Cavalier Episodic Falling

Toughie's Mom · Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Newburyport, MA

Well, this is an old thread but I love your stories and descriptions! Emily does the stare thing untl she gets you moving, then she dances around in circles.

I think Toughie is going to be my matador, if he can ever manage it without falling down. He dos the bull dance thing with both paws before landing nose first in the soup.

Emily and Toughie both yawn, usually as soon as I pick them up (as in, here she goes, boring us again with that sicko cuddle talk).

Emmie snores, but only when hubby does. It is hysterical. Like having one of them snoring next to me isn't enough.

Em hasn't discovered the phone yet but she did discover the remote control for the TV. She loves to whack at it and change the picture and the sound. Thank God she hasn't discovered Animal Planet yet.

But my favorite I-want-your-attention-now story is this: Earlier this summer, DH and I were lying on our sides in bed, facing each other, he with his arm over my shoulder and me with my arm over his shoulder, just chatting about sweet nothings when from absolutely no where, a little ruby head popped up from under the bridge of our arms and parked itself right between our chins. We never even felt her moving until the little head appeared. She stared me down, panting, until I remembered that I hadn't given her her usual bed time snack. So much for THAT romantic moment!

Speaking of romance, when our second to the youngest son was home from college this summer he remarked one day that it was totally disgusting (his opinion only) that "parents as old as you guys are having sex. And all the time!" I said WHAT???? And how do you know what I'm doing and how often???? He said it was easy. We lock Emily out of the bedroom and she lies down in front of the door with her head on her paws and won't budge. Then he gave me a playful whack and took off before I could really bean him.

From now on, she gets locked in the bathroom LOL.
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Loving mom of Dudley, Emily (The Divine Miss Em) and Spencer ("Tough Nut")

Dorothie · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:49 am Post subject:

Oh, Cathy - those are some terrific stories. Penny loves to hit the remote too. And when we are looking for it it's always under one of the dogs.

Cute story about your son. Sounds as if he's terribly well adjusted. The bathroom sounds like a perfectly self respecting place for a dog who needs her privacy!

And doesn't it drive them just crazy when a hug fest is going on and they can't be right in the middle of it? We've had those popping dogs in the middle of hugs too. The only thing that gets rid of them is when it gets too warm.

Penny and Zora don't yawn but they sneeze a lot. When they wake up in the morning, when they want something etc.etc. It's a quiet little sneeze but we've taken to sneezing with them. We are total fools.

Here are some prayers for Spencer that he's back in your arms soon doing well and torturing Emily by stealing her toys out of her crate!

Dorothie

Toughie's Mom · Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Newburyport, MA

Thanks so much Dorothie.

Well to show you how paranoid I am, Spencer sneezed twice last night and I made Steve take his temperature. Silly me... but he was none the worse for wear for having to suffer such an indignity.

Standing is so difficult for him now, he lies on Dudley's bed or in his stroller but that tail is always wagging. When it isn't I panic - but of course he's just sleeping.

Next Thursday is not going to come fast enough for me.

Happy Holidays,
Cathy
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Loving mom of Dudley, Emily (The Divine Miss Em) and Spencer ("Tough Nut")

Dorothie · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject:

I know that next Thursday seems a world away. Is there a reason that they aren't doing the procedure earlier? You must be so worried about him with his getting worse. But I'm glad that the tail still works!

Dorothie

Toughie's Mom · Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Newburyport, MA

There are two neurologiists treating him and with holiday travel plans and time off, they won’t both be back until then. They are going to do the operation together and they both want to be available and able to follow him closely afterward as well. Also, there is one other doctor that they have not been able to reach yet that they wanted to get some guidance from as well.

One of the neurologists is an expert in MRI diagnostics and the other is a neurologist and neurosurgeon with expertise in brain tumors and vestibular dysfunction. Spencer couldn’t be in better hands. They can’t remove the cyst because of it’s proximity to both the brain stem and spinal cord, but the consensus from every veterinary neurologist that our neurologists have consulted with is that if they drain the cyst and are able to remove the lining that secretes fluid, they might be able to prevent the cyst from refilling and he could have an excellent outcome.

