Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween



We didn't do costumes this year.  Mom has just been all strung out in a gazillion different directions. But we are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of all the little ghosts, goblins, witches, and whatever else appears at our door.  We hope to have a pic of the little bipeds to share with you later too.  We will all have to stay behind the gate because Mom doesn't want to risk any Great Escapes.  We hope you all have a great day of tricks and treats.










Many thanks to Mollie, Alfie, and Molly the Wally for our Frankenweenie photos.

A brief update on Phantom:  He did go to the vet on Monday.  Lots of issues to deal with, but he is a real trooper.  As Mom suspected, he has a soft tissue injury in the shoulder area from his spurt of youthful energy with Lightning last Thursday.  He is getting a bit better each day.  He also decided that Thunder wasn't to be the only one here who likes to lick his paws. He too has a sore on the same front paw as TD had a few weeks ago.  It isn't infected and he is more or less leaving it alone. So for now, no dreaded cone.  THAT would really freak him out.

The bigger issues are his weight and his eyes.  He has dropped about five pounds since June.  He does not have any extra weight to be losing.  He is a challenge when it comes to food.  We all know Mom has tried everything to get him to eat.  Then there are his eyes, those gorgeous blue eyes.  Mom has noticed he has been having lots of goobers lately and once in a while the yuckies have a bit of yellow color to them.  The nice vet did a Schirmer test using litmus paper in each eye to measure his tear production.  He told Mom that the number should be at least 20 and anything 10 and below is bad. Phantom's registered as an 11 in each eye.  Diagnosis: dry eye or Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca.  We may never know for sure the cause, but the vet suspects that Phantom's facial nerve that controls the tear gland may have been damaged when he had surgery a couple of years ago to remove a malignant tumor on the side of his face.  Years ago dogs had to suffer with dry eye and keratitis of the cornea and eventually go blind.  But today there is a new medication that has been very useful in controlling dry eye in dogs that still have some function in the tear gland.  The ointment stimulates the tear gland to produce more tears, but it will only work if the gland still has some decent function.  The vet says Phantom is very borderline because of his low number but is hopeful that this medication will help him.  He will have to have the ointment inserted in his eye twice a day for the rest of his life.  So far he has been very good about letting Mom put in the ointment.  Mom is a pro at taking care of eye meds because every day she puts a total of 9-15 drops in Dad's eyes.  We are all crossing our paws that Phantom's eyes will be OK.

Sorry for the downer of a report, but we know Phantom is a fighter.




We may not be in costume, but we each have our buckets ready to be filled with lots of good treats -now where are they, Mom?

 Happy Halloween.

BOOS and Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

58 comments:

  1. Phantom you are in our thoughts and prayers....hope things get better soon.... You all look great! Happy Halloween, my friends!

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  2. Get well soon, Phantom. We're thinking of you. Happy Halloween to you all!

    Thor and Jack

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  3. Crossing paws for Phantom! Sissy used to be a hard keeper, but thankfully, she's slowed down just a tiny bit...

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  4. Sending Phantom lots of doggie kisses xx
    Happy Halloween to you all, hope you get lots of treats!

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  5. Hey guess who's back?! MEEE!!! And oh noes Phantom. Please please get better soon! We want you to get well. Happy Halloween love you all!

    Licks,
    The Solid Gold Dancer

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  6. Sending lots of good vibes and POTP in Phantom's direction. Feel better soon. No more rough-housing with the "little" one, ok!

    HAP-PEE HOWL-O-WEENIE FROM DaWEENIES AND OUR PACK!

    :o)

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  7. Hey Everyone!
    Wow, I love your spookified pix and your group punkin bucket pix! That's perfect for the howloween holiday. Lots of healing vibes headed your way and crossing paws for quick recoveries.
    Grr and a Spooky Woof,
    Sarge, Trick-or-Treater

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  8. Happy Halloween and tons of treats!!!

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  9. Firstly big love and healing paw to Phantom. We hope things will be OK. On a lighter note your pix of the gang are always brill. Pleasure to have Spookified you all. Have a Happy Halloween and a wonderful trick or treat.
    Best wishes Molly

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  10. We will keep fingers crossed for Phantom!

    Happy Halloween!

    Sam

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  11. Hi to all the Woos. We are so sorry to hear about all your troubles Phantom. We sure are sending many woofs and some mighty Hee Haws and some purrs too. You just gotta get those eyes better Phantom.
    It is so frustrating when they won't eat. Our Angel Jasmine, wouldn't eat either and our mom tried cooking her everything. But she was sick. We wish the Mom some good luck in that area too. We have told the donkeys to cross their hooves for you Phantom.

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  12. Happy HOWL-O-WEENIE to the pack, may you have like 87 hundred more. We will cross our paws for Phantom! Understand the eye drop thingy, Shadow has dry Eyes also!!

