Good news!

Muffins blood work resulted better values than in September!
Still, they indicate kidney failure but it seems to be stable.

Mainly BUN (blood urea nitrogen) and creatine are elevated. BUN is at 15 mmol/L (should be between 2-9) at was at 29 in September.
Creatine is stable around 180 (should be between 27-124).

His blood globulin concentrations are too low and decreased since September. From what I understand, it means that his immune systems isn't the best and I wonder the immune system fails to come up after the antibiotic treatment he got in September.

His urine was less concentrated than last time but that might be a result from all the water he drunk the day before since he found the can with instant hot chocolate powder on the kitchen counter....(* I should write an extra post about which kind of food  Muffin would "steal" without supervision)

And, eventually Muffin gained weight and is not underweight anymore. This last point means a lot since ongoing kidney failure is often associated with weight loss. So it's a good sign that  Muffin is able to gain weight.

Now, we are all looking forward to the snow that is not yet forecasted...YIPIEEEEEEEEEEEH!

another blood test...

Hi, it's Muffin.

Today, Tina told me that tomorrow we are going to do another blood test .
Puh......I am scared!
I know they will again shave my leg and then again this needle......I don't want that!

But Tina said it is absolutely neccessary.
She said that it's very likely that my health has improved and the values aren't worse than last time. But it is important to check whether my diet is right or not.

So, I hope the blood test will tell Tina that she should feed me much much much more food :-)

keep fingers cross for me...

DOGS ON THE BEACH

did you know that dogs see the world in black and white....?

pee head....

on our way to Parsborro/Partridge Island, Muffin sat in the car on the lap of our brazilian friend. She loves dogs and we were talking about Muffin and she said that he would behave a bit like he'd be blue blooded.
He always seem to assume that everybody has to like him and that he he seemed to use her as a comfortable sort of car seat.

Muffins Diet

Since Muffin's got these kidney problems he gets a home made diet that the vet suggested.
This diet contains less protein and less phosphorus than most dog food and is easily prepared.

Recipe:

500gr. ground beef (not lean)
4 eggs
6-8 cups of boiled rice (not salted!)
200 - 300 gr. bread

I usually cook the rice and the ground beef separately, then mix them together, add eggs and bread and cook everything for another 5-10 minutes.
I also ground the egg shells and mix them with the food since they contain calcium, which is an important electrolyte/ mineral, especially when it comes to kidney failure
(kidney failure might cause elevated blood phosphorus concentrations, which the body tries to balance by also increasing the blood's calcium concentrations from calcium that is stored in the bones - osteoporosis is then likely to occur)
I also ad flex seeds and flex oil to make sure he gets enough omega fatty acids.

Muffin weighs around 5kg and gets portions of around 200-300 gr per day, divided into 2-3 meals (breakfast and supper, and most days also lunch)

I store daily portions in the freezer.

Also Poldi, who normally gets "normal" dog food (high quality, though) likes Muffins diet.

Photos

Here some pictures from our Trip to Parrsboro/ Partridge Island two weeks ago

it was cold and grey day - but that doesn't matter if you are at the sea - clouds sometimes make the interplay between the sun and the water even more beautiful...

and the sea might change it's colours within minutes....

after we left Partridge Island we shortly visited Parrsboro beach:

the dogs were already tired but also enjoyed it very much

Remembrance Day

is an important holiday in Canada. We've been for a long walk along the dikes. And found a special place.

(you can increase the photo size by a double click)

sunday evening

....psst.....are you still awake?

we just came back from another trip to the sea of Fundy Bay as u can see from the lighthouse in the back.

Some new stories to tell but it's late, Poldi already sleeps and Tina said no blogging anymore today....

so see you soon....

Muffin www.martinaloebl.com

ooooops

Hi, here is Muffin,
last night or better early this morning, something truly embarrassing happened to me....Tina said it might come from my kidney problems or from being too many hours inside...however, as I woke up it was already too late....my doggy bed was wet...
Tina worries a bit about my kidneys and said that we will have to redo a blood test this month anyway to see if my healthy life style helps to improve my kidney functioning.
....so let's hope for the best...Tina said that she is confident that everything will be fine....


www.martinaloebl.com

HALLOWEEN.....

....was a few days ago.
However, today Muffin seemed to see/smell/hear something very scary on our evening walk.
Normally, he is THE BIG GUY, king of the road, boss of the sidewalk. Not today though....after he heard or smelled this "something" he suddenly headed home, pulling at the leash, something that he normally wouldn't do at all.
Indoors, he still looked around as he was expecting a monster and got totally shocked as he saw a black animal coming out of the bedroom, which was only me -Poldi....I am still laughing...
www.martinaloebl.com

HI, here is Muffin. Does anybody want to know my opinion? Poldi has no idea about Canadian wildlife! He is german and thinks chasing squirrels means adventure. I lived in Canada all my life and on top of that, I was a stray for at least several weeks and know about skunks, porcupine, coyotes and others. So, IF I get scared - then there is a reason! What reason I had today will stay my secret, though.