They told us last night that this is something they have never seen before and they have 20 years of experience in neurology and neurosurgery in animals between them. None of the many veterinary neurologists they’ve contacted has ever seen this particular finding either. If he has a crisis in the next few days, obviously they will move forward, but they want to have the best information and optimum conditions to give him the best chance of success.

On a positive note, they were well aware of the financial burden this has placed on us and that it was rapidly escalating beyond our reach. (We've already spent over $4,000.) When they presented us with the prospect of surgery, they also told us that since they will also be learning from this, they are going to donate their medical and surgical care and his follow-up MRI’s . We will pay for his medications and anesthesia and also the hospitalization itself, but the total will be less than a quarter of what it would have been, making it well within our reach.

We feel that this was meant to be, and that our happy boy is also a lucky boy.

Cathy
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Loving mom of Dudley, Emily (The Divine Miss Em) and Spencer ("Tough Nut")

Dorothie · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:45 am Post subject:

Well, I guess if you've got to have a problem it's good to have a really unusual one at a world class veterinary hospital. I'm SO glad that they have offered to do all of this work for you. It will be enough with the hospital and the anesthesia.

Here's hoping that he remains stable until the 4th. I sure can understand why they would all want to be there. It is comforting to know that they will move it forward in an emergency. I hadn't realized that. Whew!

I did misunderstand about the cyst. It's so amazing to learn that the cyst has a lining that they can remove. Who would have thought?

And you can certainly say that your happy boy is a lucky boy. He's lucky that he found a home with you.

Dorothie

Toughie's Mom · Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Newburyport, MA

My husband is a doctor and I'm medically trained as well, and even we didn't know that!

Yes, we are so fortunate to have what truly is a world class hospital within an hour of us, and that they are willing to treat this little one for a fraction of what this kind of surgery usually costs.

The surgery is scheduled for next Thursday, December 28th and we are praying that we will be celebrating a very, very Happy New Year that weekend.

And he's a lucky boy because his breeder placed him with a family she knew would love him and cherish him and would go the extra mile for him with his disability. Not everyone would have reognized the changes as quickly as I was able to - I'm home all day, in a wheelcahir, with plenty of time to watch the dogs play - and that was critical. (Even my husband the doctor hadn't noticed anything.)

We are also very fortunate that we had some rainy day money set aside that we could put toward this. The estimates they gave us early on for the cost to diagnose and treat this were truly daunting. This kind of medical care at a world class hospital doesn't come cheap and my family health policy was no help. (I thingk there ought to be a law.)

We may not have a vacation for the rest of the century, but we think that he is well worth the sacrifice.

Cathy
_________________
Loving mom of Dudley, Emily (The Divine Miss Em) and Spencer ("Tough Nut")

Dorothie · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 5:35 pm Post subject:

Hi Cathy,
Is the hospital in Boston?

I'm very relieved that the surgery is so soon and not the 4th. That was concerning me a little, especially when you mentioned that he's only been able to be carried or put in the stroller. I'll bet that everyone is really loving him up right now.

What kind of post-surgical care is he going to need? Do you know?

I know that with all of her acupuncture etc. Penny's care has cost so much too. She has brought me so much joy. Guess that Spencer will just have to really entertain you on all of those vacations times when you might have been in Paris. Of course if you look at it that way you can pay back his surgery faster. Although I'm a CPA I can do amazing things with money!

I just pray that Spencer's procedure is successful. Wish that I could do more!
Dorothie

qhess98 · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Silver Spring, MD

heh-heh Don't you just LOVE these dogs? I had no idea what we were in for but I knew the first time I laid eyes on Finn that I had to love him.

