep over the weekend!!

Mishka and I had a very busy weekend!! She tagged along (ok I had to drag her along to keep track of her blood curves) while I send an Aussie puppy to Florida. In the process we went to a friend's farm to hang out. The young whipper snappers spent the afternoon working sheep, while 'regal' Mishka got to oversee the action. This is one of my favorite photos as she is such a 'grand old lady' with ewes and lambs in the background.

She intently watched for most of the day.

At the end of the day, Mishka got to work the rams for a short time. Even old (and be it a bit 'slow') she still enjoyed herself!!

Mishka finds the cat!!

Friday I had to spent part of the day at the vets office (getting health papers for a puppy flying to it's new home). Mishka went along to be weighed and also just to 'visit'. THANKFULLY she has gained some weight!!

As soon as we got home, the cat wandered out to say "Hi". Back in 'the day' Mishka lived (when not working 'real' livestock) to stare at a cat. She could stare at them for hours if allowed to!!

She was in heaven working the kitty in the yard!!

She would stay there for hours if I would have let her!!

She still has STYLE!

As you can see the kitty could care less!!

Mishka had a great day at the park

(watching the action as I was trying to get moving shots of the Aussies)

We spent part of the day getting photos of a few of the show Aussies (they were clean from the show to some degreee). Mishka of course came along (her testing supplies and insulin along of course as well).

She enjoyed the sun, enjoyed and the day outside!

Mishka progress!!

(Mishka working a few years back)

Well there has been no more throwing up!! (for the last few days that is!!). Her water intake is in the normal range as well! The new new (third kind now) insulin appears to be lasting FAR longer than the others and she is reacting to it well so far.

She is willing to eat her dry food with only a tiny bit of extra added to it (special canned for low glucose) and overall is happy and comfortable!!

I was able to get more of a 'normal' night's sleep only getting up once to do a blood curve (and it was in the normal range).

She actually went an entire 12 hours before needing another injection of insulin ... which is what we are hoping to get to (twice a day like we had before).

Once we can get this hurdle passed then we can truly look at how the medication for her liver is doing too so we are not out of the woods but progress is good!!

AND..........

I got the van fixed yesterday!! WHOOO HOOO (and cheaper than I expected for more things done!!)

Life is getting better!!

Another Mishka update

(Mishka putting the sheep in the pen early in the morning at a trial years ago. Click on the photo to see it large.. it's a pretty one!!)

Today was certainly a good day!! Mishka was perky, happy and ate VERY well today (no throwing up at all!). I think my hard work on the blood glucose curves is beginning to pay off. I get up round the clock every few hours (yep all night long I never sleep more than two hours at a time) to test her blood glucose level. It appears she is reacting to the new insulin better than the 'old' one and we are now beginning to see when she needs more insulin etc... etc...

If the blood glucose levels can be regulated again, then we can focus on what is going on with her liver and hopefully the medication might actually kick in and help out!!

It's is so nice to have a good day!!!

Mishka update

(Mishka during one of our 'demos' years ago... Sheriff "Mishka" rounding up the 'jailbirds')

Well today was an up and down day. Our biggest problem right now is trying to get the insulin / glucose levels regulated. This new insulin does appear to be making some impact but it's not as long lasting as the old stuff she was on before. Which means a spike in the middle of the day... which makes her need an additional injection so far.

I also now have a far greater respect for anyone with diabetes. The careful monitoring is really something that just takes a great deal of work. I also am amazed at the price of the testing supplies. I have found it is cheaper to buy a new meter with testing strips included than it is to buy the test strips alone. I am now on my third meter (and have spent less than if I had bought test strips for the first meter!).

I am concerned this is not going to be 'turned around' with my beloved old lady and that these are her last days. BUT we are trying. When her good days are out weighed by her bad days ... then we will know it is time.

Thank you to all that have expressed your kind thoughts and prayers. It is greatly appreciated!!!

The sad news this week

Well I've had a really tough last few days. (I get terrible headaches when I cry ... so these days have been compounded by headaches too!!).

I was supposed to be at four days of dogshows (Malone and Audrey got all bathed up and got to go all of one day before the van's brakes went out and the mechanic could not fix it before the weekend!!) The van breakdown and those shows seems so unimportant right about now.

As many of you know my beloved old lady "Mishka" has diabetes and recently has gotten very hard to be 'regulated'. Constant excessive urination, and regular vomiting after meals (which makes it almost impossible to give her insulin since her stomach becomes empty) were just part of our problem.

In order to try to help figure out what was going on, I learned how to draw her blood and run glucose tests on her myself at home. She is an outstanding model patient and so tolerant of me 'poking' her for blood. Sadly those blood curves showed worse than we had hoped. She is not reacting to the current insulin (her glucose actually goes up after insulin instead of going down).

Many trips to the vet, and numerous tests later that additional information has just come in that is just plain 'not good'. Mishka is now in liver failure.

In order to make her as comfortable as possible, the vets have prescribed some nausea medication so she can eat and hold the food down (which if we keep her calm and do small meals we have not had to need to use yet), thankfully there is another form of insulin that we can also try (a human form) which she started just last night. And there is a over the counter liver supplement our vet gave us as well. So far the new insulin appears to be making her blood curves look a bit better (not normal but better) but the liver medication makes her not hungry (she has already lost a great deal of weight in the last three weeks).

There appears little more for us to do without invasive surgery and excessive tests. At this point I think the best thing I can do it make her comfortable and enjoy her for the little time she has left. (Yes tears are streaming down my face as I type).

It is taking a great deal of time do the blood curves every two hours with the new insulin but if it helps and gives me more time with her I am fine with that.

I knew this time would come (I hate when our dogs get old!!) but it just seemed like less than a month ago she was romping around wanting to go for a ride and happy as a clam. I am just not ready.... Please put her in your prayers, and if ya need to get ahold of me .... remember I might be crying when you call. I adore this dog ... more than I ever thought I would when I agreed to import her.