Galloping towards the weekend

Image - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the middle of a green field galloping flat out with his tongue out and ears in the air, under him in blue text are the words galloping into the weekend

Yes that really is Boris galloping along at full pelt and fully extended, I used to love watching him galloping for the pure joy of it

When Boris could no longer gallop flat out due to his Arthritis, I stopped doing Galloping into the Weekend posts

This morning I was in a lot of pain and feeling particularly down about my own Arthritis, when this

December Already 😲

So much has happened since our last post that I've not been able to keep track of the time, when we last spoke Eko was recovering well from an acute case of pancreatitis and my dad had  finally had his cataract surgery, has since made a good recovery and things were starting to settle down again

At the end of October Paleo Ridge launched Paleo Senior to the Paleo Plus range which we were excited about as they will really benefit Boris and his specific dietary requirements as a senior boy of 10 years old with chronic arthritis 

Image Descriptions - Two head and shoulders shots of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking very majestic holding in his mouth the distinctive and artistic new packaging of the Paleo Senior Turkey and Lamb Dinners. Boris is looking at the camera standing amongst a small clump of trees out in the woods and is slightly damp from the wet grass he'd been running through previously 

Paleo Senior is designed to meet the distinctive needs of senior dogs by using lean high-quality meat cuts enriched with nutrient-packed green leafy vegetables, this low-fat formula is also enhanced with Reishi mushrooms to support the immune

Mr Smarty Pants

Last week Boris had a trip to the groomers for some much needed pampering and a tidy up

You may remember we had to cancel Boris's last appointment with the groomer as I didn't think it would be fair on him or the lovely people at Vanity Fur for Boris to attend whilst he was chronically lame and on high doses of painkillers due to his elbow injury

Photo Description - Full body shot of a very scruffy looking Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in a grassy field, his coat is sticking out all over the place, but I still think he looks adorable 

Boris had to make do with

Boris Surgery Update

Boris had the surgery to repair the hairline fracture in his elbow two weeks ago and his recovery is going really well, it's also been a busy couple of weeks with my parents, I can only apologise for how tardy I've been about posting this update

But first a massive thank you to the lovely Ann and June from Zoolatry for making Boris this lovely Power of the Paw badge to wish him well and a speedy recovery in the Blogosphere of our online pets

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel with white background and the words "Paws together for Boris" in bold black lettering, with a red heart on the O of Boris 

Boris had to miss his breakfast the morning I took him to Lumbry Park, which he wasn't overly impressed about but a necessary evil

A bit of a rant

I was in two minds as to whether I should post this, but in the end I felt I need to clarify a few things about why I had to wait for Boris's insurance policy to renew before doing his surgery as I've had some people quite aggressively disagreeing with my decision to wait

Boris's surgery is booked for Tuesday, so today is a lazy day and Boris is having a haircut and coat thinning session, hopefully by tidying his coat before he goes in Boris won't look too horrific sporting his very unfashionable vet style clip when I collect him

I admit Boris's surgery has been a long time coming and believe me it wasn't an easy decision to make, but the simple fact of the matter is this - With a specialist vet you have to pay for the surgery at the time of collection, or you hand them your insurance claim form so they can be paid directly

Photo Description - A close up head shot of Boris laying on grass surrounded by tiny white flowers as he looks at the camera with his tongue out with a relaxed expression on his face

Boris is insured for up to £7,000 per year for vets fees, Boris has three ongoing

Boris on Wheels

I recently ordered an InnoPet dog stroller for Boris as he's missing out on so much whilst he's on restricted exercise due to his elbow injury. To start with I set up in the garden with everything open and the brakes on so that Boris could get in and out of it under his own steam and explore it at his own pace, Boris soon made himself quite at home

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying curled up in his new stroller and happily looking out of the open back door

 

Boris is crate trained so I wasn't at all worried about whether he'd get in or not, but I wanted Boris to feel safe and secure in it before I started

Happy Boris

Boris is at last weight bearing on his poorly leg but that's only due to adequate pain relief

I drove the boys the short distance to the woods last night so that Boris could have some much needed sniffing and catching up on pe-mails time as we walked the 20 yards or so into the woods

Video Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel slowly ambling down a woodland path on a long flexible lead attached to his harness to prevent him from running around and overdoing it, whilst Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel is trotting around doing his own thing

It's a fine line between exercise

Today's the Day

Today is x-ray day for Boris to find out why he's no longer weight bearing on his left front leg after a second bout of non weight bearing lameness, you can read about the first time here

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in long grass on the allotment facing the camera, he has his tongue out and is wearing a light purple harness to aid getting him in and out of the car when I drove him there for a change of scenery, his left front paw is raised slightly to avoid putting his full weight on it

I have very mixed feelings about it, whilst we need to know what he's done to himself so

Unexpected Vet Trip

Poor Boris had an unexpected trip to the emergency vets this afternoon

After racing around on the common with his friends yesterday I fully expected him to be a bit stiff this morning, which is sadly normal with his arthritis when he has a bit too much fun 

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the waiting room at the vets, he's wearing a cooling bandana as it was so hot today and he's holding his painful left front paw off the ground

What I didn't expect was him to be totally non weight bearing on his front leg!  Coupled together with his usual arthritic stiffness poor Boris could barely move

Jackanory Part 19 - Freedom Day

A couple of weeks ago when walking Boris and Eko in the woods Boris suddenly pulled up lame on his left front leg

I couldn't believe it as Boris hadn't been madly racing around and had only had his Librela injection for pain relief the day before, so it was most unexpected to see he'd gone lame

One minute I was videoing Boris trotting off behind a large bush and when he emerged on the other side he'd gone quite lame, I can only assume he'd probably jumped over something he shouldn't have or put his foot down a rabbit hole, inspection of his paw and nails revealed no injury there

Video Description - Video showing Boris trotting around in woodlands after he emerged from some bushes and was unexpectedly lame on his left front leg

As a result of going lame so

Making Yellow Snow

I can't believe we woke up to find it was snowing this morning, Eko has yet to experience real snow that's settled, whereas Boris is no thank you I don't like this stuff

In the South of England snow rarely settles for long, but it always causes chaos as we're never ready for it and so few people know how to drive in it these days

As much as I want the snow to settle so we can capture some awesome photos, I really want it to be melting before I have to leave today and come back at the later half of next week

Jackanory Part 17 - Boris Update

Update on Boris's recent Surgery

I had a couple of unpublished posts I'd started to write but not got around to posting as I've just been so busy with taking dad to hospital for the numerous scans in preparation for his Radiotherapy treatment next week

I opted to write this update in our Jackanory Stories that runs alongside the main blog, as the dates were just so out of sync with  the blog now

30th December 2022

Boris is off to the vets for his Librela injection today, plus we'll be discussing his upcoming surgery as to whether it'll now be as safe as possible due to his heart condition to remove the tumour on his back leg growing on one of his lymph nodes, also the large one that's growing under his ribs as well as two other lumps that felt somewhat strange in texture

If we do decide he's now fit enough to go ahead and remove these tumours, we'll also be getting some x-rays done of his elbows, spine and hips for an up to date picture on the progression of his Arthritis

A trip into the unknown

I'm taking Boris on a little adventure today to see his favourite vet Tania for a second opinion, it's taken me some time to track her down since she swapped practices

Photo Description:- A head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel facing the camera with a wall of autumnal dead bracken behind him 

I felt at his recent yearly check up