Dog Diaries - Tag

It was just Hoop and Tux with me this morning. Tag chose not to walk. The first time ever. Maybe he was confused. I left the gate open for him to follow if he changed his mind but found him waiting at the workshop door when I got back.  I suppose he thought I went there. He gets confused sometimes and I need to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't take a wrong turn. Poor old guy is getting kind of dotty.

Here he is tucked into the cubby under my desk where I've folded a cushy yoga mat in half for his comfort. This is his private spot.

Walking

The burro battles begin. This wild Jack has wounds on his chest and neck. 

The Tux/Valley Fever Diary

I should have started a diary from the start but who would have thought we'd still be deep into this thing a year later. Oh well, better late than never. I'm afraid we have years more ahead of us.

We started up with 300 mg Fluconazole again and the first week went well. No diarrhea or vomiting and her appetite was good until day five. I got the "I'm not sure I want to eat" look, but she has to eat to take the pills so I real quick popped a Mirtazapine down her throat and within fifteen minutes she was crazy ravenous. In fact, she was like that for several days, so I'm not going to give her those pills on a regular basis.

Monday we added the Terbinafine (otherwise known as Lamisil but in a pill form) and so far she's OK. It's only a tiny amount of the anti-fungal in an Angus beef flavored liquid but she apparently doesn't appreciate the flavor - or maybe she doesn't like having it squirted into her mouth. Her appetite is holding but she is no longer eager to eat in the morning. She is back to waiting for me to bring the food and place it between her legs. She may be eating just to please me but she does eat, so no more Mirtazapine until there is a real problem.

An odd reaction that I believe is related to the Fluconazole is anxiety. She is afraid to  go for walks if she catches the scent of burros, and that is impossible to avoid in these here parts. It happened the first go round but I didn't attribute it to the drug. We would take the Rhino out to the washes and she wouldn't leave it. When we switched to Itraconazole she was back to enjoying the walks. I thought it was because she was feeling better with the big drop in her titer, but since it has started up again with the reintroduction of Fluconazole I have to think that is the cause. I guess that's easier to deal with than the skin lesions she got from Itraconazole. It's always something.
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Working with Clay

I bought fifty pounds of clay expecting to stay busy sculpting this winter but all my sculpting tools are in Washington! I'm trying to make do with forks, knives, a few home made tools, and anything that looks useful but it is very frustrating. I will probably have to pick up a few basic tools or just forget about this and spend my time planning next years garden.

More work with Pixelmator

A much needed rain fell and gave us a day of dramatic low lying clouds. Below is a shot that was "enhanced" in Pixelmator (oddly becoming black and white). Second pic, the same shot enhanced in Preview  (standard Mac app) brought out some color which is what I would expect from the enhance function. Kind of odd that Pixelmator eliminated color. The original shot (not shown) was kind of a misty gray with very subtle color and both apps reduced the foreground mist. Third pic is just a shot of neat clouds.

Our Desert Yard

We've been taking advantage of mild weather to work around the house. Bob is painting exterior trim and woodwork while I have been working in the yard. The pool garden survived my absence but next year we're going to be gone much longer and the plants need to be watered once a week. I'm not sure yet how we're going to manage that.

The three Palo Verde stick trees we planted last year are starting to look like real trees. One of them was stunting in a bad location so I moved it down to the pool area and will have to keep my fingers crossed that it survives.

With such tiny leaves and a stick-like trunk it is kind of hard to pick out the replanted tree. It's actually easier to see the stake next to it. Anyway, the three new trees are blue Palo Verde. In the picture directly above, the tree in the upper background is a seven (?) year old yellow Palo Verde (variety Desert Museum). The Desert Museum's bark is green and it blooms more heavily and for a longer time than the blues eventually will. In the picture below are the two other blues in the back yard. They are the same age but quite a bit bigger than the one now in the pool.

This is where the moved tree spent it's first year (below). You can see there is little here but rock. I'm pulling aloe from other areas of the yard and planting it here. Aloe isn't my favorite plant but it is tough as nails and nothing eats it.

