Saturday with Serena

I am pretty much focused solely on Serena right now. Watching her, trying to find something she will eat or drink, trying to gauge her condition and quality of life. Last night and this morning I was about to say it was time, but the vet isn't open on Saturday and I didn't really want to go through euthanasia with a complete stranger. That last part is a bit of a selfish "me" consideration, I'm not sure it would have mattered to the dog. I had the option of one vet with weekend hours at least so I adopted a "wait and see" posture. At some point late morning she did eat and drink some of the chicken and rice and chicken broth combo I had whipped up last night. And she got up and came outside with us with Sharen came over with Maddie for a run. 

I had to stop Serena on a couple of occasions from taking off on a run for the fence as she likes to do. The fact that I was able to stop her verbally means that she knew her leg still wasn't really up for a mad dash across the pasture. But she enjoyed sniffing around out there. She interacted with the other dogs, but mostly went back and forth between Sharen and me for head rubs and petting. 

I made another batch of chicken and rice late this afternoon. I ate most of it myself, but Serena consumed some as well, along with some chicken broth. We'll just take it day-by-day.

It was a beautiful day and Serena enjoyed being out in the pasture with us.

Maddie even tries to play with Max.

She has much better luck getting River to play and she's the only dog he has ever really played with.

She can easily outrun him, but that's no fun. She runs circles and keeps him engaged.

I think humans really lost something when we dropped the tail.

As much as I love Serena, it's Della who will sustain the biggest loss when she's gone.

Maya at Patch Brewing

Clay has been closing at Patch by himself for the last couple of nights. Maya and I have been going up in the evenings to help with the closing since he's on crutches due to a torn ligament (tendon?) in his foot. That just consists of putting out the fires, emptying the trash and taking it to the dumpster, changing the "open" sign to "closed," and taking down the flag out front. Until closing time I have a beer and Maya hustles treats and greets the patrons. There was another friendly dog there yesterday and we caught the end of trivia night. Maya also helped train a new employee.

We did all that and then got to see the new brewing equipment that had just arrived. Maya has a part time gig as an ABC inspector so we needed to have a look. As I understand it, the electronic portion of the set up that will make it all work hasn't arrived yet; these are just the tanks for a 7 barrel brew system, but it is a big step towards brewing their own beer on premises. The indoor tasting room is making progress too. I think they are looking at an early spring opening. The outdoor pavilion will still be available as well.

Serena's denouement

 Today was Sweet Serena's long awaited visit with the specialists to try to unravel her various ailments. The appointment was initially made with the orthopedic surgeon because when the appointment was made her primary issue was lameness. Today she was actually beginning to bear weight on that leg, continuing the slow, gradual improvement I've been seeing over the past week. He quickly realized that her primary issue was no longer the leg and shifted her to an internist, for which I was very grateful. She did a comprehensive workup, including blood work, xrays, and an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. The conclusion that I expected was kidney failure, but it was far more advanced than I realized. The situation had deteriorated rapidly over the past two weeks and the prognosis was poor.

She was said to be at the stage of hospitalization, probably for a couple days, in the hope that they could more or less stabilize her condition and make her more comfortable. But again, there was little hope in actually improving or even significantly prolonging the outcome. Serena was scared going in there without me today and I did not want to leave her there.

I brought her home instead, with meds to stimulate her appetite and control vomiting. Although she hasn't been eating well, or keeping it down when she does, she does seem to feel better the last couple of days, probably because her leg is getting better and she can move about more easily. I gave her the appetite stimulant when we got home, and she didn't want to eat then, but a few hours later she ate about half a can of dog food. 

She can have anything she wants from now on as far as I'm concerned, when and if she wants it. We'll watch her go about her usual daily routine and I'll make the call when I think her quality of life is gone. She's very stoic so she's kind of tough to read. I hope we'll have weeks, but it could be days, I don't think anyone can say.

She did not want to go in there without me today.

When they brought her back out to my van later in the afternoon, 

she hopped in on her own and didn't want to get out again, even at home.

River runs

It was another beautiful day, a great start to the month of March. I got everyone out to the pasture for an afternoon run once again. River made his way into more of my pictures than usual today. Instead of fixating on the fence line between us and the neighbors, he actually ran around the pasture with us much more today. Generally he made fly-by appearances, darting past the others headed no place in particular. Bonnie tried to engage him in play. River can play with other dogs, but it generally takes the other dog to initiate and insist upon it.

River is still quite lean, but he has put on some real muscle.

River and Max are together in the dog yard all day but they don't really play.

I discovered the Zippy likes to play with a tennis ball today.

She retrieves it and gives it back for another throw.

River's run is full of enthusiasm. 

The first little wild flowers I've seen in the pasture.