We had delayed our Christmas holiday celebration until last weekend because Peanut had COVID. She is doing OK now. The dogs finally got to play with their presents. Louise loves squeaky toys and she got a Lambchop stuffy. But she was not able to bite down on it because of the tumor*. She was frustrated. I did not realize that this would happen.
Sofie decided, heck with that, if this thing is going to upset Louise, I am going to eat its face off! Sometimes you just have to destroy a stuffy for your sister.
*Louise has Canine Acanthomatos Ambleoblastoma. If you want to learn more you can find info in our CAA FaceBook Group which tells all about it and follows Louise’s story.
What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: 1secondaday, 1SEME, blog hop, dog, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, funny dogs, lorian lipton, Mischief Monday, Pet, pets, Summer
I don’t know about things at your house, but each of the animals at the zoo has at least 4 or 5 ‘pet’ names. I wonder why they are called ‘pet’ names? And why are special people called ‘pets?’ (And why is it bad to be the ‘teacher’s pet?’) Is that because they are loved so extra special much? Louise, aka Lulu Belle, Lulu, BooBoo Head, Boo, Lunny, Milky Toe, has about 7 names. What’s your ‘pet’ name? (Do pets have ‘pet’ names?)
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: black and white photography, Black and White Sunday, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, names, Pet, pet names, pets
See you next year. We are gonna take a few days off and start blogging again in 2022.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Your Friends at DogDaz Zoo
Louise, Sofie Bear, Charles, Noel (the Christmas Cat), Nine, Stella, Mini Cooper, and Mom
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Blog, cat rescue, cats, Dog People, dog rescue, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Pet, pets
Hanukkah and Christmas are done but Kwanza starts today.
Then on to New Year’s Eve and Day!!
Give us any reason to party at the DogDazCats2 Zoo!
Can you name all of us? 2 of us look a lot alike in black and white and one of us is still in color.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Black and White Sunday, cute cats, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Pet, pets
Tuesday, December 21 is the Winter Solstice if you are in the Northern Hemisphere and the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. On the Winter Solstice, we observe a Germanic holiday that pre-dates the Christmas holiday by thousands of years – YULE. Yule celebrates the wheel of the year with bonfires, decorations of holly, mistletoe, and boughs of evergreen trees (sound like Christmas?). There are also feasts and gift-giving. This is a celebration of the rebirth of the sun and the light that it brings to the Earth (remember from here on it starts to get lighter every day until Summer Solstice in the north).
It is interesting to look at the similarities between Yule and the Christmas traditions:
- The midwinter feast lasts for 12 days
- Vikings decorated evergreen trees with gifts
- Mistletoe was believed to have healing powers (kiss kiss)
- In the Norse tradition, Old Man Winter visited homes to join the festivities. The Viking god, Odin, was described as a wanderer with a long white beard. He is considered the first Father Christmas.
- Viking children left their shoes out by the hearth on the eve of the winter solstice with sugar and hay for Odin’s 8-legged horse, Sleipnir.
Whatever you celebrate – have a wonderful time doing it!
What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: dog, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Mischief Monday, Pet, pets, solstice, Winter solstice, Yule
We got the results from pathology regarding the growth that was biopsied in Louise’s mouth. It is a fast-growing tumor that destroys the jaw called Canine Acanthamotous Ameloblastoma (CAA).
WARNING: Stop reading now if you will get uncomfortable with the details.
Basically, she has a mass in the lower part of her front jaw that is visible and is around her front teeth. The good news is that CAA has never been reported to spread to other parts of the body (metastasize), so it is often called ‘benign.’ However, it is locally aggressive and her tumor is doubling in size every 10 days or so. Underneath what we see it is destroying the jaw bone. It is life-threatening.
The first option for treatment, due to a large amount of underlying bone involved, is to surgically remove a portion of the jaw, called a mandibulectomy (graphic link), and to take large margins around the tumor to ensure it is all removed. For patients, like Louise, where surgery is not an option because of multiple reasons, the second option would be radiation.
Louise turned 12 last October. The normal life expectance of a dog her size is 10 to 12 years. She has pancreatitis and irritable bowel disease. Figuring out what health intervention is in her best interest is one of the hardest decisions we ever had to make. We do not want to put her through either of these options. The surgery would take her lower jaw, which I think at her age would be a difficult recovery to regain function, and the side-effects of radiation are horrible (if her IBD would even tolerate it.)
I have started a Facebook group dedicated to this journey. It is called Canine Acanthamotous Ameloblastoma – Dog Oral Tumors Please feel free to join if you want to follow what is going on. I am not going to fill DogDaz with her medical stuff because it is graphic and sad, so I will put it there.
Keep us in your prayers as we go through this thing. We are heartbroken.
Please, don’t post any negative comments on the choices we have made for Louise’s care – they will be deleted.
NOT Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: canine acanthomatous ameloblatoma, dog, dog health, Dog People, dog rescue, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, oral tumor
Charlie, you have come a long way from this adoption picture online (who named you ‘Chi-chi Forest?’).
You are our Mr. Charles, the Mugwump, Handsome.
Happy 5 years of Gotcha days, Charles.
You are a superstar here at DogDaz Zoo.
We are so glad you rescued us.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: adoptdontshop, Dog People, dog rescue, DogBlog, DogDaz, gotcha, lorian lipton, Pet adoption, pet blog, pomchi
Someone likes to be king of the pillow hill these days. Happy Black and White Sunday!
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Black and White Sunday, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Pet, pets, pomchi, pomchi mix, small dogs
Louise here. Sofie decided that she was too tired to continue on our walk. She laid down in a neighbor’s yard and just would not move. So Mommy left her there and continued on with me. Sofie wasn’t sure if she liked that idea, but I did. I am tired of those other 2 goofballs tagging along on my walks.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: dog, Dog People, dog rescue, dog walking, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Pet, pets
Tags: biopsy, dog, dog health, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Mischief Monday, Pet, pets, tumor
DogDaz Zoo 