Here is a cactus variety I found growing at a little higher elevation. It's doing well here. Got to watch those nasty glochids but something occasionally will feed on these cactus.

Here is a shot of the pool garden from the deck. The shrubs grew a bit, the grass a lot, and I finally put the potted cactus into the ground at the corner of the pool since the last pictures.

Image Editor

My sole Black Friday purchase was an image editing app called Pixelmator. I've been waiting for the update for Yosemite before purchasing and was delighted to find the latest version half price online. Now I'm going through tutorials learning how to use it.

Sharpen and Blur

Here is a before and after photo of the Mojave Patchnose we saw the other day where I've sharpened around the eye and nose and increased the blur around the photo edges. Once you learn what all the tool icons mean (and there are dozens of them) so you can select the appropriate tool, using it is pretty easy.

Before

After

Salvia mohavensis

I'm using a new Canon digital super zoom camera and need to get familiar with it. It's similar to my old Canon but with lots more functions. The macro flower shot is Salvia mohavensis, best I can ID it. Mohave sage. There were just a few fading flowers this time of year but it is a gorgeous burst of blue in full bloom.

Salvia mohavensis

Black Mesa

A Warm November Day

We're saving a turkey and having pot roast for Thanksgiving dinner.

It was warm enough to bring out the reptiles today. This is a Mojave Patchnose. The second picture shows the flattened enlarged scale on the end of the nose that identifies the snake.

Dog Issues

Valley Fever

Tux's titer came in at 164, unchanged from the last test, so we are starting up with Fluconazole, 140mg 2x a day with the addition of a small amount (20-40mg) of turbinafine. Both work by inhibiting the synthesis of ergosterol in the cell membrane of fungi. Itraconazole inhibits synthesis of ergosterol too, but in a different way. Why one antifungal works for a dog but not another probably has something to do with an animal's genetic makeup. It's far beyond my understanding. Anyway, the small amount of turbinafine apparently gives fluconazole a boost in effectiveness that we hope will make this round of treatment more effective that the first. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the medication won't throw her off food again reversing her much needed weight gain.

Sore Feet

Tag is having such a hard time walking I was thinking about leaving him home, but if you know border collies you understand that he would rather die than be left behind. So today I put the old dog boots on him and Hooper, (she's been hurting too, though not as much) thinking the sharp rocks here in Oatman could be causing the problem. It was unbelievably cute to watch them high stepping and stumbling in the odd footwear, but once they adjusted Tag was actually trotting again so I'm happy to report we are back to enjoying our walks.

Tag, closing the gate in his Ruffwear boots

The Dogs

Feelin' sentimental. Old dogs, sick dogs, my dogs.

Good times

Tux, one year later

Had to do another blood draw yesterday for the latest Valley Fever titer. This will give us a baseline for a change in medication. 

Dr. Cartwright and the clinic staff were amazed at how good Tux looks (weight 61 lbs!), and admit they had little hope she would even be alive now much less thriving. She conferred with Dr. Shubitz at Valley Fever Center for Excellence and came up with a new treatment plan. Based on titer results, the plan is to go back to Fluconazole with the addition of a small amount of the tablet form of Lamisil which somehow improves the uptake of Fluconazole. Unless this is a fungal strain that is resistant to Fluconazole, the Itraconazole may have knocked it down enough that Fluconazole will prove effective this time around. The blood test takes about a week so Tux gets to enjoy a little more time free of these nasty anti-fungals.

Before the Hickory

Over the next few months the new floor will be installed. This is how it's looking as of mid November. 

Water damaged spots were removed to check for subfloor damage. We confirmed that the damage most likely came from leaking potted plants. 

Rolls of old carpet and pad

All this wood comes out

Designing a cherry inlay

One of two pines we put in. This is the Japanese black pine.

New Pieris and heathers

New stuff here

Rose still growing in Nov.

Love the purple heathers

Front bed cleaned out

Our patch of trees