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Yesterday, two members of The Herd had follow up appointments at the vet. We are celebrating because we received some of the best news possible on Queen Natasha, but first a quick update on the munchkin.
I may be small, but I make big trouble.
We have long documented the finicky eating habits of the littlest member of The Herd. We normally do not worry about anyone skipping a meal or two, but Typhoon’s weight had dropped to 40.3lbs, much too light for his frame. We had built that up to 40.8lbs about a month ago when we finally hit on the magic diet solution.
We had tried lots of different tricks and techniques suggested by so many. Raw foods. Special brands. Home made concoctions. Every time we were told that no dog would refuse it . . . and yet Typhoon would tire quickly of the meal.
Starting a few weeks ago, Typhoon’s meals now consist of the Acana kibble
So we were excited to see how much weight he had gained . . . 0.2lbs.
Yes, you read that correctly. Somehow, the munchkin has only moved up 0.2 lbs to 41.0 lbs. Sigh. At least he is eating every meal and everything else is normal, so we will just keep moving ahead with the Typhoon diet plan.
Queen Natasha
Natasha had her follow up ultrasound yesterday. Back in July, we had removed a whopping 1.95 lb hepatocellular carcinoma mass that measured 10 inches by 8 inches. The mass was attached to her liver and part of the liver was removed in surgery. As we explained in this post, a follow up ultrasound had revealed a suspicious area on the liver near the stomach and the pylorus (the opening of the stomach to the small intestine).
As we explained in our post about making canine medical decisions, our first goal is always quality of life and comfort. We made the decision at that time not to biopsy the suspicious area, to wait a few weeks and to perform the ultrasound again. Any growth of the area would tell us everything we needed to know.
Yesterday tests revealed the best news possible – the suspicious area has not changed shape or size at all. That means it is far more likely to be scar tissue from the surgery than a return of the cancer.
Since the Queen is 12 1/2 years old, there are no guarantees, but we are celebrating this awesome news by enjoying every day that we have – whether they are few or many.
The Queen had only one gripe . . .
I had to skip breakfast, so someone owes me an extra meal. NOW.
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So happy for all of you that you got great news! Husky hugs to all of you!
Oh, oh, oh!!! No change is an excellent thing!!! And you REALLY do deserve and extra meal or two, Queen Natasha!!!
And Typhoon – I totally understand. Me? I’m a whopping 35 pounds and my vet wants me to put on a few pounds. I’m just … active. I hope you can start gaining again! Maybe a WHOLE can of the canned stinky goodness on your kibble! 🙂
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
All HAIL the QUEEN!!
-Ruby and Otto
Always love reading your blog. At least Typhoon is eating his meals, that’s a start. And how good to hear the suspicious area is hopefully nothing to worry about!
What wonderful news!! Now, when Typhoon gets past his puppy stage……..
I am so happy for the Queen Natasha and all her family, she is so lucky to have hu’mans who love her so much and take such good care of her and her doggie subjects.
Love and messy kisses to all, and pay attention to those feed times please, never heard of kibble to go???
So happy that the Queen and her little Prince are well. We have a Princess that has been a picky eater her whole life (2.5 years). Recently we got another baby, the Princesses brother from another litter. Their eating habits couldn’t be more different. Siniy(see-knee, a translation of blue in Russian) is little picky girl. One minute she loves her kibble, the next she won’t touch it. This goes for everything from treats to human delicacies. The baby (Bolt) has always attacked his food like there will never be another bite….ever. Thank you for sharing the details of your dogs daily habits and personalities, as it helps the rest of us who have dogs. Particularly Huskies, as they are a bit different. We will still offer our Princess different things, and in the end watch as the baby gobbles it up!
Mom sez: Zoe put it all so well that there isn’t much more I can say. I’m SO happy to hear about ‘Tasha, and hope she continues to rule her Sibedom for years to come. As for Typhoon, well, as long as you’ve finally found the “key” to his eating likes and dislikes, hopefully he’ll continue to thrive. I’m thinking that his age, (just a kid yet), and his metabolism have much to do with his slow weight gain, and he’ll probably stay “slim and trim” until he matures. Kiah, the Sibe we had from 1991 to 2004 was like that. She was almost five years old before she got over that fact that she was no longer a puppy. Hoping for the same for Typhoon.
Great news about Natasha! Hopefully hu-dad fixed a royal feast to make up for the skipped breakfast.
I’m glad to hear Typhoon is eating. He’s apparently burning off a lot of calories with zoomies and wrestling matches.
Love to these two and the rest of The Herd!
So well put by Zoe!
Great News!
I am so happy for the both of them. Any gain of weight and every meal eaten is in the right direction. Natasha I am so happy for you all that she gets to rule her queendom for hopefully a long time. Hugs and kisses to the herd.
Wonderful news on both fronts! The Queen is an amazing lady! And the Prince is just precious???
Yes truly good news! We hope they continue healthy.
As for the jester Prince, I. Am so glad you found something he likes. I know you have heard many stories but I would like to share this one. My male shepherd was like the Prince painfully thin and a picky eater (he has epi which makes it worse) in fact I had strangers threaten to call animal control because I clearly was starving him!! Well when he turned 5 he started to gain weight I was so excited!! However at our last vet visit we weighed him and he had gained to the point the vet used the dreaded “D” word (qtip is familiar with this term. ) I can assure you he has not slowed down and I do not over feed but his body chemistry has changed
I know you worry and I encourage you to feed away however it may be also that his body needs time. My vet said some dogs keep that teenage metabolism for a long time. He is loved and cherished you will work him through this
Oh as a side note
I tried the greenbean diet (I use frozen instead of canned but the technique you use on qtip is the same). This dog picked the green beans out… Did he leave them in the bowl nooooooo
He put most on the floor except the mouth full that he brought in and spit out in front of me on the rug, he looked at them, he looked at me and he turned and walked away
Somehow I do not think he is pleased.
Know we all pray for your pack. You allow us to feel like we are a part, if the sibe tribe when in reality we are only voyuers that you have graciously allowed to share your time. None the less we do, each in our way love them all and we celebrate the happiness of this update
Oh so happy!!
And hu dad you had better get stepping you know she feels good so her edicts are mandatory!!!