    Your Spooky Furiends
    Susie & Bites

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  13. Happy Halloween Woos!
    I love the photo of you all with your trick-or-treat buckets, I'm glad that you all are getting in the Howl-O-Ween "Spirit" even though you are all worried about poor Phantom! We here in Wales will be crossing our paws for Phantom and giving you lots of Love, Healing prayers and power of Paw to getting healthy soon!
    Love and Licks from your Pugalier Pal Frank-Enstine xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  14. Phantom, wez just sending youz magic, to make youz all better..Close your eye'z. Here it comes.
    You all have a great Halloweeeeeen, can't wait to see the photo's of the ghosts xxx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  15. Happy Halloween! I bet your buckets will be filled in no time with lots of goodies!

    I'm sorry to read that Phantom has not be feeling well and we sen him all our best. When I was reading about him continuing to lose weight I was wondering if you have ever tried feeding Satan Balls to him? I tried this a few years ago with Leroy when we were trying to add some weight and it worked wonders. Just thinking out loud here:).

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  16. Heehee! I LUVS those Frankenweenie pictures! And you guys look so cute with your little pumpkin buckets. I hope somebuddy fills 'em up with all kinds of good treats!

    Thank you for the update on Phantom. We're sending lots and lots of good wishes to him from Collie-rado.

    Wiggles & Wags,
    mayzie

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  17. Phantom, get well soon, we are with you dear friend!!!
    Happy Halloween to all!!!
    Woof, woof,

    Chicco

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  18. Phantom you are such a good boy to let your mommy put that goop in your eyes. Have fun with the little bipeds tonight. We can't wait to see their costumes.

    Millie & Cindy

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  19. Love your Frankenweenie photos!!!

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  20. Happy Halloween to woos! Phantom, we hope you get some yummy treats that you actually like so you can start gaining some weight! We certainly don't have that problem around here! We hope your eyes get better soon too! Purrs to you!

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  21. Phantom you are in my prayers buddy. I hope all your treat buckets get filled to overflowing.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  22. Thinking about Phantom!! Poor guy. But like you said, he really is a trooper. What a guy!

    Your Frankenweenie pictures are hilarious! I love them!

    We are turning off our porch light tonight to trick or treaters because Riley is in her crate trying to rest and the doorbell ringing would drive her absolutely batty!

    Elyse and Riley

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  23. Ha-woo lovie-doves,
    long time no woos!
    Phantom, we are sending woo all the Sibe Vibes we can muster!!!

    Hope woo all have a spooktacular Howloween!

    jack o-lantern and MooDevil

    (PS, we know what when mamas get busy, blogging slows down, we have a big dose of that going on here , too. we're still thinking bout ya!)

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  24. We love your Frankenweeie pictures! Phantom, I had a youthful burst of energy about a month ago and it hurt my neck and hips really bad, too. I hope your shoulder feels better soon. We also hope the medicine helps your eyeballs. Hang in there, dude.

    Your pal,
    Titus

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  25. Have you tried giving Phantom pâté? It' soft and easy to eat, tastes good and is quite calorific.

    Woofs,
    Tommy

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  26. Oh Phantom, you are in our thoughts. You are a big trooper and I give you all my paws up!
    Happy Halloween to woos.

    June

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  27. Phantom, you get to feeling better soon k? Give mom some good news by Christmas so you can get great presents! And the drops, yep, I gotta get two drops TWO times a day (four total! Boo) for the rest of my life too...it's not too bad, especially when you master the sad/stinkeye look. :)

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  28. Oh-ho! We are hoping those buckets get filled to the brim with treats!
    We are thinking of you Phantom and sending our love.
    Happy Halloween dear friends.
    Dip Bridge and Elliot x

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  29. Oh Phantom buddie, I have my paws crossed for you! I hope your eyes and your shoulder are doin' better.
    I knows your a trooper, and tell my soul mate Lightning to take it easy on ya!!

    Kisses,
    Ruby

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  30. Happy Halloween .. Phantom my sweet woofie friend. I know you are a trooper but I am sorry you are having problems. I can relate to the eye thing because I am having a problem with mine. I hope the meds sort it out for you. Continue not licking the paw my friend because you really dont want a cone.. Please try and eat a little sweety.. Hugs GJ xx

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  31. We hope the meds help, too! Paws crossed.

    We were banished to the back yard for Halloween. And we would have given those kiddies a real scare. But we did get to clean up some dropped 'treats' on our morning walk. Now it's time for our first November nap! (We don't wear costumes either.)

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  32. Hope you feel better soon. Happy Halloween
    Snorts,
    Benny & Lily

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  33. Samba had to have that ointment in her eyes when she had the facial paralysis. Then recently when she lost so much weight, we needed it again, but for now her eyes are staying nice and moist. She was very good about letting me put it in and I'm sure Phantom knows it makes his eyes feel better. Have a safe evening.

