PETEY UPDATE: pending a miracle?

Above, Petey's moment of meditative relaxation at this morning's (third) acupuncture treatment. This is a dog IN THE ZONE.

And now: story time.

As I mentioned in a recent post, we returned a couple of weeks ago to AMC mainly to be told that we had better (mentally? emotionally? FINANCIALLY?!) prepare ourselves for the prospect of surgery. A prospect which we were doing our very best to completely deny and shove in the deep, dark recesses of our brains. In the meantime, they took blood and commenced a round of tests and serums which no one was all together optimistic about, just to be on the safe side and to rule out every unlikely possibility.

Well what do you know, we got some very interesting news last week. That news is that Petey tested as having really high levels of antibodies which are known to be present in conjunction with a little thing called NEOSPORA. Neospora, dontcha know, JUST SO HAPPENS to cause our friend the SUBERARACHNOID CYST. And what I am now telling you in layman's terms is that he is believed to have an infection treatable with antibiotics. And what that means is that he could literally be cured of all his ailments. And what that means is the potential of no surgery, no wonkiness, no limp, no weakness, no gait, no crate rest, no nothin'.

CURED?!

I am now writing you from the beyond because this news basically killed me.

I have been told repeatedly since this moment just how rare this particular infection is and how most vets would never even know or think to test for it. It shows up most often in large animals (e.g. cattle) and Petey likely got it in utero, passed down from who knows what level of his family tree.  Let this post be my personal valentine to Animal Medical Center and the city of New York expressing how lucky we are feeling to be in our capable neurological specialist's hands and to have the benefit of these resources.

With all that said, nothing is 100%, of course. Petey had already been doing so well with acupuncture that we're continuing it in the meantime (see above). But never throughout the course of this drama have I felt so optimistic. He's got a very long course of antibiotics ahead of him (don't even get me started on the doggie drug den that is our kitchen table these days) but he's handling them beautifully with little to no side effects. Steroids are being tapered (hallelujah!) and we'll just wait and see from here.

In the meantime PETEY + SCIENCE = FOREVER LOVE.

(P.S.: thanks to everyone for the ongoing kind emails and for continuing to read through these sagas.  I am hoping to commence happier, product and merriment related posts sooner than later.)

PETEY UPDATE: rudely interrupted

Just a tiny sneak peek into our home. 

It's a chilly autumnal day in Greenpoint and naturally, Petey refuses to compromise on coziness.

PETEY UPDATE: alternative measures

This morning we bore witness to Petey's second acupuncture treatment.

That's right, I said it: DOG ACUPUNCTURE!

If you're curious, it's approached almost exactly the same as it would be for a human and is thought to be equally as effective. I happen to have a particular belief in the powers of Chinese medicine and it turned out our new veterinary clinic has a certified acupuncturist (who's also a vet) on staff.  After a well timed free presentation/Q&A we determined lil' P might in fact be a really good candidate. It's surprisingly more affordable than we'd initially imagined and we're going to go ahead and give it the ol' whirl. In spite of his bewildered appearance above, he's actually taken to it quite well. A star patient was the term if I recall?!

As I am known to do, I'll now share a breakdown of the process:



First, an examination of sorts. Our doctor had at this point already reviewed his history and diagnosis from AMC which, along with a few personality questions (!), determined the various points and channels to concentrate on. 



First, a point on the head known to relax...

Then,  after counting carefully along his spine (based on the information from the MRI), a series of needles are concentrated circa ground zero of Petey's spine.



A close-up of the assortment!  Please note that Petey was perfectly calm throughout and never showed any sign of irritation or pain. His only trauma seemed centered around the fact that the needles were not, in fact, treats. That and the fact he was not free to roam and seduce female doctors.



Finally, two points on the backs of the legs.



And then we wait and wait and wait and wait (approximately 20 minutes).



Eventually our lovely doctor returns, the needles are removed, and he receives a bonus B12 injection on his back, thought to ever so mildly irritate, i.e. stimulate, the points.



And voila! Organic treat and we're on our way. Or at least on our way after a few drunk seeming first steps (she later tells me this is really common and I will decide to take it as a sign that something was actually targeted and a-brewing in there). 

 These photos were actually from our first session but this morning's was much the same except he launched into a nap in the last five minutes.

So far as everything else is concerned since the last we posted RE: Back Problemz '09, we've been back to AMC as well. They acknowledged improvement, but after much discussion and analysis (behind closed doors, unfortunately) they informed us that it's not "enough" improvement and that we'll start to reduce steroids gradually but we'll still have to keep a possibility of surgery in the equation. But we have time. For now. Sigh. And we have optimism! And we have killer cuteness and what seems like an endless supply of antler chews. And, of course, we now have ancient Chinese secrets....

Things can't be too bad.

Howl-o-ween!

Saturday was, as many of you know, the THIRD ANNUAL DISTRICT DOG HALLOWEEN PARADE. And as usual, my mind was blown both by incredible turnout and range of creativity and costuming.

Whoa.

I totally went into judging duties all willy nilly thinking it would be obvious and straight forward but let me tell you, I was sorely mistaken! Even after we divided the three honorable mentions into six, it was still an incredibly tough and stressful choice.

Fellow judge Miss Heather at newyorkshitty.com did the very best breakdown of winners.

A few more stars, both unsung and otherwise...





















And finally, a very special, heartfelt mention to Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox whose combo costumes were rad yet they did not place (majority rules!)....



Weep! Loved you guys!

Further coverage (including video) here, here, and hopefully here soon!