After two weeks in the hospital, I finally brought blind Bo back to the ranch today.  I had taken him in for head X-rays and a neurological evaluation because of sudden and unexplained episodes of nystagmus and loss of balance.  Our equine vet, Dr. Erin Taylor, had asked me to leave him at the hospital…

Our vet Dr. Brenda Culver called last night to say that Briggs’ initial bloodwork showed low protein levels.  After further tests and evaluation today, Brenda told me this afternoon that she and Britt determined that Briggs has a kidney disease called glomerulonephritis.  The filters in his kidneys aren’t working properly, and protein — rather than…

This is why we do this. The eye exam today made clear that Briggs was definitely a dog in pain.  He has been suffering for a long time.  And now he’s finally going to get help. First, a brief explanation of glaucoma. The eye is constantly producing an internal fluid called the ‘aqueous humor,’ which…

Our new arrival, little blind Briggs, is having a terrible flare-up with his eyes today.  We had noticed yesterday that he was sleeping a lot, more so than the other dogs, but we thought it was probably just because of the trip.  Yet this morning it was clear his eyes were suddenly very painful.  He…

Speaking of Beagles, here are a couple of lunchtime photos I took of deaf Stuart on the left and blind Widget on the right, snoozing together next to the dining table.  Oddly — especially for Beagles — neither one got up to demand our lunch. At some point their noses must have alerted them to…

Alayne and I spent the weekend trying to recharge our emotional batteries after losing Pepper on Thursday, and here’s one thing that really helped — wobbly blind Briggs arrived at the ranch this afternoon.  He has a true Widget-certified Beagle personality, and Widget’s same bossy, insistent, pay-attention-to-me-now attitude.  Stuart the deaf Beagle is not nearly…

Hope did not prevail in the end.  Our little blind Shepherd, the girl with the "perpetual puppy" look, died this afternoon.  We made the decision to let her go gently and with dignity.  The MRI images showed that a tumor at the base of her brain had obstructed the flow of the fluid that normally…

I met with Pepper’s neurologist, Dr. Fred Wininger, at WSU’s veterinary teaching hospital a short while ago to review his initial assessment of Pepper. She is, he said, “a very sick girl.” Dr. Wininger spoke this morning with our primary care vet, Dr. Brenda Culver, about the sequence of events leading up to the seizures,…

I arrived at Washington State University’s veterinary teaching hospital at 2:30 a.m. last night. When I had picked Pepper up at our vet clinic in Helena about 8 p.m., she was completely out of it … from a combination of the drugs to control her seizures and, I’m afraid, from what the seizures have done…

I’m leaving right now for Helena this evening to pick up blind Pepper at our vet clinic and rush her to Washington State University’s veterinary teaching hospital tonight.  Pepper began having seizures yesterday about 6:30 p.m. — this after healing up from her abscess and being ready to come home.  Pepper seemed to respond to…