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  34. Hi Woos you are all very boo-tiful in your furs.
    Phantom bless your sweet little heart
    we will be saying lots of purrs that your drops will help your eyes.
    Many hugs to our favorite Woos
    and we hope the bipeds have a Sweet Halloween
    Madi and Mom

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  35. It is touch to do all the dress up thing when you are busy - we are doing black out here (no trick or treaters) simply because little kids coming to the door would FREAK Denny out big time!!! Just the door bell ringing frightens the life out of him.

    We are so sorrow to hear about Phantom..... mom sympathies greatly - she has Sjorgrens syndrome (she doesn't produce any tears or saliva - she can't even cry!!!) so she knows what dry eyes is like. One thing you might want to consider is adding fish oil to Phantoms diet or a fish oil capsule - there are burpless ones that are very good - they aid greatly in tear production. We wish phantom could FIND some of the weight we are trying to LOSE - we have plenty to spare :) :)

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  36. We are so very sorry about Phantom's eyes. So glad that he doesn't have to wear the cone though!

    Happy Halloween to you! We are hoping for not many trick-or-treaters b/c our candy is soooooooooooooooooooo good.

    Nora

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  37. Woo! Sending lots of love to you all today.
    Wags, Noreen

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  38. OH poor Phantom. We are sending healing purrs and crossed paws that the drops work for his eyes. We so hope they work.

    We hopes those buckets get full to the brim with TREATS. We likes pumpkin treats around here. Except for the Mom she is weird and eats this stuff called chocolate and then complains cause it makes her break out.

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  39. First off, I am so sorry to hear that P man has dropped an extra 5 pounds. That makes us sad. I wish there was some yummy magic good for Phantom food that he would fall in love with and gain some weight back.

    I'm sorry to hear about his beautiful blue eyes to. But at least you found out what was going on and can try to treat with the new medications.

    You and Phantom will be in our thoughts. <3

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  40. Aw, hope things get better for you and Phantom

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  41. We are sending you tons of AireZen, Phantom! We feel so badly for you, buddy.
    Happy Halloween to all of you!

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  42. Phantom is my favorite of your 4 beautiful dogs. I'm sorry to hear he had to have an extra vet visit. I hope the eye drops work and that his shoulder will heal up quickly.

    Happy Howl-o-ween!

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  43. We're sending you buckets of virtual treats. Phantom, we know you'll do well with the drops. Our Angel Sniffie had drops 2x a day for her whole life!! Now....go eat those treats!!!

    Happy Halloween!

    The Florida Furkids

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  44. So sorry to hear about your eyes and all your boo boos Phantom, but we have 24 Paws crossed for you and hope all of you have a Happy Halloween!

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  45. You guys look so sweet with your candy buckets! Who needs costumes? Your picture is perfect! :)

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  46. Paws crossed for Phantom! Happy Halloween
    Nola

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  47. Cute Frankenweenie photos ~ BOO!

    Poor Phantom :( I hope the drops work! I will keep my paws crossed too!

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  48. Hey Phantom!

    We are glad your vet knows what to do about your eyes, and that MOM is SO experienced! She is experienced in encouraging you to eat, too. We want you around for a whole lot longer.

    Kisses,
    Stella

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  49. Phantom IS a fighter and is one very determined Sibe boy. Coupled with momster's eye drop expertise, we are certain that you will see an improvement quickly. Sending Happy Howl-o-ween wishes to everyone and special White Dog healing energies, positive thoughts, and Warrior strength especially to the Pack Leader.

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  50. Happy Halloween to you too!!
    We're rooting for you Phantom and we know you're a fighter!! Stay strong and pawsitive!!
    Well wishes and good cheers to all of you!!!

    Love,
    Maxx and mommy

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  51. Hugs and Prayers for Phantom!!! Tell Phantom, our mama knows what that dry eye thing is like because she has it too! Hope you feel better soon buddy! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug

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  52. We love that picture of you with your buckets. Very wonderful .... Sorry to hear Phantom is having so many issues... We are sending lots and lots of purrrrrs.

    hugs, Max, Bugsy, and Knuckles

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  53. You guys look SO skeery! I bet you got lots of treats. Boxer kisses to Phantom -- feel better soon, buddy!

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  54. Phantom - I'm sending you some cyber ju ju with my crossed paws!
    You're in our thoughts and prayers, buddy!
    Stewey

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  55. Oh dear, we are sure sorry to hear Phantom is having troubles. Are you using Sodium Chloride ointment? Just curious, as Kitty has to use that twice a day also. Thank dogness he is doing ok with the eye med application.
    Love how Ciara has her own girly bucket. Cute!

    Kitty+Coco

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  56. Oh, no. Poor Thunder. I know how worrisome it must be. Especially the weight loss. I hope all is well.

    Sage licked her legs for days after her stint in the ICU where they shaved them for the IV and blood work. It's hard to keep them from it (except for the dreaded cone), so we know what you are going through.

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  57. Phantom you are very fortunate to have such a caring Mom. Glad you don't give her too hard of a time puttin those drops in your eyes pal. Crossin paws they do the job!

    I hope despite the medical issues y'all were able to enjoy your Howl-o-ween :)

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

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