Pearl is back to "normal". She is alert, active, eating well, and playing with her toys. She has begun to put on weight. She is once again barking at everything that moves outside, and jumping onto the couch next to me. Although she started eating everything I put in front of her, I know some of those things were hard on her kidneys so I am cooking the recipe for her that the Vet gave me. I don't cook for us but I am cooking for Pearl. It is boiled ground turkey mixed half and half with boiled (brown, whole grain) minute rice. I also stir in 2 egg to hold it together. The Vet has decided that her recent acute condition was caused by pain from a bleeding stomach ulcer. He said that her kidney condition would cause excess stomach acid that would result in an ulcer. So she is on Pepcid AC for life. I have never had an ulcer. Could a bleeding ulcer cause enough pain that she would shake, pant, and refuse to lie down? The vet says yes. He is grasping at straws. 5/01/08 I just spent an hour on the couch with Pearl on top of me. John was cutting grass out front and as he went past the porch he threw gravel up against the window. Pearl took a flying leap onto the couch next to me. As he went by again, she pushed up against me as hard and as tight as she could. She was shaking like a leaf. A few seconds later more gravel flew against the window and Pearl crashed on top of me. She lay there for an hour. I couldn't bear to make her move. The name of the experimental medicine she is getting is Azodyl. It is a homeopathic medicine. It was patented in 2005. If I had been more open to discussion with the vet he might have put her on it then. I really was like an ostrich with my head in the sand, thinking if I didn't talk about it, it would go away. She gets one pill 3 times a day and it is pulling teeth to get it down her. She is a master at spitting it out, over and over. 5/05/08 Pearl is not afraid of a thunderstorm. We had big storms on the way when I went to bed last night so I lay on the edge of the bed near the wall so she would have plenty of room to jump in bed with me. It started right away and went on all night. She lay peacefully in her bed. At dawn, there was a huge BOOM overhead. Pearl did not move. Eventually she got in bed with me, like she does every morning, but she did not jump in out of fear. She did not tremble one bit. Maybe it is because Daddy and I like storms and are very calm in a storm. Last week he was on the roof adjusting the TV dish and I had to yell to tell him when it was good. She is scared when we yell. She shook like a leaf when we were yelling. 5/09/08 Happy Birthday Phoebe!!! We love you!!!! We are coming down to see you on Saturday, and I need you to give your daughter a review lesson in barking/snarling. Aunt Carole says Pearl's bark is not as vicious as yours is. She has forgotten what you taught her. 5/26/08 Pearl panted all the way home from Raleigh last night, and when we got home she still would not eat. I forced her pill down her throat but she would not even eat her doggie cookie that I always give her to make sure she swallows her pill. About midnight she woke me up throwing up, but it was only fluid. This morning she woke up hungry and ate her breakfast as normal. She also ate her lunch after church. I have not fed her her dinner yet but I will soon. All day she has been passing the stinkiest gas I have ever smelled, like there was something dead inside her. The foul smell tells me how bad she felt yesterday. 6/01/08 Pearl is afraid of thunderstorms when she is upstairs in the bedroom. Last night in the middle of the night I was awakened by 2 things; a loud boom overhead, followed by a large dog taking a flying leap into my bed. She lay down and snuggled up against me and shivered and shook and panted for the entire storm, about 30 minutes. It flashed and crashed and Daddy slept through it all. And it got pretty hot in my bed. I have learned that if I hear a clap of thunder in the night, to move over to the edge of my bed instantly, to make room for the dog that will be leaping in alongside of me just as instantly. 6/04/08 Pearl is too cute. She lays on the floor growling at who knows what, with her lips and cheeks sticking forward so that I want to grab her and kiss and bite those lips. She LOVES her screaming baby monkey and carries him around all the time, chomping on him so that he screams, and she whines and whimpers while the monkey screams. When she wants to go out she grabs the monkey and walks around whimpering and biting on the monkey. When she sees or hears something in the yard she just about goes through the front window. Daddy is afraid she will go through the glass. She is definitely intimidating like Phoebe; no wimp in Pearl. Like mother like daughter. But she does need to learn to snarl. 