An update on Lilly and Penny surpasses herself in the naughtiness stakes.

Welcome one and all to our Blog. Its very very hot here already today at 8am we have 30 degrees C recorded on our thermometer! TOOOOOOOO HHHOOOTTTTTT! Already we are lying flat out under the ceiling fans and trying not to melt. Lilly is doing ok. She is no better really and still has a lopsided smile, but her appetite is back with a vengeance now she has learnt to cope with just one side of her mouth working. We have ruled out any ear disease as when she shakes her head she doesn't fall over, often dogs with vestibular disease will shake their head and loose their balance. So we are still none the wiser as to the cause of her facial paralysis but Lilly is coping really well and we are less worried about her now. Buddy has developed a lump near his 'armpit' area, the vet thinks this is possibly a swollen lymph node. We are keeping an eye on it. Buddy sees the vet every 4 weeks in any case when he has his allergy injection, so the lump will be monitored. Penny surpassed herself with naughtiness the other day. We were all in the living room having our morning treats (pork luncheon meat and Markies) and Penny had rather unusually disappeared into the hallway and was very quiet. Dad rolled her Markie out into the hallway for her and was concerned when Pixie went trotting out and came back in with Penny's Markie. This is what he found....... Penny in her cheekiness has raided Dad's work bag and stolen the swiss roll cake he was saving for his lunch break at work!!! We know Penny has a sweet tooth and you have seen evidence of her bin raids...but this really does take the biscuit...or should that be cake??....... Other news is that Mum is applying for PAT (Pets as Therapy) dog status for Charlie and hopes, if he passes his assessment, to be able to visit local hospitals, the local hospice and care homes with him to help bring a little joy to those people there. Charlie is such a loving boy so full of the joy of life, just being around him you can't help but smile. His lust for life in quite infectious. Also on June 19th Mum held her Summer Fun Dog Show. Pictures can be found at www.puppy-dog-training.co.uk. The event was very well attended with 87 dogs entered in the 25 classes. The weather was overcast and windy..but dry ...and so the show was held outside on the playing fields right outside the Community centre. The event raised £554 in all which went to DogA.I.D and some towards treatment for Royston the Cavalier with hydrocephalus (Lizzies Barn) And so we leave you with Lilly, Louis and Charlie in a perfect pose.... and the Jezebel Cats teasing Pixie who like to play chase with them...please excuse the muddy doors..with 24 muddy paws in and out we gave up trying to keep it clean!!

Lilly cav and Poppy cat

Helloooo blog followers. We begin today with the sad news that we said goodbye yesterday to our cat friend Poppy. She was a noisy little creature and we will miss hearing her telling mum and dad off for not being quick enough getting her food to her. Night night little Poppy cat. We all miss you XXXXXXX



Our big sister Lilly is also not very well, if you have time, please send some healing thoughts her way to help try to make her better. It all began a few weeks ago when she seemed very stiff getting up so mum and dad took her to the vets and rather than her legs being stiff (she has had surgery on both knees for luxating patellae) the vet said it was her back that was hurting her, so we began some pain killers and cartrophen injections. Then she had a REALLY poorly tummy, so the pain killers were stopped. Then about 10 days ago the right side of Lilly's face became paralysed and her head tilted to the side. So off to the vet she went again. The vets opinion echoed mums'. It could be something as simple as a middle ear infection, or as serious as a tumour or Syringomyelia (SM). Hmmmmm. Lilly was booked for an MRI scan. Lilly has had her scan and a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)was taken. She has a huge bald patch on her neck where they shaved the fur to take the sample. The interim report from the scan has revealed glue ear both sides, an inflammed facial nerve and meninges (brain coverings) on the right, evidence of an old brain injury possibly a clot of some kind on the right side (although none of have have any idea what this could be)and perhaps most worryingly that she has mild Chiari Malformation (CM). And this is the INTERIM!!!! Mum is dreading the full report! For those of you who don't have Cavaliers, SM is becoming worryingly common and is the most awful disease. I won't go into detail here but you can find lots of very informative articles about Cavalier health in general on the website www.cavalierhealth.org. In a tiny nutshell SM results from the Cavalier's brain being too large for its skull. So for Lilly, there is the possibility that her problem are related to meningitis. But we won't know for sure until we have the CSF results back and the full MRI report. In the meantime Lilly is not eating and sleeping a lot. We will keep you updated.

There have been some brighter moments since we last blogged... Here is a rather gulity looking Penny after raiding the bin for her Dad's apple pie....



Our beautiful Lilly before she became unwell...



Charlie perfecting his 'cute' look.


Lilly and Penny adopt their usual sleeping position...


And more sleeping positions....


And finally, a Patient Pixie Peruses a Pork Pie!!