Pookie's Minions - Pookie's Gone ☹

[sweetiepie9]

Oh Gina, I'm sorry you went through all that stress with Pookie but am sure glad he's ok. He must have been having a really good dream! I'm glad you took him to bed and more glad that he was sleeping well when you woke up. You must have been SO upset. I'm so glad Pookie is fine now.

 

[Goonie]

Makes you wonder if he was dreaming about Digi and he didn't want to wake up because he didn't want it to end.

I had thought about that possibility.


I was afraid to go home from work on Wednesday, afraid of what I'd find when I entered the house, afraid that something was wrong with him and that he had passed away when I wasn't home. But as always, Pookie was fine and didn't even look tired, unlike his mommy.

 

[diamc]

Feel so bad that you went through all of that, emotionally & physically draining being so afraid of what you would find. BUT all was fine.

 

[Esther19]

Yes, I can imagine how awful that was. I had been wondering about Pookie, but was afraid to ask. Glad to hear he's well.

 

[Goonie]

Sorry for worrying you, Esther. I should have at least posted that he's still here, instead of letting everyone worry what had happened to him, if anything.

 

[Goonie]

Just when I thought that we were on the road to recovery (or at least a status quo), we hit a brick wall smack in the middle of the road.

Last Thursday afternoon, while giving Pookie some water, he amazingly opened his mouth wide enough where I could see not only his teeth, but also his gums. Well, I happened to be looking at the right side of his mouth, and it's a good thing that I was because I saw nothing but very dark red coloring on his gums and gray on his teeth. Thinking that I saw something that wasn't there, I decided to try to pull down his lips and get a better look. To my surprise, he actually let me, and I was able to get a very good look at a nasty mouth infection No wonder he'd been having trouble chewing the supers on that side, and ends up swallowing them after a few chews.

Because I was waiting on an important job to come my way, I couldn't call to make a vet appointment for him until Saturday morning. As luck would have it, Dr. McC was booked all weekend and had Monday off, so I couldn't get Pookie in to see her until Tuesday (today) morning.

Despite his mouth rot, Dr. McC was very happy with how well Pookie's doing. He had good fat pads all over, good muscle tone and limbs range of motion, and good heart rate. Unfortunately, she still felt a mass attached to his liver

An entire hour, 1 antibiotic shot, and $194 later, we left with 3 different treatments for his mouth (1 rinse, 1 cleanser, 1 fatty acid oil). I have to administer the 3 treatments 5 minutes apart, twice a day.

Oh, Dr. McC also advised that we continue with the Metacam and milk thistle, since they're apparently doing some good for him. She'll test his kidneys the next time he goes back for a checkup, which will be in 10 days.

 

[diamc]

Oh poor Pookster. It's a good thing you noticed it & he let you take a close look. Poor thing, no wonder he couldn't chew good OUCH. Hope the meds kick in quickly for him.

Great that Dr McC was happy with how he looked with his fat pads, muscle tone, etc. We were all hoping that mass was at least smaller or gone.

How did he do with the vet appt? Hope he allows you to do those treatments ok. Good luck & keep us updated.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I though it was mouth rot, have had a few cases over here, always found the antibiotic mouth wash worked really well and was healed within a few weeks. So good luck administering it. Hopefully he's decided that having a sore mouth isn't a good thing and opens his mouth for you. I have to use a qtip to open their mouths and dab it everywhere, it wasn't well received, but got done anyway :lol:

I sure was hoping that mass was gone but looks like the metacam and milk thistle is working to help reduce it. You go Pookie, you just do what Mom says, k? HUGS to both of you!

 

[Goonie]

He was more tolerant last night than this morning, but I still won the battle.
The bad part was that I have to wait 5 minutes in between each treatment, which makes him a bit impatient.

I, too, was hoping that the tumor would at least be nearly gone instead of the same size. Oh well, at least he's not in any pain nor discomfort.

He did really well at the vet's; no gray beards nor hissing (which he had never done) when Dr. McC was examining him. One of the girls from PetSmart is now a vet tech there, so he got a lot of sympathy

 

[Goonie]

Hello all. I really don't have much to report on my babies. Everyone's awake from brumation, but only Gianna is eating.

I had completely forgotten to post these photos of Pookie.

Valentine's Day:

Like Father, like Daughter (Pookie's from 8/3/2008, Gianna's from 3/25/2016):

 

[sweetiepie9]

Awww, Gina, those pics are so priceless, thanks for sharing. And I can sure see how much Gianna and Daddy look alike, like peas in a pod. :love5:

 

[diamc]

Such adorable pictures. It's amazing that they posed the exact same way. SO precious. :love10:

 

[Esther19]

Beautiful pictures, Gina! Thanks for letting us know how they are doing.

 

[Goonie]

I have no idea what transpired during brumation, but Gianna is no longer Gianna. She is now a combination of Pookie and Digi, totally. Her hormones are so Pookie's, in that she wants to pounce and black beard/head bob at every/anyone, and she wants out first thing in the morning. She had also been wanting to go into Pookie's house whenever she's out and about, and succeeded this morning when he was still in there; pounced on top of him in a mere second (don't worry, I was right there to scoop her up in a micro second).

Prior to brumation, Gianna's routine was to go poop in the morning, then beg to come out to play. Now, she wants out as soon as she's awake, regardless if she had pooped or not. Once out, no matter where she is or what she's doing, if the need to go potty presented itself, she'd run full force into the kitchen/dining area and walk a circle (in either direction) around the table, then go potty. This was something that Digi had done from day 1 until she trained herself to go on the paper towel in front of her food bowl.

Another way that she's just like Pookie now is that she'd head straight for the grate (metal closet shelf grate) that's propped up against the couch, climb up onto the couch, and go straight up to the top to sit in front of the window.

Yup, she's totally Pookie and Digi's daughter!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Wow, she sure is. It's good that she runs to the kitchen, though, to poop right. Easy clean up!