7/02/08 Pearl has been on an experimental holistic medicine for kidney support for the last 9 weeks. The name is Azodyl. Last week I took her in for another blood test to see if there was any improvement. I got the results today. Her blood work for kidney enzymes is normal. I knew she was better because she eats well, and does not have such an extreme thirst like she used to. 7/03/08 I don't remember when we tried it, but we have been feeding Pearl Canine KD in the can for a while. She loves it. She eats 3 large cans of it every day. She weighs 67 lbs. July 2008 The Last Year The air conditioning repairman is here and Pearl is ballistic. I took her up to my bed for an hour to keep her quiet but she is back at the front window trying to tear it down. She is so funny, puffing up her cheeks while she gives her little rrrfffs every 10 seconds in between the violent outbursts. He just left and Pearl is taking a much needed drink. 7/14/08 Pearl is Elwood's granddaughter. She has a strong willed sneaky streak. Last night I couldn't sleep so I came downstairs. She follows me every step I take (most of the time) so down she came. She laid on the floor near me. When I went back upstairs she followed me up. But I still couldn't sleep so I came down again. She came right down with me, and laid on the floor near me. Later I went back up. She always follows. She never stays downstairs by herself. But this time she didn't come. When Daddy came down early in the morning he found her asleep on the big couch. Naughty, naughty, naughty. I think she was tired of going up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, and I think she had it planned that if I went up again she was going to get on the couch. 9/10/08 Pearl is such a touchy dog. She always gets in front of me and stops when I am in a hurry. It makes me very mad because I almost fall over her. Tonight I was trying to get something done in the kitchen in the space of a commercial break and she did it. So I yelled at her and pushed her out of the way with my leg. She wouldn't eat her supper for 2 hours. 11/05/08 I woke up this morning to the sound of Pearl in my bed beside me, growling, and Dodo outside barking, weakly and continuously. So I got up and went out and there was Dodo stuck to the fence and unable to move more than his head and paws. His dog blanket fastener was stuck in the chain link fence, and he couldn't get up. Poor guy. So from now on I am going to have to tie him to the dog house at night so he can't get to the fence. He likes to lay in the leaves by the fence rather than in his dog house. That ends tonight. I'm glad Pearl told me that something was wrong. 11/17/08 Pearl didn't feel good this AM. She wouldn't eat until we got home from the medical center this afternoon. She did FOUL smelling gas all the way home last night. She has finally returned to normal, eating and smelling like a dog and not a dumpster that needs dumping. 11/20/08 Pearl has her usual semi annual case of mastitis. It has been about 70 days since the last week of her last heat. She has been put on an antibiotic as usual. I have to watch her for 10 days and make sure she doesn't get any hard lumps. 12/09/08 We went to PetSmart to get cat food. Pearl knows where she is as soon as we pull in the parking lot. I think she could drive the car herself. As soon as I got her out she headed straight for their front door, pulling me all the way. At the check out counter they always give her a treat. But it took me a few minutes to sign the slip and in the meantime she jumped up on the counter and helped herself to another treat out of the bowl. She had the place in stitches. 2/27/09 Pearl came in heat 2 days ago, at Gwen's house. And this morning when we went out to feed the animals I forgot to take her pants off of her. So they are soaking wet, and she is locked in the kitchen with the cat. March 12 09 Pearl had a good night last night too. She didn't throw up during the night for a change. She is such a brat. Daddy calls her to go outside with him and she just sits and looks at him. She won't get on the couch with me and she won't get into my bed. I'm waiting for the first hard clap of thunder. 4/23/09 Pearl has lived in this house for 6 years and she just now discovered the family pictures on the wall over the couch. She sat on the rug in front of the couch looking at the big one intently. Then she moved her head and eyes just slightly and looked at each of the pictures. Lastly she looked at the one of Gracie and Hannah 5 years ago. It was like she was carefully identifying each person in the pictures. 5/01/09 Pearl has been lactating for the last 2 weeks. She makes a lot of milk and drinks it all herself. I guess it's good for her. She pants a lot. I guess she has hot flashes. 5/24/09 I have had a mess with Pearl for the last 2 weeks. She did a repeat of what she did a year ago. She spent a day throwing up and not eating. Then she spent a day panting and pacing all day long. I took her to the vet and she was put on antibiotic. This time it seemed to be caused by pain from lactation. 5/25/09 Pearl had a bad day today until an hour ago when she gobbled up everything that she should have eaten last night and this morning. 5/27/09 Pearl just got up limping in her left rear leg. 8/10/09 Pearl was very lame yesterday and last night, and Daddy found her dinner with pill, out in the driveway this AM. She did not eat her breakfast either. Don't ever forget the hell you've been through with sick and dying pets. 9/06/09 The Beginning of the End; Pearl's sudden, severe, and final struggle with kidney failure. This record is from emails I sent. It helps me any time I feel bad about putting her down. Continue