I can't say he does any of those funny things y'all write about but he definitely has some great (and some maddening) quirks. The maddening quirk is the sliding door to our yard - geesh, it's scratching to go out, scratching to come in, all day long. He thinks he's going to catch a squirrel and I swear he could have one time but he stopped just before he could. I think he didn't know what he'd do with the darned thing if he actually caught it.

The other really sweet thing he does is when I'm walking him he MUST immediately find a big leaf or a rock to carry so proudly in his mouth. You should see him prancing!!! It's hilarious.

He also plays soccer with rocks, batting them around, and barks at them as if he's willing them to fight back.

Yes, leaves and rocks are some of his best friends.

I couldn't be happier with a dog or with a breed. Who knew? I was telling my husband that he is worth every cent we paid for him times times infinity. I lovelovelove this dog. I'm a stay-at-home mother to a beautiful little gal and he is my pal and I like to call him the son I never had. hee

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Dorothie · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:57 am Post subject:

Indeed we lovelovelove our Cavaliers. Almost all of us would risk getting another even though we've gotten dogs with EF and none of us would ever let them go. In fact I only know of two that had to be rehomed but they went to very good homes and there were very good reasons for moving them.

I love the rock and leaf stories. What a kook your Finn is. He must keep you eternally entertained. My Penny loves to keep a small ball in her mouth when she takes a walk but she's never looked twice at a rock. She does eat the leaves that get caught in her coat though.

You are the perfect Cavalier mommy if you think that it's cute them wanting to go in and out and in and out and.................. Sometimes I think that it's what my purpose in life is.

How old is your little girl? Cavaliers are such good dogs for little girls. Or brothers for little girls as the case may be.

I did a year of research before I bought this breed. I'm not well and they are the perfect company for me although of course they love to run and go for walks too. My husband takes them out on the town so to speak.

Dorothie

qhess98 · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Silver Spring, MD

Our daughter, Annabel, is almost 7 years old and, in fact, is the reason we got a dog. Well, that's what I tell people but, having grown up with dogs my whole life, I really wanted one.

As a toddler she had a couple experiences with dogs' unpredictablity: a Burmese Mountain dog in the neighborhood bounded up to her once and knocked her down (very friendly dog but ill-mannered, if I may say so) and my sister's Yorkie is sweet as pie until someone tries to get her out of a car and then she growls and snarls. So Annabel was understandably reticent about dogs. I didn't want her to grow up not knowing the joys they bring. And so we, too, researched which breed was best.

KCCs have such a great reputation that we decided to go with one of them. At first we budgeted $500 - HA! One breeder literally sniffed at me and said, if you can't afford one of our Cavaliers then you won't be able to afford vet care. What an education. Another woman called me from TN to say a friend of hers had one that weighed 6lbs we could buy for $400 (this was not a puppy) - I still think about that poor, little dog and what those people do to breed these dogs.

On it went until we found who seemed like a good breeder. And the Katrina hit - my family is from New Orleans and my husband and I went down to bring my elderly mother back up here to safety. She died 3 months later - it's a long, bittersweet story I won't go into. But about 6 weeks after she died, I saw a pic of Finn on-line. I'm ashamed to say that we had him shipped to MD from UT via air. He was a little wobbly when we picked him up - I will NEVER do that again and would never recommend it for anyone.

We all adore him because he's, well, adorable!

Dorothie · Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject:

I'm glad that you chose a Cavalier for your 7 year old. Kids are great with EF dogs. They tend to just accept handicaps as they get used to them. I was told by one man who had bought an EF Cavalier for his daughter that "We're so proud of the way our daughter takes care of her 'special needs' dog."

I'm sure that Annabel and Finn are as close as can be and that they love every minute of being together. My Cavaliers can't wait until our grand daughter gets home from school and then they can't wait for her to lay on the floor so they can smother her with kisses. And they make a great hit with the other kids at soccer games etc. Now if we could just get Zora to stop jumping on people. You get her out in polite company and she just can't get her brain connected.

Dorothie