Well, the little dude could use some underpants for his XL tumor testicle but he doesn't actually have any. For some unknown reason, I sing this to him all the time because for some other unknown reason, he thinks it's hilarious and it makes him do his demented happy dance. Then he falls down because when he moves too quickly, he knocks himself over. It's hard being neurologic and super cheerful.
Marty is thriving which is great for an almost 17 yr old dog! He was a skeleton, under 5 lbs when I got him and he's now 5.5 lbs!! In the world of feeding emaciated small dogs, that's HUUUUGE for about 5 weeks!! I think that at 6 lbs he will be a little chubby...probably our sweet spot is 5.8 lbs or something like that. His appetite is amazing, he wants to eat, so he's getting 4 square meals/day plus unlimited treats. Peek (my little 3.2 pounder) is the gateway for all treats because the minute she begs, I cave and everyone gets treats. Marty loves his treats.
His love affair with Pixie seems to have come to an end, much to her bewilderment. Poor Pixie. She really thought they were for forever and didn't see this coming. She's currently in her room cutting up all of her photos of him while listening to their favorite music and reminiscing about love that once was.
The good news is that he is totally over all of his anxiety and his desire to chase all of the dogs... except Peek. He just will not get over her which makes my life difficult! Peek is tiny and has two broken front legs and he just bowls her over which is not okay. They have to stay separated or he has to be on a leash when they're together which he doesn't love. Peek is brain damaged, mostly blind, and very very happy and she doesn't know how to process a dog who won't leave her alone!
In this house, your bed is your safe space, so even if someone is chasing you, when you jump in your bed they have to stop. They have to stop! It's the LAW. Well Marty doesn't play by any rules, apparently, and when he blunders into their beds with them, they panic and literally look at me like, HELP? Peek loves a good faceplant nap and spends 95% of her time in her bed so I need Marty to leave her alone. Thus, on the leash he stays! The funny thing is that Marty is so fragile himself and he is so unsteady on his feet, it's hard to imagine him harming anybody but she is the one animal more fragile than he. Here are some cute photos of Peek that I just took...ignore that she's sort of crusty. Tiny dog is due for a bath. These photos catch her entire personality. Relentlessly happy, faceplant, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
Back to Marty: two weeks ago he started on phenobarbital after he had his second Grand Mal seizure in two weeks and he hasn't had one since. Fingers crossed it's a good answer for him right now. I was chatting with Peek's neurologist and he suggested that Marty may have some kind of cancer in his nervous system (we know he has testicular cancer) but however I can keep him happiest works for us. He goes in Monday night for a blood draw to see how he's tolerating his meds. The fact that he's put on weight so readily is a good sign.
Meanwhile, spring is finally here and he loves his toodles around the yard. I enjoy watching his little ears fly when he trots around. How stinking cute are these ears? He's ataxic enough that walking uphill is a challenge so sometimes we sort of go sideways and diagonally since my yard is on a hill but he makes the best of it. Once he tried pooping uphill and flipped over backwards which I pretended not to see, poor guy. Humiliating.
Hopefully our vet visit will yield only good news for his next update! Have I mentioned that his 17th birthday is June 30th? For sure we will have a great party if we get there!! (fingers crossed)
Have a great week!
Liz, Marty, Peek, Nigel, Florence, Chaz, and Pixie
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